Invocation:
Prostrations to Vashishta, Shakti, Parashara, Vyasa, and Shuka, and to Valmiki, Narada, and so many other great sages who, with their yogic effort, saw the Divine Light in All His Glory and gave Him to world out of pure compassion for all beings.
Glory be to all the Alvars who explained to us hidden meanings in the Divine Scriptures. Glory be to Kamban who gave the Nectar from Ayodhya in the banks of Cauvery. Glory be to the Haridasas, Tyagaraja, Annamacharya, Purandaradasa, Jayadeva, Mirabai, Tukaram, Namdev, Tulasidas, Kabir, and others who excelled in His Devotion.
I salute the parama bhAgavatas Paramashiva and Parvati, who constantly take delight in the Nectar of chanting the Glories of Lord Ramachandra.
Humble prostrations to the great Shankara Bhagavatpada, Bhagavad Ramanujacharya, Shri Madhvacharya, Shri Lokacharya and Shri Venkatanatharya, Vadirajatirtha, Sri Vallabha, Sri Nimbarka, and all the other Acharyas who dedicated themselves to the cause of the path of Vedic Dharma in the world.
I bow to Garuda, Shesha, and Vishvaksena who delight in attending to the Supreme Lord for ever.
Glory be to the Son of the Wind who likes being seated next to whoever reads as much as a line from the Magnificent Epic about the Scion of the Raghu dynasty.
I take refuge in the ocean of compassion, the Queen of the Waters, Lakshmi who dwells in the Srivatsa mark of the Divine Lord, so that I may deserve His Grace.
Let us adore Highest Light dwelling beyond the material universe - who is known in the Timeless Scriptures as Shriman Narayana and Vasudeva, who is the first to enter into the cosmos the Lord of the Milky Ocean, dividing Himself into the First Four and many more, who sports with His creation as the son of Nanda, who dwells in the middle of the Solar Orb, golden-hued, with eyes like just-bloomed lotuses, residing in the cavity of the heart with a form as brilliant as a streak of lightning in amid dark-blue clouds, possessed of a thousand heads, hands, and feet, projecting Himself in every direction, who is reclining in the Islet surrounded by the Two Rivers and standing on top of the Hill of the Great Earth-bearing Serpant, who delights His devotees with His Magnificent Form, bearing the Divine Conch, Discus, Mace, and Lotus, wearing the Vaijayanti garland, the Kaustubha jewel, the Kasturi Tilaka mark on His forehead, bedecked in Yellow Garbs, with a Lotus springing from his navel that bears the Four-Faced Divinity. Wisdom, Strength, Lordship, Valor, Power, and Splendor belong to Him! Let us adore Him again, again, and again!!!
I salute the parama bhAgavatas Paramashiva and Parvati, who constantly take delight in the Nectar of chanting the Glories of Lord Ramachandra.
Humble prostrations to the great Shankara Bhagavatpada, Bhagavad Ramanujacharya, Shri Madhvacharya, Shri Lokacharya and Shri Venkatanatharya, Vadirajatirtha, Sri Vallabha, Sri Nimbarka, and all the other Acharyas who dedicated themselves to the cause of the path of Vedic Dharma in the world.
I bow to Garuda, Shesha, and Vishvaksena who delight in attending to the Supreme Lord for ever.
Glory be to the Son of the Wind who likes being seated next to whoever reads as much as a line from the Magnificent Epic about the Scion of the Raghu dynasty.
I take refuge in the ocean of compassion, the Queen of the Waters, Lakshmi who dwells in the Srivatsa mark of the Divine Lord, so that I may deserve His Grace.
Let us adore Highest Light dwelling beyond the material universe - who is known in the Timeless Scriptures as Shriman Narayana and Vasudeva, who is the first to enter into the cosmos the Lord of the Milky Ocean, dividing Himself into the First Four and many more, who sports with His creation as the son of Nanda, who dwells in the middle of the Solar Orb, golden-hued, with eyes like just-bloomed lotuses, residing in the cavity of the heart with a form as brilliant as a streak of lightning in amid dark-blue clouds, possessed of a thousand heads, hands, and feet, projecting Himself in every direction, who is reclining in the Islet surrounded by the Two Rivers and standing on top of the Hill of the Great Earth-bearing Serpant, who delights His devotees with His Magnificent Form, bearing the Divine Conch, Discus, Mace, and Lotus, wearing the Vaijayanti garland, the Kaustubha jewel, the Kasturi Tilaka mark on His forehead, bedecked in Yellow Garbs, with a Lotus springing from his navel that bears the Four-Faced Divinity. Wisdom, Strength, Lordship, Valor, Power, and Splendor belong to Him! Let us adore Him again, again, and again!!!
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Bhagavatas from all over the world,
Humble prostrations to all of you. This is my modest attempt at taking baby steps towards getting a glimpse of the glories of the Lord, as told in the writings of great compassionate Acharyas across all sampradayas.
I want to make this effort quite different. There are many blogs that discuss poetry-style verses (prabhanda) written by the Acharyas of yore. Online resources explaining word-to-word and inner meanings of the devotional outpourings of Tyagaraja, Dikshitar, Purandaradasa, Bhadrachala Ramdas, Annamacharya, Mirabhai, Tukaram, and others great composers are aplenty. What I would like to do here is to explore how various great commentators, starting from Adi Sankaracharya, have explained the glories of Hari in their elaborate commentaries otherwise dealing with serious polemical discussions.
Since I am familiar more with Advaitic writings due to my background, I will start with the great works of Adi Shankaracharya and his early and contemporary followers, sticking to bhakti-related discussions. Discussions will only be on Bhakti and Saguna Upasana alone. No way does this imply that I will not quote from other Dvaita/Vishishtadvaita schools of thought in future. From time to time, I may also post my own independent thoughts.
I want to keep this blog free of controversy, discussions on current affairs, sarcasm, politics, and bickering (ABSOLUTELY NO inter-sampradAya/inter-religious debates and controversies), and will myself try to stay away from writing anything insulting to any individual/group of people even though it might be the truth.
This is just a place for sharing the nectar of pure Haribhakti - appealing to both the heart and the intellect. Your inputs and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Humbly yours,
Prahladadasa
