Overview
The following is the preface to the Upadeśāmṛta of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī with the illuminations of Śrīla Śrīdhara Deva Gosvāmī Mahārāja by Śrīpāda Bhakti kiśora Āraṇya Mahārāja.
Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto my initiating spiritual master, Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda, who rescued me from the ocean of repeated birth and death, and who established within me the understanding of what is what in relation to my ultimate prospect – love of God. It was he who guided us to the lotus feet of Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Gosvāmī Mahārāja, who out of his causeless mercy, gave us shelter and protected us after the calamitous reactions that took place after the departure of Śrīla Prabhupāda. It was Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja who refined and enhanced our conception of divinity. What Śrīla Prabhupāda gave us in his books, Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja drew out the essence of those instructions and imparted them to the Vaiṣṇava world, both by practical and personal directives to all that came to hear from him.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī penned this great and formidable treatise, Upadeśāmṛta, a practical guide on how to proceed in bhakti step by step, beginning with sense, mind and emotional control, enabling one to move towards the highest level of devotional sentiments in line with the maidservants of Gāndharvā Śrī Rādhā, the topmost servant of Śrī Govindadeva.
Inspired from deep within, Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja gives his clear and spontaneous, inspirational śikṣā on each and every verse penned by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, who is none other than Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī. These clear and illuminating revelations prove that Sarasvatī Ṭhākura saw in Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja a person qualified to carry on the proper conception of divinity, just as Mahāprabhu Himself considered Rūpa Gosvāmī to be the most qualified person to receive and elucidate His directives.
The explanations spoken by Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja to these eleven verses are taken from a compilation of various discussions with disciples of His Divine Grace Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda over a period of seven years.
It was the arduous sevā of our dear friend and godbrother, Śrīpāda Bhakti Gaurava Narasiṅgha Mahārāja (Jagat-Guru Svāmī) along with his dear disciples who extracted the relevant śikṣā and correlated it to the appropriate verses of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī that makes this exceptional treatise of devotion an absolutely necessary addition to ones progressive march towards the ultimate goal of life – service in the line of Śrī Śrī Gāndharvikā-Govindasundara as propounded by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.
May the readers of this work be blessed by the compassionate hand of our Guardians in order that that they may give proper and clear directives to all that they meet, so that they may become family members of Govinda. As a result, the Vaiṣṇava community will prosper in a happy, harmonious and progressive way.
Swami Bhakti Kiśora Āraṇya
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Our new publication of the Upadeśāmṛta of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī with the illuminations of Śrīla Śrīdhara Deva Gosvāmī is now available as a hardcover book and ebook format. You can read it online for free, download a pdf or purchase a copy Read or purchase Upadesamrta here.
You can also listen to the audiobook version for free. Listen to the Upadesamrta Audiobook.
Related Articles & Books
- Upadeśāmṛta (The Nectar of Instruction) with the illuminations of Śrīla Śrīdhara Deva Gosvāmī’ (Book)
- Upadeśāmṛta Audiobook
- Introduction to Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu by Śrīla Śrīdhara Deva Gosvāmī
- Dāsa Gosvāmī and the Unique Position of Govardhana by Śrīla Bhakti Gaurava Narasiṅgha Mahārāja
- Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja and the Gem of All Conceptions by Śrīla Bhakti Gaurava Narasiṅgha Mahārāja
- The Appearance of Rādhā-kuṇḍa by Śrīla Bhakti Gaurava Narasiṅgha Mahārāja
- The Greatest Negative by Śrīla Bhakti Gaurava Narasiṅgha Mahārāja
- Preface to the Upadeśāmṛta by Śrīla Bhakti Kiśora Āraṇya Mahārāja
Further Reading
Grantha Samālocanā (A Book Review)
This article by Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda was first published in Śrī Gauḍīya Patrikā, 5th Volume, Issue 2, on 13th April 1953. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes a letter to a gentleman who has printed two books “full of apa-siddhānta” and points out their philosophical flaws in relation to a well-known 'sādhu'. This article was translated from Bengali by Swami B.V. Giri and Sanātana Dāsa.
Introduction to Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
In this introduction to the Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu written in 1947, Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja gives a brief explanation of the importance of Rūpa Gosvāmī’s magnum-opus, how it is the king amongst all other rasa-śāstra, Śrī Jivā Gosvāmī’s commentary on it, as well as the unique features of this particular publication of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. This was translated from Bengali by Swami B.V. Giri.
Rational Vedānta
'Rational Vedānta' was written by Swami B.G. Narasingha in October 2006 as an opening statement for a new website he had begun which compared western philosophies with eastern thought. In this article, Narasingha Maharaja explains the meaning of 'Rationalism' and 'Vedānta'. Vedantic and Pythagorean thinking, the stages of realisation according to Vedānta philosophy, and the defects of the so-called Rationalism in today's world.
A Devotee is Merciful (Sajjana – Kṛpālu)
‘Sajjana-Kṛpālu’ (A devotee is Merciful) was the first in a series of articles by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda on the twenty-six qualities of a Vaiṣṇava in 1917 and published in Sajjana-Toṣaṇī magazine, Vol. 20, Issue 2. This article explores mercy, the primary quality of a devotee, and illustrates its significance for the followers of Śrī Caitanya.
Grantha Samālocanā (A Book Review)
This article by Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda was first published in Śrī Gauḍīya Patrikā, 5th Volume, Issue 2, on 13th April 1953. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes a letter to a gentleman who has printed two books “full of apa-siddhānta” and points out their philosophical flaws in relation to a well-known 'sādhu'. This article was translated from Bengali by Swami B.V. Giri and Sanātana Dāsa.
Introduction to Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
In this introduction to the Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu written in 1947, Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja gives a brief explanation of the importance of Rūpa Gosvāmī’s magnum-opus, how it is the king amongst all other rasa-śāstra, Śrī Jivā Gosvāmī’s commentary on it, as well as the unique features of this particular publication of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. This was translated from Bengali by Swami B.V. Giri.
Rational Vedānta
'Rational Vedānta' was written by Swami B.G. Narasingha in October 2006 as an opening statement for a new website he had begun which compared western philosophies with eastern thought. In this article, Narasingha Maharaja explains the meaning of 'Rationalism' and 'Vedānta'. Vedantic and Pythagorean thinking, the stages of realisation according to Vedānta philosophy, and the defects of the so-called Rationalism in today's world.
A Devotee is Merciful (Sajjana – Kṛpālu)
‘Sajjana-Kṛpālu’ (A devotee is Merciful) was the first in a series of articles by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda on the twenty-six qualities of a Vaiṣṇava in 1917 and published in Sajjana-Toṣaṇī magazine, Vol. 20, Issue 2. This article explores mercy, the primary quality of a devotee, and illustrates its significance for the followers of Śrī Caitanya.