Śrīmad Bhāgavat, 9th Canto, part 1

The following is a selection of my favorite verses of and comments on the 9th skandha (canto) of Śrīmat Bhāgavata.

9.4.63 ahaṁ bhaktāparādhīno hyasvatantra iva dvija - I am subdued by [the love of] My devotee, I am not independent at all."
This verse also establishes that it is by the grace of such a great devotee, rather than by the Lord's own grace, that someone becomes a devotee. If the devotee comes to Vaikuṇṭha, Kṛṣṇa will ask the Guru 'Who is this?' Śrī Guru will say 'He is My śiṣya, he can be allowed in'.
yasya prasādat bhagavat prasādo yasyāprasādān na gati kuto'pi - 'By Guru's grace there is the Lord's grace and without Guru's grace you are not going anywhere.'

9.4.64 nāham ātmānam āśāśe - Kṛṣṇa says that even His own internal and innate bliss does not give Him as much happiness as the love of His devotees. Even in the most intimate part of the Bhāgavata, during the Rāsa-līlā, this is described as ātmarāmo'pi līlayā - He performs līlā even though He is self-delighted. Though the jīva was never created at any point in history since it is beginningless, this is nevertheless the function and, if you like, reason for the existence of the jīva. Only a loving relationship between the jīva and Īśvara can make either happy. Śrīla Jīva Goswāmī says in Prīti Sandarbha (63):

"Bhagavan's ānanda is of two kinds: 1. The bliss that is part of His nature (svarūpānanda), and 2. The bliss that comes from His internal potency (svarūpa-śakty-ānanda). The second of these is again divided into two kinds: 1. The bliss of the heart (mānasānanda) and 2. The bliss of the Lord's power and opulence (aiśvaryānanda). Mānasānanda is the kingdom of bliss the Lord feels in His heart because of the devotional service offered by His devotees."

9.4.65 The Lord says: "How can I forsake a person who has given up house wife and children for My sake?" But how can this verse apply to Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, who was a great king instead of a renounced sadhu? The Lord explains in Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's purport:

"You (Durvāsā) created a demon to destroy Ambarīṣa Mahārāja but Mahārāja did not move one step as he is totally detached from his body. You, however, may be a so-called renounced saint but you ran all over the universe to protect your body, when I unleashed My invincible Sudarśan Cakra."

A tyāgī can be attached to his Loṭā [waterpot], while a devotee-tycoon may be totally detached from his business empire and beautiful wife. It is not a question of official āśram-status but of the heart. Mahārāja Pratāparudra was willing to give up his entire kingdom just to have the darśan of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. Affection need not always mean attachment - one can and should be affectionate to one's near and dear without being attached to them - separation is inevitable in due course of time. Speaking of quality rather than birth [or āśrama] – many gṛhasthas live very austere lives, sleeping on straw mats on the floor, while many sannyāsīs bathe in luxury, wear gold Rolex watches and silk garments, have huge bank accounts and travel business class. Speaking of the substance versus the form! Ambarīṣa stood still and told Durvāsā - 'Kill me - I am not this body. I don't care.' and he was a big big king. Ambarīṣa had no more defense-attitude left, as he was fully in love with the Lord and ready to join Him at any time, without any attachment to this world. For a sādhaka it is a healthy attitude to want to protect his/her body as it is the instrument for self realization,the boat to cross over the ocean of birth and death [nṛ-deham ādyam sulabhaṁ sudurllabham plavaṁ sukalpaṁ guru karṇadhāra]. Śrīman Mahāprabhu said 'prema prayojana' - love of God is the goal. If that is established what is the use of the body? If someone wants to destroy it at the stage of prema, the premika bhakti will see it as a release arranged by the Lord.

9.4.68 In Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's purport Durvāsā Muni asks Lord Nārāyaṇa: “Was I not right in getting angry with Ambarīṣa? What is more important? Respecting a brahmin [Ambarīṣa, as a kṣatriya, should not have eaten before a brahmin] or observing Dwādaśī [breaking the fast of Ekādaśī in time]?"
The Lord replied: 'You must ask Ambarīṣa. I do not know these things. Ambarīṣa is an expert bhakta, he knows. The śāstra says that drinking water is both eating and not eating, so Ambarīṣa has equally respected the brahmins and the Dwādaśī."

It is not that Lord Nārāyaṇā really did not know things and Ambarīṣa knew it better. The opening verse of the Rāmānanda Samvāda says that the ocean gives water to the cloud and the cloud returns the water to the ocean through rain. Similarly, the cloud-like Rāmānanda Rāya 'gave his knowledge' to Śrīman Mahāprabhu though of course he got that knowledge within the heart from Mahāprabhu Himself again. Pradyumna Miśra approached Mahāprabhu for teachings in bhakti, but, to glorify His devotees, Mahāprabhu humbly said: "I do not know anything. Go to Rāmānanda Rāya, he knows it much better than Me." The Lord was similarly approached by Raghunātha Dās Goswāmī and he, too, was forwarded to Śrī Swarūp Dāmodara. Each society needs it scholars and although scholarship is not the nucleus of bhakti, still each devotee-community also needs its scholars to provide scriptural support to their sādhana and sermons. One should and cannot approach God directly. mad bhakta pūjyabhyādhika - "My devotee is to be worshiped first and foremost". Even in the jñāna mārga the worship of Guru is compulsory, Śaṅkarācārya wrote this Gurvaṣṭakam - guror aṅghri padme manaś cen na lagnaṁ tataḥ kiṁ tataḥ kiṁ tataḥ kiṁ tataḥ kiṁ - 'If the mind is not fettered to the lotus feet of the Guru, then what is the use of anything?'

9.8.16 Asamañjasa behaved as badly as possible in order to keep people away. We have seen in the activities of great souls often before that they deliberately behave badly just to be left in peace. However, only a great transcendentalist could do this without committing aparādha. If any ordinary sādhaka does this he will surely commit aparādha.

9.9.7 "Lord Rudra, the very Self of embodied souls, into whom this universe is woven, warp and woof, as a piece of cloth into its threads, will bear your [the Ganges] force." This verse again confirms the non-difference between Shiva and Nārāyaṇa.

9.10.44 - puṣpaka does not mean flower plane but a plane stolen from Kubera by Rāvana, and taken by Rāma to return to Ayodhyā. Rāmāyaṇa narrates that it is constructed with gold and Vaidurya-jewels by Viśvakarmā.

9.10.46 The gurūn mentioned in the ṭīkā is not a single spiritual master, gurūn is in plural case here and means the host of superiors, like parents, parents-in-law, brahmins etc.

Śrīmad Bhāgavat 8th canto

These are some of my favorite verses from and comments on the 8th Canto of Srimad Bhagavat -

8.3.8 - na vidyate yasya ca janma karma vā
na nāma-rūpe guṇa-doṣa eva vā
tathāpi lokāpyaya-sambhavāya yaḥ
sva-māyayā tāny anukālam ṛcchati

“He who has no birth or activities, no name or form, no qualities or faults, accepts birth and activities as Brahmā and Śiva at the time creation and destruction by his energies of rajas and tamas for creating and destroying the universe.”

Viṣṇu’s task of maintenance is not mentioned in this verse because His activities are transcendental.
Śrī Jīva Goswāmī gives this explanation in Bhagavat Sandarbha [35]:

"The Lord has no birth or activities, but by his svarūpa-śakti (sva-māyayā) he accepts birth and activities. One may say, “Since He attains birth and activities, those are temporary events.” Explanation: “The Lord continually (anukālam) attains them. This means He never gives up birth and activities. Being manifested through the svarūpa-śakti and being eternal are supportive of each other. “

One may argue, “How can birth and pastimes be eternal? They are both actions. An action and each of its parts are defined in terms a beginning and end. Without that, the action’s very form would disappear.”

Explanation – “There is no fault, for the following reasons. Because the Lord always has an eternal form, that form is eternally manifest. Because of this, the Lord’s pastimes with birth and activities are also eternal. Thus the individuality and manifestation of associates in the pastimes and the places in unlimited Vaikuṇṭhas and unlimited universes are also eternal. The beginning and end of actions revealed by the Lord’s form are located in one place, but when the part of the birth and actions are completed in that place, that part begins in another universe. Since the Lord is eternal because of having no destruction, the birth and activities exist elsewhere after being completed in one place. The birth and activities begin somewhere else, sometimes a little different because of differences in details and sometimes exactly the same because of sameness of the details. One form becomes a different abode of action by manifesting separately.”

Here Jīva Goswāmī does not support kalpavāda, that Kṛṣṇa-līlā differs according to the age in which He performs it.

Śrī Jīva continues:
One may argue , “Why do you say that the birth and activities continue to exist? Because the birth and activities begin separately in different universes, they become new birth and activities.”

Explanation – “There is oneness of the actions of the same form which appears at different times. Similarly, one can say the word “cow” twice, but that does not mean there are two words to indicate a cow: Viśvanātha quotes Śaṅkarācārya’s Śarīraka bhāṣya - dvir-go-śabdobhayam uccarito na tu dvau go-śabdau. In the same way, if the word `cooked' is repeated twice, that does not mean that the food was twice cooked. Thus the Lord’s birth and activities have an eternal nature, and meditation on pastimes that Kṛṣṇa previously performed, a meditation which is prescribed in the scriptures, is proper (since the pastimes are actually eternal, not destroyed). “

Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda writes in his commentary on Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi [1.21]: “Kṛṣṇa was bathed by mother Surabhi [cow] after lifting Govardhana and received the name Govinda. But long before this, if the names are not eternal, how could the women of Vraja, placing syllables on Kṛṣṇa's body after he drank the milk of Putana , say krīḍantam pātu govindaḥ [S.B. 10.6.25]: May Govinda protect you while you play? They also said in the Veṇu-Gīta, before the govinda-abhiṣeka, govinda-veṇum anumatta-mayūra-nṛtyam: The peacocks dance madly after hearing Govinda’s flute. (SB 10.21.10) Thus the name corresponding to the form doing the activity has an eternal nature describing the activity. These will gradually manifest in this world in order that the devotees experience rasa from them. “ In the same purport Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda states that there is a 'māyik brahmāṇḍa' ['false universe', more like a parallel universe] where Kṛṣṇa's pastimes continue even when the material universes are unmanifest [to fulfill the eternality of Kṛṣṇa's transcendental pastimes] - dvitīyāyāḥ kāryaṁ tu sārvadikam eva mahā-pralaye’pi virājamāna-kṛṣṇa-līlopakaraṇa-bhūtasya māyika-brahmāṇḍasya.

