Pyramids of Yucatan, rough draft

Mérida is the capital of Yucatan. Colonial life in Yucatan really begins in 1542 with the foundation of the city of Mérida in the ancient seat of Mayan peoples known as Ixcanzihó. Of course it took many long campaigns and conflicts to bring the Mayas under the colonial rule of the conquistadores. The Spanish began constructing town squares like this one, dominated by the Catedral de San Ildefonso.

Mérida, the vibrant capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán has a rich Mayan and colonial heritage. The city´s focal point is the Plaza de la Independence, bordered by the fortresslike Mérida Cathedral and white limestone Iglesias de la Tercera Orden, colonial-era churches built using the stone relics from ancient  Mayan pyramids.

Mérida is an energetic town with a rich Mayan and colonial heritage. The town square is the Plaza de la Independencia anchored by the Cathedral and the white limestone walls of the Iglesia de la Tercera Orden. Many of these churches were built using stone quarried from Mayan temples.

I first visited here in 1993. It's changed a lot since then. In those days Mérida was a quieter place. Couples strolled  in the park of the composers where they were serenaded by wandering trios,  Guitar, requinto and bass, playing the urban boleros known as trova yucateca written by composers from Guty Cardenas to Armando Manzanero. These days it's a bustling city where people seem to be in a big hurry. I found it a bit more decrepit; many buildings haven´t been repainted in 20 years. 

Still it's filled with quiet places where one can sit and have a malted milk, or an agua de horchata, and watch the world go by.

Relaxing in front of a sweet shop by the park.

El Parque de los compositores.

Near the main square are other, quieter parks.  

It's a nice place to sit in the shade and just contemplate the universe.

Behind me is the statue of Montejo who founded the city.

The parks give Mérida a special ambience of colonial dignity amid the hustle and bustle of 21st century globalization. 

My fascination with the pyramids would take us a two hours drive outside of Merida to the ruins of Uxmal.

The ruins of the ancient Maya city of Uxmal are about 35 miles outside Mérida.  While Yucatán is home to many important archeological sites of the Mayan culture, for example Śayil, Kabah, Labna, Tikul, and Ek Balam, Uxmal is one of the most important, rivalling Chichen Itza, Palenque  and Tikal in Guatemala. 

Uxmal is found in what is known as the  Puuc region is perhaps most representative of the Pu'uc style. It is a rare and mystic place. Whoever visits here becomes involved in a kind of time machine that transports one to a different time. The buildings here are monumental, yet intimate. A comparison of these ruins with the sister city of Chichen Itza puts one in mind of the difference between the Romans and the Greeks.

The Athenians built the Parthenon at the height of their civilisation. And yet, this great edifice while lavishly built high on a hill, is built to human scale. People who visit the Parthenon often remark, "It's much smaller than I thought it would be." The architecture of the Romans dwarfs that of the Greeks. The Roman Coliseum is huge. 

It is built to superhuman proportions as are many Roman statues of emperors. The very purpose of these structures is to create awe and wonder.

 Not so with the Parthenon, which is meant to inspire contemplation and wisdom.

For this reason the Mayans have often been called the "Greeks" of Meso-America, while the Aztecs who later build the huge pyramids of the sun and the moon in Teotihuacan have often been compared with the Romans. 

The Greeks held the Olympic games rewarding their athletes with laurel wreaths, amphoras of olive oil, and odes written by their best poets. 

The Romans had gladiators who would fight to the death before huge drunken crowds in the Coliseum. 

The Roman senate was a colossal building where the empire was bought and sold by corrupt politicians; the Parthenon was a meeting place for philosophers

By the same token it has often been observed that while Uxmal was a peaceful oasis, shaded from the hot sun where the mysterious Mayan peoples flourished and practiced their astrological rituals, Chichen Itza developed into an Aztec ritual site where crowds would gather to watch hearts sacrificed to the Chac Mool idol at the top of the pyramid's stairs. 

The Chac Mool idol at Chichen Itza holds a bowl over his stomach for the human heart offering.

The Aztecs, according to this view were a bloody and warlike people who dominated their subjects with ritual sacrifice and their predictions of lunar and solar eclipses. The Aztecs created an onerous system of tributes, demanding everything from beeswax to chocolate to gold from their subjects. Whereas the Mayans were thought of as a peaceful agricultural society who abstained from human sacrifice.

The real story is more complicated.

Ruins of Uxmal: the Nunnery Quadrangle

Aurora under a typical Mayan arch. Formed by "corbelling" the stones are free-standing

Detail of Steps to Governor's Palace, Uxmal

The Pyramid of the Dwarf

The Greeks vs. the Romans is a facile interpretation. The Mayans, while seemingly more peaceful than their Aztec brothers, also engaged in human sacrifice. 

