Sri Bhakti Sandarbha (Volume 3) The Fifth Book of The Sri Bhagavata-Sandarbhah Also Known as Sri Sat-Sandarbhah By Srila Jiva Gosvami Prabhupada (Sanskrit Text, Roman Transliteration and English Translation)

Bhakti Sandarbha is the fifth book of the Six Sandarbhas. It offers a thorough analysis of Bhakti, or devotion, on the basis of Srimad Bhagavatam. Jiva Gosvami states that the Bhagavatam prescribes Bhakti as the most efficacious and universal process (abhidheya) for realizing the absolute. Bhakti has never been established as abhidheya so systematically and emphatically as in this book. Earlier Bhakti was generally considered as one among various spiritual processes. Including karma-yoga, jnana-yoga and Astanga-yoga. moreover it was usually regarded as a precursor to jnana, which ultimately leads to liberation. Rarely was Bhakti viewed as an independent process. In contrast to this. Jiva Gosvami asserts that Bhakti is the complete abhidheya, and as such all other processes become futile when bereft of devotion. Other practices have enduring significance only through contact with devotion. Even realization of Brahman is possible only by the grace of bhakti. Bhakti is the most blissful process both in practice and in perfection.

Dr. Satya Narayana Dasa earned his graduate degrees, B. Tech. & M. Tech. In engineering, from IIT Delhi, and worked as a software engineer in USA for a few years.

He gave up a promising career in this field to pursue the inner quest for truth. He studied Sanskrit and the six systems of Indian philosophy under various traditional Gurus in Vrndavana. He also studied the entire range of Gaudiya Vaisnava literature from his Guru. Sri Haridas Sastri. One of the eminent scholars and saints of India.

Dr. Satya Narayana Dasa (PhD. Sanskrit) founded Jiva Institute to promote Vedic culture, philosophy and Ayurveda through education. He regularly gives classes on Gaudiya Vaisnava literature and has authored many books on the subject. He has contributed to the twenty-five volume work brought out by the project of history of Indian science, philosophy and culture.

Bruce Martin has been studying the systems of Indian philosophy. Especially tha of the Chaitanya School for over twenty-five years. Besides English, he is conversant in French, Sanskrit, and Hindi. He has translated and edited several Vaisnava works, including Bhagavad-gita, Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-bindu, Siksastaka and Manah-siksa.. He is well read in both modern and traditional systems of phi8losophy and is particularly concerned with bringing out the relevance of ancient wisdom tradition for modern practitioners.

Back Of The Book

This devotion of the Lord's associates, expressed in the form of hearing and so on, is itself sadhya, the state of perfection, because these actions arise like waves in the Ganga of devotion that is permeated by love in its perfectional state (sadhya-raga-bhakti). As such, the hearing and chanting of the Lord's associates [known as ragatmika-bhakti] does not come under the heading of sadhana, the practice of devotion.

For this reason we will now discuss discuss raganuga-bhakti, the practice of devotion following in the wake of the moods of natural affection. When a person develops a taste for the aforesaid specific raga, even though that raga itself has not yet arisen in her or him, the heart becomes like a crystal, shining as it reflects the rays of the mo on of that raga. By hearing about this raga from scripture of from one's teacher, one develops a taste for the actions of the ragatmika associates also that are expressions of this ragatmika bhakti. Then by adhering to the raga of a particular associate of the Lord according to one's taste, one executes devotion, which is called raganuga.