8.3.19 - This is a second verse, after 1.6.28, which mentions the existence of the siddha deha, and also that it is not dormant but is bestowed (rāti).

8.6.20 arayo’pi hi sandheyāḥ sati kāryārtha-gaurave
ahi-mūṣikavad devā hy arthasya padavīṁ gataiḥ
“Enemies must be won over by alliance. Once you have achieved your purpose you may act with your enemy as a snake does with a mouse.”

Śrīdhar Swāmī comments: arthasya prayojanasya padavīṁ siddhiṁ prāptaiḥ paścād ahi-mūṣakavad vadhya-ghātaka-bhāvena vartitavyam iti śeṣaḥ | yad vā, peṭikāyāṁ niruddho’hir yathā nirgama-dvāra-vidhānārthaṁ prathamaṁ mūṣakeṇa sandhiṁ vidhatte, paścāt tam eva kadācid bhakṣayati, tathā’rtha-mārga-pravṛttaiḥ prathamaṁ sandheyā ity arthaḥ – “Opportunity alliances between enemies against a common enemy are very unstable. The snake first makes a truce or alliance with the mouse if they are both trapped in a box, and then, when they managed to escape with combined force the snake may still eat the mouse.”

Interfaith dialog similarly usually leads nowhere. The USA and USSR ganged up against Hitler and afterwards fought a 45-year long cold war with each other.

8.9.9-11 do not say that all women are untrustworthy. They first of all speak of wanton women (puṁścalyāṁ, verse 9, and svairiṇīnāṁ, verse 10), not women in general, and it is also explained in verse 11 that Mohini was just teasing and joking (iti te kṣvelitais tasyā) about herself and therefore did not speak serious philosophy. Śri Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda comments on verse 9: kāminīṣv iti yadyapy ahaṁ yuṣmad-anubhavena śuddhaiva bhavāmi tad api yauvana-vattvād ābhyantaraḥ kāmo’numeya eva kāmavattve strītve ca kāminī pati-pitrādy-āvaraṇābhāvāt svairiṇy api kathaṁ na bhavāmīty aviśvāsyaiva sarvathā bhavadbhir aham iti bhāvaḥ "Though in your estimation I am pure, still, because I am young and unprotected by husband and father, I am a lusty wanton woman - how can I then not be untrustworthy?" This, especially in the Vedic context, is an exceptional situation, not a general rule. Needless to say, wanton women - as well as men - are untrustworthy.

8.9.18 - The significance of God becoming a woman to get the nectar from the demons is that women get things done easier than men - salespersons in shops are usually women, female ambassadors get more done than male ambassadors. Latent sexual desire works like that - a woman gets things done by her natural attractiveness to men.

8.12.28 - Shiva should not be seen as doing anything degraded, but just like Maharāja Yudhiṣṭhira showed what one should NOT do by gambling away his wife, Shiva here shows how infatuated one can get by a woman. Here it is described that he grabbed Mohinī by the hair, keśabandha upanīya, and then embraced her, bāhubhyam parisasvaje. To pull a woman by the hair is very painful and violent, Duḥśāśan did the same thing to Draupadī, so the embrace that followed the grabbing of the hair cannot be seen as an act of tenderness. This is how lust works - the man flatters the woman by giving her presents, praising her with his words and pleasing her in all manners, before she gives herself to him, but as soon as she yields to his avances he becomes violent, during the sex act. This shows that lust is really not love but an act of violence only.

8.12.34 - Shiva followed Mohinī everywhere to show to all the sages around there that even if one has controlled the mind one should not have faith in a young woman. It is not that the woman cannot be trusted, but the mind of the beholder cannot be trusted. Surely women should not provocate and seduce, but even if they do, if a man's mind is controlled he will not be swayed, whereas even a chaste woman could cause agitation in the uncontrolled mind of a lusty man. An animal trainer can spend a long time in a cage with a lion, and think that he has finally trained the animal, but then still the animal may attack and eat him. One should be very careful falsely thinking one’s mind and senses to be permanently controlled.

8.17.20 - naitat parasmā ākhyeyaṁ pṛṣṭayāpi kathañcana
sarvaṁ sampadyate devi deva-guhyaṁ susaṁvṛtam
“O Devi, even if someone inquires, you should not disclose this fact to anyone. All secret plans of the devatās succeed only when fully concealed.”
Śrī Jīva Goswāmī comments in his Krama-sandarbha: atra śrī-guroḥ śrī-bhagavato vā prasāda-labdhaṁ sādhana-sādhya-gataṁ svīya-sarvasva-bhūtaṁ yat kim api rahasyaṁ, tat tu na kasmaicit prakāśanīyaṁ “The sādhana and sādhya attained by the mercy of Śrī Guru or the Lord is one's all-in-all; it is a secret that should not be disclosed to anyone."
Later, in S.B. 10.24.4-5 it is said that one should not keep secrets but that deals with public undertakings, not a spiritual sādhana.

8.19.36 - Tapas here is glossed as cittaikāgrya, concentration of mind, by both Śrīdhar Swāmī and Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda.  Tapasya does not only mean self-torture, but any type of sādhana,depending on the context of course.

8.23.8 - līlā visṛṣṭa bhuvanasya viśāradasya - The world is created as a pastime of the Lord only. This is a sidelong refutation of fall-vāda. It does not say the Lord created the world as a prison for rebellious souls.

8.24.48 - Shiva's tears produced silver and gold, as He took birth, according to the Kṛṣṇa Yajur Veda (yad arodīt tad rudrasya rudratvaṁ yad aśrv avaśīryata tad rajataṁ hiraṇyam abhavat iti śruteḥ). According to Mahābhārat, seeing the effrontery of mankind, Shiva shed a tear which turned into a tree which produces Rudrākṣa (=eye of Shiva) beads before he released His mighty arrow to destroy the three cities (tripura) for the welfare of creation."
Shiva cried to Brahmā for a name. See also S.B. 3.12.7 and 3.12.10.

According to the Shiva Purana, the berries of the Rudrākṣa-tree represent the tears of Rudra which he shed in a mood of despondency soon after he awoke from his meditative state. Amazed by the beauty of his own tears he crystallized them into the shape of seeds and distributed them among the four castes.

Śrīmad Bhāgavat, canto 7, part 3

This is the third and final part of my selection of favorite verses of, and commentaries on the 7th Canto Bhāgavat -

7.13.24, ṭīkā by Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda - "The insatiable desires that propel the stream of birth and death are compared to rivers. The rains thrown by Indra are filling these rivers, but the sense objects created by Brahmä do not fill (or fulfill) the rivers of desire. Just as there are logs, grass, pebbles and thorns floating in the river, similarly I have also entered animal- demigod- and other species. Scared of crocodiles, turtles and whirlpools I have thought of different ways to be saved from them. Similarly I am scared of lust, anger, disease, thirst, hunger, birth and death, and I have done many things to be saved from them, but nothing helped. Just as one might sometimes find a sand island in the middle of the river, with four paths on it, I have also attained this human body while floating in the river of birth and death. From there one can either find a place of permanent peace or one can go back floating in the river. Similarly in this river of birth and death there is the demigod-body which is attained through virtuous acts performed in the human body with its insatiable desires, animal bodies like that of a pig, that are attained through sin, and the human body which is attained through a mixture of sin and virtue, and finally liberation, which is attained through the practise of jñāna."

7.14.11 - "Even one's wife should be offered for the reception of guests" - there have been quite some naughty interpretations of this verse but this is not what the ācāryas comment on it. Śrīdhara Swāmī warns - na tv anyathā mantavyaḥ (“One should not think otherwise”), and this is quoted by Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda in turn.

There is the story that when Bilvamangal was a travelling sādhu he came to the house of a gṛhastha and asked the wife of the gṛhastha in charity. When the gṛhastha complied Bilvamangal, by that time becoming repentant, asked the lady's hairpin and jabbed his own eyes out, so he would never be visually attracted to women again. Neither of these things should be done - either asking a wife in charity or jabbing one's eyes out. There are unscrupulous sādhus who create a lot of offspring in the wombs of other men’s wives, in full knowledge of their husbands, who consider it an honor to thus serve a sādhu. In this commentary it is clear that this is not an authorized sādhu sevā. Also poking one's eyes out to avoid attraction is quite useless, as the desires are not removed from the heart in this way. King Dhṛtaraṣṭra was born blind, yet he found his way to Queen Gāndhārī still - they had 100 children.

7.14.39 - tretādiṣu harer arcā - Deity worship was introduced in Treta Yuga. Jīva Goswāmī comments on this in Bhakti Sandarbha [290]: pratimā svalpa-buddhīnām ity atra ca alpa-buddhīnām apīty arthaḥ - The śāstras sometimes say that the deity is for the less intelligent, but this is mean 'even for the less intelligent' nṛsiṁha-purānādau brahmāmbarīṣādīnām api tat-pūjā-śravaṇāt - "Because in Nṛsiṁha Purāṇa and other śāstras it is heard that even Brahmā and Ambarīṣa worshiped deities." In our sampradāya deity-worship is not considered only for the less intelligent.

