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Thread: VaishNav Basics

  1. #31

    Re: VaishNav Basics

    Hare KrushNa ~

    Found myself - a mere writing instrument - pen this in another thread:

    The Lord has kept us well-equipped with the hammer (mind), to be put to good use, as ONkArJi has summed up - remember Holy Names :
    Quote Originally Posted by Onkara View Post
    remember God (the form/name closer to you etc) and chant silently (upanshu japa). It breaks the present thought stream (without judging or condemning it) and brings us back to sattva.
    So,

    Moral of the story: Do not snip the mind off of the oNkAr (AUM) , rather, purify it and dovetail it to the Infinite Lotus Eyed One. Sing O mind, sing : Govinda DAmodara MA ~ dhaveti ~

    By increasing sattva to the point of shuddha-sattva.

    Misconception: The mind has to be shut-down, killed or annihilated.

    The nature of the jeevAtmA is activity, and love of the ParamAtmA, love of BhagavAn. It cannot remain inactive for long.

    The mind when purified to shuddha sattva, is best kept in Leelas with BhagavAn ...

    ... but...How does one purify the mind ?

    In VaishNav language: engage in Leelas with the Divine - in other words - shravaNam kirtanam vishNoh smaraNam vandanam archanam sakhyam dAsyam Atma-nivedanam - navadha bhakti (see posts #1 and #12 - Shrimad BhAgvatam 7.5.23-24 ).

    Pick any one or more of the nine. The process feeds back into into the goal. The goal is to stay KRshNa-Conscious, the method is to stay conscious of KRshNa ( defN of KRshNa Consciousness from Krishna.com).

    The one which is wrongly engaged is the material mind, the one engaged in service to and/or Leela with the Supreme Lord is the spiritual mind.

    Service to the Supreme Lord includes sva-dharma.

    ---

    Has anyone played the "potato" game as a child ? Take up the challenge to respond to each question and statement with "Potato"
    What is your name ? Potato
    What time is it ? potato
    are you crazy ? potato

    So there is no favoring, yes, no, for, against, just potato.

    I think i am going to do just that - albeit with "Govinda Damodara Ma~dhave~ti ~" (just kidding). You may go ahead and play the game using "Hare KRshNa ~" or "Om namo nArAyaNAya ~" or "Om namo bhagavate vAsudevAya ~"

    Govinda ~ DAmo ~ dara Ma~~dhave~ti ~
    go~~vinda~dAmodara~~mAdhaveti
    govin~~dada~modarama~~dhave~~ti
    govindadAmo~~darama~~dha~~ve~~ti~
    Last edited by smaranam; 14 April 2011 at 05:53 PM. Reason: added reerenced quote
    || Shri KRshNArpaNamastu ||

  2. #32
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    Re: VaishNav Basics

    i want to put a useful info here ,a good explanation to a doubt in bhagabatam.

    http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9903/ET20-3373.html

    For conversation's sake, I offered that Sri Radha might not be so happy, kept as She was, so far from her Govinda. Our host was quick to question why, if Radha is so dear to Krishna, is She not mentioned in the Bhagavatam.

    She was acquainted with Sri Sukadeva's famous indirect reference to Srimati Radharani, 'anayaradhito' (she who has perfectly worshipped Krishna), but this did not satisfy her. She countered my initial response, contending, "It is very directly pointed out in the Bhagavata that the gopis' love for Krishna is the highest. Why then should the highest type of gopi's love be concealed?"

    I explained further that Sri Radha was the 'ista-devata' of Sukadeva, as mentioned in Sanatana Goswami's 'Brhad Bhagavatamrta'. There, Sanatana Goswami explains that when Sukadeva mentioned the name of Radha he became 'avista citta,' spiritually excited within, but externally inert. Brahma Vaivarta Purana further mentions that if Sukadeva had mentioned Radha directly, he would have lost consciousness for up to six months. Because Pariksit Maharaja had only seven days to live and listen to the pertinent advice of Sukadeva, Sukadeva avoided saying anything that would have rendered him incapable of helping his disciple.
    Man-naathah Shri Jagan-nathah Mat-guru-shri jagad-guruhu.
    Mad-atma sarva-bhutatma tasmai Shri Gurave Namah.


    My Lord is the Lord of Universe; My teacher is the teacher of the
    entire universe; and my Self is the Self of all. My salutations at the lotus-feet
    of such a Guru, who has revealed such knowledge to me.

  3. #33

    Re: VaishNav Basics

    Quote Originally Posted by anirvan View Post
    from quote : "I explained further that Sri Radha was the 'ista-devata' of Sukadeva, as mentioned in Sanatana Goswami's 'Brhad Bhagavatamrta'."
    Haribol !

