Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura

Sri Sri Raga Vartma Candrika

Prathama Prakasha

First Diffusion

1. Again and again I offer my humble obeisances to those devotees who are like

cakora birds, relishing the nectar of Srila Rupa Goswami’s words. Through even their

slightest mercy I am able to speak this book “Raga Vartma Candrika”.

2. Previously I gave a concise description of the path of raganuga bhakti, or devotion

following one’s spiritual desires, in my book “Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu Bindhu”.

3. When one’s devotion is prompted by orders received from the revealed scriptures,

then it is called vaidhi bhakti. But when one is prompted simply by spiritual greed,

then it is called raganuga bhakti.

4. The word pravartaka (in the previous verse) means being fixed in devotional

practices. The two kinds of candidates for devotional service (vaidhi and raganuga)

should have fear of scriptural injunctions and intense spiritual greed respectively.

Srila Rupa Goswami has personally given the f

original from ashtara command mayavadi new age site

I am a person-- you are a person-- why can't the Divine be a person?
There are those who would say that God cannot be a person , but I say to them why not?
If the divine is less than the creation then that would mean that the creation is Supreme. But the creation emanates from the Divine. In the divine creation we see so many many people and beings.
To dare to declare that that from which everything emanates is not personal has a certain insidious subtle implication.The subtle implication is that they are declaring their own Supreme postion out of some type of jealous enviousness.It is a bait and switch philosphy.It implies that they have knowledge of everything and can say what can and cannot be possible.To declare that the divine cannot be personal -- means that "I" know everything and "I " know what can and cannot be possible. I am the Supreme God.
There are those who say ---" I am God".Well you are a little little itty bitty God- a Go

From Ashtara site; Responding to debate about the nature of Godhead

One thing for sure, our intellectualizations will not effect Godhead in one iota !  We are describing an approximation, what we ourselves currently understand to be God. That is alright, but is there a higher, closer approach possible? Considering that we are souls, and that the body is temporary and limited, then if we can breach these limits, then we can progress on to something true-er.

That is where meditation, prayer, chanting, devotionally-inspired  musics, performing austerities, and constant performance of devotional sevice come in. These are not intellectual processes per se, but heart based.

By hearing from the guru, saints, sastra (scripture) , thus giving up our egos built on the bastion of currently limited intelligence, we are given absolute revealed knowledge. Revealed knolwedge is not stagnant or rigid, but becomes rigidified as we bring it again down to within the realm of our speculative and processin

CHAPTER 5

Fifth Shower of Nectar

When the devotee takes in his heart the golden medallion of bhakti, shining

effulgently by the fire of steady practice (nishtha) and propelled by its own energy,

ruci appears in that bhakti.

When a person develops a taste for the activities of bhakti such as hearing and

chanting, vastly greater than attraction for anything else, that is called ruci.

Unlike in the previous stages, at the stage of ruci, constant performance of

devotional activities like hearing and chanting does not result in even the least

fatigue.

Ruci quickly produces an intense addiction to the activities of bhakti. This is similar

to the brahmana boy who, after diligently studying the scriptures daily, in time

grasps the meaning, and then finds no difficulty at all in applying himself to study.

Moreover, he develops a pleasure in the performance his task.

The actual conclusion can be understood by the following example. Due to a defect in

the liver, the ability to taste becomes aff

CHAPTER 4

Fourth Shower of Nectar

Previously, in the discussion of the two types of bhajana kriya, anishthita and

nishthita, six types of the anishthita bhajana kriya were described.

Without describing nishthita bhajana kriya, anartha nivritti was discussed.

Because it says in Srimad Bhagavatam:

srnvatam sva-kathah ksrnah

punya-sravana-kirtanah

hrdy antah stho hy abhadrani

vidhunoti suhrt satam

nasta-prayesv abhadresu

nityam bhagavata-sevaya

bhagavaty uttama-sloke

bhaktir bhavati naisthiki

Lord Krishna, who is affectionate to His devotees and situated in their hearts,

destroys all inauspicious elements of those who hear topics about the Lord. When

the inauspicious elements have been generally destroyed by devotional service, steady

devotion to the Lord appears. (SB:1.2.17-18)

The first verse (srnvatam sva-kathah...) refers to the stage of anishthita or unsteady

bhakti, for naistiki bhakti or nishthita bhakti makes its appearance later in the

second verse.