7.15.25 — etat sarvaṁ gurau bhaktyā puruṣo hyanjasā jayet - This is one of the major statements in the Bhāgavat - 'all anarthas, that can be conquered in the above ways in the above verses, can be easily conquered all at once by devotion to the Guru." Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda’s tika - atra kāmādi jayo jñānināṁ gurubhakter anusaṁhitaṁ phalaṁ śuddha bhaktānāṁ tvānuṣaṅgikam iti viśeṣo draṣṭavyaḥ. “For the jñānīs, victory over lust is the main result of guru bhakti, for the pure devotees it is a side effect.” Guru bhakti is of course the center piece of Gauḍīya Bhakti, aiming at the achievement of prema.

7.15.26 - In his verse-translation Bhānu Swāmī calls the Guru a 'spiritual expansion of the Lord' - this, however, is diametrically opposed to the word sākṣād in the text and the commentary, which says: sākṣād bhagavatīti bhagavad aṁśa-buddhir api gurau na kāryeti bhāvaḥ. yad vā upāsye bhagavatyeva sākṣād vidyamāne martyā’sad dhīḥ martya iti durbuddhis tasya śrutaṁ bhagavan mantrādikaṁ śāstrādikaṁ śravaṇa mananādikaṁ ca vyartham ityarthaḥ «Sākṣād Bhagavān means one should not even see the Guru as a particle of God, but as God Himself. It is foolish if one sees God, who is directly present (in the form of the Guru) as a mortal. If a fool thinks the Guru is an ordinary mortal not only his learning, but also his practise of his mantra, his hearing and his meditation on the Lord are all in vain. »

7.15.27 - Śrīdhara Swāmī comments on this verse: lokasya naro’sāv iti buddhir bhrāntir ity arthaḥ 'It is only the mistake of the people's intelligence that 'he (the Guru) is a human being'.
Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda confirms this more elaborately in his own comment: nanu guroḥ pitṛ putrādayaḥ prativeśinaś ca taṁ naram eva manyante katham eka evāyaṁ śiṣyas taṁ parameśvaraṁ manyante? ata āha – eṣa iti bhagavān yadunandano raghunandano vā vai niścitam eva pradhāna puruṣayor īśvaraḥ yaṁ lokas tad avatāra kālotpanno janaḥ naraṁ manyate tena kiṁ sa naro bhavati? api tu parameśvara evetyevaṁ guror apīti bhāvaḥ “If his parents, children and neighbors consider the Guru to be a human being then how can one disciple consider him to be the supreme controller (parameśvara)? To this it is said: When the master of the material nature and the living beings descends as Yadunandana (Kṛṣṇa) or Raghunandana (Rāma) and people who meet Him while He is down here on earth, take Him to be a human being, does that mean that He is? He is certainly the supreme controller, and so is the Guru.”

7.15.47 - Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda’s ṭīkā: nanu viṣaya-bhogo’pi śāstreṇa vihito na tu kevalaṁ niṣiddha eva – “Even sense enjoyment is enjoined in śāstra - it is not merely forbidden.” satyam adhikāri-bhedāt phala-bhedāc ca tatra vyavasthā draṣṭavyety āha - "Truly it is arranged [enjoined] according to eligibility and its results."

gṛhastha āśram is like a pedestrian refuge on the highway - if there would be no such refuge a broken down car would be smashed by other approaching cars. There must be one ashram where there is no pressure of renunciation on the sādhaka, where he/she can work on elevation while at the same time catering to the urges of the senses. adhikārī bheda, 'eligibility', here means that the license is given for those who are really totally unable to control their senses, yet also want to make progress in spiritual life. This is also encouraging in grass-roots preaching, that anyone in any stage of life or culture can take to bhakti immediately. Though a devotee should of course follow Vaiṣṇava principles, still purity is not a prerequisite for the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa - anyone who has a heart for it can participate. saj-jana, durjana, paṅgu, jaḍa, andha-gaṇa prema-bonyāya ḍubāila jagatera jana (CC Adi 7.26) 'The good, the bad, the lame, the dull and the blind - all people of the world were inundated by the flood of prema.' Sin is not an obstacle, but aparādha is - māyāvādī karma niṣṭha kutarkika gaṇa ninduk pāṣāṇḍī joto poruwa adham (29-30) 'Illusionists, those fixed in fruitive work, false logicians, critics, atheists and fallen bookworms could not be touched by the flood of prema'. We have seen that often with over-intelligent ex-devotees, who eventually feel they are smarter than śāstra and the ācāryas. Also, the above license for sense enjoyment should also not be seen as making fallen devotees equal to devotees in good standing. After uplifting and encouraging fallen devotees in Bhagavad Gītā (9.30-32, api cet sudurācāro, kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā and māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya) Kṛṣṇa does acknowledge that the pure devotees are in an advantage - kiṁ punar brāhmaṇā puṇya bhakta rājārṣayas tathā - 'What to speak of the brahmins, the pious, the devotees and the saintly kings?' (Bhagavad Gītā 9.33)

Two jewel-like verses

These are two jewel-like verses I read on the internet in recent days -

ekaḥ prajāyate jantur eka eva pralīyate
eko'nubhuṅkte sukṛtam eka eva ca duṣkṛtam

"One is born alone, one dies alone.
One enjoys one's good karma alone and one suffers one's bad karma alone."

(Manu Samhita 4.240, recently quoted in 'Practical Sanskrit')

However much one may love one's child or spouse or friend, one must helplessly watch them suffer diseases without being able to take them over from them. However desperately we want to keep our beloved Guru, friend or parent with us, we must helplessly watch them leave their bodies right in front of us.

Another jewel-like verse recently read on the web (The Enquirer):

likhita granthera yadi kori anuvāda
tabe se granthera artha pāiye āsvāda

(Caitanya Caritāmṛta, ādi līlā 17.311)

"If I repeat (translate) scriptures that were already written, I will relish the meaning of these scriptures."

Sadly I did not notice this verse earlier, in the 1980s and 90s, when I was translating all these amazing and marvellous scriptures, but yes it is a fact - translation work is like a microscope in that we get deep realizations about what is being written there - and it is also like a press that squeezes the juice out of the sugarcane, allowing us to relish the transcendental nectar-juice of it as well. Another interesting thing about this verse is that it shows the function of Caitanya Caritāmṛta as a Bengali summary of all the Goswamis' books, of which Kṛṣṇadas Kavirāja was the mere broadcaster.

Both verses are added to the file 'Wisdoms' on my website madangopal.com

Śrīmad Bhāgavat, Canto 7, part 2

7.9.46  vārtā bhavantyuta na vātra tu dambhikānām – ‘All kinds of penance and pious conduct can be just a means of livelihood for hypocrites’. Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda comments: te tu prāyaśo’jitendriyāṇām indriya-bhogāyārthārthaṁ vikrīṇatāṁ vārtā jīvanopāyā bhavanti. dāmbhikānāṁ tu vārtā api bhavanti vā na vā. dambhasyāniyata-phalatvāt - "All the different practises of tapasya mentioned in this verse can be used as means of livelihood and even sense enjoyment for those with uncontrolled senses. It is not so, though, that all tapasvis will become such imposters."

It is poignant to see that such abuse took place even thousands of years ago, when the Bhāgavat was written. Especially in India, where people have very simple faith, it is easy to mislead them by cheaply putting some beads on, growing a beard and dressing in some fantastic outfit to be special and maintain one's family with their donations.

7.9.49 viramanti śabdāt – “Knowing Kṛṣṇa's glories are endless, the wise cease Vedic studies.” Śrīdhara Swāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda quote the Upaniṣads - taj jñānaṁ tvad-bhaktyaiva bhaven, na tu śāstrādhyayana-buddhi-kauśalādibhir ity āha—neti  "Such knowledge is attained through bhakti, not through scriptural study nor through intellectual cleverness." Śruti says kim-arthā vayam adhyeṣyāmahe kim-arthā vayaṁ yakṣyāmahe "For what reason will we understand and what meaning shall we speak?" and nānudhyāyed bahūn śabdān vāco-viglāpanaṁ hi tad (Bṛhad Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad) "Do not contemplate many words, it gives merely fatigue from speaking."

This (as well as verse 46) could come straight out of a sermon by Sādhu Bābā. One must be cautious, though, not to stop reading śāstra in an immature stage, it will lead to bewilderment and downfall, as Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda points out in his ṭīkā of Bhagavad Gītā 2.52.

7.9.52 Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda writes in his ṭīkā: tena prahlāda-buddhi-viṣayī-kṛtās tāt-kālikā jīvā nistīrṇā eva, jīvānām ānantyāt tad anyair eva jīvais tad-anantaraṁ brahmāṇḍam apūrīti jñeyam "The jīvas of whom Prahlada was thinking would be liberated, but since there is no end to the number of jivas, afterwards the universe would be full of them still anyway." pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate [Iśopaniṣad] - "If you subtract the full from the full, what remains is the full."

7.10.5  na svāmī bhṛtyataḥ svāmyam icchan yo rāti cāśiṣaḥ - This refers to big Gurus who flatter powerful politicians and rich merchants to secure their power and wealth for themselves.

7.10.13 Bhānu Swāmī writes an apt footnote here to the last sentence of Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's ṭīkā where he says: evaṁ prahlādasyāṁśena sādhana-siddhatvaṁ nitya-siddhatvaṁ ca nāradādivaj jñeyam – “Like Nārada, Prahlāda is partly sādhana siddha and partly nitya siddha.” Bhānu Swāmī says: 'They are actually nitya siddha, but they also take forms of sādhana siddhas during the Lord's pastimes'. I would add to that that this also goes for the six Goswāmīs - they acted as sādhakas in Puri, Bengal and Braja but are actually nitya siddha mañjarīs.

7.10.30  varaṁ krūra nisargāṇām ahīnām amṛtaṁ yathā - Do not give nectar to a demon, it is like giving milk to a snake - it just increases their venom. It is like throwing pearls before swine.