For a look into the mythical background of the Maya one may peruse the Popul Vuh, the sacred book of the Quiche Maya. While much of their culture and history remains shrouded in mystery, many of the glyphs of the Mayan writing system have now been decrypted, shining some light on the life of the ancient Maya. https://www.tes.com/lessons/lEUmuIRzvyBJ6w/5-mayan-glyphs

At the same time, the modern Maya preserve many of the old traditions and these may still be observed in the area around Quetzaltenango and Chichicastenango in Guatemala near Lake Atitlan.  So much can be gleaned by comparing the modern linguistic version of spoken Mayan to the ancient glyphs.

As the warlike Toltecs were creating Teohihuacan and Monte Alban in Central Meso-America, the Mayan peoples in Yucatan and Guatemala created achieved a sophisticated culture far in advance of any other native American societies as seen in Mayan centers, each boasting its temples, palaces, observatories, and ball courts with advanced artistic and intellectual achievements especially in mathematics and astronomy.

The Observatory at Chichen Itza

The Pyramid itself was used for Astronomical Calculations

Mayans are thought to have settled the Guatemalan highlands during the third millennium B.C. and over the centuries  the northern and central lowlands somewhere between the Mahabharata war and the fall of the Roman empire (1500BC-100 AD). There is evidence that the Mayan system of villages evolved into ceremonial centres by around the 5th Century.  During this time we find the beginning of what is called the "Early Classic Period."

In the early classical period before A.D. 550, Tikal in the central lowlands is said to have risen to leadership over the Mayan system, as it traded with Teotihuacan and allied with the Kaminaljuyu peoples. 

With the fall of Teotihuacan there was a power vacuum, that was gradually followed by renaissance of sorts. Years later, classical era evolved at Tikal, in Guatemala,  Palenque in Chiapas, and Uxmal in Yucatán.

The  Mayan system,  was based not only on agriculture but also artesania and long distance trade in such goods as cotton, henequen, jade, and obsidian. The Mayas cleared and irrigated the fertile soil of the Yucatán and Northern Guatemala.  They used terracing and cultivated raised squash, maize, chiles, and many other crops. Their diet was largely vegetarian, but included wild turkeys, which one may find today wandering the ruins of Kabah and Labna in the Yucatan jungles.


As there were no beasts of burden, slaves were prized.Wars were fought more for prisoners than land and the prisoners became the slaves of the victors.

 Slaves worked in the fields of corn and in building. There were different social classes. Above the slaves were peasants, and above them craftsmen, and merchants. The elite were families of governing nobles and the class of priests and nobles. Sometimes priests and governors performed interchangeable functions. But normally each class enjoyed different rights and responsibilities, in a manner similar to the varnashram system of ancient India, divided into shudras, or workers and artisans, vaishyas, or businessmen, khsatriyas or the warrior and noble class, and finally priests. Indeed one is struck by the parallels.


As far as the relationship between the sexes: Mayan women enjoyed a certain respect and honour as seen in the stone carved portraits of queens and nobles, and yet their role was limited by the patriarchal society which governed them. They kept house and became expert artisans. Their weaving, embroidery work, and ceramics were highly prized. Divorce and property-holding was allowed.

Typical Mayan Pottery, Classical period

And yet, according to what may be reconstructed through a close study both of the written record and the traditions still held today, Women were restricted in many ways. They were to avoid eye contact with men. They would cook and serve their men and then eat separately with they women. They were forbidden public office.  They were´t allowed to enter a temple or participate in the all important human sacrifice.  That was for the priests themselves.


Mayan pueblos were ruled by a hereditary priest-king. There may have been some queens early on but this practice was later discarded. 

 The typical ruler in the late classical period was considered to be a descendant of the sun god. 

The man-god-king had ministers, priests and nobles in his royal court. He levied taxes, supervised justice, conducted foreign relations, and made war - indeed, as time passed in this era, warfare became increasingly common. 

Headmen, selected after passing examinations, were appointed to administer affairs in outlying villages. They commanded local militias, subject to strict control by the top military officers of the states. Some centers remained independent, but most were members of loosely organised leagues, based on common religions, royal marriages, or diplomatic alignments.

Religion permeated all phases of Mayan life. Law and taxation, for
example, were interpreted as religious principles and religious offerings. Education was conducted mainly as training for priests, who made reading, writing, and learning caste specialties. They conducted the numerous public rituals, including some human sacrifice by decapitation. Mayan thought was more ritualistic than scientific; mathematics and astronomy were considered
necessary to schedule ceremonies honoring the divine heavenly bodies. These were but some among a vast hierarchy of deities, ruling the universe under a supreme god and his consort.

