Category: 108 words for Gurudev

What is bhāvollāsa‑rati?

Bhakti is the name of a spiritual path that stands apart from all others. Rather than simply offering a new teaching to replace an old one, it invites us into an entirely new way of understanding and experiencing spirituality.

When Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in 1486, Vedic philosophy had become entangled inits own infinity. Though the scriptures consistently affirm that the Divine is composed of infinite being, consciousness and bliss, the seeker’s actual experience remained limited—confined to the information they could access and comprehend through writings and teachings of the brāhmaṇa class. We were finite beings tragically attracted to infinite life. Divine perfection was promised, but only through in impersonal books, lifeless rituals, and the teaching of others finite beings. 

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prema-vaicittya: Who is love for?

Although He stands before Me, smiling like the moon, my heart trembles as if lost in storm. O sakhī! I see Him with these eyes, yet feel Him miles away. His voice, sweet as flute-song, echoes—but I doubt it’s real. What cruel trick of love is this, Where presence feels like absence? 

Rūpa Gosvāmī, Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi

Who do I feel love for when I am alone? Why are my feelings strongest when there is no one there to love. Why do emotions—sometimes heavy, sometimes light—rush through my heart? Where are they going? Where do they come from? Do they arise from another heart? Will they reach another heart? Will my love be felt? Or will this storm of emotions that steals my peace of mind be lost to the world like water poured out in the desert?

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What is unnatojjvala-rasa?

In this Kali-yuga, may the son of Śacī always manifest within the cave of your heart. Out of His compassion, He has descended to offer that which was never bestowed before, the most exalted, radiant mellow of conjugal love [unnatojjvala-rasāṁ], the beauty of His own devotion. He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, now illuminated by the effulgence of golden brilliance.

Rūpa Gosvāmī’s early play Vidagdha Mādhava (The Artful Lord Kṛṣṇa) opens with an unforgettable invocation of Kṛṣṇa. The author expresses to his reader the wish that Kṛṣṇa may shine forth in the heart of everyone. And as if to make that experience possible, he explains in just a few words the purpose of Kṛṣṇa’s appearance among us.

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What is śṛńgāra?

śṛńgāra [love, pleasure or delight that emerges between lovers, ornamentation] 

In the poems and prayers of the Bhakti tradition, śṛńgāra leads a sweet yet mysterious double-life. 

On the one hand, in the spiritual tradition where jewels, trimmings, and decorations meet our eyes every day, śṛńgāra is ornamentation. On the other hand, through the Bhakti practice of serving and nurturing divine love (prema), śṛńgāra refers to the deepest and sweetest emotion experienced by the heart.   

How is this double-meaning possible? Only in the practice of Bhakti.

In the most evolved expressions of this practice, the two meanings of śṛńgāra shift seamlessly. The brilliant verses of Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, for example, move quickly from one meaning to the other. 

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What is mercy?

kṛpa [compassion, mercy, grace, or kindness] 

Mercy is widely understood as a key element for success in spiritual practice. It is said that the spiritual path we are on can only lead to its ultimate goal with the ‘help’ of mercy—be it Ishvarakṛpa, Daivakṛpa, Gurukṛpa, and so on. It seems that our spiritual ambitions can only be fulfilled through the compassion and grace of external powers.

This leads us to ask: How do I receive mercy? What are the requirements? Are there specific conditions? Should I offer gifts to the deities? Should I make special efforts to please the guru?

This transactional way of thinking—‘I can get mercy if I give that—confuses us, if only because the material gifts we might give would only bring material satisfaction to whoever receives them. Spiritual contentment is unattainable by material means. 

Mercy is not a trade-off. Mercy is not even a thing that could be traded for something else, something that the ‘worthy’ will receive and the ‘unworthy’ will not, be it from God or guru. 

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What is sambandha?

sambandha [connection, relationship, union, association] 

In Caitanya-Caṛtāmṛta, Caitanya Mahāprabhu explains: ’One’s relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead [sambandha], activities in terms of that relationship [abhidheya], and the ultimate goal of life [prayojana] — these three subjects are explained in every aphorism of the Vedānta-sūtra, for they form the culmination of the entire Vedānta philosophy’ (Ādi-līlā 7.146).

In other words, every word on every page of every book in the spiritual tradition of Bhakti yoga contains these essential elements. The first and most important of these is sambandha (relation). 

Where do these two kinds of relationships meet? 

In mundane language, the word sambandha has ordinary associations. It refers to family relationships, working associations, contracts that form connections to objects, property, and so on. 

But in spiritual experience sambandha refers to the mystery of spiritual relationships.

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What is abhisāra?

abhisāra [the passionate pursuit by the secret lover of the beloved] 

A term borrowed from classical Indian poetry and drama, abhisāra refers to the quest of a heroine to meet against all obstacles, both social and material, her beloved. 

Abhi is a prefix meaning ‘toward’, ’to’, or ‘near’ (we think of abhidheya, the process of devotional service that leads to the ultimate goal, dheya, of loving service to RādhāMohan.) Sāra means journey, but also movement or approach. 

It is easy to understand that in the tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, abhisāra refers to the journey to the secret, loving meetings of Rādhā and Mohan. Rādhā overcomes all odds to leave her home in search of her lover. Then, with the help of her mañjarīs she must confront the twists and turns of desire that finally unite her with her lover.  Love-in-separation (vipralambha), the painful longing that grows in the absence of the beloved, is the fuel of this abhisāra.

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What is śraddhā?

śraddhā [faith, faith in goodness, respect, devotion] 

Faith is a common idea for most of us. It’s at the center of all religious and spiritual practices because religious and spiritual practices invite us to think and act on the basis of things we cannot be sure of.

Faith is typically about knowledge, about we know and don’t know. But it also invites us to make assumptions about what knowledge is, and to assume that the having this knowledge is better than not having it. 

Faith in our modern sense means setting aside rational scepticism or doubt about what we know until a later time when that knowledge can be tested scientifically. Faith in this sense means knowledge that is only meaningful if it can be verified by science.

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