Abhadrani vidhunoti (destruc

CHAPTER 3

Third Shower of Nectar

After bhajana kriya, comes anartha nivritti, or clearing of bad qualities which

obstruct the progress of bhakti.

Anarthas may be classified into four types, according to origin:

those arising from previous sinful activity

those arising from previous pious activity

those arising from offenses

those arising from bhakti

Anarthas arising from previous sinful activities fall in the category of the five types

of klesha previously mentioned:

ignorance, false ego, attachment, hatred and fear of death.

Anarthas arising from pious activities are the addictions to the enjoyments which

arise from pious action. Some sages include the anarthas arising from pious activities

under the categories of the kleshas mentioned above.

Anarthas which arise from offenses refers to those arising from the nama

aparadhas, not seva aparadhas (such as entering the temple in a palanquin or with

shoes).

The acharyas have discerned that seva aparadhas do not usually have effect being

Thanks to Uttamsloka Prabhu for alerting us to these saastra.

CHAPTER 2

Second Shower of Nectar

In this work one will not find a full dissertation on dualism and monism but, for those

who expect it, they may find it in another work called Aishvarya Kadambini.

Pure bhakti, unmixed with karma and jnana, is like a wish-fulfilling creeper appearing

in the field of the senses. This bhakti is the refuge of those devotees who firmly

vow (dhrita vrata) never to seek any fruits except bhakti, like bees (madhu vrata)

who are obsessed with the desire to taste only nectar.

The very life of this creeper is a favorable attitude for service for the pleasure of

the Lord. Like a touchstone, the very presence of bhakti makes the heart and senses

gradually lose their iron-like material qualities and acquire pure golden spiritual

qualities.

As a sprouting creeper grows upwards and unfurls two leaves, in the process of

sadhana bhakti, two qualities make their appearance. The first is called kleshagh

CHAPTER 8

Eighth Shower of Nectar

From the creeper of bhakti, which first sprouted two leaves during sadhana bhakti,

many smooth petals now suddenly appear in the form of anubhavas (the symptoms of

ecstasy) attached to the flower of bhava.

These anubhavas are filled with the devotional processes, such as hearing and

chanting, and shine brilliantly at every moment.

First forming the flower called bhava, they finally bring forth the fruit called prema.

But what is most astonishing about the creeper of bhakti is, though its leaves, buds,

flowers and fruits mature into the succeeding form, they do not give up their original

forms. Together they shine in newer and newer ways.

The devotee's innumerable thoughts and emotions (citta vritti) were previously bound

tightly by the ropes of attachment to family, relatives, house and properties.

However when prema appears, it easily frees the thoughts from all those

attachments. By its inherent power, prema transforms those material emotions, into

by Srila Visvanath Thakura

A Monsoon Cloud of Nectar !

CHAPTER 1

First Shower of Nectar

Mangalacharana

hrd-vapre nava-bhakti-sasya-vitateh

sanjivani svagamarambhe

kama-taparttu-daha-damani

visvapagollasini duran me marusakhino

'pi sarasi-bhavaya bhuyat prabhu-

Sri-chaitanya-krpa-nirankusa-maha-madhurya-kadambini

“The mercy of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is an uncontrollable cloud bank of

exquisitely sweet nectar whose sudden appearance fully rejuvenates the grains of

nine-fold bhakti in the field of the heart, extinguishes the burning summer heat of

lust and bestows rapture to the universal river of living beings. From far off, may

those clouds of the Lord's mercy give satisfaction and pleasure even to this

worthless soul, a dried-up tree in the desert.”