Perhaps the two most enduring achievements of the Mayas were their calendar and their writing system. Neither of these was original, but both were more efficient than those of earlier Mesoamerican peoples.  The Mayas perfected a solar calendar with eighteen months of 20 days each and a five-day period for religious festivals. Using an ingenious cyclical system of notation known as
the "long count," they were able to date events of the distant past for accurate record-keeping and astronomical observations. 
Their notational mathematics, based on 20 rather than 10 in the current decimal system, employed combinations of dots and bars, in vertical sequences, to indicate numbers above 20. 

For non-numerical records, they combined pictographic and
glyphic symbols, which have only recently been partially deciphered. Their remarkable accomplishments in mathematics, astronomy, and writing were more than matched by their truly magnificent art and architecture. The plaza of each Mayan community was marked by at least one pyramid, topped by a
temple. With their terraced sides and horizontal lines, these buildings demonstrated a prevailing sense of proportion. 

The highly stylised sculpture which decorated their terraces is regarded by some authorities as the world's finest, even though Mayan sculptors accomplished their intricate carving with
only stone tools. 

The Mayas also developed mural painting to a high art. Even
their lesser arts, such as weaving, ceramics, and jewelry making, reveal aesthetic sense, sublety of design, and manipulative skills superior to artistic creations in many other high civilizations.
According to historical sources, the Maya of Mesoamerica, along with the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru, made up the high civilizations of the American Indians at the time of the Spanish conquest. Both the Aztecs and the Incas were late empires (about AD 1300-1533), capstones of a sequence of civilizations in Central Mexico and the Andes in South America, respectively. But the Maya of Yucatan and Guatemala exhibited a cultural continuity spanning more than 2,000 years (1000 BC-AD 1542), and many aspects of their culture continue to the present.

Mesoamerica had three major time periods: preclassic (2000 BC-AD 300), classic (300-900), and postclassic (900-1500). During the six centuries of the classic period the Mayan civilization flourished first in the forests of the Peten in Guatemala and adjacent areas--creating such cities as Tikal, Uaxactun, Quirigua, Copan, and Palenque--and then in the semiarid scrublands of northern Yucatan--constructing such pilgrimage centers as Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil, Labna, Etzna, Old Chichen, and Coba.
The post classic period in Yucatan was marked by the invasion of the Toltecs from Central Mexico and the establishment of their control at Chichen Itza (987-1200). Later the coastal trading town of Tulum grew in significance following the decline of military leagues led by Mayapan. Pyramids and temples were built in more than 40 cities, each with a population of about 20,000 people. The Spanish conquest by Francisco de Montejo, whose house still stands on the central plaza in the capital of Merida, completed the downfall of the Mayan civilization in 1542.

Today more than 2 million Mayan Indians live in northern Yucatan and highland Guatemala in a style similar to that of the common people among their ancestors. Excavations at Dzibilchaltun near Merida revealed house sites from 1000 BC that resemble today's huts in rural regions. The same style of construction--wattle-and-daub walls in an oval shape with a thatched roof of palmetto fronds and little furniture--serves the native Maya, who continue to resist racial mixing and the dilution of their culture.
The design of the native house from antiquity is reproduced in stone as a decorative art motif in the Puuc style at such sites as Uxmal and Labna (800- 1000). The Puuc style, named for a region of low limestone hills in northern Yucatan, is characterized by an unadorned lower level that contrasts sharply with an elaborately sculptured upper level. Examples are the Nunnery Quadrangle and the Governor's Palace. It is possible that the stone columns, or cylinders, also featured in this art style represent posts and wickerwork of the daub-and-wattle native huts.

The Mayan civilization in all stages--formative, flourishing, declining, and continuing--has been based on agriculture. Indian corn, or maize, was domesticated from a wild grass in central Mexico about 7,000 years ago and sustained most sedentary Indian civilizations from that time.
In the humid Peten a surplus of water and rapid growth of trees and vines encouraged the slash-and-burn farming method. The farmer cleared the cornfield by cutting bushes and girdling the trees, usually near the end of the rainy season, allowing the piled brush to dry under the hot sun of the dry season. Then the wood was burned and the ashes scattered among the stumps. A mattock of stone or wood to scoop the earth into a hummock and a fire-hardened pointed stick to poke a hole for the seed were used.