    And to add to the guhya - secret of secrets,

    Who is Shukadev Goswami ? The parrot in Vrundavan (Shuka) who witnessed Radha-KrushNa lila, and who would act as Their alarm-clock. Sorry, i do not have scriptural ref for this - but there is this lecture by Shrila NArAyaN Maharaj.

    Shukadev Goswami is portrayed as having shanta-ras only to keep this secret from all audience who does not want to know it. The goswamis and acharyas tell us that nothing in VrundAvan has shAnta ras. Not even the trees and grass - well if at all, it would be only them - what about the stick to herd the cows ? The cows are in vAtsalya of course.

    Thanks for bringing this here AnirvanJi, i always hesitate to start the Radha / RadhasahasranAm thread that has been on the mind.

    However, perhaps this is not VaishNav Basics

    Radhe KrushNa Radhe KrushNa

    praNAm
    || Shri KRshNArpaNamastu ||

  4. #34
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    Re: VaishNav Basics

    [QUOTE=smaranam;63420]Haribol !

    And to add to the guhya - secret of secrets,


    what about the stick to herd the cows ? The cows are in vAtsalya of course.

    However, perhaps this is not VaishNav Basics

    ]
    And the stick is in sakhya definitely as cows of Vrindavan needs the caressing touch of soft(like makkhan) fingers of kanha ,otherwise they will go astray sulking

    SantaRasa is never part of bhava,they are witness outside vrindavan. Kanha never like BORING people as he likes his kinda....

    dear smaranam ji, Vaishnavism can never be categorized as Basic

    its the last...after everything...so highest of highest

    bahunam janmanam ante
    jnanavan mam prapadyate
    vasudevah sarvam iti
    sa mahatma sudurlabhah
    [Bg. 7.19]


    vasudeva-para veda
    vasudeva-para makhah
    vasudeva-para yoga
    vasudeva-parah kriyah

    Haribol...jai srikrishna......
    Man-naathah Shri Jagan-nathah Mat-guru-shri jagad-guruhu.
    Mad-atma sarva-bhutatma tasmai Shri Gurave Namah.


    My Lord is the Lord of Universe; My teacher is the teacher of the
    entire universe; and my Self is the Self of all. My salutations at the lotus-feet
    of such a Guru, who has revealed such knowledge to me.

  5. #35

    Re: VaishNav Basics

    || om namo bhagavate vAsudevAya ||

    Quote Originally Posted by smaranam View Post
    In his purport to Shrimad Bhagvatam 7.5.23-24 (Navadha Bhakti - 9 ways of devotional service) , Shrila PrabhupAd writes :

    "Rūpa Gosvāmī states:
    śrī-viṣṇoḥ śravaṇe parīkṣid abhavad vaiyāsakiḥ kīrtane
    prahlādaḥ smaraṇe tad-ańghri-bhajane lakṣmīḥ pṛthuḥ pūjane
    akrūras tv abhivandane kapi-patir dāsye 'tha sakhye 'rjunaḥ
    sarvasvātma-nivedane balir abhūt kṛṣṇāptir eṣāḿ param

    "Parīkṣit Mahārāja attained salvation simply by hearing, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī attained salvation simply by chanting. Prahlāda Mahārāja attained salvation by remembering the Lord. The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmīdevī, attained perfection by worshiping the Lord's lotus feet. Pṛthu Mahārāja attained salvation by worshiping the Deity of the Lord. Akrūra attained salvation by offering prayers, Hanumān by rendering service, Arjuna by establishing friendship with the Lord, and Bali Mahārāja by offering everything to the service of the Lord." All these great devotees served the Lord according to a particular process, but every one of them attained salvation and became eligible to return home, back to Godhead. This is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam."


    He also writes in the same purport (which elaborates on each of the line limbs of bhakti) :

    (5) Arcanam. After pāda-sevanam comes the process of arcanam, worship of the Deity. If one is interested in the process of arcanam, one must positively take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and learn the process from him. There are many books for arcana, especially Nārada-pańcarātra. In this age, the pańcarātra system is particularly recommended for arcana, Deity worship. There are two systems of arcana — the bhāgavata system and pāńcarātrikī system. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is no recommendation of pāńcarātrikī worship because in this Kali-yuga, even without Deity worship, everything can be perfectly performed simply through hearing, chanting, remembering and worship of the lotus feet of the Lord.
    So we are talking about
    a) bhAgavat
    b) pAncharAtriki
    systems of worshiping BhagavAn. While Shrimad BhAgavatam is full of ample nectar and jewels on bhAgvat worship, it also describes Deity worship of pAncharAtra mode in Canto 11 - Uddhav asks and KRshNa answers:
    http://srimadbhagavatam.com/11/27/en