7.10.39 The transformation from worms to wasp due to absorption in enmity does not take place in the same lifetime, it is shown by the word ante, it happens at the end of life.

7.11.13 – saṁskāra mantravanto garbhādhānādayo yasmin sa dvijaḥ. vichinna saṁskāro dvijabandhur ityarthaḥ. ajo brahmā yaṁ jagādeti brahma sṛṣṭyārambhata eva pravṛttāyāṁ dvija jātau viśuddha mātā pitṛkaṁ janmaiva mukhyalakṣaṇam ityarthaḥ. A person who performs saṁskāras, rituals like garbhādhāna with mantras, is called a dvija. A person with interrupted saṁskāras is called a friend of the dvijas. This was practised from the moment Brahmā created the world. The main characteristic of the twice born caste is birth from a pure mother and father.

7.11.33-34 These are the verses about extinguishing the fire of lust by throwing too much ghee on it (over-indulgence). Though I always thought these verses apply to the shudra race, this is not mentioned either in the ṭīkās or in the preceding ślokas. Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda mentions Yayāti and Saubhari as examples in his comments, neither whom were śūdras: "Because it is impossible for a person with excessive material desires to give them up at once, the śāstras will allow him to enjoy with an honest heart rather than forbid the enjoyment altogether. Eventually then detachment will take place. Examples are Yayāti and Saubharī. After much cultivation sometimes a field is no longer suitable for germinating seeds, which may be destroyed by the acidic soil. The heart in which desire abides in abundance as various impressions, gradually becomes detached. A fire is not extinguished by sprinkling drops of ghee on it but by pouring a huge amount of ghee on it. Similarly desire is extinguished by a huge amount of indulgence."

7.11.35 — kiṁ ca yasya puṁso varṇābhivyañjakaṁ yallakṣaṇaṁ varṇaṁ brāhmaṇādi jātiṁ abhivyañjayati yattacca sāmānyato vihitam eva śama-damādikaṁ na tu viśeṣato vihitam sandhyopāstādikaṁ yadyanyatra jātyantare'pi dṛśyeta tajjātyantaram api tenaiva brāhmaṇādi śabdenaiva vinirdiśet iti brāhmaṇādi tulyādaraṁ lakṣayati. na ca para dharma bhayāvahaḥ iti vācyam. śama-damādīnāṁ para dharmatrābhāvād iti bhāvaḥ. “If a man designated by a particular varṇa shows the qualities of another varṇa, he should be classified according to that other varṇa and he should be called by that name such as brāhmaṇa. What is meant by showing qualities is showing general qualities like control of the senses and the mind, not particular actions like performing sandhya-rites. This means he should be given respect like a brāhmaṇa. One should not say that performing another’s dharma is dangerous [as in Bhagavad Gītā 3.35], since attaining qualities like control of the mind and senses is not another’s dharma.” This is in line with Jīva Goswāmī’s commentary on Śrīmad Bhāgavat 3.33.6 in which he says that the dog-eater who chants the name of the Lord is to be given respect but not that he can literally perform Vedic sacrifices without first being born as a Brahmin. Here too Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda focuses on pious qualities like control of the mind and senses, not on non-brāhmins’ adhikāra for performing Vedic sacrifices.”

7.12.11 This verse does not mean that the gṛhastha needs permission from the Guru to make a child. The words guru vṛtti do not mean ‘permission from Guru’. guru vṛttir vikalpena means ‘the service of the Guru is optional for the gṛhastha, who is ṛtu-gāmī, approaching the wife in her season. At that time Guru service is not possible. The context of the sentence is the brahmacārī’s duty of serving the Guru, which may not be possible for the gṛhastha, who usually does not live with the Guru. Ācārya Vīra-Rāghava comments: gurvī vṛttir gurvānuvṛttiḥ strī-saṅga rāhityādi rūpā brahmacarya vṛttiḥ gṛhasthasya tu vikalpena kadācid bhavet kadācin na syāt. kadā na bhavet? ....ṛtu-gāmina iti. ṛtu gāmitvād guru vṛtti vikalpa iti bhāvaḥ. ṛtu-kāleṣu guru vṛttir nāstīti ca bhāvaḥ. asyā vṛttir duṣkaratvābhiprāyeṇa gurviti viśeṣaṇam upāttam. “The brahmacārī does not associate with women, so he can constantly serve the Guru, but that is not so for the gṛhastha, who can sometimes do and sometimes not do this service. When can he not do? .... When he approaches his wife in the season. Then serving the Guru becomes an option. In the seasonal time the Guru is not served, for it will be difficult to accomplish.” Bhānu Swāmī translates Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's tika as 'the person decides when he will have children or not'.

7.13.7 Madhvācārya comments: na vyākhyāyopajīveta - A sannyāsī should not make a living off explaining śāstra. Sridhara Swami says jalpa-vitaṇḍādi niṣṭhā 'Fixed in talking and arguing frivolously'. Also it applies to prestigious debates - one wants to establish one's own prestige by winning so many philosophical debates. Rūpa Goswāmī, when challenged by Vallabha Bhaṭṭa, readily admitted, out of humility and because he wanted to do his service in peace - that his Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu needed editing.

7.13.8 The sannyāsī should not take disciples out of greed or by force, not should he build temples and āśrams. If he manages a building, how can he be a wanderer [parivrājaka, as mentioned in 7.13.1]? na vyākhyām upayuñjīta [do not undertake scriptural explanations] could, in the modern days, be interpreted as 'not publishing books', as in the days of the Bhāgavat there were no printing presses yet. granthān naivābhyased bahūn - He should not study too many scriptures. Mahāprabhu was a big scholar when He was a gṛhastha, but there is no description of Him studying after taking sannyāsa. Canakya Paṇḍit reminds us that life is short and too much time is lost in intellectual pursuit – ananta śāstraṁ bahulaś ca vidyā svalpaś ca kālo bahu vighnatā ca.

7.13.21 - apavarga means here causeless devotion to Bhagavan, not liberation that destroys devotion.

Śrīmad Bhāgavat 7th canto, part 1

Continuing the Bhāgavat-commentaries (mostly by Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda) we now arrive at the seventh canto -

