The Caitanya Vaishnavism Booklist

[Nityānanda dāsa]

Dear all,

Along the lines of the thread 'List of Authors,' I want to start a new thread called ' The Caitanya Vaishnavism Booklist'. I've already started by creating a Google Drive spreadsheet and have begun filling in books and their authors/editors/translators/publishers, and more. I would REALLY like to get a large comprehensive list of all CV literature whether in English yet or not and where these books can be found. As I continue to read publications by the Blazing Sapphire Press (BSP), I continue to have my eyes opened and my mind astounded by the vast ocean of Bhakti literature out there that some people and groups would rather not disclose. Anyway, all the more awesomeness for us! I've just randomly started by taking a few books off my shelf and going for it. The link below is for viewing, but I'll have to send out invites for anyone who wants to help compile the list. A great starting point is to go through the existing publications by BSP as there are many enticing historical CV writings mentioned/cited therein.

Here's the link to the Google Drive sheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KTfQ36jEYQBxuAwNJQvqb9_RUc7tyFEPKSH_bAOeyFE/edit?usp=sharing

I also noticed the thread discussing the deteriorating library of cuckoo4cocopuffs (a symposium member): caitanyasympos.proboards.com/thread/849/future-books-print 
It would be great if we could figure out a way to better take advantage of and preserve libraries like this rather than having them deteriorate and fade into oblivion. 

Please feel free to post here any authors/titles you'd like included to the list and I will add them in as I can. Also, if you scroll down the list, towards the bottom are a list of 'pending' things to do. I realize that this list is likely going to get overwhelming fast, but all the better --- I mean overwhelming by how many titles will be listed! Also any suggestions on how to better organize it are welcome. At present, I have the list organized by title alphabetically. Thanks for your time and input!

Radhe Radhe!!

[Nitaidas]

Thanks for starting this, Nilamadhava dasji. This is going to be a big list, especially if things not yet translated into English, or other Western languages are included. They probably should be, so that there will be some impetus for potential readers to either translate them or get them translated. And even if there are several translations of some text it would be great to know that. Translations are always approximations. The more a text is translated, if done with an awareness of previous efforts and the shortcomings thereof, the closer later translations get to the real heart of a text. When translations are done along side the original, one can check the accuracy of a translation. That is why I try, primarily with Sanskrit texts, to publish bilingual translations. Maybe the same should be done with Bengali and Hindi texts, especially for seminal works (Caitanya-caritamrta, Caitanya-bhagavata, etc). Typesetting now is so computerized that it is not difficult to typeset in Devanagari, Bengali script, Hindi, etc. Anyway, I will try to add some works that I know of that are not in the database as of yet. I hope others will too.

[Nitaidas]

I have done a little poking around in my collection and found some lists published in various works by important non-IGM Vaisnava writers. There are a huge number of Vaisnava works listed. Haridas Das has over 60 books listed that he edited and published. Each of them should have an entry in the database. Similarly, Rasikamohana Vidyabhusana lists 30. I have only been able to gather three: Sri Navavrndavana, Gambhiray Sri Gauranga, and his edition and translation of Sri Jiva's Sarvasamvadini on the first four Sandarbhas. Add to these the works of Sundarananda Das and Puridas, the works published by Ramanarayana Vidyaratna from Murshidabad, Nityasvarup Brahmacari from Vraja, Shyamlal Goswami, Prangopal Goswami, Krsnadas Baba, and Haridas Sastri, and we have a huge body of non-IGM CV works. It is an ocean and we need more swimmers and divers who know Bengali and Sanskrit well and who are not corrupted by the mistaken views and idiocies of IGM. I will try to add more to the database as time goes by.

[Nityānanda dāsa]

Jun 20, 2019 13:22:54 GMT -6 Nitaidas said:

I have done a little poking around in my collection and found some lists published in various works by important non-IGM Vaisnava writers. There are a huge number of Vaisnava works listed. Haridas Das has over 60 books listed that he edited and published. Each of them should have an entry in the database. Similarly, Rasikamohana Vidyabhusana lists 30. I have only been able to gather three: Sri Navavrndavana, Gambhiray Sri Gauranga, and his edition and translation of Sri Jiva's Sarvasamvadini on the first four Sandarbhas. Add to these the works of Sundarananda Das and Puridas, the works published by Ramanarayana Vidyaratna from Murshidabad, Nityasvarup Brahmacari from Vraja, Shyamlal Goswami, Prangopal Goswami, Krsnadas Baba, and Haridas Sastri, and we have a huge body of non-IGM CV works. It is an ocean and we need more swimmers and divers who know Bengali and Sanskrit well and who are not corrupted by the mistaken views and idiocies of IGM. I will try to add more to the database as time goes by.

Nitai-ji,

If you could photo/scan these lists to me I can put them into the database. If they're in Bengali, I feel competent enough to transliterate the title and other info into the book list database. Or I could do so and then send it to you first if you like. I was also thinking to separate the original title from the English (or other translated language) title. Same with publication dates. One column for original date. One for newer publication date. What do you think? 

