The Vaishnava Blog

Music oft hath such a charm To make bad good, and good provoke to harm. (Measure for Measure, 4.1.14,William Shaspeare )  Soul’s hankering after grail often verbalised through poetry and music ; In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna said , ‘ Brihat sama tatha samman (Gita 10.35)’, which means among the hymns of holy Vedas,he is the Brihatsama-gan , that is the Sama Veda’s exquisite melody ! It indicates the place of poetic melody in the affaires of spirituality . The Bhakti movement of India have enriched the subcontinent with a rich treasure of poetry and music .The Alvars,Annamacharya,Meera,Surdas and many other Bhakti saints have expressed their divine estacy through the medium of music . Here I’m going to discuss a brief study of Srimanta Sankardeva (1449-1568) and Sri Haridas Swami (1480-1575).     polymath Sankardeva’s Vaishnava movement somewhere started in the late fifteen century in North Eastern India influencing the kingdoms of Ahom and Kamrup . Based on the...

                                      Archana : One of The Nine-fold Bhagavatic Devotion   Sravana (Hearing),Kirtana(Glorification)and Smaranam(Remembering) are the foundation of Vaishnava Devotion ;after attaining the taste for Lord’s Service,a devotee further continues the Bhakti Yoga with PadaSevanam (serving the Lotus Feet of Sri Hari),Archana (Detailed worship),Vandana (Prayers),Dasya (Servitude) ,Sakhya (Friendly attitude) & Atmanivedanam (Surrender).Archana or worship is one of the scriptural way to increase the Bhava (sentiments) for the Lord. In the Uddhava Gita of Srimad Bhagavata ,Sri Krishna explanied this Archana Vidhi to His devotee Uddhava ; As per krsna’s conclusion ,this archana can be done by observing the Vedic , Tantric or Mixed ways .But, The Vaishnava Archana is also bit different than the other Vedic or other worship methods ; As in the Holy Bhagavata itse...

The Ancient Vedas have an agnostic view on God in its certain sections .The Nasadiya Sukta of the Rigveda explains a sceptical idea on the Supreme Spirit .The Bhagavata Purana is the authentic puranic text which accepts the idea of a worshipful God from beginning to the end of the holy text ;Hence the Bhakti Saints and philosophers have accepted this Puran as a supreme authentication on the topic of a personal deity . Based on the Principles of Bhagavata, Sri MadhavDeva  (16th CE) composed Ishwar Nirnaya ,also he included Slokas from Brahm Purana & Vishnu Puran in support of his rhythmic meter .This devotional poem  is encoded in the book of Namghosa by Madhavdeva. Here’s a brief description & translation of the meter - Krishna ek devo dukhohari    kal mayadiru adhikari Krishna bine srestha Deva nahi nahi aar Sristi sthiti antakari Deva          tanta bine       aan nahi keva Janiba Vishnu se samasta jag...

   ভাগৱত-পুৰাণৰ দশম স্কন্ধৰ কৃষ্ণ তথা গোপী লীলাৰ পাঁচটা অধ্যায়ক একত্রে ৰাস-পঞ্চাধ্যায় বোলা হয় । এই আখ্যান বৃন্দাবনৰ গোপীসকলে শ্রীকৃষ্ণক মনে প্রাণে প্রেম কৰাৰ ভাৱতেই বিৰচন কৰা হৈছে , ইয়াক লৈয়ে হৈছে ৰাস ।শৰৎ-কালৰ পূৰ্ণিমা ৰাত্রিত যোগমায়াৰ প্রভাৱত শ্রীকৃষ্ণই ৰাস লীলা কৰিলে ।ব্যাসদেৱে ভাগৱতত বা শংকৰদেৱে নিজৰ ৰচনাত আহ্লাদিনী বুলি ৰাধাৰ উপাসনা নকৰিলেও ভকত গোপীৰ প্রেমক বিনা দ্বিধায়েই মানি লৈছে - নুগুচৈ হৰি গীত দিনে ৰাতি জগতকে কৰৈ পৱিত্র আতি।। উদ্ধৱে বন্দিলা গোপীৰ ধূলি                                         আৱে মুঢ়জনে নিন্দে কি বুলি।। (- পাষণ্ড মৰ্দ্দন,কীৰ্ত্তনঘোষা) ‘আগম শাস্ত্রত’ বৰ্ণিত এই গোপ-নাৰী সকলৰ নাম এনেকুৱা – ৰাধা, ললিতা,বিশাখা,ইন্দুলেখা,চিত্রা,চম্পকলতা,.... অনেক নাম । এই প্রেম কিন্তু, পৰকীয়াহে । পৰকীয়া শব্দটি বিতৰ্কিত ,তেন্তে ভগৱানৰ সৈতে তাৰ সম্পৰ্কনো কি ? দৰাচলতে, শাস্ত্রৰ এই পৰকীয়া প্রেম মানৱীয় ধাৰাত সন্নিবিষ্ট নহয় , ই আধ্যাত্মিক দিশতহে প্রযোজ্য হয় । মা...

                               Annihilation Of Tartuffe : The ‘Pasanda Mardan’ Of Sankardeva The stumbling block to faith can be overcome only by the mercy of saintly beings; the loving devotion is the greatest grail in the Vaishnava philosophy. As it’s observed that in different eras, in many places, the transcendental lovers were afflicted by many, generally by the ruling class & by those blindly attached to black Rituals. But the great saints, overcoming all the hindrances, not only uplift the meek & weak but also left inspiration for people of all ages. So, It’s the late fifteen Century; As a part of the Bhakti revolution, Srimanta Sankardeva started the Vaishnava movement in North-Eastern India. His faith & movement have opened the door of spirituality for all classes of people in Assam. This Polymath Guru preached Krishna Bhakti & Bhagavata to even the so-called untouchables, it res...

Grail of human anticipation is to save oneself from suffering . Everyone has some desire ,so that their every work circulating around the bonds of Ahamkara, which means I , Me & Mine . This selfishness has different degrees , the extreme of this ego is always destructive . The Man made society has different behavior towards different people ; He is this, or She is that- these kinds of judgement result in the imbalance of Man’s Spiritual Nature . Acceptance of any being as it is , is a rare phenomenon . 'Jesus Christ accepted Magdalene' or 'Sri Rama accepted Sabari' indicates the value of acceptance as well as the fraternity of living creatures .     It's the medieval India, Various Great Souls such as Ramanujacharya, Vallabha,Ramananda, Srimanta Sankardeva, Guru Nanak and many more challenged the social discrimination . After the disappearance of Siddhartha Buddha, the society recreated various supremacy based on caste ,appearance and all. Hence , the spirit...