The productivity of the corn farmer sustained the Mayan civilization. It is estimated that as many as 150 days a year were free from daily drudgery in the fields. This surplus time was utilized by the nobility and the priests in a stratified society to build the cities, pyramids, and temples. There was sufficient leisure to support skilled craftsmen in arts and crafts. The Mayan workers who constructed the great stone structures and decorated the walls with artistic embellishment, however, were unaided by draft animals and wheeled carts. The lords of the land oversaw civic matters, while the priests conducted religious rituals, pursued intellectual studies, and corrected the calendar.
Cities that flourished in the classic period in lowland Guatemala are exemplified by Tikal, which has pyramid-temples more than 200 feet (60 meters) high and numerous carved stelae as time markers and reign recorders. Then the Old Empire collapsed. The stable city-states, comparable to ancient Greece in cultural accomplishment and administrative acumen, faded from memory.

No one knows why the culture declined and the cities were covered by encroaching forest until rediscovery in the 19th century. Possible causes include exhaustion of the cornfields by overpopulation, climatic changes, hurricanes, pestilences of epidemic proportions, wars, and insurrection.

Far to the north at the tip of Yucatan the New Empire waxed while the Old Empire waned. While they had no knowledge of horses or pack animals, the Mayans wandered far and wide throughout Meso America. Archaeologists trace transition routes through Palenque in Chiapas, via Mirador and Rio Bec in Quintana Roo, and around Coba, where a network of causeway roads called sacbes connect distant cities. The Mayans were also a sea-faring people, whose large dugout canoes took them over the waters of the Caribbean as far south as Guatemala and Costa Rica, bearing cotton and henequen, honey and wax, jade and obsidian as trade items, and returning with gold, silver, and exotic birds.

The physical environment of the peninsula of Yucatan differs from that of the Peten. It too is lowland and limestone but arid and covered with desert scrub. Water is scarce and seasonal, draining underground via sinkholes and subterranean streams. Where the water table reaches the surface or the limestone layer can be breached, a cenote, or well, provides water for settlement and cultivation. Chaltunes are man-made cisterns lined with plaster to catch rainwater runoff. Such sites are typified by Uxmal and Chichen Itza with the Sacred Cenote, or Well of Sacrifice.

In Southern Mexico the Mayan temples of Palenque present two notable features: the tomb of Lord Pacal,who ruled between 615 and 683 AD, found inside the Temple of the Inscriptions, and the "Royal Palace" of Palenque with a four-story square tower used not for defense observation but to notify the hospitable lords that visitors were approaching along the Usumacinta River, the artery of trade and travel to Tikal.

The community around Uxmal was built up over a 250 year period somewhere between 750 and 1000) according to the carbon dating of human and animal remains found in situ. Uxmal is  distinguished by the "Temple of the Magician," as it was named by John Stephens and Frederick Catherwood  in their seminal work, "Incidents of Travel in Yucatan," or the "Pyramid of the Dwarf," as it is known by the local Mayan people. Religion and the state among the Maya were as closely interconnected as among the Spaniards who conquered them. This convergence of customs and beliefs facilitated the merging of religions and the acceptance of authority during the colonial period. The Indians were converted to Roman Catholicism, but pagan practices persist, particularly in rural villages. In ancient days religious rites were conducted in temples by priests, and the government was administered by the aristocracy. The "palace" at Sayil and the "governor's palace" at Uxmal probably represent the residences of the landed elite.

According to some of the best research, the oddly shaped pyramid of Uxmal was rebuilt five different times to comply with the cycle of "Fuego Nuevo," where every 52 years according to the rounds of the lunar and solar calendars an offering must be made to the sun god that his light be renewed. 

The Fuego Nuevo sacrifice involved the offering of a human heart to the sun. A ball game was played on the curious ball court that can be seen from the "Governor's Palace." The winning team would offer their team captain in human sacrifice. The "Most Valuable Player" would be rewarding with lavish praise and fresh cotton garments decorated with fine embroidery. He would spend the night with the most beautiful virgins in the community. 

Early in the morning with the sunrise the people would gather and watch as the champion stood atop the stairs. The hero would drink the nectar of the gods, a powerful psychedelic potion made with a concoction of peyote or psilocybin mushrooms, datura, and cactus beer or pulque. After a long ceremonial ritual the hero was bound to a wheel made of stone with a hollow centre to catch the blood. While priests held him down, aided by his fellow team members, the high priest would approach. Armed with a surgically sharp obsidian knife, the priest would cut the champions heart from his breast, hold it high for the sun god to see and offer it to the gods. 

Important in the pantheon of Mayan gods was the serpent god, Kukulkan, or  "feathered serpent." Known also as Quetzal-coatl, the feathered serpent plays an important role in Mayan mythology. Stone sculptures commemorating the snake cult are found throughout Mexico. Throughout the architecture of Uxmal one may find evidence of the serpent cult intertwined through the mosaic of fretwork on the upper wall of the so-called "Nunnery Quadrangle," as well as in many ruins found around the site. Wandering through the ruins inspecting the serpent carvings, I was often surprised by large iguanas who quietly stand witness over the stone snakes.