Radhe Radhe!

[Nitaidas]

Nilamadhava dasji,

I think this is a good idea. I will send you some scans. You can initially show them to me to see how your script reading skills are. Once I see how will you do, you can work on your own. Look for some scans later today.

[Nityānanda dāsa]

Radhe Radhe! And good morning!

I just discovered this...
play.google.com/store/books/details?id=KdIfAQAAIAAJ&rdid=book-KdIfAQAAIAAJ&rdot=1

It is the 'Annual Report of the Registrar for Newspapers in India.' It states, "Reports for 1958-1970 include catalogues of newspapers published in each state and Union Territory." In this report I found listed the 'Sri Gauranga Sevak.' As a matter of fact, I found this report by searching Google for that periodical. Anyway, the report is over 1,000 pages! Not sure how to go about extracting the Vaisnava-related journals. Maybe start with West Bengal, then do UP?? Thoughts? Ideas? If you're interested, you can download this list free from Google books. I wasn't able to get it as a pdf, but it is added to my Google library.

Nitai Gaur! Radhe Shyam!

[Nityānanda dāsa]

Greetings all!

Here's another resource that was just emailed to me. This is a list of titles that the Bhaktivedanta Research Institute has in their stacks. There are about 3,500 titles in this list! Please keep in mind that it is run by IGM so the selection could be limited to who they consider to be authoritative in their tradition. They do have some older canonical texts from the Gosvamis and such. Jai Sri Radhe!

drive.google.com/file/d/0B-EwBvfEW7PjVHdwcUpWX1JmNlZnUzRrRUt2OElQY1gtQWF3/view?usp=sharing

[Īśvaradāsa]

Hi, Nilamadhava

I recently learned that Edwin Bryant's name is actually "Advaita Prabhu Das". I also noticed that you included Growse, I think that A.W. Entwistle's Braj, Center of Krishna Pilgrimage (1987) could be a good inclusion as well.

For the Krsna Karnamrta there's also Sushil Kumar De's sanskrit critical edition with the commentaries of Gopal Bhatta, Caitanyadasa and Krsnadasa Kaviraja, published by Navrang, New Delhi in 1938. He also did one for the Padyavali of Rupa Gosvamin, published by the University of Dacca in 1934. Both of these have long, thorough and interesting introductions in english. There's another one of his in english that I would suggest we include called Bengal's contribution to Sanskrit literature & Studies in Bengal Vaisnavism, a compilation of various articles reprinted by Indian Studies, Past & Present in 1960. Another one that I think we should have on the list is the edition of Rupa Gosvamin's Dana Keli Kaumudi in Sanskrit with hindi and english translation done by the Bharati Research Institute at Indore, the editor in chief was Surendranath Sastri (it includes his sanskrit commentary as well) and the english translator is T. Bheemacarya. I'll see what else I have that could be included and post it when I get a chance, but the list is looking really great so far. 

[Nityānanda dāsa]

Jul 2, 2019 19:19:17 GMT -6 Īśvaradāsa said:

Hi, Nilamadhava

I recently learned that Edwin Bryant's name is actually "Advaita Prabhu Das". I also noticed that you included Growse, I think that A.W. Entwistle's Braj, Center of Krishna Pilgrimage (1987) could be a good inclusion as well.

For the Krsna Karnamrta there's also Sushil Kumar De's sanskrit critical edition with the commentaries of Gopal Bhatta, Caitanyadasa and Krsnadasa Kaviraja, published by Navrang, New Delhi in 1938. He also did one for the Padyavali of Rupa Gosvamin, published by the University of Dacca in 1934. Both of these have long, thorough and interesting introductions in english. There's another one of his in english that I would suggest we include called Bengal's contribution to Sanskrit literature & Studies in Bengal Vaisnavism, a compilation of various articles reprinted by Indian Studies, Past & Present in 1960. Another one that I think we should have on the list is the edition of Rupa Gosvamin's Dana Keli Kaumudi in Sanskrit with hindi and english translation done by the Bharati Research Institute at Indore, the editor in chief was Surendranath Sastri (it includes his sanskrit commentary as well) and the english translator is T. Bheemacarya. I'll see what else I have that could be included and post it when I get a chance, but the list is looking really great so far. 

Thanks a lot Ed! I have added all those titles. Radhe Radhe!

[Ldd]

What is Edwin Bryant famous for?

[Nitaidas]

Thanks Nilamadhava and Ed for your work compiling this database of works connected to the Caitanya tradition. This will be a great aid in revealing how rich the literature is in Caitanya Vaisnavism even if we discount the works of IGM.

I am sorry to have not been here to help out. Our move to Colorado has kept me busy for these last couple of weeks. Now things are settling down and I can spend more time on this site and working on my various projects. Colorado is beautiful and though hot (80s) not oppressively so. Kirksville get oppressive this time of year; it is hot and humid. The part of Colorado we are in is not humid. It is more like Vraja, though not as hot. Anyway, I am trying to get back to work.

