[The following is the last part of a transcription of a class on Bhakti Sandarbha, Anuccheda 134] CONNECTION WITH BHAGAVĀN As Śukadeva Goswami explains in SB 8.9.29: yad yujyate ’su-vasu-karma-mano-vacobhir dehātmajādiṣu nṛbhis tad asat pṛthaktvāt tair eva sad bhavati yat kriyate ’pṛthaktvāt sarvasya tad bhavati mūla-niṣecanaṁ yat “Whatever is done by human beings for their body, children,
[The following is a continuation of a class given on Anuccheda 134 of Bhakti Sandarbha] NIRGUṆA JÑĀNA Someone may object that knowledge about Bhagavān is not nirguṇa, but is only called nirguṇa figuratively (lakṣaṇika-artha) because it leads to the nirguṇa position. In other words, because it leads to the nirguṇa position it is called nirguṇa,
[The following is a continuation of a class given on Anuccheda 134 of Bhakti Sandarbha] BHAKTI COMES FROM ASSOCIATION WITH A BHAKTA If sattva was the cause of the realization of Bhagavān then it would not be possible for Vṛtra to have had such A realization. Actually, Vṛtra’s devotion was due to having obtained the
Every school of thought has some distinctive principles that make it different from other schools. In the Gaudīya school, one such principle is that bhakti is the only means of fully realizing the tattva (Reality), which manifests in triplicity as Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān. Specifically, our school asserts that any endeavor devoid of bhakti will
Bhakti Sandarbha, which is the fifth volume in the anthology, deals with abhidheya, the prescribed method to actualize our relation with Bhagavān. After in Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī has established Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the original complete form of Bhagavān and the source of all other avatāras based on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, he now discusses
Offenses of the Instructor and the Instructed To give a valuable object to an unqualified person is indirectly disrespectful to the valuable object. An unqualified person does not understand the value of the object and thus will not respect it. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is as respectable as Kṛṣṇa Himself, being nondifferent from Him.
Committing Sins on the Strength of the Holy Name Śraddhā in śastra is the foundation of spiritual life. On the path of bhakti, this includes having śraddhā in the power of the name of Kṛṣṇa. There are hundreds of statements in śastra that state that even if one chants the name incidentally, one is freed