Closer to Valladolid than Mérida, is Chichen Itza. The principle pyramid here is called "El Castillo," or the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl. Also called Kukulkan after the "feathered serpent" in the Nahuatl language of the Toltecs and Aztecs, this perfectly balanced structure is the outstanding feature of Chichen Itza and is considered one of the 7 modern wonders of the world. It was probably built somewhere between 1000-1200 according to the best estimates of modern archeologists. 

Most see Chichen Itza as a turning point in Mayan civilisation. It  heralds the coming of the Toltecs from Central Mexico and their dominance of the Maya of Old Chichen (800-1000). The themes of art and architecture recapitulate those of Tula, the original capital in the highlands, with emphasis on the images and symbols of the feathered serpent. 

The Quetzalcoatl portal supported the lintel over the entrance to the Temple of the Warriors, and the memoirs of the associated military orders of Jaguar and Eagle are carved into the Court of the Thousand Columns. The head, body, and tail of the creator deity--the giver of corn and civilization--outline the grand staircase rising to the temple atop El Castillo. Inside, the red Jaguar throne is encrusted with pieces of precious jade. 

The Quetzalcoatl legend is supposed to have predicted the return of the god to Mexico, which happened to coincide with the arrival of the conquistadores. The most ruthless and bloodthirsty of these,  Hernan Cortez, famously represented himself as the deity to befuddle the superstitious Montezuma and complete the Spanish conquest. They had never seen horses before. To watch a man in shiny steel armour gallop on horseback was to see a god in action. And yet later the followers of Montezuma had their doubts when the Spanish insisted on more and more gold. Montezuma ordered them to observe the Spanish closely. Did they sleep? Did they pass urine and stool? The Aztecs fed the conquistadores well and then observed them closely. When they found that they did indeed pass stool they understood that these were men, not gods, and declared war on the Spanish. But it was too late. The damage to the great American civilisations that had ruled for thousands of years before Columbus was already done.

The Mayan cities of the Yucatan, demonstrate much sophistication both in design and execution, even though their architects were were unable to go beyond the use of the  corbeled arch which employs only free-standing stone. 

Such special structures as the Caracol at Old Chichen and the observatory at Copan had an astronomical purpose. They were operated by the priests to devise and maintain a calendar more accurate than any except the Gregorian. The Maya invented a numerical system that involved the concept of zero, which was positional like the decimal system but based on 20 instead of 10. The symbols were dot-and-bar combinations and hieroglyphs. Scholars developed a system of hieroglyphic writing similar to the ideographic type of the ancient Egyptians. The glyph inscriptions with narrative content are being translated with partial success.

Many buildings of Yucatan in the Puuc style are decorated with the face of Chac, the Mayan rain god, an all-important deity in a society dependent on agriculture. Chac can be recognized by an elephant tusk nose. Sometimes there are three or four Chacs stacked over a doorway, giving security in numbers, and on the corners of buildings with eyes surveying two sides at the same time. The use of Chacmools--the bearers of messages to the pantheon of deities--so prominent at Chichen Itza, was introduced by the Toltecs of Tula from Central Mexico.



Its buildings are noted for their size and decoration. Ancient roads called sacbes connect the buildings, and also were built to other cities in the area such as Chichén Itzá, Caracol and Xunantunich in modern-day Belize, and Tikal in modern-day Guatemala.

Its buildings are typical of the Puuc style, with smooth low walls that open on ornate friezes based on representations of typical Maya huts. These are represented by columns (representing the reeds used for the walls of the huts) and trapezoidal shapes (representing the thatched roofs). Entwined snakes and, in many cases two-headed snakes are used for masks of the rain god, Chaac; its big noses represent the rays of the storms. Feathered serpents with open fangs are shown leaving from the same human beings. Also seen in some cities are the influences of the Nahua, who followed the cult of Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc.These were integrated with the original elements of the Puuc tradition.

Typical "Palapa" style building of Yucatan

Dear Friends

Dear friends:

I hope you are enjoying these posts. This week I have been concentrating on the Gauḍiya Kaṇṭhahāra. It is a project dear to my heart.

 I first began working on this translation about 34 years ago, in 1982.  At that time I was recently returned from the ashram of the founder acharya of Śrī Chaitanya Saraswat Matha, His Divine Grace Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Dev Goswāmī Mahārāja. He spoke highly of the Gauḍiya Kaṇṭhahāra and recommended its study to me personally.

I had been in India about six months at that time and was studying Bengali. I could read the lips, but wasnt very expert in the grammar. But I could see where the book quoted from Bhagavad-Gīta for example, and would look up the translation in Prabhupāda's version.

In subsequent trips to India, as my Bengali language skills improved, my translation proceeded. It took me about 8 years to go through the entire work verse by verse and I had completed the work in around 1990. Much of the work had already been translated, of course. The majority of the quotations from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-Gīta and Chaitanya-Caritamṛta are merely compiled from the works of His Divine Grace, A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda.

Having taken sannyāsa  from Śrīdhara Mahārāja in 1984, I preached his message as best I could in the West for 8 years, bring out a number of publications at Guardian of Devotion Press, supporting the work of Bhakti Sudhir Goswami at our temple at 62 South 13th Street. In 1989 I made a world tour in support of Bhakti Sundar Govinda Mahārāja that took me from India to Australia to the streets of Berlin.  Exhausted, I returned to San Jose, California to find that the mission was being dissolved on account of financial problems. I traveled to South America, touring Colombia and Ecuador, visiting a number of cities including Quito, Ecuador, and Bogotá, Colombia. Another tour of the United States took me from California to Miami.

Unfortunately, few people at that time were interested in our books and our message. While there was an explosion of interest in yoga and gurus in the 1970s and early 80s, that interest seemed to have dried up. Low on resources and money, with no backing from any quarter I was at a crossroads.

In the different established missions I was told that while I was a great speaker, preacher, and bhajan singer, and really knew the philosophy there was really no room for me. X Swami told me the problem was that that people in his ¨zone¨would listen to me and want to accept me as their guru.

As there was no room for another guru in the mission, I was on my own. Fair enough.

At this time many of the managing gurus in ISKCON, the old International Society for Krishna Consciousness were on a rant against Sridhar Maharaja. Their sectarianism played out by barring us from their temples. Anyone who supported Sridhar Maharaja was a ¨heretic¨and was ostracized from the Hare Krishna movement for being somehow "against Prabhupada."

So I was "too weird" for the Hare Krishnas.

Times have changed, of course. ISKCON has since relented. Govinda Maharaja himself was such an exalted figure that by his own transcendental charm, he managed to change the hearts and minds of many of those who held such sectarian views.

But at the time, I was out in the cold.

On the advice of P. Maharaja, I went to Costa Rica with a list of names of devotees and began knocking on doors.

I arrived in Costa Rica armed with the Gauḍiya Kanṭḥahāra, which was my solace. 8 years on, I was still working on the translation. I had pretty much polished it, and it was ready for publication.

I took a cheap hotel across the street from the market while I ran down the "leads" I had been given. This hotel was frequented by Peace Corps volunteers, idealistic young people with the idea of helping poor communities in Latin America. They were there to supervise the construction of water pipes to remote areas so that they would have running water. I preached a bit to them about the value of saving eternal souls, but they seemed to feel that running water was more important.

I went to the "art gallery" that sold paintings of Krishna imported from India. I was told that Krishna Das and Ram Das were really enthusiastic about starting a temple. They would certainly help me out. But when I got there, I found that the gallery had been closed a few weeks before, leaving no forwarding address.

I went to the "Govinda's" restaurant in downtown San José, and connected with Hari Das. He was friendly at first. We chatted and I helped him with his English homework as we sat in a booth at the restaurant. But when he discovered that I was connected with  Śrīdhara Mahārāja, his attitude changed. He became afraid and could no longer talk with me. I was asked to leave and not come back. His guru Z Maharaja who was a disciple of B Maharaja who was a Prabhupada disciple wouldn't like it. I should probably leave Costa Rica.

It seemed that the only way for me to continue would be to found my own mission with no money and no followers, and then initiate disciples, setting myself up as the head of the mission and guru.

In conversations I had had with different swamis over the years, one of the problems that was complained about was the number of crazy people who somehow frequented the ashrams. When Ronald Reagan was governor of California he defunded a number of mental institutions. As we offered free food to indigent people once a week, we found many people with mental problems showed up at our program. There was a girl who painted her eyes with so much mascara she looked like a circus clown. There was "Star" a burned out hippie who loved to chant hare krishna because he said it made the little green people inside his head disappear for a while. There were junkies and ex-junkies, meth-heads, and old people who had been cast into the rubbish bin by a society who didn't care for them. We even saw hard-working salvadoran and guatemalan immigrants who grinned at the devotees as they hungrily scarfed down the prasadam.  But somehow a number of people who had a hard time adapting to society would gravitate to the hare krishna movement back then. They had conspiracy theories about Marilyn Monroe, Jack Kennedy, and UFOs. They knew how to irrigate colons and stop viruses with organic cauliflower. Some of them were yoga experts who smoked marijuana, or sadhu brahmacharis with three ex-wives.   I'm not talking about the sincere souls who works so hard sacrificing their lives and their youth to keep our mission alive, but the summer soldiers who showed up for a sunday feast, stayed for a week and moved on. All of these people are dear to me, I don't mean to make light of anyone's hardship. But somehow we attracted some pretty strange folks. Maybe it was our shaved heads and peace and love outlook.