One question may arise in the minds of the readers of this site. Why not include IGM books? The simple answer is that IGM books have been poisoned by Vaisnava Apardaha and Apasiddanta. It is the old ISKCON example of snake venom spoiling milk, an example used in ISKCON to warn against non-ISKCON books. Ironic is it not that the books that truly fit that description are the IGM books. And it is plain for anyone to see. There are countless passages where other Vaisnavas (the babas, the Goswamis, etc) and other sadhus are put down, belittled, assigned immoral characters, called ignorant, called sahajiya (anyone who has lived among them knows that the life style of a baba is anything but easy and that they do not believe attaining Krsna's grace is simple) and so forth and so on. It would not be an overstatement to say that every IGM work includes some of this calumny. One might have slipped through without it, but that surely was an accident. As far as apasiddhanta is concerned, one can point to the embracing of sannyasa (no one did it until Bhaktisiddhanta and he did not even get properly initiated into the order), the ridiculous emphasis promoted in the phrase rupanuga (as if Sanatana and hundreds of other brilliant contributors to CV are unworthy of our attention), the foolish idea of considering Vaidhi-bhakti as an introductory or preparatory state for Raga-bhakti (Rupa describes them as two separate paths with separate goals). The idea that preaching is more important than bhajana is another apasiddhanta. The fundamental error of thinking that one can do without initiation (Bhaktisiddhanta never had it) and yet begin to give initiation oneself from mantras merely read from a book. The giving of the Surya-gayatri as part of initiation is wrong. The notion of Daiva-varnasrama is wrong. The completely fabricated guru-parampara promoted by IGM. Most of the members of that lineage never even met each other. One can go on and on. The worst thing about the works of IGM, however, arises from the fact that by participating in the Vaisnava Aparadha of the IGM texts and lectures, the power of the Holy Name is stymied. That is the only thing that can weaken the power of the Holy Name. So how does one advance in IGM? It is very difficult. A fortunate few have escaped the trap. But, most have either remained caged or have left altogether, a sad case of a hijacked and corrupted tradition used for personal, monetary enrichment.

Enough of me on a soap-box.

Next time: the conundrum of being accused of Vaisnava Aparadha for criticizing IGM. I am often the object of that accusation.

[Īśvaradāsa]

Hi, Nitai

I’m glad to read things are doing well in Colorado, that weather sounds pretty nice to me. Yes, the booklist is looking really great, it’s going to be an interesting and comprehensive one.

Thinking about IGM, I feel it would be better if CV’s growth in the west could be slow but steady, it might lead to a much stronger foundation for the future. This is meant to be a deeply transformative practice after all, and the literature is vast and rich, it makes sense that it would require years and decades of love and dedication. I wouldn't mind that it takes a few more generations if that means getting a somewhat large, well informed and well integrated CV community in the west, I'm not even sure how that would look like, things change. IGM will change as well I guess, they’ll have to in order to survive, and considering the amount of people involved I’m hoping it is for the better.

I think people should at least be given the option to make an informed decision about what they’d like to follow, and for that it has been of vital importance to have a proper presentation of CV in the west as we find it in the Blazing Sapphire Press publications for example, an option they can resort to if they desire to do so, somewhere to feel at home as well. More efforts are needed in order to continue building that foundation, and this step by Nilamadhava is another one in that direction.

[Īśvaradāsa]

Jul 4, 2019 9:44:23 GMT -6 Ldd said:

What is Edwin Bryant famous for?

Hi, adrs

I don't know, Edwin Bryant is a professor in Rutgers I think, and a disciple of Sri Haridas Sastriji, he also teaches at the Jiva Institute sometimes I believe. He has authored and edited a number of books and translations, but the only one I've read is Krishna: A Sourcebook, edited by him and published by Oxford university press (2007) which I liked very much, also Nitai Das and Satyanarayan Das Babaji both have articles in that one.  

[vidyasundar]

NITAI DAS JI 

When will you write more on the subject of IGM in details? Or did you write more on this forum than in  "True History of Bhaktisiddhanta" circa 2005?

[vidyasundar]

Jul 4, 2019 10:21:07 GMT -6 Nitaidas said:

Most of the members of that lineage never even met each other. One can go on and on. The worst thing about the works of IGM, however, arises from the fact that by participating in the Vaisnava Aparadha of the IGM texts and lectures, the power of the Holy Name is stymied. That is the only thing that can weaken the power of the Holy Name. So how does one advance in IGM? It is very difficult.

Are the evidences to that? Can you see more progress outside the IMG in a tangible way? I have not met any one in person outside IMG except Gadadhar Pran, Jagadananda Pundit and communicated with some vaishanvas in Radha Kunda and can see the sense of purity in them but I cannot see any verifiable proof of greater advancement than in some cases in IGM. Or maybe it is better to ask first, what do you mean by advancement?