Meditations on Transcendence

Desire begins as Smara, a quiet remembrance rising from the storehouse of impressions; it becomes Manobhava, mind born and shaped by imagination; soon it turns Manmatha, churning the mind until calm waters ripple; then it swells into Madana, the intoxicating wave that warms the senses; armed as Pushpabāṇa, it releases its soft flower arrows toward action; if left unchecked it becomes Māra, the destroyer of clarity and discipline; yet even when its body is burnt by the fire of awareness, it survives as Ananga, bodiless and subtle, influencing from within; all these are but shimmering facets of Kāmadeva, the many named current of longing that can bind the mind or, when illumined, be transformed into devotion.

Tolerance toward difference is the heartbeat of Tattvavada. We often try to polish the world into our own reflection, expecting everyone to think like us, speak like us, worship like us. When someone differs, we sharpen criticism instead of widening understanding. Yet the doctrine of Madhvacharya stands firmly on the reality of distinction, declaring “pañcabhedaḥ satyaḥ,” the fivefold difference is real and eternal. Among these shines jīva–jīva bheda, the sacred diversity between soul and soul. No two beings are copies from a cosmic mold; each is a distinct note in the grand raga of existence. To resent difference is to resist reality itself. To appreciate difference is to align with truth. A true Madhwa follower does not merely tolerate diversity but reveres it, recognizing that harmony is not sameness but coordinated plurality. When we celebrate jīva–jīva bheda, we honor creation as it is, not as our ego wishes it to be.

  ಪ್ರಕ್ಷಯಂ ಯಾಂತಿ ದುಃಖಾನಿ ಯತ್-ನಾಮತಃ When you serve the sound, the miseries start travelling, the existing ones which are being suffered do not sit still anymore; they begin movement. The potential ones which will come in one's lifetime also receive direction. Nama will push them towards destruction. Some leave halfway, suddenly miseries stop, as though a decree has been issued in the invisible court of order. Tapa trayas move in procession, other living beings, one's own bodymind complex, nature, prakrti, adidaiva. Dukhani yaanti prakshayam, Nama; they travel towards total destruction; dukha travels towards total destruction. Difference between kshaya and prakshaya becomes crucial: kshaya is decay, slow thinning; prakshaya is decisive undoing, structural collapse. Nama is so powerful; prakshayam is an amazing word. Sufferings gets destroyed; miseries gets destroyed; they move towards destruction just by serving his Nama. Yanti, yatra, prayana, dukha yanti; the travel of the duk...

CAN YOU FEEL HIM IN SOUND? God’s presence in sound, are you crazy? Can you really find Him there, in sound itself? Yes. That is exactly where He waits. Being conscious, being aware of Krishna in sound is Krishna consciousness. It begins there. Not in imagination, not in philosophy first, but in sound. What a wonderful gift it is, to have access to Him in sound. Sound ko kaise touch karega? With the tongue and the ear. These are not ordinary senses anymore. They become doorways. Through them, you can touch God, feel God, receive God in sound. The tongue vibrates His name, the ear drinks it, and consciousness slowly bends, softens, and opens. Allow Him deep into your consciousness by hearing deeply. Not mechanically. Not casually. Hear as if your life depends on it. Sound enters where the mind cannot guard. It slips past logic, past resistance, past pride. He will enter deep and rob the butter of love hidden in your heart, just as He always does. You will not even realize when it happ...

  YAJÑA–SAṄKALPA : TRIGUṆĀTĪTA–ADHYĀTMA GĀMINĪ Something to be done today. Not tomorrow, not after certainty arrives, but now, because existence itself is participatory. Yajna is the main thing, because we are not here to merely pass through life but to offer it back. Because we are yajna agents, our actions are not isolated events; they are transmissions. Who we are is a mystery to begin with, not because truth is absent, but because identity reveals itself only through alignment. Shuddha acarya tells who we are, not as a comfort but as a calling: yajna agents to adhyatma, the all hovering spirit, the intelligence that pervades without pressing, that sustains without noise. He comes in forms, because relationship demands form. You may call it saguna brahman swarupa, but he is beautiful with lots of mahima, a beauty that draws the heart and a majesty that steadies the mind. He has eternal forms not temporal forms, not born of history or imagination, but accessed through continuity...

 In the modern AI information age, we find ourselves adrift in a vast ocean of data. However, as seekers of truth, we must realize that information is not wisdom. To truly understand the divine, one must recognize that the bliss of jnana is the absorption of rasa "essence" behind it. Knowledge without flavor is merely a burden. According to our tradition, every jnana has essence and that is saras. This "saras" is the sap, the juice, and the life-force of spiritual understanding that transforms a dry fact into a living realization. How do we distinguish between mere data and this life-giving essence? It is taught that only by blessings of Shuddha Sarasvati you will be a essence seeker. Without Her grace, the mind becomes a collector of trivia rather than a vessel for truth. Otherwise one will be drowned in information, lost in the noise of algorithms and endless "content." To find the Lord, we must look past the information and taste the Rasa.

