This sixth volume (Reflections On Sacred Teachings (Volume 6)) of commentary shines a spotlight on the central element of Vaisnava character–service to others–as described in ancient scriptures such as the Padma Purana and Narada-pancharatra and in medieval works such as Chaitanya-charitamrta and writing of the Gosvamis of Vrindavana.

Sri Isopanisad is an ancient work. It is counted as the first of the 108 Upanisads, and is part of the Yajur Veda-among those literatures which are accepted by followers of the Vedic tradition to have come from God Himself at the time of creation. As such it is, one could say, about as foundational a text as one could hope to find, anywhere, dealing with the most primeval and fundamental concepts of reality as we know it, presented in a context that is both timeless, in that it comes from the person who put time into motion, and simultaneously eternal.

“I ask you to dedicate this one life to the Lord. I do not want you to undergo the process of sansara, of repeated birth and death, any longer. Engaging wholeheartedly in the process of bhakti is not too difficult a sacrifice for attaining eternal existence. To be free of enemies, once and for all, to be permanently liberated from ongoing negative bombardments that we are forced to face every single day- whatever price we have to pay for that, it is worth it.”

This (Dana Keli Kaumudi) is a divine play/drama, written by Srila Rupa Goswami, with commentaries of Srila Visvanath Cakravarti Thakur. In the Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 4.226) there is a verse that describes the writings of Sril Rupa Gosvami: Srila Rupa Gosvami compiled 100,000 verses, beginning with the book Dana-Keli-Kaumudi. In all these scriptures, he elaborately explained the transcendental mellows of the activities of Vrndavna. This one-act drama describes the very celebrated pastime of Krsna’s efforts to extract a toll from Radha and her companions as they carried butter for the performance of a sacrifice being performed in the forest of Vrndavana. Of course, it cannot be emphasized enough that such pastimes are only to be relished by devotees who have thoroughly understood Lord Krsna’s position as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by carefully studying the first nine cantos of the Srimad-Bhagavatam.”