    Shrimad BhAgvat also tells us that DevaRshi (celestial sage) NArad picked cherries from the Vedas that were all about devotional service, and this is where the NArada pAncharAtra has its source.
    SB 1.3.8
    tṛtīyam ṛṣi-sargaḿ vai
    devarṣitvam upetya saḥ
    tantraḿ sātvatam ācaṣṭa
    naiṣkarmyaḿ karmaṇāḿ yataḥ
    In the millennium of the ṛṣis, the Personality of Godhead accepted the third empowered incarnation in the form of Devarṣi Nārada, who is a great sage among the demigods. He collected expositions of the Vedas which deal with devotional service and which inspire nonfruitive action.

    An example (of Narada's collections in NArad pAncharAtra):
    trayo vedah shaD-angani chandaMsi vividhah surah
    sarvam ashTAksharantah-stham yac canyad api vaMgmayam
    sarva-vedanta-sararthah saMsararaMva-taraNah
    "The essence of all Vedic knowledge—comprehending the three kinds of Vedic activity (karma-kanDa, jńana-kanDa and upasana-kanDa), the chhandas, or Vedic hymns, and the processes for satisfying the demigods—is included in the eight syllables. This is the reality of all Vedanta. The chanting of the holy name is the only means to cross the ocean of nescience."
    (In the Narada Pańcaratra it is clearly said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead nArAyaNa personally appears before the chanter who engages in chanting the ashTakshara, or eight-syllable mantra, om namo nArAyaNAya. )


    The most used guideline today for VaishNav Temples is NArada PAnchrAtra. What is pAncharAtra? VishNu BhagvAn explained 5 branches of knowledge about how to come to Him and stay with Him in 5 nights (pancha rAtra), to 5 mahanta - Shesha, Garud, Vishvaksena, BrahmA, Shiva. This collection is very comprehensive and the external Temple practices are only a small section of this pancharAtra set. There is nishkAm karma, jnana, everything in it.

    The pAncharAtra texts are a collection of samhitas and tantras, both of which can be called Agama.

    The VaishNav Agama are
    i) PAncharAtra Agamas
    ii) Vaikhanasha Agama

    --

    * Based on the Purusha Sukta (Rgveda 10.90) the Pańcaratra Agamas teach that God (Narayana or Vasudeva) manifests the whole
    world from one fourth of himself. Therefore three parts of the supreme are immortal nectar that can be attained by liberated beings.

    * Moksha = The attainment of the glorious and supreme feet of VishNu (tad vishNoh paramam padam).

    Some jewels from NArad PAnchAratra (this text is particularly followed by Gaudiya VaishNav - who are predominantly bhAgvat types, while Shri VaishNav worship is predominantly pAncharAtriki, from which the Gaudiya Vaishnav inherit this aspect also):

    continued in the next post...
    Last edited by smaranam; 12 March 2013 at 07:24 AM.
    || Shri KRshNArpaNamastu ||

  6. #36

    Re: VaishNav Basics

    || om namo bhagavate vAsudevAya ||


    NarayaNa-samhita says:

    dvapariyair janair vishNuh:
    pańcaratrais tu kevalairh:
    kalau tu nama-matreNa
    pujyate bhagavan hari?
    "In the Dvapara-yuga people should worship Lord VishNu only by the regulative principles of the Narada Pańcaratra and other such authorized books. In the Age of Kali, however, people should simply chant the holy names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."


    The Narada Pańcaratra asserts:

    trayo vedah shaD-angani chandaMsi vividhah surah
    sarvam ashTAksharantah-stham yac canyad api vaMgmayam
    sarva-vedanta-sararthah saMsararaMva-taraNah
    "The essence of all Vedic knowledge—comprehending the three kinds of Vedic activity (karma-kanDa, jńana-kanDa and upasana-kanDa), the chhandas, or Vedic hymns, and the processes for satisfying the demigods—is included in the eight syllables. This is the reality of all Vedanta. The chanting of the holy name is the only means to cross the ocean of nescience."
    (In the Narada Pańcaratra it is clearly said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead nArAyaNa personally appears before the chanter who engages in chanting the ashTakshara, or eight-syllable mantra, om namo nArAyaNAya. )

    manir yatha vibhagena nila-pitadibhir yutah:
    rupa-bhedam avapnoti dhyana-bhedat tathacyutah:
    "The infallible Personality of Godhead can manifest His body in different ways according to different modes of worship, just as the vaidurya gem can manifest itself in various colors, such as blue and yellow." Each incarnation is distinct from all the others. This is possible by the Lord's inconceivable potency, by which He can simultaneously represent Himself as one, as various partial forms and as the origin of these partial forms. Nothing is impossible for His inconceivable potencies.