We have to invest in the Lord for happiness. This is the first and forgotten economics of life. Yet we do wrongly invest in objects, in properties, in assets, hoping interest will accrue in the heart. Matter pays dividends only in anxiety. The Lord alone is the reservoir of bliss, the inexhaustible treasury from which joy is withdrawn without loss. Disconnected from Him is nirānanda, a polished emptiness where pleasure flickers and fades. True wealth is not what appreciates in markets but what deepens in meaning. The Lord is wealth for eternity, untouched by inflation, theft, or time. Every other possession eventually possesses us, demanding maintenance, fear, and defense. Devotional service reverses this burden. It lightens the soul. To invest in His relationship through devotional service is to place capital where returns are certain. Each act of service compounds into peace, clarity, and love. The heart becomes solvent. Life turns profitable in the truest sense.

 अमरत्व का प्रवाह बहे, हरिनाम सरिता संग। ज्ञान-विज्ञान उजास हो, मिटे अज्ञान का रंग॥ ह्लादिनी आनंद छुए, सूखे मन का छोर। रामरस कहे हरिनाम से, जागे जीवन भोर॥ Purport: The holy name is not a material vibration but the Supreme Lord Himself appearing as sound. Therefore amaratva flows with harināma, because the soul is eternal and the name awakens that forgotten eternity. As A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada repeatedly emphasized, chanting is both philosophy and realization together. Jñāna reveals what we are not, and vijñāna confirms what we truly are through direct experience. The hlādinī-śakti manifests as causeless joy, drying up the desert of material life. One need not be qualified; contact itself purifies. Thus by harināma, ignorance retreats, consciousness revives, and the real morning of life begins.

 In Krishna’s itihāsa arc, the slaying of demons unfolds not as random heroics but as a carefully ordered dharmic progression. Narakasura falls first, during Krishna’s Dvārakā phase, in a direct battlefield act that frees the imprisoned princesses and restores violated order. Next comes Jarasandha , whose power is more political than feral; Krishna does not strike him down personally but orchestrates his end through Bhīma , dissolving a systemic obstruction and clearing the path for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rājasūya yajña. Finally, Shishupala is slain at the very altar of kingship itself, after exhausting his measure of offenses, when Krishna’s Sudarśana responds not to arms but to accumulated adharma. Read together, the sequence reveals a deep logic: Naraka represents gross tyranny cut down by force, Jarāsandha embodies entrenched oppression undone by strategy, and Śiśupāla signifies verbal and moral transgression resolved by cosmic sanction. The order is not merely chronological; it is pe...

ಖ್ಯಾತಿ ಅಂದರೆ ಅವನದ್ದು ಕಣ್ರಿ. ನಿಮಗ್ಯಾಕೆ ರಿ ಪರವಸ್ತು? ದಾಸನಾಗು, ವಿಶೇಷನಾಗು. ಪ್ರೇಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಸುಖಿಸು. ಖ್ಯಾತಿ ಅಂದರೆ ಹೊರಗೆ ತಿರುಗುವ ನೆರಳು. ಅದು ಯಾರದ್ದೋ, ಯಾರ ಕೈಯಲ್ಲೋ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ. ಇಂದು ಹೊಗಳಿಕೆ, ನಾಳೆ ಮೌನ. ಅದನ್ನು ಹಿಡಿಯಲು ಓಡುವವನು ತನ್ನೊಳಗಿನ ನೆಮ್ಮದಿಯನ್ನು ಕಳೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾನೆ. “ನಿಮಗ್ಯಾಕೆ ರಿ ಪರವಸ್ತು?” ಎಂಬ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ತೀಕ್ಷ್ಣ. ಪರದ್ರವ್ಯ, ಪರಕೀರ್ತಿ, ಪರಮತ ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಮನಸ್ಸನ್ನು ಚೂರುಮೂರು ಮಾಡುವ ವಸ್ತುಗಳು. ಸ್ವಂತ ನೆಲವಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಮರ ಬೆಳೆದು ನಿಲ್ಲುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ದಾಸನಾಗು ಎನ್ನುವುದು ಹೀನತೆ ಅಲ್ಲ; ಅದು ಅಹಂಕಾರದ ಭಾರ ಇಳಿಸುವ ಮಾರ್ಗ. ದಾಸತ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯ ಇದೆ. ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಹೊರೆ ಇಲ್ಲ, ಹೋಲಿಕೆ ಇಲ್ಲ. ವಿಶೇಷನಾಗು ಎನ್ನುವುದು ಬೇರೆವರಿಗಿಂತ ಮೇಲು ಎನ್ನುವುದಲ್ಲ; ತನ್ನ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯವನ್ನು ಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಿ ಬದುಕುವುದು. ಕರ್ತವ್ಯ ನಿಷ್ಠೆಯಿಂದ ನೆರವೇರಿಸಿದಾಗ ಜೀವನವೇ ವಿಶೇಷವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಪ್ರೇಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಸುಖಿಸು ಎಂಬುದು ಅಂತಿಮ ಉಪದೇಶ. ಪ್ರೇಮ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾವೋದ್ರೇಕವಲ್ಲ, ಅದು ಬದುಕಿನ ಸರಿಯಾದ ದೃಷ್ಠಿ. ಪ್ರೇಮವಿರುವಲ್ಲಿ ಲೆಕ್ಕಾಚಾರ ಇಲ್ಲ, ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಶಾಂತಿ ಇದೆ. ಖ್ಯಾತಿ ಹೊರಗೆ ಹೊಳೆಯುತ್ತದೆ; ಪ್ರೇಮ ಒಳಗೆ ಬೆಳಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಅದೇ ಶಾಶ್ವತ.

