Citra Kavitvani

Description

Srila Rupa Goswami is well known among the Gaudiya Vaisnavas as the rasacarya (teacher of devotional feelings), having written extensively on the topic in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu and Ujjvala-nilamani. His other poems and dramas contain abundant examples of many other ornaments of speech, sound and meaning. In particular, his citra-kavitva verses, which are found in his Stava-mala, are brilliant examples of ornaments of sound.

These twelve citra-kavitva verses presented in this book are guaranteed to enter the heart and spin the heads of sympathetic readers and leave them dumbstruck.

The accompanying CD includes,among others, a video presentation, where it provides an experience which transcends the confines of the written book . It also includes a powerpoint presentation for those who wish to share this nectar with their communities while providing their own explanations. And for the serious scholars the CD includes an unabridged edition containing Devanagari diagrams and a complete literal translation of Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana’s commentary, with exhaustive footnotes.

Translated from the original Sanskrit by Matsya Avatar Dasa, a disciple of HH Bhakti-Tirtha Swami, who joined the Hare Krishna movement in Brisbane, Australia, in 1997. Later he moved to Vrindavan, India where he served in the 24-hour kirtan party for 2 years, while studying the Bhakti-sastri and thorough self study of Sanskrit. Feeling the need of an experienced teacher to guide him further, he moved to Govardhana and sought the association of Gopiparanadhana Prabhu. Under his tutelage, he learned how to read the commentaries of the previous acharyas and was encouraged to begin the study of Srila Jiva Goswami’s traditional Sanskrit grammar called Hari-namamrta-vyakarana, which he later translated into English in its entirety. Since the inception of the BBT Sanskrit School, Srimad-Bhagavata Vidyapitham, in 2005, Matsya Avatar Dasa served as the main teacher alongside Gopiparadhana Prabhu, teaching the students Jiva Goswami’s traditional Sanskrit grammars well as courses on the commentaries of the previous acaryas and on Vaisnava poetics (kavya). His latest project is a translation of Srila Kavi-karnapura’s textbook on Vaisnava poetics called Alankara-kaustubha,which will be published shortly by Giriraj Publishing.