    dharmartha-kama-moksheshu neccha mama kadacana
    tvat-pada-pankajasyadho jivitam diyatam mama
    "I do not want any one of the four desirable stations. I simply want to engage as a servant of the lotus feet of the Lord."


    ananya-mamata vishNau mamata prema-sangatA
    bhaktir ity ucyate bhishma- prahladoddhava-naradaih
    "When one is firmly convinced that VishNu is the only object of love and worship and that there is no one else—not even a demigod—worthy of receiving devotional service, one is said to feel intimacy in his loving relationship with God. This is the conclusion of such personalities as Bhi?ma, Prahlada, Uddhava and Narada."

    - source: Vanipedia - Vaniquotes.

    _/\_
    Last edited by smaranam; 12 March 2013 at 05:48 AM.
    || Shri KRshNArpaNamastu ||

  7. #37

    Re: VaishNav Basics

    Hare KRshNa
    om namo nArAyaNAya
    om namo bhagavate vAsudevAya ~
    Jai Shri KRshNa ~

    I just want to correct a few things on this thread that brahma-jijn~asa pointed out. Unfortunately it is too late to edit the posts since it has been a few years.

    Here are the edits:

    1. RAm should be RAma , since that is how it is in sanskRt (we say RAm in Hindi and other Indian languages).
    My tendency to drop the last 'a' a few yrs ago, was because I heard some non-Indian language speakers read the transliteration and pronounce raamaa, japaaaa, haaayagreevaaaa krishNaaa

    2. Lord Chaitanya is not a shaktyAvesha avatar of KRshNa in the mood of RAdhA. He is just KRshNa in the mood of RAdhA according to GauDIya VaishNava siddhAnta.

    Sorry about that.

    Have seen the paDchhAyA (loving shade) of Lord Chaitanya. Therefore, the idea was not to downplay His avatArhood or imply that He is jiva-tattva.

    Avesha need not always be a jIva.

    1. bhagavad-Avesha --- divine absorption like like KapilaDeva and RshabhDeva etc.
    2. shaktyAvesha (shakti Avesha)-- directly empowered by Lord like Shesha, Devarshi NArad and the 4 kumArs (saNak-Adi).
    3. vibhUti -- jivas indirectly empowered by Lord's oppulence (Gita chapter 10)

    Bhagavad-Avesha is not a jiva. My understanding was that shaktyAvesha can be of two kinds - a jIva or an expansion (both are aMsha in a sense, but the expansions are not jIva tattva).
    Remember reading that He is shaktyAvesha. Cannot find that ref. but there is a possibility that I may have misunderstood.

    Thanks brahma-jijn~asa!

    _/\_
    Last edited by smaranam; 21 November 2013 at 04:25 AM. Reason: edited bhagvad-avesh example list
    || Shri KRshNArpaNamastu ||

  8. #38

    Re: VaishNav Basics

    Quote Originally Posted by smaranam View Post
    Avesha need not always be a jIva.

    1. bhagavad-Avesha --- divine absorption like KapilaDeva and RshabhDeva etc.
    2. shaktyAvesha (shakti Avesha)-- directly empowered by Lord like Sesha-ananta, Devarshi NArad and the 4 kumArs (saNak-Adi).
    3. vibhUti -- jivas indirectly empowered by Lord's oppulence (Gita chapter 10)

    Bhagavad-Avesha is not a jiva. My understanding was that shaktyAvesha can be of two kinds - a jIva or an expansion (both are aMsha in a sense, but the expansions are not jIva tattva).
    Hare KRshNa

    Brahma jijnasa helped find a place in Prabhupad's purports that supports the statement above that shaktyAvesha avatAr is not necessarily a jiva. Avesha could be a direct expansion of the Lord, as per teachings of Lord Chaitanya Himself :

    http://vedabase.net/cc/madhya/20/246/en2
    The saktyavesa-avataras are categorized into (1) forms of divine absorption (bhagavad-avesa), such as Kapiladeva or Rsabhadeva, and (2) divinely empowered forms (saktyavesa), of whom seven are foremost: ...
    Here, Pruthu Maharaj is an example of an empowered jiva as an avatAra, whereas Shesha is an example of an empowered expansion of the Original Lord as avatara. Both act as devotees of BhagavAn.

    Just a minor FYI, patching the info together.

    om namo bhagavate vAsudevAya ~
    Last edited by smaranam; 21 November 2013 at 04:24 AM. Reason: added examples for clarity; edited bhagvad avesh list
    || Shri KRshNArpaNamastu ||

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