The Vaishnava Blog

Glory of Sridhara Bhagavatpad:           ' Aham bedmi Suko vetti vyaso vetti na vtti ba Sridharam sakala vttye Srinirsimha prasadata '  This sloka concluded the authenticity of Sridhara's Bhashya or commentary in the Yoga of Bhakti or Devotion .Sri Caitanaya Mahaprabhu too once said : jagad-guru śrīdhara-svāmī ‘guru’ kari’ māni , Only Through the blessings of  Sridhara Swami,I have learnt the Bhagvata , hence i consider him as my Guru!   Invocation :  Vagisha yashya vadane Laxmiyashya cha bakshasi  yashyaste Hridaye Sambitam Nisimham maham bhaje . (Bhavartha Dipika -1.1) Summary of  Chapter III : The Divine Incarnations     Avatara Katha prasneTritiye : The third canto of Srimad Bhagavata describes the Incarnation theory and Lord Krishna's supremacy ,Swami Sridhara wrote - Prathamam Purushaavtaramaha : First description is that of the Purusha form. Ekanrave sayanacha : the Lord at the begining was sleep...

  Vrindavanam punah prapya Navineev swarupinee – Although Born in Dravid Desha (or Southern India) but Bhakti (or Krishna devotion ) evolved to youth phase only in Vrindavna. When,invaders destroyed the heritage of bhakti in Mathura and Vrindavana in medieval time,then Bhakti Saints have re-established the cult of  Bhakti in these sacred places .Past times of Acharya Vallabh as well as that of the six gosvamis,Hita Harivamsa and other saints made the place more holier ,as in the Bhagavatam –    nirvairaṁ sama-darśanam anuvrajāmy ahaṁ nityaṁ pūyeyety aṅghri-reṇubhiḥ   Polymath Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva visited Mathura and Vrindavana during His first pilgrimage to all over  the Indian subcontinent . He spent a long time in the Jagannath Puri,but in Vrindavana ,the stay period was less !But Vrindavana finds a place in the songs of both Sri Sankara and Madhavdeva , Krishna’s cowherd playtime influenced both . The Katha Gurucharit and  Sarvabhauma Bhat...

     Durlavam hi Sada Sukham ( Incessant happiness is indeed infrequent : Valmiki Ramayana ).The Threefold miseries are there for everyone ,one has to suffer a lot mentally if the spiritual relation with the Divinity is not present.If one is mentally and spiritually strong ,then he has the preparedness to overcome the struggles . Here's a collection of various verses for all of us suffering :    1. Iha Samsare Bahu Dustare Kripaya Pare Pahii Murare  ( O Lord, the one who is the enemy of demons like Mura ; Have compassion on me.This worldly ocean of existence is extremely hard to cross over , Give me Your shelter .)  - Mohamudgram, Adishankaracharya    2.  tvadiyas tvad-bhrityas tava parijanas tvad-gatir aham    prapannas caivam sa tv aham api tavaivasmi hi bharah (O Lord,You are the shelter of all universes . Though fallen ,but I am Your follower , a slave of Your lotus feet; O Lord ,the goal of my life is only You ,consider m...

(Based on Sri Madhavdeva's Bhojan Bihar play)  Govindam Paramnandam Sange Gopaye Samanitam VrindavanaBiharinam Srikrsnam Pranamyaham . The ever blissful cowherd Lord with all his cowherd friends are playing in the Vrindavana forest ,I bow down to such Sri Krishna .      In This Morning, Mother Yashoda kissing her beloved son, said , “Wake up my son, Gopala (Cowherd),Madan –Gopala ; Your friends are waiting ,take this butter ,take these breads and surely , don’t forget this flute .Now ,go to the Vrindavan and play with your allies , keep our cows  in the bank of river Yamuna .”  The son of Nanda left His home and going to the forest, because he tends grazing cattle. With playful mood ,Dama ,Sudam and His other friends have joined Him too.By playing the instruments as flute ,horn wind etc ; They are maintaining hundreds and hundreds of cow.  He,who is the Master of all moving and non-moving(s) ;the same Lord has taken this Cowherd form in Nanda’s plac...

 People often misunderstood the relation between the holy Vedas and the Bhagavata Marg . The Vedas are divine in origin ,it is also distinct from the Vedic rites (like purification,oblation ) which is the main  topic of Karmakanda .In general Vedas (mainly the Samhita part) have the seed of all paths .The Gita too glorified the mastery of the Vedas.  Latter by Vyasa ,the One Veda is divided into different parts !The Samhitas are divine in origin, while the other parts like Aryanka,Upanisad are the realizations of  different sages .                 Srimad Bhagavata is the fruit of the Divine vedas,it's the natural commentary on the Vedas ! Bhagavata is bit different than the Pancharatra Agama .The Bhagavata is katha based Nabadha Bhakti  ,It all started with the Chartursloki teaching ,latter espoused by the nine great sons of Risava deva . Another, line was that of Piplad -Samkhayan-Parasara- Maitrayee . Latter, on the conj...

                             भक्त भक्ति भगवन्त गुरू चतुर नाम  वपु एक  (भक्तमाल) शुद्ध भक्त से ही भक्ति की प्राप्ति  होती   हैं  ;भगवद -कृपा से ही साधु संग मिलता हैं ।महा पातकी भी साधु कृपा से परम वैष्णव बन सकते हैं , दैत्य पुत्र प्रह्लाद को ऋषिवर नारद से ' स्मरण' भक्ति प्राप्त हुआ था ।जीवन मुक़्त महात्माओ में भी भगवद भक्ति में लीन रहने वाला भगत दुर्लभ हैं ।अभी , वैसे ही एक वैष्णव आख्यान को अति साधारण शब्दो में लिखने की प्रयास  करूंगा । यह बात हैं पन्ध्रवी शताब्दी की, जब भक्ति संतो ने हरिनाम प्रचार से मानव कल्याण का अनोखी पदखेस्प ग्रहण किया था ; उस काल में उत्तर-पूर्वी भारत में तंत्र शास्त्र का ग्लानि हुआ करता था ;पशुवलि के साथ साथ ही नरवलि तक धर्म का ब्याभिचार हुआ करता था।  उसी शतक के  अंतिम भाग और सोलहबी शतक  में कामरुप ओर आसाम राज्य (तत्कालीन अहोम)मैं  महापुरुष श्रीमंत शंकरदेव ,माधवदेव और दामोदरदेव ने भागवत धर्म का प्रतिष्ठा कर भक्ति से जनकल्याण प्रारम्...

    Bhakti-Ratnakar is a Guhartha Granth (Extensive devotional book),probably the only Sanskrit book of Srimanta Sankardeva ; Sankardeva summarized more than thirty two Vedic scriptures to preach the Eka-Sarana Bhakti or the Single-minded devotion to Sri Krishna .Among those texts ,some important texts are : Srimad Bhagavata,Bhagavat Gita,Pandavi Gita,Padma Puran,Naradiya Puran,Matsya puran,Vishnu Puran,Skandh Puran,Suta Samhita,Bhavartha Deepika,Santi Satak,Bhujanga prayat ,Nirsimha puran,Vishnu-dharamotara ,Yoga-sara,Vaishnavanada,Prabodh Chandrodaya. Here I'm presenting the traditional Assamese poetry trans-creation of  the same book in transliteration. Sri Ramacharan Thakur ,Third in the Disciplic succession from Sankardeva translated the book into Assamese in the late 16th century .This Particular Chapter has the glorification of Bhakatas or the pure devotees of Krsna . I'm trying to render the verses in a simple meaning.           ...