Haribol,
So, I finally finished reading Siksastakam of Sri Caitanya. It was a struggle for me because, although the book is beautifully written, I couldn't wrap my neophyte mind around much of its contents. Here are a few points I was able to come away with:
- Our primary motive in chanting the holy names should be to obtain love for God, or Krishna prema, not to obtain liberation from samsara.
- As one advances spiritually, humility is a by-product of this process. Humility causes one to see others as a "resting place for God."
- If one is at the stage where he or she has no taste for bhakti or has not awakened his or her love for God, Gaura-Nitai make sure that his or her prayers still reach Krishna.
I'm sure that there are more points I acutally understood, but these are the ones that really stuck with me. Would any of you care to share an idea or main point you came away with? I'd really appreciate the insight.
Thank you.
P.S. Would Joy of Self be a good book for a beginner like myself?
Hi Philip,
It's really good that you have read the Siksastakam commentary by Guru Maharaja and also encouraging that you took away some good points to move you forward on your journey.
Regarding Joy of Self - it is an excellent introduction to Gaudiya Vaishnavism and you should definitely read it. It is aimed at an audience with absolutely no background.
The Siksastakam commentary, on the other hand, is really written for practicing sadhakas. Of course anyone can read it and gain something from it, but it will be most helpful for those who have some faith and are treading the path. I just read the text again this week as I was traveling on business and felt it a good time to read the text again. I think the most important aspect of the commentary is that Guru Maharaja has shown with great clarity how the verses reflect the progessive stages of advancement from Sraddha to Prema. He has clearly shown how each verse corresponds to a different level of spiritual attainment and how the sadhaka advances on to the next. It is a wonderful road map for all of us and should give us two important lessons: 1) if we are introspective and honest we should be able to find ourselves on the map which will make it clear what we need to do to progress toward the goal, and 2) It provides great impetus to tread the path faithfully and gives great encouragement for all sadhakas as it shows very clearly what the goal is and how to reach it!!!!
Gaura Hari Bol!!!
Quote
- If one is at the stage where he or she has no taste for bhakti or has not awakened his or her love for God, Gaura-Nitai make sure that his or her prayers still reach Krishna.(Philip Breakenridge)
I think the conclusion of the thread "Where do our prayers go?" is that prayers to Gaura Nitai are heard by Gaura Narayana.Is that correct?
Quote- If one is at the stage where he or she has no taste for bhakti or has not awakened his or her love for God, Gaura-Nitai make sure that his or her prayers still reach Krishna.(Philip Breakenridge)
I think the conclusion of the thread "Where do our prayers go?" is that prayers to Gaura Nitai are heard by Gaura Narayana.Is that correct?
Not necessarily. Gaura Nitai are raga marg Deities—vrajendranandana yei saci suta haila sei balarama hailo nitai. They come from Goloka. They are Krsna and Balarama filled with audarya. But in the beginning stages the sadhaka, being more concerned with what they can do for him rather than what he can do for them, draws more on their salviific aspect as deliverers of the fallen and distributors of the yuga dharma—yuga dharma palau. So prayers to Gaura Nitai are heard by Gaura Nitai, but relative to the prayers and position of the devotee praying they reciprocate accordingly. Their yuga dharma aspect will pay attention first and then as one's heart is purified and one becomes appropriately more concerned with their inner life, they share it with the advanced sadhaka. Sri Vrindavana dasa Thakura has emphasized their yuga dharma aspect more and Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja has given more emphasis to Garua's Radha bhava. So all things in time.
Not necessarily. Gaura Nitai are raga marg Deities—
What makes Deities raga marg Deities? If ajata ruci sadhakas are really worshiping Laksmi Narayana when they worship Radha Krishna,then I guess they aren't raga marg Deities? Why not?
What makes Deities raga marg Deities? If ajata ruci sadhakas are really worshiping Laksmi Narayana when they worship Radha Krishna,then I guess they aren't raga marg Deities? Why not?
Raga marg Deities are those that are involved in the raga marg. Laxmi Narayana are not. These sadhakas are not "really worshiping Laxmi Narayana" (perhaps not the best wording), but in the beginning they cannot draw much more from Radha Krsna than the kind of reciprocation that revernetial love warrants. They are worshiping Radha Krsna with some aisvarya jnana. Thus their bhakti is not jnana anavrtam. For that matter it may not be karma anavrtam yet. It is free from jnana and karma only in the sense that their ideal is free from these coverings, while in reality they are not free from karma and jnana. They are engaged in suddha-bhakti only in terms of sadhana-bhakti, but they themselves are not suddha-bhaktas in all respects. First they will cross over karma at ruci. Then jnana as their ideal (Nandatanuja) manifests in their hearts. At this point with the ingress of a specific manifestation of svarupa-sakti they draw full reciprocation from thier deity rather than an aspect of their Deity. This is the idea.