There are 24 evolutes of prakṛti, ahaṅkāra (egotism) being the second in the list. Although second, it is the boss and rules over everything else. Nothing happens without it. All emotions find their strength in it. Without the ahaṅkāra, one cannot even get angry. It is the locus of material bondage. Therefore, Śrī Kṛṣṇa instructs
According to Indian schools of thought, darśanas, the root cause of the suffering of a living being is its conditioning by ignorance, ajñāna, or avidyā. Avidyā results in moha, improper knowledge or delusion about one’s identity as the pure self or ātmā, an integral part of the taṭasthā-śakti of Paramātmā. Śrī Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna, “The
The word artha is derived from the Sanskrit root artha, which means “to desire.” Thus the word artha means a desirable object, purpose, goal, wealth, etc. Anartha means that which is not artha. On the path of bhakti, our goal or artha is prema. To achieve a goal, we also need the means. Then those
In the first anuccheda of Prīti Sandarbha, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī begins establishing love for Bhagavān, prīti, as the ultimate goal of human life, puruṣārtha. During the course of his explanation, he remarks that the famous mahāvākya (great statement) tat tvam asi (You are That) actually hints at the prīti between a jīva and Bhagavān. This
Bhagavad Gītā begins with a question asked by Dhṛtarāṣtra, the father of Duryodhana: dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva kim akurvata sañjaya “O Sañjaya, having assembled in the holy land of Kurukṣetra eager to fight, what did my sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu do?” Dhṛtarāṣtra was blind by birth. He was sitting in
There is a general tendency to blame others for our difficulties. The ego experiences a sense of satisfaction by blaming others for our problems. It is challenging to think that we can be the cause of our own troubles because this thought hurts the ego. However, blaming others or finding fault in others does not
By Satyanarayana Dasa I am asked many times why Rādhā is not mentioned in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. Bhāgavata Purāṇa is the supreme pramāna for Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, whose supreme worshipable deities (iṣṭa-devatā) are Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, it is expected that Bhāgavata Purāṇa would give many details about Them. However, one may be surprised that although
