Greetings from London

[madanmohandas]

That's some list. It was interesting to note Bhagavat Acarya's Krsnaprematarangini in a 1900 edition. Also interesting to see no.35 Giriscandra Gosha's 'At the Touch of the Philosopher's Stone'; what is that?

[Nitaidas]

Dec 18, 2009 16:02:05 GMT -6 madanmohandas said:

That's some list. It was interesting to note Bhagavat Acarya's Krsnaprematarangini in a 1900 edition. Also interesting to see no.35 Giriscandra Gosha's 'At the Touch of the Philosopher's Stone'; what is that?

At the Touch of the Philosopher's Stone is an English version of Girish's Bengali play called Rupa-Sanatana on the story of the Goswamis meeting with Mahaprabhu and their departure from the service of the Nawab. I am not sure if Girish wrote the play or not, but it was a popular play in the 1880s and 1890s. Seeing another of Girish's plays on Mahaprabhu triggered Premananda Bharati's conversion to CV. I didn't notice any editions of the Bengali originals of Girish's plays in the catalogues I covered. Perhaps his collected works came out at a later time. He was a famous actor/playwright and also a close friend of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Those of you who know the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna will remember him.

[Nitaidas]

I should point out that the myth of the decline and corruption of CV in the 19th century was probably not the invention of a certain missionary organization to remain unnamed. It was actually invented by Christian missionaries to put down the local religious competition. To the Victorian eye anything the natives were doing was deplorable, especially if it involved sexy gods. Certain developing organizations at the beginning of the 20th century, to remain unnamed, merely picked up on the hype and incorporated it into their own propaganda.

This is not to say that there were no perversions and corruptions within the mainstream tradition and offshoots that did things and taught things considered repulsive to followers of the mainstream. That has been the case almost since the beginning of the CV tradition. Nevertheless, there was still a healthy and faithful core to the tradition.

[bhattathiri]

These two words anvaya and vyatireka occur often in Vedanta. Anvaya is concordance or agreement and Vyatireka is discordance or difference. In vedAnta, the example of the beads strung to form a necklace is used to explain these two words. The fact that without the string which holds together the beads, there is no necklace of beads is anvaya. The fact that, however, the string is separate from the beads is vyatireka. The all-pervasiveness of the Absolute is anvaya. The distinctness of the Absolute is the vyatireka.

The last of the four verses called the Four-Verse-Bhagavat-am where the Impersonal Absolute `teaches' the very first born, namely Creator BrahmA: ( Bhagavatam: II– 9 – 35) says:

etAvadeva jij~nAsyam tattva-jij~nAsunAtma-naH |
anvaya-vyatirekAbhy-Am yat syAt sarvatra sarvadA ||
(Translation adapted from Swami Tapasyananda'-s.): What the seeker after Truth has to grasp is that Substance which persists -- this is anvaya -- always through all its transformations into its various effects or forms, but suffers no diminution in the process – this is vyatireka -- as also when all these effects or forms are eliminated in the causal condition. The Supreme Spirit is the ultimate Substance.

Vidyaranya's Panchadashi IV – 32 says: By anvaya and vyatireka one comes to the conclusion that it is the `mental' creation which causes bondage to the jIva, for when these mental constructs are there, pleasure and pain are also there and when they are not there, there is neither pleasure nor pain.

The words occur almost in the same context, in the boy Prahlada's teaching to his contemporaries. He says: By these two exercises in logic (anvaya and vyatireka) one should be able to realize the Self within. (Bhagavatam: VII – 7 – 21).

[Nityānanda dāsa]

Aug 30, 2009 6:34:41 GMT -6 Nitaidas said:

So I don't see how pursuing a philosophical and practical orientation such as I have called "Sane Vaisnavism" is in any way in conflict with insisting on the necessity of diksa for joining the community. Whether on thinks of diksa as conveying spiritual power or not, it is a requirement for joining the community specified by the community. And what a community it is, encompassing the likes of Sanatana Goswami, Rupa Goswami, Jiva Goswami, Raghunatha in its founding days and the likes of Siddha Krsna Das Babaji, Siddha Caitanya Das Babaji, Bodo Baba, Siddha Ram Krisha Pandit Das Babaji, Vijayakrishna Goswami, Ramdas Babaji, Siddha Manohar Das Babaji, and so forth and so on. It is an honor to be a member of such a sangha. For whatever reason, Bhaktisiddhanta and his companions and followers decided not to join that sangha. That is fine, but one shouldn't claim to be if one is not.ore detail later.

Radhe Radhe! 

I often find myself reading the posts of the pasts on this Symposium and some are very enlightening! As for this one, can you please tell us more about the following Vaishnavas mentioned in your post above: 

Siddha Caitanya Das Babaji
Siddha Ram Krishna Das Babaji

I'm guessing that the "Ramdass Babaji" mentioned there is the one who initially had contact with Jagadbhandu and then Bodo Baba. I believe he also established the Gauranga Grantha Mandir, which is a part of the Pathbari Ashram/Mandir in Kolkata. I hope to visit there one day soon! It sounds like there are many great CV treasures there. 

[meeno8]

'Enlightenment' is ostensibly a Buddhist goal. Or is it? Only the shadow knows... Bado Baba was awesome!  (as the kids says these days)