Begun Bhājā cleared!

PREFACE - A follower of Srīpāda Hita Harivamsa is regularly making links to this blog in an effort to equate the great sin of eating grains on Ekādasī with the eating of eggplant. That this is like comparing an elephant (eating grains on Ekādasī) with a fly (eating eggplant) should be clear from this blog -

https://madangopal.blogspot.com/2020/03/ekadasi-and-harivamsis.html

Bhakta:
Hare Krsna, prabhu!
I have a question to you if you researched it about eggplants. In Hari Bhakti Vilasa (8.158, 161-162) there are 3 slokas given about that eggplants should not be taken or offered. From Kurma Purana, from Yamala and from Skanda Purana -


athābhakṣyāṇi - kaurme 
vṛntākaṁ jālikāśākaṁ kusumbhāśmantakaṁ tathā 
phalāṇḍuṁ laśunaṁ śuklaṁ niryāsaṁ caiva varjayet

atha-now; abhakṣyāṇi-inedible; kaurme-in the Kūrma Purāṇa; vṛntākam-eggplant; jālikāśākam-plantain; kusumbha-safflower; āśmantakam-aśmantaka; tathā-so; phalāṇḍum-onion; laśunam-garlic; śuklam-sour cereal; niryāsam-tree sap; ca-and; eva-indeed; varjayet-one should avoid.


What Is Inedible (For the Purpose of Offering to the Lord)

In the Kurma Purana it is said: "One should avoid eggplant, plantain, safflower, azmantaka, onion, garlic, sour cereal, and the sap of trees."


skānde - na bhakṣayati vṛntākaṁ tasya dūrataro hariḥ

skānde-in the Skanda Purāṇa; na-not; bhakṣayati-eats; vṛntākam-eggplant; tasya-of him; dūrataraḥ-far away; hariḥ-ḷord ḥari.

In the Skanda Purana it is said: "Lord Kṛṣṇa stays far away from anyone who eats eggplant."

kiṁ cānyatra 
vārtākuṁ bṛhatīṁ caiva dagdham annaṁ masūrakam
yasyodare pravarteta tasya dūrataro hariḥ

kim- ca-furthermore; anyatra-in another place; vārtākum-eggplant; bṛhatīm-eggplant; ca-and; eva-indeed; dagdham-burned; annam-food; masūrakam-masura dal; yasya-of whom; udare-in the stomach; pravarteta-is; tasya-of him; dūrataraḥ-far away; hariḥ-ḷord Kṛṣṇa.

In another scripture it is said: "Lord Kṛṣṇa stays far away from anyone who places eggplant, burned food, or masūra dāl in his stomach."


But in Caitanya Caritāmṛta we can see what food was offered to Lord Caitanya and there are different places mentioned about fried eggplants and eggplants mixed with nimbu etc. So, it's not clear. "

Advaitadas:
Thank you for reminding me of Prabhu Sītānāth's sweet līlā (Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 3.47) and in extension also Sādhu Bābā's anugamana (allegiance). I was under fire over this issue on Gauḍīya Discussions some 8 years ago, but until now I have not researched this eggplant issue in Caitanya Caritāmṛta. It gives a clear endorsement from Swayaṁ Prabhu Sītānāth- কোমল নিম্বুপত্র সহ ভাজা ৱার্ত্তাকী komala nimbu patra saha bhājā vārtākī - "He offered the Lord soft neem leaves along with fried eggplant." Following in his family- and spiritual succession, Sādhu Bābā too was fond of bhājā vartākī or began bhājā [fried aubergines]. The secret about this is that Haribhakti Vilāsa is a collection of material and spiritual rules. Only a genuine Guru can sort out which rule is to be followed and which one is not. It cannot be sorted out by oneself. In other words, whatever Guru decides is essential of the rules of Haribhakti Vilāsa, these rules apply."

This point is also added to the end of my file "In defense of the advaita vamsh" on madangopal.com. Further references to the offering of begun bhājā are in Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 15, 213 and Antya 10, 135

Attaining the siddha deha

In Śrīmad Bhāgavat 1.6.27 (28 in some editions) it is said - "The spiritual body comes simultaneously with the giving up of the material body, like lightning being accompanied by its splendour. (kālaḥ prādurabhūt kāle taḍit saudāmanī yathā).

Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's ṭīkā - "At the time of dissolving subtle and gross bodies the time for leaving the body made its appearance. It is like saying "the time when the king went was the time he arrived". Intelligence could not make a distinction here. The disappearance of the material body and the appearance of the spiritual body simultaneously made their appearance, connected closely like subject and predicate. It is like the simultaneity of the lightning with another flash of lightning."

In Śrīmad Bhāgavat 1.6.28 (29 in some editions) Nārada said: “When my prārabdha karma was depleted, my body of five gross elements fell and the Lord brought me a transcendental body of His associate.”

Śrīdhara Swami and Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda comment: yā bhāgavatī bhagavat-pārṣada-rūpā śuddhā sattva-mayī tanuḥ pratiśrutā tāṁ prati bhagavatā mayi prayujyamāne nīyamāne – “This body is transcendental, functions as an associate of the Lord and is brought by the Lord.” If it is brought by the Lord it was not dormant but an external gift. This verse clearly shows that the siddha deha is not dormant in the heart of the conditioned soul, as is often believed, but is bestowed newly. See also my blog of August 5, 2006

Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's tika: The Lord previously promised hitvāvadyam imam lokam ganta maj-janatam asi: "Giving up this low body, you will become My associate." (SB 1.6.23) At the time of being made to accept a body which was śuddha-sattva (śuddham) because it was not a material body and because it belonged to the Lord (bhagavatim), my material body (pañca-bhautikaḥ) fell away. Giving up my material body and attaining a spiritual body were simultaneous, like the expression "I am walking while the cows are being milked." The Lord's own words were hitvāvadyam imam lokam. The use of the verb form hitvā (giving up the material body) in this case indicates simultaneously giving up the material body while receiving the spiritual body. It is said in the Bhāṣa-vṛtti: kvacit tulya-kāle'pi upaviṣya bhunkte ṛṇat-kṛtya patati cakṣuh sammilya hasati mukham vyadāya svapitity adikam upasankhyeyam: "There are examples in which the participles indicate simultaneous actions as in sitting down and eating, assuming debts and falling from esteem, closing the eyes and laughing, lowering the head and falling asleep." Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda quotes Śrīdhara Svāmī's ṭīkā: anena pārṣada-tanunam akarmarābdhatvam suddhatvaṁ nityatvam ity ādi sūcitaṁ bhavati: "What is said in this verse is that the bodies of the associates of the Lord are pure, without prārabdha-karmas, and eternal. The bahu-vrīhi compound ārabdha-karma-nirvānah means that he had destroyed the karmas like fire burning wood. But this means that the prārabdha-karmas were not destroyed just now, but previously for that is accomplished by sādhana. prārabdha-karmas do not remain with the devotees who have developed prema-bhakti. For those practicing pure bhakti, destruction of prārabdha-karmas takes place during sādhana-bhakti. It will be said in the story of Priyavrata:

naivam-vidhaḥ puruṣa-kāra urukramasya
puṁsāṁ tad-aṅghri-rajasā jita-ṣaḍ-guṇānām
citraṁ vidūra-vigataḥ sakṛd ādadīta
yan-nāma dheyam adhunā sajahāti tanvam

"Such power is not surprising from persons who have conquered the six senses by the dust from the lotus feet of the Lord, since even an outcaste becomes immediately free of bondage of karma by chanting the Lord's name once." SB 5.1.35