7.1.26 One should not criticize the Lord in a way that hurts Him. It will bring the critic in a bad situation, as it is said in Śrīmad Bhāgavat [10.74.40] ‘If after hearing criticism of the Lord or His devotee, one does not leave, one falls from one’s piety.’ There are two types of criticism - favorable and unfavorable. Favorable criticism is a transformation of prema, as in Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.47.17 - "Like a hunter, He cruelly shot the king of the monkeys with arrows. Because He was conquered by a woman, He disfigured another woman who came to Him with lusty desires. And even after consuming the gifts of Bali Mahārāja, He bound him up with ropes as if he were a crow. So let us give up all friendship with this dark-complexioned boy, even if we cannot give up talking about Him."
This is a bud of light from the crest jewel of prema (puruṣārtha cūḍāmaṇi marīci mañjarīva), not attained by anyone except the gopīs. Unfavorable criticism is of two types - that which arises from absorption in the Lord and that which does not arise from absorption in the Lord. The first type takes place in Śiśupāla. The bad karma created by his criticism was destroyed immediately by his absorption in the Lord and created a neutral condition and qualification for vaidhi bhakti. This does not hurt the Lord and it destroys the sin of the critic [due to his absorption] .......one should see the Lord according to one's own emotions. By attaining sāyujya the demons who hate the Lord realize themselves as non-different from Him. One statement can have a different meaning according to the person in question. Of course a devotee cannot be advised to be absorbed in the Lord in enmity, as it is said one should accept favorable things to bhakti and reject unfavorable things. Absorption in fear is like that of the gopīs, in their anxious extra-marital affair with Kṛṣṇa, and without fear is like that of Rukmiṇī and the other wives of Kṛṣṇa, who could love Him openly.
7.1.28-29 - Just as the grassworm attains the form of his besieger the bee through absorption in hatred, Sisupala and other demons also attained sārūpya, the same form as Kṛṣṇa  by their hateful meditation on Him. This meditation is still that purifying to bestow such an effect.
7.1.46 — yathā vahninā kanakasya mālinyam eva hanyate na tu kanakaṁ tathaiva jaya vijayor bāhya mālinyāvaraṇayor naṣṭayoḥ satoḥ jaya vijayāveva tejaḥ puñjākārau śrī kṛṣṇaṁ praviṣṭau janair dṛṣṭāviti bhāvaḥ - Just as fire destroys the impurity of gold but not the gold itself, similarly Jaya and Vijaya’s external contaminated covering was destroyed when they entered into the powerful form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. All people could see that.
7.4.38 - Just as a one-year old child is always embraced by the parents, Prahlād was always embraced by the Lord during all his activities - eating, sleeping etc.
7.4.42 - Prahlād was a very powerful devotee - he was not contaminated by the bad association at school, though he was unable to convert his demoniac father himself.
7.5.5 - anyathā vanaṁ gato’pi gṛham andha-kūpam - "One can still fall in the blind well of household life even after having retired into the forest." One must be sure to be ready to live in a holy place fulltime. If one retires there with many material desires one will get into scandal after scandal there.
7.5.23 – This is the famous verse śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ, about the nine-fold process of bhakti which, in the next verse, is said to be for all puṁsaḥ. Normaly puṁ means man, but here Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda comments: puṁ śabdasya jīva mātra vācakatvāt striyāpi. “The word puṁ means all living entities, also women.”
7.5.30- Prahlāda told Hiraṇyakaśipu – “For you Kṛṣṇa is false, Kṛṣṇa consciousness will never arise in persons like you. It will not come from you, nor from your Guru nor a combination of both. Factually you did not get the shower of footdust of the great souls."
Even Prahlāda's own great devotional influence could not save Hiraṇyakaśipu. punaḥ punaś carvita carvanānāṁ – chewing the chewd, wet stool, dry stool – Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda asks a rhetorical question here - “but gṛhasthas should go to swarga [heaven] sometimes?” yeṣāṁ teṣāṁ veśyālayaḥ svargo vā tulya – “The brothel or heaven, it's all the same....”
7.6.1 – iha bhārata bhūmau. iha means India. nanu tān yauvanādāvapi kṛtvā kṛtārthībhavati tatrāha prājña iti. yadi kaumārānte mṛtyuḥ syāt tarhiḥ kiṁ bhaved iti prakṛṣṭa jñānavān. The wisest man will consider: Even by practicing sādhana in youth one can attain perfection - what if I die after my childhood? nanu tatra kā cintā janmāntaraṁ tu bhāvi tatraiva bhakti kāryeti. tatrāha durlabhaṁ mānuṣāṁ janma tad api bhāgyāllabdham apyadhruvaṁ adya vartamānatve’pi tasya śvaḥ sthitau niścayābhāvāt. [One could argue] "Why should we worry? We can do bhakti in the next life also!" To this it is said: "Human life is rare, and attained by good luck. It is also uncertain. Nothing is certain, even in the present." nanu tarhi tāvan mātra kālena kuto bhaktisiddhas tatrāha arthadaṁ muhūrta mātra vyāpi bhaktimatām api khaṭvāṅgādīnāṁ siddhi darśanāt. [One could argue] "How can bhakti siddhi be attained in this time?" To this it is said arthadaṁ, in just a moment one can become devoted, instant siddhi is seen in Khaṭvanga and others.
7.7.29 - Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda comments: guroḥ śuśrūṣayā snapana saṁvāhanādikayā – “The word śuśrūṣā means bathing and massaging the Guru, etc.” (practical services)”.
7.7.33 - bhaktir īśvare vāsudeve bhagavati yayā samlabhyate ratiḥ – “By bhakti one attains (samlabhyate) rati (love or bhāva)”, another proof that prema is not dormant within the heart.
7.9.2 - Though Lakṣmī had seen Narasiṁha in the previous kalpa and He eternally resides in Vaikuṇṭha, she was still astonished due to the agency of the līlā śakti (playful potency), so that the rasa of adbhuta (wonder) could be created around Narasiṁha.
7.9.14 - Parents cannot always protect a child, often it is seen that children suffer despite their being well protected by the parents. It is also seen that parents abuse their children, like Ajigarta who sold his son Śūnaśepa as a human sacrifice. Medicine does not always protect a sick person, because even persons who take medicine still have to die. A boat does not protect persons from drowning, because boats also sink (like the 'unsinkable' Titanic, which sunk even on its maiden voyage, killing 1,500 passengers). Without you (Nrsiṁha) no remedy for suffering is successful.”
7.9.38 - (In Kali-yuga) You are covered because externally You show a different form and mood, later this conclusion will be explained [in 11.5.31-32, hinting at the avatāra of Śrīman Mahāprabhu]
7.9.40 - Prahlāda says here that his genitals are pulling him towards women, but how can a 5-year old feel like that? It seems clear that the Bhāgavat sometimes makes more moral statements than historical ones. In other words, the ācāryas want to teach something and so put such words into the mouth of an infant.
7.9.44 - Though this verse is sometimes quoted to criticize ‘bhajanānandī Vaiṣṇavas’ for being ‘selfish and only engaged for their own liberation’ this verse clearly speaks about munayo, munis of the Himālaya, yogīs and so, not rāgānuga bhaktas doing bhajan at Rādhākuṇḍa. Any type of bhakti is to be done for Kṛṣṇa's pleasure, and either bhajan or preaching can be done for either Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure or for lābha pūjā pratiṣṭhā (profit, adoration and distinction)
7.9.45 - This the famous verse about scratching an itch. Normally scratching an itching spot should solve the itching, but what is meant here is making matters worse by trying to solve them, like trying to satisfy lust by giving in to it.

This was the first of a three-part synopsis of the 7th canto Bhagavat.

Completion of 6th Canto Bhāgavata commentaries

This is the completion of the blogs about the comments on the 6th Canto Bhāgavat, the last installment of which was posted on December 6, 2010 -

6.9.9 - śaśvat kāma varenāṁhas turīyaṁ jagṛhuḥ striyaḥ
rajo-rupeṇa tāsvaṁho māsi māsi pradṛsyate 

"Women took a fourth part of Indra's sin of slaying a brahmin by accepting the reaction of their monthly unease. In return they received a boon of constant sexual capacity."

6.9.21 - "Anyone who tries to look for shelter in anyone else but the Lord is like a fool who tries to cross the ocean by holding on to the tail of a dog."

Śrī Jiva quotes Bhāgavat 8.24.49 in his ṭīkā:

na yat-prasādāyuta-bhāga-leśam

anye ca devā guravo janāḥ svayam 

kartuṁ sametāḥ prabhavanti puṁsas

tam īśvaraṁ vai śaraṇaṁ prapadye 

"No gods, gurus (mundane superiors, not the Sat Guru), or ordinary persons can give even minute shelter compared to the Supreme Controller. "

As well as the Mahābhārata -

yas tu viṣṇuṁ parityajya mohād anyam upāsate

sa hema-rāśim utsṛjya pāṁśu-rāśiṁ jighṛkṣati 

"Anyone so bewildered as to give up the worship of Viṣṇu for any other god, is like one giving up a heap of gold for a handful of dust."

Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda comments: taṁ vinā aparaṁ devatāntaraṁ karma-yogaṁ jñāna-yogam apara-yogaṁ vā śaraṇārthaṁ bāliśo mahā-mūrkha evopasarpati, na tu vijñaḥ - "A person who takes shelter of other gods, karma yoga, jñāna yoga or other yogas is a big fool, not a wise man." yathā śunaḥ pucchena sindhum atitartum icchati, sa śvā eva sindhuṁ tartuṁ na śaknoti, kim uta tat-puccha-grāhī ! "He is like someone trying to cross the ocean by holding on to the tail of a dog. The dog cannot even cross the ocean himself, let alone someone who holds on to its tail." pratyuta sva-puccha-grāhiṇaṁ sa śvā eva dṛṣṭvā prathamaṁ samudra-madhye kṣipati, paścāt svayam api nimajjatīti bhāvaḥ "The dog will first shake off the person who holds on to its tail and then drown himself too."

6.11.22 - According to Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda here Vṛtrāsura sticks up his nose against Indra, saying that although Indra may be wealthier than him, it is not a sign of the Lord's mercy. Wealth causes a lot of agitation due to envy which will disturb one's bhajan. It connects to Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.88.8, which states that losing one's wealth is a sign of Kṛṣṇa's mercy.

6.11.24 - This verse is very famous. Vṛtrāsura saying 'Let me again be a devotee' refers to his previous birth, when he was a devotee named Citraketu. He wants to get out of his demon-body and return to a devotee-body. It does not mean that he fell down from the spiritual world due to envy of Kṛṣṇa and wants to return there. The whole story of Indra and Vṛtra also shows that mundane piety [Indra] is really inferior to a demon being a devotee. Often we see persons born in very low families, including foreigners [non-Indians] displaying much more purity, humility and integrity than born devotees or naturally pious people [like some Indian brahmins and even sādhus].

6.11.26 - Fearing owls and afflicted by hunger, baby-birds long to see their mother at every moment. In the same way the Lord will protect the devotees from deprivation and enemies. The calves bound up at home desire the milk from the mother cow, but they do not desire to serve the mother. Not satisfied with this example he gives another example. A wife whose husband has gone for a long journey is morose out of separation. The wife wants to serve her husband to please her and wants to please her own senses by relishing his beauty and sweetness, his qualities, actions and joking, so I will also serve You and You will satisfy me. The difference is however that the wife pleases the husband with dāsya [service], sakhya [friendship] and śṛṅgāra rasa [erotic love], whereas I only desire to serve You [dāsya].

6.15.4 - "Oh king, just as grains appear or do not appear from seeds, children appear or do not appear from fathers impelled by māyā."

The Bhāgavat says [3.31.1] karmanā daiva netrena jantur dehopapattaye - the jīva gets a body due to its karma and the decisions of Fate. So we see illicit relationships, conducted by vow-breaking sādhus or adulterous gṛhasthas, with the use of contraceptives, resulting into [unwanted] pregnancies and perfectly decent marriages, where contraceptives are taboo, still remain childless. Seed alone is not enough to fertilize a woman - the Lord must want a certain soul to be born from a certain couple, even if that may be an illicit couple. Some claim that each sperm cell of a man [a man releases an estimated 400,000,000 of them in each ejaculation] contains a soul and that an ejaculation thus is equal to the genocide of all of Europe or North America, but this is clearly not so, according to the above statements of the Bhāgavata. dhānā means roasted grains and a woman. Just as grain does not arise from roasted grains, children do not arise from those without the karma for having sons.

6.16.39 kāma-dhiyas tvayi racitā na parama rohanti yathā karambha-bījāni
jñānātmany aguṇamaye guṇa-gaṇato 'sya dvandva-jālāni

“Oh Lord! Desires for material pleasure, directed to you, who are composed of spiritual knowledge and are different from the material guṇas, do not produce further material bodies, just as roasted seeds do not grow.  The networks of duality causing rebirth arise from the material guṇas.”

Āśā-vāṇī – words of hope. If one conceives a Kṛṣṇa-conscious child, even with obvious lusty desires, or one takes prasāda with a desire to enjoy the tongue, still one does not take birth again in the material world.”

6.18.33-34 - The husband is the supreme object of worship for a woman as the representative of the Lord." Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's ṭīkā:

"The husband is a jīva, so how can he be the Lord? The Lord Vāsudeva is the presiding deity of the citta and manasa is worshipped by karma yogīs by objects indicating the devatās, like Indra holding the thunderbolt and different other images, with utterances like indrāya svāhā and agnaye svāhā - women similarly worship the Lord in the form of their husband."