Alone in 1992 I decided that being a guru was not for me.  I felt that anyone who could accept me as they guru must be crazy by definition. Why would I lead people who were crazy enough to believe I was a guru? It was an exercise in absurdity.  Disgusted and demoralised, I moved on.

6 months later I found myself in Guatemala.

We have a saying in Mexico: enter Guatemala y Guatepeor. It means "between the devil and the deep blue sea."

One day I was walking down the street in Antigua, Guatemala, feeling quite lost when who should appear before me but P. Maharaja himself.

It was a miracle.

We had a long talk. He couldn't really do anything to help me, he said. I was welcome to come to the Sunday feast at his temple, but he didn't want to disturb the minds of his disciples. I should understand.

He asked me if I needed any money.

I was honest with him. He said, look, why don't you let me buy your computer. It's just sitting there in Miami.

Fine, I said. He gave me a good price, 800 dollars for my old Macintosh. We had a nice talk and he disappeared again. It's hard for me to believe I really saw him.

With the money I got on a bus to Chichicastenango, Guatemala, and then to La Mesilla, a small border town between Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico. My mother lived in San Miguel de Allende. I hadn't seen her in a number of years. As a renounced devotee, brahmachari and sannyasi I had taken the idea of giving up my family very seriously and had no contact with anyone for almost 15 years.
Now, I really had no place to go. I owed my mother a visit. I called her on the phone and she said she could help me with a teaching job in the small town of San Miguel.

The bus from La Mesilla to San Cristobal crosses some of the most inhospitable badlands you will see. Of course, that's another story.

Flash forward.

The teaching job turned into a position at the University of Guanajuato, a prestigious university here in Mexico. I settled down and married a Mexican woman, Aurora, who is a teacher herself.  We've been faithfully married for 23 years.

I do my best to follow the principles I learned from my guru.

No smoking, no drinking, no drugs.

No meat, no fish, no eggs. No gambling.

I still chant hare krishna and take the name on my japa rosary beads, given me by my guru.

I'm pretty much of a square.

But I am not a saint.  I don't pretend to be a saint. Still, I love this book, the Gauḍiya Kaṇṭhahāra. Although I am unable to live up to its high standards and practices.

A few years back I did a google search on my name, Bhakti Vidhan Mahāyogi, and found the unfinished edition of Gauḍiya Kaṇṭhahāra languishing on a Spanish language website run by P. Maharaja. I found that publication and the Lives of the Saints, another pet project of mine. Since that time I have been working on the manuscript. Now that it's in pretty decent shape, I'm posting it online here at the blog.

The new version includes the Sanskrit devanagari lipi when a verse is in Sanskrit and the Bengali lipi when a verse is in Bengali.

Each jewel of the Gauḍiya Kaṇṭhahāra represents a different conclusion dear to the Vaishnavas in the Gaudiya line. The book was originally designed and authorised by Bhaktisiddhānta Sāraswati Ṭhākura for his preachers. Any doubt about Krishna, the tatastha-shakti, varna-ashrama-dharma, and so on can be solved by consulting this book. Where there is a contradiction between two differing ideas in this book, Vaishnavas may hold a hari-katha session to explore the inner meaning of a shloka.  Of course spiritual life means proper adjustment and if there is anything here which causes a grave doubt, higher authority may  be consulted.

This blog is written for my own self-purification. Perhaps one day I will gather these notes together and turn them into some kind of useful publication. If anything here is useful, please take it. If anything here offends you, it was not my intention. A blog is by nature ephemeral; here today, gone tomorrow. No one will remember this post in a few days. So, given the ephemeral nature of the blog, I'm only describing my own path and some of the pitfalls I faced along the path.

Don't take it too seriously.  Different personalities have come into my life at different times. If I describe them I try to do so without envy.  Nothing I say here is meant to hurt other people. Please excuse me if I mention X Swami or Y Maharaja. No offence is meant to X Swami or Y Maharaja. Please don't waste your time sending me hate mail, death threats, or offer to help me in assisted suicide. I'm not interested. I'm trying to keep it positive. Peace and love everybody. Gaura Hari bol.

Just as gold is acceptable even if found in a dirty place, just as the truth is acceptable even if spoken by a drunkard, I hope you can accept whatever is worthy in these ramblings and discard the rest.

I recently had a brush with death and don't know how much longer I have. I think my time may be short. And so, while I occasionally lapse into madness and reveal  the depths to which I have sunk, I am trying in my own way to offer something valuable.

