Upadeśāmṛta Chapter Overview
Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Upadeśāmṛta (The Nectar of Instruction) is presented along with the illuminations (commentary) of Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Mahārāja. This book includes the original Devanāgarī and word for word translation of each verse, illuminations by Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Deva Gosvāmī Mahārāja, an extensive introduction delineating the history of the Upadeśāmṛta, 6 colour plates and brief biographies of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Śridhara Mahārāja.
At the beginning of 2008, while transcribing the lectures of Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Gosvāmī Mahārāja, I noticed how many times His Divine Grace referenced Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Upadeśāmṛta and was inspired to see if I could compile a commentary on the original verses of Śrī Rūpa from his talks. As there was ample reference material to draw from, we eventually embarked upon printing the first edition of Upadeśāmṛta with illuminations by Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja.
When we presented the first edition to our Gurudeva, Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Gaurava Narasiṅgha Mahārāja, on his Vyāsa Pūjā in 2009, he felt great joy upon seeing it – so much so that in the same year, during Kārttika-māsa, he gave a number of talks from Upadeśāmṛta at Rādhā-Dāmodara Temple in Śrī Vṛndāvana-dhāma. In particular, he spoke on the last two verses in relation to taking up residence at Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa and bathing in Her sacred waters.
Since its initial publication, many kind-hearted devotees have expressed their appreciation. Now that all copies of the first print have been exhausted, we are reprinting it for the transcendental pleasure of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava community.
Our Guru Mahārāja had suggested that for the second printing we should include the word for word translation of the original ślokas, thus we have provided these for the benefit of the readers.
Svāmī Bhakti Vijñāna Giri
