Question: We are reading the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu in a workshop. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī has ten practices considered “primary in the beginning”—including worship of the banyan tree, etc. Then he speaks of the last five practices as having “extraordinary and incomprehensible power.” My question is, why are śravaṇa, smaraṇam (smṛti), and dhyāna placed in the middle of
Question: I am wondering about Kṛṣṇa’s disappearance. It is not something devotees like to discuss or write about, and although the Bhāgavata covers His disappearance, it makes a point of moving it to the next canto—all Kṛṣṇa-līlā is in the Tenth Canto except for this one pastime. That seems significant, and I think it has
Question: I am following a Śrīmad Bhāgavata class with Professor Edwin Bryant, and after last night’s class, I asked him a question about the meaning of “Hare” and “Rāma” in the mahāmantra. Though my professor had a few insightful answers for us, he didn’t have a definite opinion on the etymological basis for their meaning
Question: In BG 16.20, Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa presents a concept of “eternal hell” for some jīvas, with no possibility of deliverance. Even after many births, Bhagavān does not deliver them. He explains how Bhagavān only kills a specific type of asura who is not internally opposed to the Vedas. Even in Govinda-bhāṣya, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa quotes
There were some questions in the comment section of Babaji’s interview with Namarasa Prabhu posted on YouTube. Below is Babaji’s reply to some of them. Question: If even a kaniṣṭha-adhikarī cannot fall down, then why do the stages like viṣaya-saṅgara, etc., as explained in the Madhurya Kaḍambinī, happen between bhajana-kriyā and anartha-nivṛtti? In these stages,
Question: We hear repeatedly that our goal is to become eternal servants of Śrī Rādhā Kṛṣṇa in Goloka Vrindavan. So when one reaches that position, for example as gopī or gopa, and is engaged in one’s eternal service, then at that time what about Gaura-līlā? Answer: I am sure you know that our ācāryas like
Question: I have a query regarding the use of the word anādi and the conditioning of the jīva as described in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. Someone recently raised the following argument to me: “All Sanskrit words in śāstra that indicate an unlimited time span—anādi, śāśvata, nitya, etc.—are used nonliterally when referring to events in the material
