Gitamala Song Book (Hard-binding)

Description

This is the last of a four-volume series of songs written by Bhaktivinoda Thakura. This volume has 128 songs, many of them never published in English before. These compositions are deep instructions for the path of devotional service to Krishna. Bhaktivinoda Thakura gives voice to a range of experience: from that of the untrained soul deeply steeped in materialism to the highest ecstasies of pure devotional service. His songs are a journey into the highest states of pure consciousness.

Each song has the Bengali word-for-word transliteration and English translation.

The spiral bound volumes are designed to easily stay open so you can sing or read along hands-free.

Gitamala – A Garland of Songs, was composed in 1893, and contains, in a nutshell, the concentrated essence of all the literatures of the Gosvamis headed by Rupa and Raghunatha.

Yamuna bhavavali (Songs based on Sri Yamunacarya’s Totra-ratna)

Gita-mala develops systematically, beginning with “Yamuna-bhavavali”, a series of mellow yet directly ecstatic potent songs based on the primary devotional mood of eternal servitude and submission to the Lord.

Then “karpanya-panjika” injects a very heavy booster shot of topmost divine seva to Sri Sri Radha and Krishna,
accompanied by very intense pleading prayers borne of pure spiritual humility.

Then “Soka-satana” bestows the merciful benediction of the Most Merciful incarnation and yuga-avatara, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, whose ecstatic lila depicted therein is especially meant to dispel all the sufferings of the kali-yuga victims. Without such mercy from Lord Caitanya, one cannot fully appreciate or enter into the final goal of
confidential personal service to Radha and Krsna which was described in the previous chapter.

Then “Rupanuga-bhajana-darpana” presents the complete detailed science of the transcendental rasa-tattva that permeates Krsna’s eternal divine pastimes, as it is understood by those who strictly follow Srila Rupa Gosvami. It is based on Rupa Gosvamis’s Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu and Ujjvala-nilamani. Although very technical at times, a sincere study of it will crack open a whole new world of understanding of Srila Prabhupada’s most exquisite, transcendentally delightful presentation of The Nectar of Devotion. Rupanuga-bhajana-darpana contains, in a nutshell, all the necessary details of the science of devotion beginning from the preliminary thirsty greed for rasa all the way up to the highest peaks of mahabhava which saturate the Lord’s eternal daily asta-kaliya pastimes.

Then the final chapter called “Siddhi-lalasa” presents the final moods of the topmost swan-like devotees. After a
thorough study of all the details of the science of rasa, the crystal-clear hearts of the pure devotees then issue forth such pure desires for eternal service to Srimati Radharani in their transcendental siddha-deha, or spiritual
body, such as those desires expressed in this chapter of Siddhi-lalasa, the last word in ultimate ecstatic beautitude.