6.19.5 - Though the verse says that the Lord is fully endowed with compassion, fortune, glory, majesty, virility and other excellences, Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda makes the following lovely commentary:
"By your kṛpā śakti you wait for the Tulasī-leaf offered by the devotee, thus You are not independent. You ask the devotee 'Please give Me something to eat because I am hungry today" thus You are not fulfilled in desires. You say to a devotee in a dream "My house and garden are worn out, where will I play?" thus You are bereft of opulence. Though You have all yoga siddhis like aṇimā, bound by the ropes of prema of the devotee, You cannot go anywhere." Bhānu Swāmī translates this verse as 'You mercy is hiding" which is not in the BBT translation, nor in the Gita Press translation.

Advaita Prakāśa and Caitanya Bhāgavat

Discussion on April 4, 2011

Bhakta: “Some say Advaita Prakash was written only in the 19th century?”

Advaitadas: "The fact that Advaita Prakāśa was found in a library in 1896 does not mean it was written then. There were no printing presses before the British came and books were copied by hand, but that does not mean the texts did not exist before. The hand-copying could indeed have resulted into interpolation, it is hard to verify. Caitanya Caritāmṛta contains material from Advaita Prakāśa because Caitanya Caritāmṛta is anyway a collection of older works, not an original work. It is like an anthology of Gaur līlā and Kṛṣṇa tattva. It is clearly written in the colofon of the Advaita Prakāśa that is written in 1568, (caudda śata navati śakābda) 40 years before the Caitanya Caritāmṛta."

Bhakta: "Then how did Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī get the information from the Advaita Prakāśa in Rādhākuṇḍa?"

Advaitadas: “He might have taken the Advaita Prakāśa with him when he first came to Vraja, or others may have brought it to Rādhākund from Bengal, on Kṛṣṇadās Kaviraj Goswami's request. You see, we were not there and both opponents and proponents of the Advaita Prakāśa can only guess what happened back then."

Bhakta - 'Scholars say there was a development of theology about Mahāprabhu, that first He was seen as Lord Nārāyan by Caitanya Bhāgavat, but later another conception was developed that He was Kṛṣṇa accepting the mood of Rādhā."

Advaitadas: "That is a typically mundane, external vision. Svarūpa Dāmodara was a personal associate of Śrīman Mahāprabhu and he wrote a korchā, which means diary. Diaries are usually written on the spot and not afterwards, so most probably he wrote it during Mahāprabhu's time, and in the diary he wrote rādhā bhāva dyuti subalitaṁ naumi kṛṣṇa svarūpam, that Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa accepting the feelings of Rādhā. The same scholars say that Caitanya Bhāgavat was written in the 1540s, which is at least a decade after the end of Mahāprabhu's pastimes, probably after Svarūpa Dāmodara established Mahāprabhu as Kṛṣṇa accepting the mood of Rādhā. Also to write such a large book must have taken Vṛndāvan Dās Thākur years. So already historically there is no question of a development. Spiritually speaking of course, anyway, any svarūpa or form of the Lord, along with its characteristics, is timeless and eternal."

Bhakta: "If the conception of Svarūpa Dāmodara is older than the aiśvarya-conception of Vṛndāvan Dās Thākur, then why could Svarūpa Dāmodara's school not convince the Vṛndāvan Dās Thākur-school of that?"

Advaitadas: "Even supposing that they contacted each other in the pre-telephone, pre-internet era, the two conceptions are eternal. There is a lengthy discussion between Śrīvāsa Paṇḍit and Svarūpa Dāmodara in Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā Chapter 14, in which Śrīvāsa defended the aiśvarya-conception and Svarūpa Dāmodara defended the mādhurya but there was no conversion on either side. the debate was not won by either side because both conceptions and sthāyi bhāvas are eternal. Non-devotee scholars cannot grasp that. bodhayanta parasparam [Gītā 10.9] - satsanga leads to mutual enlightenment."

Accidental ascension and female Govardhana

To the spiritual sky by accident?

Bhakta: "In śāstra there are so many quotes giving evidence that by worshiping śilās or chanting the holy name at the last moment of life, one will immediately go to the spiritual world after death, like śālagrāma śilā vinur hatyā koṭi vināśanam "Any person who offers a Tulasī-leaf while worshiping the Śālagrām Śīlā gets salvation and can stay in Vaikuṇṭha", or from Śrīmad Bhāgavat 12.3.44 :"Terrified, about to die, a man collapses on his bed. Although his voice is faltering and HE IS HARDLY conscious of what he is saying, if he utters the holy name of the Supreme Lord he can be freed from the reaction of his fruitive work and achieve the supreme destination". On the other hand Bhagavad Gītā and other śāstras say that the destination ones will achieve depends of the state of consciousness at the time of death, as in Bhagavad Gītā 8.5 and 8.6.
So:
1) How to harmonize those "apparent" contradictions.
2) Just if someone does not reach a pure consciousness during his life, he will get it instantly in the last moment of life and reach the Spiritual world, just by worshipping a Śilā with Tulasī-leaves or pronouncing the holy name? This is very amazing.
I appreciate so much your answers.
Radhe Radhe!!

Advaitadas-
"There are different ways and reasons to attain the spiritual world - one is called sukhaisvaryottara, prompted by a desire to have happiness and luxury there, and the other is prema sevottara, to love and serve the Lord. Please see Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.56 : sukhaiśvaryottarā seyaṁ prema-sevottarety api, sālokyādir dvidhā tatra nādyā sevā-juṣaṁ matā. In his commentary Jīva Goswāmī quotes Śrīmad Bhāgavat 3.29.13, wherein Kapila-deva says that a pure devotee does not accept any kind of liberation, even if the Lord offers them, if they are not accompanied by devotional service (vinā mat sevanaṁ janaḥ).

So it is possible to ascend to the spiritual sky without pure devotional service. The examples you quoted refer either to the sukhaiśvaryottara motivation-stage or to Śvetadwīpa, a realm in the upper echelon of the mundane cosmos, where one can dwell temporarily due to some great deed or event. So the statements in śāstra that anyone who dies in the holy dhāma attains Hari-loka are true but it does not necessarily mean in a pure devotional relationship with the Lord. In his writings, Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda says that the prema sevottara-devotees are elevated to Kṛṣṇa's prakaṭ līlā (manifest pastimes on earth) for further training."

Blue cows at Mount Govardhan

Govardhana female?

Bhakta: "Rādhe Rādhe! Have you ever heard about the conception that Mount Govardhan belongs to śakti-tattva? It was told to me by one bhakta during our discussion of worship of Govardhan-śilās as Śrīmatī Rādhikā. Personally, I do think that Giri Govardhan is śaktimān and His ādi śakti is always with Him. Thank you in advance,
dāso'smi"

Advaitadas:
To my knowledge, Girirāj is neither śakti tattva nor Śrīmatī Rādhikā -

1. In Sanskrit, Govardhan is a male name, not a female name.
2. I know of no evidence in any śāstra for Him being Rādhikā or Śakti.
3. Girirāj is called Kṛṣṇa's kalevara [body] by Śrīman Mahāprabhu [Caitanya Caritāmṛta Antya 6]
4. Kṛṣṇa said 'śailo'smi' - I am the mountain [Govardhan] in Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.24
5. The gopīs call Girirāja Haridāsa Varya, not Hari Dāsī varya, in Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.21.18
The Ādi Śakti with Govardhan is the Guñjā Mālā [Caitanya Caritāmṛta Antya 6]

Bhakta: Sometimes this verse is quoted to prove Govardhan is female:

manasaḥ prakṛter jāto girir govardhano mahān
divyaṁ vṛndāvanaṁ dṛṣṭvā paramānandam āpa saḥ

“The magnificent Govardhana mountain appeared from Rādhikā’s mind. Govardhana became supremely blissful upon seeing effulgent Vṛndāvana” (Bhaviṣya Purāṇa, pratisarga 3.25.165).

The word manasaḥ (“from the mind”) can also mean “from the heart.” Some senior Vaiṣṇavas say that this verse of Bhaviṣya Purāṇa proves that Govardhana has the svarūpa of a sakhī also."

Advaitadas: "The verse just says that Govardhan emanates from the mind of prakṛti, which means 'nature'. Śrī Rādhikā is not mentioned in this verse, which, I heard, can also not be found in any library-edition of the Bhavisya Purana. Most probably it was interpolated a few centuries ago, but even if it wasn't, it says nothing about Govardhan being female, a sakhī or Śrī Rādhikā. I know of no other reference either in śāstra that Govardhan is female or a sakhī. Among Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas there is this popular slogan:

āmār īsvarī hon vṛndāvaneśvarī
tār prānanāth boli bhaji giridhārī

'My mistress is Vṛndāvaneśvarī (Rādhikā) and I worship Giridhārī because He is Her prāṇa-nātha (Lord of Her life)."

Naṭarāja and the Sitār-līlā rewritten

Two pastimes of Sādhu Bābā that had been added to his hagiography in March 2008, have been rewritten after hearing more accurate narrations during this year's Sītānāth-utsava, by my Gurubhāi Gaur:

page 50 - Gaur Da: “One time, when there were no buildings yet in the ashram, only wilderness, there was a fierce rainstorm going on, so Bābā assumed the form of Naṭarāja (Shiva, the king of dancers) and began to dance, looking in such a fearsome way that I got scared by watching it. We stood and watched in complete silence, and when Bābā completed the dance the rainstorm had completely vanished and the sky was clear.

