Category Archives: Blogs

Hare Kṛṣṇa, In his purport to the bhajan Hari Hari Biphale, Srila Prabhupada writes, “Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, saṅkīrtana movement, is nothing material. It is directly imported from the spiritual kingdom known as Goloka Vṛndāvana. So golokera prema-dhana. And it is not ordinary song. It is just theContinue reading “SB 10.29.39-48: The Significance of Kṛṣṇa’s Disappearance from the Rāsa Dance”

Hare Kṛṣṇa, This lesson beautifully captures the gopīs’ fervent prayers to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, beseeching Him to accept their devotion. A characteristic of a pure devotee is that he or she becomes an expert poet, for bhakti naturally blossoms into aesthetic expression. The gopīs’ use of vivid and meaningful metaphors to communicate their longing reveals bothContinue reading “SB 10.29.33-38: The Gopis Prayers to Krsna That He Accept Them”

Hare Kṛṣṇa, So many realizations emerge from this lesson. First, Kṛṣṇa concludes His Bhagavad-gītā instructions to Arjuna by urging us to abandon all varieties of religion and simply surrender unto Him (BG 18.66). Yet when the gopīs actually gave up all their dharmas—their duties to husbands, children, parents, and society—and took exclusive shelter of Kṛṣṇa,Continue reading “SB 10.29.28-32: Gopīs  Arguments, Part One”

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said in Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta (Antya 17.44), “Kṛṣṇa’s speech is far sweeter than nectar. Each of His jubilant words is full of meaning, and when His speech mixes with His smile, which is like camphor, the resultant sound and the deep meaning of Kṛṣṇa’s words create various transcendental mellows.” In LaghuContinue reading “SB 10.29.17-27: Krsna’s Equivocal Instructions to Return Home”

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Parīkṣit Mahārāja said: O sage, the gopīs knew Kṛṣṇa only as their lover, not as the Supreme Absolute Truth. So how could these girls, their minds caught up in the waves of the modes of nature, free themselves from material attachment? (SB 10.29.12) When Parīkṣit Mahārāja heard that some of the gopis, simply byContinue reading “SB 10.29.12-16: How Sukadeva Gosvami Answered Pariksit’s Question about the Gopis”

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Writing this forum post has not been easy, as the subject is profoundly deep and multi-layered. I found myself wrestling to grasp the essence and inner flow of these two verses. At last, I felt inspired to contemplate more closely on why some of the gopīs had to undergo a period of purificationContinue reading “SB 10.29.10-11: The Gopīs Were Restrained”

Hare Kṛṣṇa, This lesson offers a beautiful meditation on the various groups of gopīs and how each attained the supreme fortune of participating in Kṛṣṇa’s rāsa-līlā. It is especially inspiring to learn that some of these gopīs are sādhana-siddha, which gives hope to ordinary sādhakas like us — that through sincere practice, we too canContinue reading “SB 10.29.4-9: The Absorption of the Gopīs”

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Through the 29th chapter, The Rāsa Dance: Introduction, I am trying to correlate the Rāsa-related terms we studied in Lesson 1. I must admit that my understanding of these terms has deepened. In particular, I now have a clearer grasp of the concepts of vibhāva—ālambana and uddīpana. I was first introduced to theseContinue reading “SB 10.29.1-3: Although Self-satisfied (ātmārāmā) Kṛṣṇa Became Inspired to Enjoy with the Vraja-gopis”

Hare Kṛṣṇa, I find the concept of bhakti-rasa to be a difficult topic to understand. How can I understand something that I have not experienced directly? I think it is only Srila Rupa Goswami who, by the mercy and empowerment of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, has properly explained the science of bhakti-rasa. Other acaryas may haveContinue reading “SB 10.29.1: Sanskrit Terms Explaining Rasa”

Hare Kṛṣṇa, This is another sweet pastime of the Lord where He engaged Nanda Maharaja (just like the lifting of Govardhana Hill pastime) to reveal yet another feature of His abode. “Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always anxious to give information to the conditioned soul that there is a spiritual sky far, farContinue reading “SB 10.28.9-17: The Sweetness of Earthly Vrndavana”