Jīva Goswāmī's Nāma-tattva, Matter in the womb of spirit

JĪVA GOSVĀMĪ'S NĀMA TATTVA
(In November-December 2010) I only blogged on Viśvanātha Cakravartī's commentaries on the Ajāmila-story, but in my red notebook I also found this ṭīkā of Jīva Gosvāmī from the Krama Sandarbha, on Śrīmad Bhāgavat 6.2.20, which is worth adding -

śrī bhagavannāma grahaṇaṁ khalu dvividhā bhavati kevalatvena sneha-saṁyuktatvena ca. tatra pūrveṇāpi prāpayatvena sadyas tallokaṁ tannāma pareṇa ca tat samīpyam api prāpayati. mayi bhaktir hi bhūtānāṁ amṛtatvāya kalpate.

"There are two kinds of uttering of the holy name of the Lord - kevala and sneha-samyukta. Kevala means the mere utterance and that leads to residence in the world of the Lord (sālokya mukti), but sneha samyukta, which means 'endowed with affection', leads one close to Him (samīpya mukti). Kṛṣṇa tells the gopīs in Śrīmad Bhāgavat, canto 10, chapter 82 - "Devotion to Me leads the living entities to immortality."

MATTER IN THE WOMB OF SPIRIT
Many devotees ask me about the spiritual status of the descendents of the Lord, the Advaita Vaṁśa Goswāmīs. śāstra says that Lord Nityānanda is the manifestation of Lord Balarāma in the age of Kali, and Advaita Prabhu is Lord Śiva and Mahāviṣṇu's appearance in this age. Their spirituality is therefore beyond doubt. Also there is no doubt They had children, grandchildren and so on and so forth, down to the present day. Are they material or are they spiritual? It is also said in shastra that Advaita Prabhu rejected three of His six sons for holding on to the advaita-vāda that He had preached as a loving pastime in which He wanted to draw Śrīman Mahāprabhu's attention. Also at present not all Goswāmīs in Advaita or Nityānanda Prabhu's lineage show all the signs of divinity (though many of them, like Sādhu Bābā, his brothers and His parents, do). How does it work then?

Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda paraphrases Śrī Vaṁśīdhara Ācārya in his commentary on Śrīmad Bhāgavata 10.2.8 -

nanu śuddha sattva rūpāyāṁ bhagavat prakāśikāyāṁ mahāśaktau devakī-devyāṁ prākṛtānāṁ ṣaḍgarbhāṇāṁ kathaṁ praveśaḥ samucitaḥ. bhavati satyaṁ śuddha-svarūpe śrī bhagavati samaṣṭi vyaṣṭīnāṁ praviṣṭatve'pi yathā na tad yogas tathaiva devakyām api ṣaḍ-garbhāṇām ityarthaḥ. yad uktaṁ mat sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ. na ca mat sthāni bhūtāni paśya me yogam aiśvaram iti 

"How is it possible that six mundane pregnancies could enter the womb of Devakī Devī, who is the great internal spiritual energy of the Lord, whose form consists of viśuddha sattva (pure transcendence)? Surely the Lord, whose form is viśuddha sattva, also contains the material worlds but they do not affect (pollute) Him, so it was also with Devaki's six pregnancies (matter exists in the womb of spirit, as the material universes lie in the spiritual womb of the Lord). The example is given by Lord Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad Gītā (9.4-5): "All living beings are in Me, but I am not in them.....and yet all which is created does not reside in Me. Behold My divine majesty!"

Matter exists in the womb of spirit.........

Right ear dīkṣā, the lamp of the ego and living mountains.

RIGHT EAR DĪKṢĀ -
There is some confusion about whether the dīkṣā-mantra is to be spoken into the right ear or the left ear. The Bhāgavat says that the right ear is for karma kāṇḍa and the left ear for jñāna kāṇḍa, but both are rejected by the ācāryas – karma kāṇḍa, jñāna kāṇḍa kevala viṣera bhaṇḍa (Narottama) – they are both pots of poison. Bhakti is beyond both of them. However, in Sanat Kumara Samhita (1.101) it is said:

ūrdhva-puṇḍraṁ tataḥ kuryād     bhālādiṣu vidhānataḥ
tato mantra-dvayaṁ tasya     dakṣa-karṇe vinirdiśet 

“Then the Guru should draw Vaiṣṇava tilaka on the forehead and other places, and then he should speak the two mantras in the disciple's right ear.”

Vedic tradition is that the junior person stands or sits on the left side of the superior person. Hence the Guru speaks in the right ear of the śiṣya. See also my blog of September 30, 2010.

THE LAMP OF THE EGO

ātmanaḥ priyatayā tanu-bhājāṁ nātmanaḥ kṛtiṣu dūṣaṇa dṛṣṭiḥ
sarvatas timiram asyati dīpo nātma mūla timiraṁ vinihanti

(Ānanda Vṛndāvana Campūḥ, Kavi Karṇapūra, 1.9)

‘All embodied souls love themselves the most. Never one finds fault with one’s own activities. A lamp illuminates all directions, destroying darkness everywhere, except for its own root.’

MOUNTAINS, CLOUDS AND RIVERS ARE NOT DEAD
Ācārya Vaṁśīdhara quotes an unknown Samhita in his commentary on Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.36.4 –

meghā nadyo’tha girayo acetanas cetanā api

“Clouds, rivers and mountains are unconscious, though they do have consciousness.”

No doubt the ‘unconscious’ here refers to their lifeless appearance.