 world is ranga - play of emotions with Ranganatha at the center  relate with emotions, grow beyond concept  always be on stage,  universe is a drama  this is how to deal with Vishnu the all pervading Purport: The World as Ranga The world is ranga , not a problem to be solved but a drama to be lived. Emotions rise, collide, soften, and fade. At the center of this moving stage stands Ranganatha , unmoving amid motion. To see life only as concept is to remain a spectator; to feel it fully and yet not be bound is to become wise. The Gita does not ask us to escape the stage, but to stand rightly upon it. मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः । आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥ (Gita 2.14) Sense contacts give rise to pleasure and pain; they come and go, endure them. This verse reframes emotion not as enemy but as passing scene. One who knows this remains present, yet free. Vishnu, the all-pervading, is not met by withdrawal but by right particip...

  Hosa Varsha Eve. New Year Eve. Enu hosaadu? The clock changes its hat. The calendar flips its moustache. But the stage remains the same. Ade pañca-bhūta . Ade kāla . Earth does not update its software. Fire does not download a new patch. Water flows with the same old confidence it had yesterday. So haagadare… enu hosaadu? Not the universe. Not time. Not even our problems, which are loyal enough to RSVP every year. What becomes new is something subtler. Bhāva. Dr̥ṣṭikoṇa. Vision. A year becomes hosa only when the lens through which we look becomes nava-naveena . Otherwise it is just the same old wheel doing polite rotations, like a bored bull at a village oil press. The Gītā whispers this politely in Chapter 15. The universe exists in layers , like a cosmic mille-feuille. What we see is not all that is. “tataḥ padam parimārga-tavyam” — seek that further step, the higher footing. New Year, then, is not about fireworks. It is about climbing vision , one rung higher. From surface s...

  Purport to Saint Vādirāja’s Hitōpadēśa (Ṣaṭślōkī) The opening command is uncompromising: “Smara Kṛṣṇaṁ, bhaja Hariṁ, nama Viṣṇuṁ, śrayācyutam.” Once one has entered Bhāvālaya , the inner abode of devotion, there remains only one duty: tyaja kāma, jahi krodha, jahi moha. Nothing more, nothing less. Why is this necessary? Because we quietly trade our svadharma for money, position, and imagined security. This trade happens due to moha , mistaken identity. Planning the future on the false notion of “I am this body and its ambitions” is moha. Future expectations born from this false self create further bondage. Real intelligence asks a different question: How will this enable my service to Vāsudeva? Thus the instruction turns inward. Increase japa , deepen kathā , and see the world not as bhogya but as havis . The body itself is yajña-huta , meant for offering. The primary havis we handle daily is sound, ideas, and thoughts . Even rasa, like cooking, becomes sacred when offered to ...

 https://madhwafestivals.com/2016/11/04/venunada-priya-gopalakrushna/ Purport to “Venunāda Priya Gopāla Kṛṣṇa” The song begins with Venunāda-priya , establishing the primary quality of the Lord. Sound comes first. In the order of perception, śabda (sound) precedes sparśa (touch), rūpa (form), rasa (taste), and gandha (smell) . Therefore nāda is the doorway to devotion. Before one can appreciate the Lord’s feet, one must hear. The flute sound awakens faith, and that faith carries the consciousness toward the lotus feet. Pastimes follow later; first comes attraction through transcendental vibration. Pallavi – Nāda The pallavi rests on nāda. Kṛṣṇa is not merely a form-holder; He is sound itself. The venunāda is non-different from Oṁkāra. By hearing, the conditioned soul begins its return journey. First Para – Pada and Kara The song then moves to the feet : caraṇa-vandita-caraṇa . Feet signify shelter. After sound awakens faith, the devotee bows. Next comes the hand , therefore Mandar...

