Philosophy
Philosophy Questions & Answers

Raganuga Bhakti not Inspired by Injunction

Question: I am confused about Jiva Goswami’s view of raganuga bhakti. It seems somewhat different from that of Rupa Goswami and Visvanatha Cakravartipad. In Bhakti Sandarbha Anuccheda 310 he quotes SB 2.1.7, prAyeNa munayo rajAn nivRtta vidhi-SedhataH | nairguNya-sthA ramante sma guNanukathane hareH which seems to indicate that raganuga is free from rules, while Visvanatha

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Philosophy Questions & Answers Vedic Literature

Sakama Karma in Sastra

Question: Can you name references in sastra to sakama [action based on the desire for sense enjoyment] Answer: The reference for sakama karma, usually called kamya karma, can be found in many places. The first is in Gita itself kamyanam karmana nyasam …. (18.2)  The other places are Gitabhusana commentary on Gita 2.31,2.40,2.41,2.45,2.49,18.7 etc., Sararthavarsini

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Audio / Video Snippets Philosophy

The Purpose of Vedanta Sutra

India has a tradition that any great acarya, in particular a founder of a particular sampradaya, had to write commentaries on Vedanta Sutra, the principle Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and Vishnu Sahasra Nama. They had to show that their philosophy was based on these four pillars ...

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Audio / Video Snippets Philosophy Yoga

The Meaning of the Word Yoga

The word yoga has two somewhat different meanings. One meaning is to unite, the other meaning is to be distinct from everything else, thus to disunite. Patanjali, the famous author of the “Yoga Sutras”, uses the second meaning when he speaks of  “yogas citta-vritti-nirodha“. Here yoga means to terminate all of one’s thoughts, which means

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Articles by Satyanarayana Dasa Philosophy

A different View

by Satyanarayana Dasa: Nobody likes to be put into trouble. At least I do not know anyone who would relish being faced with misery. After the trouble is over, we may see that problematic event as an occasion for learning, though while undergoing the experience, we wish it would end as quickly as

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Philosophy Questions & Answers

Questions on Krishna-Lila

Question: Does Yashoda know that Krishna is God? Answer: There is no need for her to know it. There is stage of consciousness in which someone is not interested to know it. The first stage is to know God, and the need love of Him, but at a more advanced level God isn’t anymore God

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Articles by Satyanarayana Dasa Philosophy Vedic Literature

Bhakti Prevails

by Satyanarayana Dasa: The confrontation between the four Kumaras and the gatekeepers of Vaikuntha is analyzed very wonderfully in Srila Jiva Gosvami's Bhagavat-sandarbha. The episode appears in the fifteenth chapter of the Third Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.

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