text: Q: What is taṭasthā śakti? A: The jīvas. Q: Do jīvas have taṭasthā śakti? A: That is like asking if the mind has a mind or color has color or taste has taste. The mind is the mind. Color is color. The jīvas are taṭasthā śakti. Q: But […]
  A Sanskrit commentary on the Sarva-samvādinī
  By T. Krsna dasa on October 25, 2022 • ( 19 Comments )
  I recently acquired a copy of a Sanskrit commentary on the Sarva-samvādinī, which is a commentary by Śrī Jīva Goswami on his Sandarbhas. It is written by Śrī Ānanda Gopāla Vedānta-tirtha, who is a Gauḍiya-Vedānta scholar currently based in Rādhā-kund. The book was published by the Jīva Institute […]
  Śrī Jīva Goswami’s commentary on na tu jīveṣu
  By T. Krsna dasa on October 15, 2022 • ( 25 Comments )
  In a previous article, I showed how Śrīdhar Swami’s commentary contains the words, “na tu jīveṣu” – not in the living beings, which explicitly denies the presence of Bhagavān’s svarūpa śakti in the jīva. There I cited his original commentary from Viṣṇu Purāṇa. In Śrī Jīva Goswami’s quotation […]
  Bhagavān’s svarūpa śakti is not in the jīva
  By T. Krsna dasa on October 12, 2022 • ( 2 Comments )
  The inherent bhakti-vādis hold that bhakti is in the svarūpa of the jīva. Because bhakti is Bhagavān’s svarūpa śakti, this forces them to take the position that Bhagavān’s svarūpa śakti is inside the jīva – in other words, Bhagavān’s svarūpa śakti (i.e. the śakti that constitutes His very […]
  What is the meaning of the term duḥkha-pratiyogi?
  By T. Krsna dasa on October 9, 2022 • ( Leave a comment )
  Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī uses the term ‘duḥkha-pratiyogi’ as a synonym of the word ‘ānanda’, which is an intrinsic quality of the ātmā. Śrī Babaji has explained that the term ‘pratiyogi’ is used to convey the meaning of an absence of duḥkha or misery in the ātmā. Opponents claim […]
  A definition of mukti
  By T. Krsna dasa on October 3, 2022 • ( Leave a comment )
  We come across the term ‘mukti’ frequently in the scriptures. The term evokes a final, everlasting destination after death, and is generally translated as ‘liberation’. But what is the precise meaning of this term? A definition of mukti The term mukti is defined in the Bhāgavata purāṇa in […]
  Quote
  tad etat śrīmad-gītā-gopāla-tāpany-ādi-śāstra-gaṇa-sahāyasya nikhiletara-śāstra-śata-praṇata-caraṇasya śrī-bhāgavatasyābhiprāyeṇa śrī-kṛṣṇasya svayaṁ bhagavattvaṁ karatala iva darśitam
  In this way, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s existential status as Svayaṁ Bhagavān has been shown — as clearly as one might display the palm of one’s hand — to be the true intent of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata , which is served reverentially by hundreds of other sacred writings and assisted by scriptures such as the Gītā and Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad.