Caitanya Vaisnava Philosophy

Caitanya Vaisnava Philosophy
Author: Ravi M. Gupta
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2016-04-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1317170164

In the sixteenth century, the saint and scholar Sri Caitanya set in motion a wave of devotion to Krishna that began in eastern India and has now found its way around the world. Caitanya taught that the highest aim of life is to develop selfless love for God Krishna, the blue-hued cowherd boy who spoke the Bhagavad Gita. Although only a handful of poetry is attributed to Caitanya, his devotional theology was expounded and systematized by his followers in a vast array of poetical, philosophical, and ritual literature. This book provides a thematic study of Caitanya Vaishnava philosophy, introducing key thinkers and ideas in the early tradition, using Sanskrit and Bengali sources that have seldom been studied in English. The book addresses major areas of the tradition, including epistemology, ontology, aesthetics, ethics, and history, and every chapter includes relevant readings from primary sources.

Prīti Sandarbha

Prīti Sandarbha
Author: Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī
Publisher:
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2018-06-02
Genre:
ISBN: 9781983062124

Prīti Sandarbha is the last of the six Sandarbhas. It deals with prayojana, the goal of bhakti and goal of the jīva. With this work sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana become complete. Its content is similar to that of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, with discussion of the various rasas, but the terminologies are somewhat different.

Śrī Paramātma-sandarbha

Śrī Paramātma-sandarbha
Author: Jīva Gosvāmī
Publisher:
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2006
Genre: Chaitanya (Sect)
ISBN:

Treatise explaning the philosophy of the Chaitanya sect in Vaishnavism; includes English translation and explanation.

Tastes of the Divine

Tastes of the Divine
Author: Michelle Voss Roberts
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2014-06-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 082325741X

The intensity and meaningfulness of aesthetic experience have often been described in theological terms. By designating basic human emotions as rasa, a word that connotes taste, flavor, or essence, Indian aesthetic theory conceptualizes emotional states as something to be savored. At their core, emotions can be tastes of the divine. In this book, the methods of the emerging discipline of comparative theology enable the author’s appreciation of Hindu texts and practices to illuminate her Christian reflections on aesthetics and emotion. Three emotions vie for prominence in the religious sphere: peace, love, and fury. Whereas Indian theorists following Abhinavagupta claim that the aesthetic emotion of peace best approximates the goal of religious experience, devotees of Krishna and medieval Christian readings of the Song of Songs argue that love communicates most powerfully with divinity. In response to the transcendence emphasized in both approaches, the book turns to fury at injustice to attend to emotion’s foundations in the material realm. The implications of this constructive theology of emotion for Christian liturgy, pastoral care, and social engagement are manifold.

Bhakti - the Yoga of Love

Bhakti - the Yoga of Love
Author: Samrat Schmiem Kumar
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2010
Genre: Peace (Philosophy)
ISBN: 3643501307

Transrational Peaces is a new approach in contemporary Peace Research. It considers the rational and the spiritual sphere of human perception to be essential for the understanding of peace. In this book the Austrian-Indian researcher Samrat Schmiem Kumar presents the Indian tradition of Bhakti Yoga, and demonstrates the value of Indian philosophy for contemporary discussions on peace. In the philosophy of Bhakti, life is a playful and aesthetic relationship between human and the cosmos. The book opens the field of Peace Studies beyond the well-known horizons of the discipline in Europe and the United States.

Bhakti Sandarbha

Bhakti Sandarbha
Author: Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī
Publisher:
Total Pages: 412
Release: 2018-05-29
Genre:
ISBN: 9781983030383

Bhakti Sandarbha is the fifth Sandarbha of Jīva Gosvāmī. The first Sandarbha deals with pramāna, the Bhāgavatam. The second, third and fourth Sandarbhas deal with sambandha: defining the Lord in his aspects as Paramātmā, Bhagavān and Kṛṣṇa. The present Sandarbha deals with the abhideya (method), the sādhana of bhakti. This is the means to realize Kṛṣṇa. The same topic is covered in the second chapter of the Eastern Section of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu of Rūpa Gosvāmī, but is expanded greatly. It discusses the spiritual nature of this process, the qualification of bhakti, the various actions of bhakti, vaidhi and rāgānuga types, mixed and pure forms of bhakti and various types of devotees.

Śrī Pritī-sandarbha

Śrī Pritī-sandarbha
Author: Jīva Gosvāmī
Publisher:
Total Pages: 676
Release: 2007
Genre: Chaitanya (Sect)
ISBN:

Sanskrit treatise with English translation expounding the philosophy of Chaitanya school in Vaishnavism.

Dance of Divine Love

Dance of Divine Love
Author: Graham M. Schweig
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 420
Release: 2018-06-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0691190178

The heart of this book is a dramatic love poem, the Rasa Lila, which is the ultimate focal point of one of the most treasured Sanskrit texts of India, the Bhagavata Purana. Judged a literary masterpiece by Indian and Western scholars alike, this work of poetic genius and soaring religious vision is one of the world's greatest sacred love stories and, as Graham Schweig clearly demonstrates, should be regarded as India's Song of Songs. The story presents the supreme deity as the youthful and amorous cowherd, Krishna, who joins his beloved maidens in an enchanting and celebratory "dance of divine love." Schweig introduces this work of exquisite poetry and profound theology to the Western world in the form of a luminous translation and erudite scholarly treatment. His book explores the historical context and literary genre of the work and elucidates the aesthetic and emotional richness of the composition, highlighting poignant details of this drama of divine love. Schweig illuminates the religious dimensions and ethical nuances of the drama, drawing widely from the commentaries and esoteric vision of masters of the Caitanya school of Vaishnavism, a prominent devotional Hindu tradition. Themes such as transcendence of death through love, the yoga of devotion, the contrast between worldly love and passionate love for God, and the dialectical tension between ethical boundaries and boundless love are presented. The final event of the Rasa dance, the author concludes, presents a dynamic symbol of supreme love that provides the basis for a theological vision of genuine religious pluralism.

Tattva Sandarbha

Tattva Sandarbha
Author: Jīva Gosvāmī
Publisher:
Total Pages: 141
Release: 2018-04-23
Genre:
ISBN: 9781980913443

The Sandarbhas are one of Jīva Gosvāmī's major works. Sandarbha literally means "stringing together." Baladeva explains, "The wise say a Sandarbha is that which possesses various matters of importance which should be known. Bhāgavatam verses are gathered together (sandṛbhyate)."In this case, it is a literary composition consisting of a series of prose sections mixed with verse mainly from Bhāgavatam. It is in six parts which explain Gauḍiya epistemology, theology and philosophy. Tattva Sandarbha deals with the epistemology, while Bhagavat, Paramātmā and Kṛṣṇa Sandarbhas deal with object of worship (sambandha). Bhakti Sandarbha deals with the process or abhidheya, bhakti, and Prīti Sandarbha deals with the goal or prayojana, prema.Tattva Sandarbha first explains the various pramāṇas or methods of proof and concludes that śabda or scripture is the strongest. Using scriptural proofs, finally Bhāgavatam is concluded to be the best among all scriptures. The second part of Tattva Sandarbha explains prameya--what is proved by Bhāgavatam: Kṛṣṇa as the object of worship, bhakti as the method and prema as the goal. These topics are expanded in the other Sandarbhas.