  Venunāda Vinōda, Gāna Vinōda, Mukunda There are two kinds of vinōda in Śrī Kṛṣṇa. One is Venunāda Vinōda . The Lord delights in His own flute sound. The other is Gāna Vinōda . He delights not only in rāga, but in bhāva-filled lyrics , sung with devotion. The flute of Gopāla Kṛṣṇa is not ordinary sound. Venu-nāda eva Omkāra-svarūpaḥ . From that transcendental vibration arises remembrance of the soul’s forgotten relationship with Mukunda. Therefore He is called Mukunda , the giver of mukti . Liberation does not descend by dry renunciation; it flows through sound saturated with devotion. The Bhāgavata declares: “Venuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam…” (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.21.5) When Kṛṣṇa plays the flute, even trees, rivers, birds and cows become motionless, absorbed in transcendental ecstasy. This is not sentiment. This is the scientific process of liberation through śabda-brahma . If someone asks, “Vinōda-dalli mukti sādhya-vē?” How can liberation arise from delight? The answer...

 At the lowest rung of vision, the universe looks crowded. Many doers. Many drives. Many hungers pulling in opposite directions. Life feels like a marketplace of forces colliding. Yet this plurality is only a surface ripple. When perception turns ūrdhva , upward, the noise thins. The Gītā whispers this reversal in Chapter 15. ūrdhva-mūlam adhah-śākham . The tree’s root is above. What appears many below is held by one above. What seems driven is already being driven. As consciousness ascends, agency begins to converge. Individual will softens. The sense of “I act” gives way to “I am moved.” Tataḥ pada-parimārgatayām , the search for the supreme station, is not spatial. It is a refinement of seeing. At the summit, multiplicity collapses into presence. Sri Hari is not added as a conclusion. He is discovered as the silent driver who was always driving. The many were never independent engines. They were spokes. The axis was always one. Urdhva-mūlam is not philosophy. It is a correct...

  Dharma Kṣetre, Kuru Kṣetre Dharma kṣetre is first the body. All discovery begins there. Within this inner field lie tendencies, gifts, and obligations, not created by choice but revealed by attention. A person who does not study this field lives by imitation, not by truth. Kuru kṣetre is the world. Kuru means to do. The world is not a place for contemplation alone, but for execution. Dharma, once seen inwardly, demands outward expression. Knowledge that does not enter action remains untested and therefore incomplete. Yet action alone is not sufficient. The spirit of action decides its fruit. When one acts in Pāṇḍu bhāva , free from possessiveness and claim, action becomes yajña. When one acts in māmakaḥ , even right action decays into bondage. Siddhi is not escape from the world, but mastery within it. Sañjaya is victory of clear sight, where inner dharma and outer action stand aligned. Only then is the field fulfilled.

  We Are Reborn Till the Time Pāṇḍu Mindset Completely Wins Over Māmakaḥ Inside the Heart Rebirth is not punishment. It is unfinished work. As long as māmakaḥ lives in the heart, the sense of “mine,” of clutching, defending, possessing, life keeps looping. The soul returns to complete what it could not release. The Pāṇḍu mindset is different. It is pale of ego, clarified of claim. It acts, but does not grip. It serves, but does not own. When action becomes idam na mama , karma loosens its knot. We are reborn until holding turns into offering, until possession yields to yajña. When Pāṇḍu fully replaces māmakaḥ within, rebirth has no work left. — मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव (ಭಗವದ್ಗೀತೆ 1.1)

  spṛśati yadi mukundo rādhikāṁ tat sakhīnām bhavati vapuṣi kampaḥ sveda romaïca vāṣpam adhara-madhu mudāsyāś cet pibaty eṣa yatnāt bhavati bata tad āsāṁ mattatā citram etat (Govinda-līlāmṛta 11.137, Śrī Rasika-Candra) "How amazing! When Mukunda touches Rädhikä, Her girlfriends cry of ecstasy and their bodies tremble, perspire, and are studded with goosepimples, and when Kåñëa blissfully........give me one para metaphysical analysis of this drinks the honey of Rädhikä's lips (by kissing Her), then they all become mad!" This verse reveals a metaphysics of distributed bliss and shared embodiment , where Rādhā functions as the luminous center of a conscious field rather than as a solitary experiencer. Mukunda’s touch is singular in action but plural in effect, producing tremor, perspiration, horripilation, and tears in the sakhīs, not by sympathy alone but through ontological intimacy , where proximity to divine love dissolves the borders of the self. When Kṛṣṇa drinks ...

The world is strange; not all can be grasped, Our models fail, our plans collapse too fast. Yet turn thy mind to the cowherd, pure and divine, Care for the kine, and all that’s needed shall align. Though reason falters, and the mind rebels, In simple love, the deepest wisdom dwells. Attend the herds with patience, heart, and grace, And heaven’s truths shall open, face to face.