Here is the meaning of the verse: This is not so amazing for such a type of person. What should be amazing? Even an outcaste (vidūra-vigataḥ) who chants the name of the Lord once, now, at the time of accepting the name, gives up his body. Since we do not see anyone giving up their body simultaneously with chanting, "body" here means his prārabdha-karmas which are being experienced in the present body. This is the opinion of some. Others say by the association of bhakti, like a touchstone, the body made of the three guṇas becomes free of the guṇas, as seen in the case of Dhruva. Thus, giving up the body means giving up the body made of three guṇas. This will be explained later at the beginning of the Rāsa-dance with jahur guṇa-mayaṁ dehaṁ sadyah prakṣīna-bandhanaḥ: "Free of bondage, those gopīs abandoned their gross material bodies made of guṇas." (SB 10.29.11) But others say that sometimes the Lord shows devotees, literally, giving up their bodies in order that the opinion of others not be negated. Thus Nārada, who had developed prema already, gave up his body. However it should be understood that he had already destroyed his prārabdha-karmas during his practice of bhakti. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī explains this:

yad brahma-sākṣāt-kṛti-niṣṭhayāpi

vināśam āyati vinā na bhogaiḥ
apaiti nāma sphuraṇena tat te
prārabdha-karmeti virauti vedaḥ

"The Vedas declare that although meditation on Brahman cannot bring freedom from past karma, O Holy Name, your appearance at once makes all prārabdha-karma disappear." (Nāmāṣṭaka 4)

If the intended meaning was "When Narada's prārabdha-karmas were destroyed, his body fell away" the phrase would be expressed as prārabdha-karma-nirvāṇe nyapatat pañca-bhautika. But this grammatical structure has not been used and instead a bahuvrīhi compound has been used. Thus the meaning is a general statement "For the devotees, the body which has had its prārabhda-karmas destroyed, will fall away."

Tulasi

 Bhakta : 'There is a Vaiṣṇava home guide book which says that Tulasī is offered to the feet of Viṣṇu tattva like Nārāyan, Nṛsiṁha, Kṛṣṇa, Rāma etc. as well as to Gaura, Nityānanda, and Advaita but not to Rādhārāṇī or Gadādhar Pandit."

Advaitadas: "We agree with all of this except for Gaur, Nityānanda and Advaita, on the ground of these quotations from Caitanya Caritamṛta (Adi 1.14)

pancatattvātmakam kṛṣṇaṁ bhakta rūpa svarūpakam
bhaktāvatāraṁ bhaktākhyam namāmi bhakti-śaktikam

The Panca Tattva comes in the form of so many different devotee incarnations though they are Kṛṣṇa [panca-tattvātmakam kṛṣṇam]. So though They are ontologically Viṣṇu-tattva, they are approached as devotees."

And that counts also for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as is narrated in Caitanya Caritāmṛta (Madhya 15,7-9):

ghore āsi prabhu kore nāma sankīrtan;
advaita āsiyā kore prabhura pūjan
sugandhi salile den pādya ācaman;
sarvāṅge lepaye prabhur sugandhi candan
gole mālā dey māthāy tulasī mañjarī

“When Prabhu returned to His abode He performed nām sankIrtan. Advaita then came to offer worship to Him. He offered pādya and ācaman with scented water and anointed Prabhu’s whole body with fragrant sandal paste. He hung a garland around His neck and placed Tulasī-buds on His head.”

Bhakta: 'But you can put Tulasī-Mañjarīs on Rādhā's feet instead of Tulasī-leaves?"

Advaitadas: "That does not make any difference. Manjaris should not be separated from the leaves. Śrīman Mahāprabhu instructed Raghunātha Dāsa Goswāmī: dui-dike dui-patra madhye komala manjari, 'Offer soft manjaris with 2 Tulasi petals on each side of them' (CC Antya 6.297)

Bhakta: "So Tulasī is not so surrendered to Rādhā that she will touch her feet?"

Advaitadas: 'No that is not the point. One cannot just draw a link from the goddess Vṛndā in the spiritual world to the sacred tree in the world of sādhakas, whose leaves are upacāras [ingredients] of pūjā. Just as we are male devotees here in this world but female in the perfected state. It does not mean we should dress like girls in this material male body, right? seva sādhaka rūpena siddha rūpena cātra hi. So the rule of offering Tulasī applies to the sacred tree, not to the goddess above. Also the Tulasī Mañjarī who is identified as Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī in Vilāpa Kusumāñjali has nothing to do with Vṛndā-devi, because Vṛndā-devī is not called Tulasi in Kṛṣṇa līlā but only as she incarnates as the Basilicum species of plants on earth."