The Snake and sitar līlā rewritten -

page 18 - "Once, in the dead of night, at 2 a.m., Madangopāl told Bābā: “I want to hear you play Sitar”. At that time the ashram was a wilderness without any buildings. Bābā woke every bhakta in the āśram saying: “Get up, Madangopāl wants to hear me play!” He sat down here and began to play when a snake came and coiled all around His tummy and His arms. Bābā complained to the snake: “Madangopāl wants to hear me play, how can I play like this?”, so the snake let go of His arms and just wrapped itself around His tummy. Bābā played for two hours and then He told the snake to leave Him."

Madangopāl Darśan

On the eve of the festival commemorating the advent of Advaita Prabhu, a darshan of Sādhu Bābā's iṣṭadeva Sri Madangopal, at Sādhu Bābā's ashram, Prachin Mayapur, Navadwip Dhām.
February 6, 2011.

It is regretted that the video's quality is reduced through the uploading process.

Many new videos about the utsava have been uploaded to my youtube-channel too, meanwhile.

Aindra's book, part 3

This is the third and final part of my review of Aindra Dās’ book "The heart of Transcendental Book distribution."

On page 89, Aindra calls Anaṅga Mañjarī an upasakhī of Lalitā, for which there is no evidence at all, specially since Anaṅga Mañjarī has her own kuñja in the middle of Radhakuṇḍa, distinct and distant from Lalitā's Kuñja on the northern bank. Dhyānacandra Goswāmī calls Anaṅga Mañjarī a student of Viśākhā instead (viśākhikā śikṣitā, verse 26).

Aindra continues:

"Balarama as servitor Godhead is adi-guru in the vatsalya, sakhya, and dasya rasas. Similarly, Balarama’s expanded madhurya-svarupa, Ananga Manjari, is the madhurya-rasa adi-guru,"

This, too, is nowhere in the books of the Goswāmīs. Furthermore he says on this page:

“(Nityananda) in His masculine Baladeva svarupa, is unable to directly relish the experience of being in the position of His shakti-tattva expansion, just as Krishna is unable to directly relish the moods of Radha. He, therefore, in Gaura-lila, accepts the bhava and complexion of His supreme self-same svarupa-shakti counterpart to experience that which was transcendentally impossible in Krishna-lila. Thus Balarama manifests the form of Nityananda Rama in the same way that Krishna dons His Gaura svarupa to savor the ultimate loving disposition of Radha in vipralambha-maha-bhava. As Krishna and Balarama are one, so, similarly, Radha and Ananga Manjari are one. In fact, Ananga Manjari is celebrated as a veritable second Radha."

Such thoughts may be found in booklets like Rāmacandra Goswāmī’s Anaṅga Mañjarī Sampuṭikā, a booklet which declares just about everyone to be one and the same tattva, saying Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are all one (1.18) and Anaṅga Mañjarī is the Guru (1.12). I translated this book in 1996, but decided to withdraw it again because its tattvas are rather unique and confusing. This point of Aindra of Baladeva wanting to relish the love of Anaṅga Mañjarī is completely skewed because in Kṛṣṇa-līlā, Anaṅga Mañjarī is neither the wife nor the lover of Baladeva. With the same logic one could argue that Jagannāth Miśra appeared in this world to relish the love of Mother Yaśodā?

Fortunately, on page 90 Aindra returns to safer, more stable grounds:

"The edict seva sadhaka-rupena siddha-rupena catra hi / tad-bhava-lipsuna karya vraja-lokanusaratah mentioned in Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu truly for all time applies both externally and internally to sadhakas who have yet to transcend material bondage as well as to siddhas who are jata-rati Vaishnavas having attained the perfect realization of sthayi-bhava, or constant devotional ecstasy. There is no broadly applicable streamlined institutional lame way out."

On page 100 Aindra boldly compares institutional corruption and deviations with the stool, corpses and industrial waste (the corruption) inside the divinely pure Gangā-water (the Sampradāya proper).

On page 105 Aindra burns himself on the apasiddhānta that nāmābhāsa is a stage of chanting-sādhana, and that one lifetime is spent with nāmāparādha, then one with nāmābhāsa and then one with pure nāma, which is not only apasiddhānta, it is also a totally mechanical way of thinking.

In the following 13 pages Aindra rambles on about institutional politics again, adding more to the already burgeoning daivi varṇāśram pie-in-the-sky as if we did not already have enough of those pipe-dreams. He even wants his makeshift śūdras to be 'communists' [p.108]. Instead, non-Indians should just choose a profession according to their skill without giving it any ancient Indian caste-name. Again one wonders - was Aindra really less absorbed in managerial thought than the bureaucrats he constantly condemns?

On p. 127-8 Aindra claims:

"Shastra has it that fifty percent of a disciple’s devotional merit automatically goes to the guru’s account, even without the disciple’s conscious offering. If the disciple consciously sacrifices on behalf of the spiritual master, both the disciple and the guru achieve one hundred times the result of the proffered devotional austerities."

I will have to have another deep look at śāstra perhaps because I have never seen such a mechanical and bureaucratic idea there yet.

On page 128 Aindra independently confirms, in somewhat other words, what I have said all along about the idea that doing bhajan is selfish and for one's own benefit only:

"Yes, we should all agree that it is higher to leave Vrindavana for the benefit of others than to stay in Vrindavana for one’s own benefit, but who says Vrindavana life is meant to be for one’s own benefit? Krishna’s gopas and gopis of Vraja, whose immaculate selfless moods of devotion we are to emulate, never for a moment consider their own benefit. Their every endeavor is to sacrifice for the service of others – the service of Krishna; the service of Radha; the service of Her friends and maidservants;....."

Of course bhajan is for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa, and not for one's own liberation, as Vaiṣṇavas reject liberation right at the beginning anyway.

The Third Heartfelt Effusion at page 133, starts with a charming one-page description of the Mañjarī-form Aindra visualizes of him/herself, and continues into the next page with an elaborate description of his/her kuñja on the northern bank of Rādhākund.

On page 137 Aindra again swerves into sambhogecchātmikā bhakti [sakhī bhāva], saying:

"And when, in Your smiling presence, by Your incomprehensible kindness, will I ever whisper into His ear, “I love You too!” as Your enchanted, whimsical Shyama, knowing me to be Yours, passionately embraces me to His heart?"

There is more of that on page 139, which is the beginning of a rather charming series of prayers in the mode of Vilāpa Kusumāñjali and Saṅkalpa Kalpadruma.

There is more Sakhī-bhāva-turned mañjarī-bhāva on page 139:

"I will I find myself automatically rising to smilingly muse upon Your Shyamasundara’s distinctive love marks on my person..."

Like Gadādhar Prāṇa before him, Aindra tried to find a fusion between sakhī-bhāva and mañjarī-bhāva.

On page 144 he interrupts all the lovely sweetness with some crude rasābhāsa, telling Kṛṣṇa in American slang: "“Not so fast, buster! She’s our property!"

On the following 23 pages Aindra rewrites some of the main aṣṭakāliya līlās in his own way, involving him/herself as an amorous lover of Kṛṣṇa, thus following in the footsteps of pre-1996 Gadādhar-prāṇa. On page 159, however, Aindra insists his sakhī-bhāva-mixed mañjarī bhāva does not compromise his bhavollāsa rati, claiming his/her separate meetings with Kṛṣṇa would cause Rādhā's 'absolute delight'. There is much evidence against this, I will quote just a few verses here:

ananya śrī rādhā padakamala dāsyaika rasadhī
hareḥ saṅge raṅgam svapana samaye nā'pi dadhati
balāt  kṛṣṇa kūrpāsakabhidi kim apy ācarati kā-
py udāśrur meveti pralapati mamātma ca hasati

(Vṛndāvana Mahimāmṛta 16, 94)

The maidservants, that are exclusively devoted to the service of Śrī Radha's lotus feet, that are like an ocean of nectar, do not enjoy with Śrī Hari even in their dreams. When Kṛṣṇa forcibly pulls at their bodices they cry out: 'No, no!', while Rādhikā watches and laughs."

rādhā raṅga lasat tad ujjvala kalā sañcāraṇā prākriyā 
cāturyottaram eva sevanam ahaṁ govinda samprārthaye
yenāśeṣa vadhū janodbhata manorājya prapañcāvadhau 
nautsukyaṁ bhavad aṅga saṅgama rase'py ālambate man manaḥ

One sakhī was picking flowers for making a vana-mālā and Kṛṣṇa, seeing her, told her: "O beautiful girl! Make your birth a success by joining Me for a while in this kuñja!" Hearing this, that sakhī (mañjarī) said: "O Govinda! I only want to serve while You make love with Śrī Rādhā, showing Your erotic dancing arts on the stage of erotic dancing named Śrī Rādhā!

tvayā yad upabhujyate murajid aṅga saṅge sukham
tad eva bahu jānati svayam avāptitaḥ śuddha-dhīḥ
mayā kṛta vilobhanāpy adhika cāturi cāryayā
kadāpi maṇi mañjarī na kurute'bhisāra spṛhaṁ

Śrī Rādhikā engaged one sakhī to make Maṇi Mañjarī meet with Kṛṣṇa, but that sakhī returned to Rādhā unsuccessfully, saying: "O Rādhe! Maṇi Mañjarī finds more happiness in Your meeting with Kṛṣṇa than in her own! Just see how pure her consciousness is! Although I expertly tried to tempt her to go out and meet Kṛṣṇa, she never desires this!" (Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi, sakhī prakaraṇa 89)

The language of this passage of Aindra’s book is surely very tasty. On page 167 Aindra leaves the nitya līlā format and continues with the prakat līlā, wherein Akrūra comes to take Kṛṣṇa away to Mathurā. He creates a strange juxtaposition in page 168, where he claims he will be able to console Rādhā at that time on the strength of many lifetimes of transcendental book distribution and other practises. He continues his description of sudūra pravāsa for 5 pages, also in a relishable way.

