Dvija Maṇi Dāsa is a disciple of Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu. He is a lecturer in Sanskrit at Rutgers University and a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania where he is writing a dissertation on Rūpa Gosvāmī's Stavamālā. He holds a BA in Religion from Emory University and an MA in South Asia Studies from Uppsala University, where he wrote his thesis on Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa's Siddhāntadarpaṇa. His previous academic publications in the Journal of Vaishnava Studies and the Journal of Hindu Studies have focused on the writings of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa. He has also published articles in Back to Godhead on Rūpa Gosvāmī's poetry and Jīva Gosvāmī's grammar.

 

 

 

 

Seminar Description:

The śāstras clearly teach that association with Vaiṣṇavas allows a sādhaka to make spiritual advancement. In this seminar we will look at one of the most important places where this principle is discussed: Kapila’s famous verse about satāṁ prasaṅga in the Third Canto of Śrīmadbhāgavatam. Hearing His instructions will remind us about the importance of Vaiṣṇava association, encouraging us to give full value to this essential aspect of devotional life. But more importantly, this seminar will try to answer various questions about how Vaiṣṇava association brings about spiritual advancement. We will begin with a close look at Rūpa Gosvāmī’s outline in Bhaktirasāmṛtasindhu (1.4.15-16) of nine progressive stages of spiritual development, culminating in premā, in order to start with a clear idea of what spiritual advancement means. Then, primarily though the lens of Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s commentary on Kapila’s verse from Śrīmadbhāgavatam, we will see how each of these stages is depicted in that verse. We will consider how association leads a sādhaka to each further stage of development, what the symptoms of the various stages are, and what the mode of our association with Vaiṣṇavas must be in order to actually effect such spiritual development.

 

Seminar Goals:

Upon completion of the seminar, participants should be able to: List and explain Rūpa’s nine stages of development toward premā, preferably by quoting the original Sanskrit verse from his Bhaktirasāmṛtasindhu, Quote from memory the verse of Kapila from Śrīmadbhāgavatam, Explain the meaning of each word of that verse, Correlate each of the stages in Rūpa’s list with the proper phrase from Kapila’s verse, and Identify the factors present in this verse, drawn out by Viśvanātha, that lead a sādhaka to advance or to stagnate in Vaiṣṇava association.

 

Handouts:

 

Syllabus Refined
Sraddha to Prema Chart
Verse Handout

 

 

Audio Archive:

Part I: Saturday, October 1, 2011 Introduction, Rūpa Gosvāmī’s krama from śraddhā to premā
Part iI: Saturday, October 8 2011 PART II: Śraddhā through anartha-nivṛtti in Kapila’s verse
Part iI: Saturday, October 15 2011 PART III: Niṣṭhā through premā in Kapila’s verse