Bhakta: "In the Puranas it is said Tulasi is a hair of Lakṣmī-devī and in another Purāṇa she was cursed to come down to the world."

Advaitadas: 'Yes there are so many conceptions, but here we speak just of Tulasī as a pūjopacāra, as a leaf from a small sacred tree."

Guru Pūrṇimā 2011

I phoned Sādhu Bābā's āśram yesterday on the occasion of Guru Purṇimā, the annual festival to worship Śrī Guru, and had a brief talk with my Guru-sister Tulsī Sāhā about the extraordinary position of women in the āśram. This inspired me to add the following paragraph to (p.33-34) Sādhu Bābā's hagiography on my website:

বাবার আশ্রমে মেযেদের বিশেষাধিকার বিষয জিজ্ঞাসা করিলে দিদি বলিল যে "বাবা বলিতেন যে 'ইহাই মেযেদের আশ্রম. ছেলেদের কত ভজন করার স্থান আছে, কিন্তু মেযেদের ভজন করার স্থান কোথায? সেই জন্য এটী মেযেদের আশ্রম হবে. ঠাকুর সেবায, রান্না সেবায ও কীর্তন সেবায মেযেদের এখানে বিশেষাধিকার আছে!"

Advaita Dās: “During my time in Sādhu Bābā’s āśram, I was surprised to see the prominent role given to ladies in the āśram. All kīrtans were led by ladies, all deity worship was performed by them as well as all of the cooking. When I inquired about the reason, my Guru-sister Tulsī explained: ‘Bābā said that there are already so many āśrams where boys and men can perform their sādhana, but where is the place where girls and women can perform sādhana? Hence this will be a ladies' āśram.”

Regulating sleep and work

The Lord says in Bhagavad Gītā [6.17]:

yuktāhāra-vihārasya yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu |
yukta-svapnāvabodhasya yogo bhavati duḥkha-hā ||

"Yoga removes all distress if one is regulated and balanced in eating, moving or mating, working, sleeping and waking."

Though it is glorious to sit down in deep meditation or chant a fabulous number of rounds all day, every day on one's back side, such a lack of physical activities leads to all kinds of physical and mental malfunctions - overweight, heart problems, constipation, lack of sleep or irregular sleep to name but some. Hence it is often seen that the physicians of great sādhus and mahātmās advice them to take a stroll in the afternoon at least. 'Work' need not be in a factory or office among non-devotees necessarily. One can also be physically active in the holy places by doing parikramā or visiting temples, or in the west by going on harinām sankīrtan.

As usual, Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda provides a brilliant commentary to this Gītā verse:

yukto niyata evāhāro bhojanaṁ vihāro gamanaṁ ca "Yukta means disciplined or restrained. It counts for eating as well as gamana [the words vihāra and gamana mean both 'going' and 'sexual intercourse' and the advice applies to both.] yasya tasya karmasu vyavahārika-pāramārthika-kṛtyeṣu yuktā niyatā eva ceṣṭā 'There needs to be discipline too in activities, either material and spiritual.' Here the hint is given that activities can be spiritual too - one can pick flowers for the Lord, circumambulate the temple or a holy place like Rādhākund, or perform harinam sankīrtan. Material activities are things like working on a job, bringing the children to school etc. vāg-vyāpārādyā yasya tasya - also speech must be disciplined. One should avoid discussing gossip, which inevitably leads to some kind of Vaiṣṇava aparādha, or speaking [too much] about the latest news of the world. Even too much Kṛṣṇa-kathā is unnecessary. If a nice topic is briefly discussed it should lead to lengthy meditation on Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's rūpa-guṇa-līlā, too. Any extremity in either renunciation or sensual indulgence may lead to duḥka, distress, that is the point of the verse - na nirviṇṇo nātisaktis bhakti yogo'sya siddhi-da 'Bhakti yoga which is neither too renounced nor too materially attached, bestows perfection." See also my blog of February 20, 2009.

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.