“Though previous mahajans (Prahlad, Dhruva, Kumaras, etc.) have taken up the path of

bhakti, I constantly pay my obeisances to Srila Rupa Goswami, the Lord's dear one, by

whose mercy one now attains the intelligence to see bh

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.1.15
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
London, July 30, 1971

Prabhupāda:

kecit kevalayā bhaktyā vāsudeva-parāyaṇaḥ aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena nīhāram iva bhāskarā [SB 6.1.15]

This is a discussion between Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Mahārāja Parīkṣit. The question was that “Why people are suffering in different types of hellish condition of life, and how they can be delivered?” Parīkṣit Mahārāja heard from Śukadeva Gosvāmī that there (are) different kinds of hellish condition of life according to different types of sinful activities. So in this material world everyone is implicated or involved in some sort of sinful life. Just like in the prison house. One may be a first-class prisoner, just like sometimes big politicians, they are put into first-class prison arrangement. A second-class prisoner, a third-class prisoner, there are. But as soon as we understand this man is in the prison or prisoner, it should be understood that he’s criminal. He has com

Note; Devotees are invited to chant some rounds while listening.

Beautiful Radha Krishna

Comment by Eagle on January 22, 2011 at 6:49pm

Divine !

Comment by Tamoharadasa the Wanderer on January 22, 2011 at 6:20pm

Delete Comment The three below pictures, or windows, represent a continuum of certain main aspects of Radha-Krishna lila, or pastimes. Above, more opulence, like in the palaces of Dvaraka City, then richer but still young love of Mathura Town. Below, simpler, and younger still, pastimes of the forests and glens, like in Vrndavana Village. Which do you find more attractive? This will tell you something about your own natural eternal rasas, or prefferred flavors of loving exchange in service of Supreme God head,

(Les informations à notre liste d'adresses, incluant la procédure de désabonnement, sont présentées à la fin de ce message)

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam

SB 11.14 Summary

SB 11.14.1: Śrī Uddhava said: My dear Kṛṣṇa, the learned sages who explain Vedic literature recommend various processes for perfecting one's life. Considering these varieties of viewpoint, my Lord, please tell me whether all these processes are equally important, or whether one of them is supreme.

SB 11.14.2: My dear Lord, You have clearly explained the process of unalloyed devotional service, by which a devotee removes all material association from his life, enabling him to fix his mind on You.

SB 11.14.3: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: By the influence of time, the transcendental sound of Vedic knowledge was lost at the time of annihilation. Therefore, when the subsequent creation took place, I spoke the Vedic knowledge to Brahmā because I Myself am the religious principles enunciated in the Vedas.

SB 11.14

Hasti Gopal Prabhu;  

---

From: charles dowson <hasti90@hotmail.com>
To: Uttama Sloka Dasa <macaroni108@att.net>; Tomohara Dasa <tamoharadasa@yahoo.ca>; hasti90@hotmail.com
Sent: Wed, February 9, 2011 8:43:30 AM
Subject: RE: The Economic Collapse

Alex Jones sums it up very well in this posting here: The US is being de-industrialized for the sake of the demons. The people will be pushed to the point of rebellion regardless of being so poor. They are using their own people to govern them the way the British used the Indians to govern themselves for the sake of the British. Chandra Bose formed the Indian National Army to get them out. By that real threat the British realized that they could not face the INA so they left, not because of Ghandi. I am including that information at the bottom it was forwarded to me from Laxmi dasa. I did not know of this history until Srila Prabhupada revealed it to me here and now to you.
 
So the US military, police and National Guard are being informed via Oathkeepe

It is with a full heart, brimming with the transcendental mellows of prema, that I begin writing of the glory and honor of our sacred position in this world, only slightly more than 500 years away from Lord Chaitanya, in the darkness of kali yuga, blessed with divine favor and a never-ending mission of service unto the lotus feet of Krishna.

What makes this movement of Gaudiya Vaishnavism so special, is that Krishna, the Supreme All Attractive Personality of Godhead incarnated himself, out of his infinite mercy, in the form of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, just to show special favor to his devotees and to lead the conditioned souls into the highest enlightenment, Prema Bhakti, in the most sublime and simple manner, by chanting the Holy Name of the Supreme Lord..

itotham krta sannyaso'vatarisyami sa-guno nirvedo
niskamo bhu-girvanas tira-atho' lakanandayah kalau
catuh-sahasrabdhopari panca-sahasrabhyantare
gaura-varno dirghangah sarva-laksana-yukta isvara-
prarthito nija-rasasvado bhakta-rupo m