On page 173, the fourth heartfelt effusion starts, where Aindra plunges into Gaura līlā. He writes:

"When will Your magnificent Gosvamis of Vrindavana, headed by Shri Rupa, leniently bestow upon this fallen derelict the priceless treasure of loving service to Your prema-nama-sankirtana-lilas in the Nitya-navadvipa sector of Goloka-dhama?"

Problem is only that none of the 6 Goswāmīs ever mentioned a Nitya-navadvīpa sector of Goloka-dhāma.

On page 179, Aindra makes the good point that the books [and hence book distribution too] only are meant to induce harināma saṅkīrtana. He then writes a charming essay of how all devotional services are meant to support harināma saṅkīrtana, and in page 192 he admits that book distribution, unlike harināma saṅkīrtana, is not eternal.

On page 197 Aindra compares japa with the intimate Rāsa līlās and nagara sankīrtan with the less intimate Rāsa līlās. A strange claim, especially considering the fact that most Vaiṣṇavas walk all over the market places with their japa mālās in their hands - it is as public as harināma saṅkīrtana.

p. 203: "Transcendental book distribution can be compared to a sakhi’s campaign to enlist new girls to become dedicated followers of Maha-bhava-svarupini, Shri Radhika. Certainly, no book distributor in the line of Rupa Gosvami would be caught dead canvassing on behalf of Candravali! Raga Manjari is perhaps the Lord’s best and most reliable messenger, having opted to become His vamshi flute. Knowing the purposes of her svamini’s inner heart, Raga Manjari serves, in the form of the flute, to mercifully break the resolve of Radha’s mana, or jealous pouting, forcefully facilitating the fruition of her mistress’s deepest desires to intimately satisfy Her beloved Shyama...."

p. 204 "The mercifully extended flute-call (book distribution) magnetically allures the vraja-sundaris (fortunate souls) away from their so-called husbands (all superficially binding mundane considerations) to excitedly dash off to join the rasa dance festivities (hari-nama-sankirtana)."

The appendix has Aindra's word for word hare kṛṣṇa mantra explanation, which starts off right away with some fall-vāda, in the first word:

HARE: "O Radhe! Mistakenly leaving aside the shelter of Your soft lotus feet, I have come to this world to suffer unbearable material pangs and continuously offend You. Please forgive me."

Then for Rāma he puts him/herself again in sambhogecchātmikā sakhībhāva dressed as mañjarī-bhāva: 

O debauchee number one! Don’t touch the delicacies! Do You think we are up for grabs? Don’t think we can be gotten so easily."

Rama: “O You nonsense! Let go of my sari! Get back! Stop grabbing me!”

This was a review of the e-copy of the book, I do not have a hard copy but have been told by owners of the book that the differences between the two are negligable. If anything has been overlooked or misjudged, please add it to the comments pages.

Shiva Rātri 2011

After finding evidence in Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta about Shiva being white in complexion, I found now also this beautiful verse in the Bhāgavat itself - 3.14.25 (in some editions verse 24)

śmaśāna-cakrānila-dhūli-dhūmra-
vikīrṇa-vidyota-jaṭā-kalāpaḥ
bhasmāvaguṇṭhāmala-rukma-deho
devas tribhiḥ paśyati devaras te

"With His glittering mass of matted hair thrown into disorder and soiled by the dust raised by whirlwinds sweeping the crematorium, and His immaculate golden body covered with a coat of ashes, your (Diti's) brother in law Shiva, is watching with His three eyes."

Śrīla Śrīdhara Swami comments: sa devas tribhiḥ somārkāgni-netraiḥ paśyatīty asyottara-śloka-traye’py anuṣaṅgaḥ

"That god sees all the three worlds too with His three eyes, that are the moon, the sun and fire."

Two verses further another jewel-like verse:

yasyānavadyācaritaṁ manīṣiṇo
gṛṇanty avidyā-paṭalaṁ bibhitsavaḥ 
nirasta-sāmyātiśayo’pi yat svayaṁ
piśāca-caryām acarad gatiḥ satām 

"Those wise men who are keen to pierce the veil of ignorance recount His immaculate activities. Although no one is equal to Him, much less greater, and He is the goal of the saints, He behaves like a fiend."

How does He behave like a fiend? Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda explains:

nanu tasyāpi dig-ambaratayā sadaiva striyā saha mithunībhūya tiṣṭhataś citābhasmāsthi-bhūṣaṇasya sarvaṁ sac-caritam ahaṁ jānāmīti

'Though He always runs around naked, is constantly in intercourse with His wife and adorns His person with ashes and bones from the funeral pyre, I know that all this is actually good behaviour (for Him)."

Śrī Śivāṣṭakam

Translated by Advaita Dās for Shiva-Rātri 2011

prabhuṁ prāṇanāthaṁ vibhum viśvanātham
jagannātha nāthaṁ sadānanda-bhājam
bhavad bhavya bhūteśvaraṁ bhūta-nātham
śivam śankaraṁ śambhum īśānam īḍe 1

I praise (Iḍe) Śiva Śankar Śambhu, Īśāna, the Lord, the Lord of my heart, the all-pervading, the Lord of the universe, the Lord of Jagannath, the vessel of eternal bliss, the Lord of past, present and future (bhavad-bhavya-bhuta) and the Lord of the ghosts (bhUta-nAtha).

gale ruṇḍa mālam tanau sarpa-jālam
mahā kālakālaṁ gaṇeśādhipālam
jaṭājuṭa bhaṅgottaraṅgair viśālam
śivam śankaraṁ śambhum īśānam īḍe  2

I praise (Iḍe) Śiva Śankar Śambhu, Īśāna, who wears a garland of skulls around His neck, around whose body snakes slither, who is the destroyer of the universe (mahā-kāla) and time personified (kāla), the maintainer of Ganesh, and whose matted locks break the strong and huge current (of the Ganga).

mudām ākaraṁ maṇḍanaṁ maṇḍayantam
mahā-maṇḍala bhasma-bhūṣā dharantam
anādiṁ hyapāram mahā-moha-hāram
śivam śankaraṁ śambhum īśānam īḍe  3

I praise (Iḍe) Śiva Śankar Śambhu, Īśāna, who is the source (ākara) of bliss (mudā), who is adorned by ornaments as well as with ashes (bhasma-bhūṣā), who is the lord of the three maṇḍalas – Sūrya, Soma and Agni, who is beginningless and endless and who wears a great captivating necklace.

baṭādho nivāsaṁ mahāṭṭāṭṭa-hāsam
mahā-pāpa-nāśaṁ sadā suprakāśam
girīśaṁ gaṇeśaṁ sureśaṁ maheśaṁ
śivam śankaraṁ śambhum īśānam īḍe  4

I praise (Iḍe) Śiva Śankar Śambhu, Īśāna, who lives under a Banyan tree (baṭādho nivāsa), who laughs loudly and madly (aṭṭa-hāsa), who is the great destroyer of sin, who is always nicely manifest (su-prakāśa), who is the Lord of the Himalaya (girīśa), of all people (gaṇeśa) of the devatās (sureśa) and the great Lord of all (Maheśa).

girindrātmajā saṅgṛhītārdha-deham
girau saṁsthitaṁ sarvadā sannageham
para-brahma brahmādibhir vandhyamānam
śivam śankaraṁ śambhum īśānam īḍe  5

I praise (Iḍe) Śiva Śankar Śambhu, Īśāna, who accepted the daughter of the mountain (Girīndrātmajā, Pārvatī) as His better half (ardha-deha), who lives on the mountain (girau), who is always (sarvadā) the shelter (geha) of the depressed (sanna), who is the Supreme Brahman and who is eulogized by Brahmā and others.

kapālam triśūlaṁ karābhyaṁ dadhānam
padāmbhoja namrāya kāmaṁ dadānam
balīvarda-yānam surāṇāṁ pradhānam
śivam śankaraṁ śambhum īśānam īḍe  6

I praise (Iḍe) Śiva Śankar Śambhu, Īśāna, who holds a skull (kapāla) and trident (tri-śūla) in His hands, who fulfils the desires of he who bows down (namrāya) to His lotus-feet (padāmbhoja), who travels on a bull (balīvarda) and is the chief of the gods.

śaraccandra gātraṁ guṇānanda pātram
tri-netram pavitraṁ dhaneśasya mitram
aparṇā kalatram caritraṁ vicitram
śivam śankaraṁ śambhum īśānam īḍe  7

I praise (Iḍe) Śiva Śankar Śambhu, Īśāna, whose body (gātra) shines like the autumn moon (śaraccandra), who is the vessel (pātra) of great bliss (guṇānanda), who has three eyes (tri-netram), who is sacred (pavitram), who is the friend of Kuvera (dhaneśasya mitram), whose wife (kalatra) is Pārvatī (Aparṇā) and whose character (caritra) is amazing (vicitra).

haraṁ sarpa-hāram citā-bhū-vihāram
bhavaṁ veda sāraṁ sadā nirvikāram
śmaśāne vadantaṁ manojaṁ dahantam
śivam śankaraṁ śambhum īśānam īḍe  8

I praise (Iḍe) Śiva Śankar Śambhu, Īśāna, who is the universal destroyer (hara), who wears a garland of snakes (sarpa-hāra), who is primordial nature (bhava), the essence of the Veda (veda-sāram) who is always free from transformations (sadā nirvikāra), who revels in crematoriums (śmaśāne and citā-bhū vihāre), and who burned Cupid to a crisp (manojam dahantam).

stavaṁ yaḥ prabhāte naraḥ śūla-pāṇe
paṭhet sarvadā bharga-bhāvānurakta
sa-putraṁ dhanaṁ dhānya mitraṁ kalatram
vicitrai samāsādya mokṣaṁ prayāti 9

Any person who recites this jewel-like stotram to the bearer of the trident in the morning, always attached to Lord Shiva (bharga) with feeling (bhāva), will attain liberation along with his wife, son, wealth, friends and grains.