Please therefore accept my offering of Gauḍiya Kaṭḥahāṛa. I hope you find it useful.

Humbly,
B.V. Mahāyogi.

The practice of Divine Love I: Bhakti-yoga: Sadhana Bhakti Tattva

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati Ṭhakura

শ্রী গৌड़िয-কন্ঠহার

Gaudiya Kanṭhahāra:

The Jeweled Necklace of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas

13th Jewel

SĀDHANA-BHAKTI-TATTVA

The Practice of Divine Love

Being a compendium of quotations from revealed scriptures

concerning the truths about the cult of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu

Compiled under the authority and direction of

His Divine Grace

Bhaktisiddhānta Sāraswāti Goswāmī

Prabhupada

Translated and edited, with original Sanskrit and Bengali and Roman transliteration by

B. V. Mahāyogi, Michael Dolan

Jñāna-miśra-bhakti: Devotion Mixed with
Knowledge

१३.१

ब्रह्म-भूतः प्रसन्नात्मा न शोचति न काङ्क्षति

समः सर्बेषु भूतेषु मद्-भक्तिं लभते पराम्

13.l

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

One who is situated in Brahman is joyful. He never laments nor hankers for

anything. He is equally disposed toward every living being. In that state he

attains pure devotional service unto Me. (Bhagavad-gītā 18.58)

Karma-miśra-bhakti Devotion Mixed with
Karma

१३.२

यत् करोषि यद् अश्नासि यज् जुहोषि ददासि यत्

यत् तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत् कुरुष्व मद्-अर्पणम्

13.2

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat

yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam 

O son of Kuntī, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give

away, as well as whatever austerities you perform should be done as an offering

unto Me. 

(Bhagavad-gītā 9.27)

१३.३

वर्णाश्रमाचारवता पुरुषेण परः पुमान्

विष्णुर्-आराध्यते पन्था नान्यस् तत्-तोष-कारकः

13.3

varṇāśramācāravatā puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān

viṣṇur-ārādhyate panthā nānyas tat-toṣa-kārakaḥ

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, is worshiped by the proper execution of prescribed duties in the system of varṇāśrama-dharma. There is no other way to satisfy Lord Viṣṇu. One must be situated in the one of the four varṇas and āśramas. (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.8.9)

१३.४

यज्ञार्थात् कर्मणो ऽन्यत्र लोको ऽयं कर्म- बन्धनः

तद्-अर्थं कर्म कौन्तेय मुक्त-सङ्गः समाचर

13.4

yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma- bandhanaḥ

tad-arthaṁ karma kaunteya mukta-saṅgaḥ samācara

Work done as a sacnfice for Viṣṇu must be performed, otherwise work binds one to the material world. Therefore, O son of Kuntī, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage. 

(Bhagavad-gītā 3.9) 

The Definition of Bhakti

१३.५

सा परानुभक्तिरीश्वरे

13.5

sā parānubhaktirīśvare

Transcendental attachment to the Supreme Lord is called bhakti. 

(Śāṇḍilyabhakti-sūtra)

१३.६

अन्याभिलाषिता-शून्यं ज्ञान-कर्माद्य्-अनावृतम् 

आनुकूल्येन कृष्णानु- शीलनं भक्तिर्-उत्तमा

13.6

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam 

ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu- śīlanaṁ bhaktir-uttamā 

Pure devotional service is free from all impurities, beginning with karma and

jñāna. In other words, it is devoid of all attempts to attain fulfillment through

power and knowledge. Śuddha-bhakti is the favorable cultivation of service to

Kṛṣṇa. In śuddha-bhakti a devotee constanly serves Kṛṣṇa's desires. 

(Bhaktirasāmṛta- sindhu, Pūrva-vibhāga 1.11)

१३.७

सर्वोपाधि-विनिर्मुक्तं तत्-परत्वेन निर्मलम्

हृषीकेण हृषीकेश- सेवनं भक्तिरुच्यते

13.7

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam

hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa- sevanaṁ bhaktirucyate 

Devotional service means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord of

the senses. By this one is liberated from all material designations and one's

senses are purified. 

(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Pūrva-vibhāga 1.12)

The Śrutis Glorify Bhakti

१३.८

भक्तिर् एवैनं नयति भक्तिर् एवैनं दर्शयति

भक्ति-वशः पुरुषो भक्तिर् एव भूयसी

13.8

bhaktir evainaṁ nayati bhaktir evainaṁ darśayati

bhakti-vaśaḥ puruṣo bhaktir eva bhūyasī

Bhakti leads the jīva to the Lord, and enables the soul to see the Supreme

Personality of Godhead. The Lord is controlled by bhakti. Bhakti is best of all.

(Mādhvācārya's commentary on Vedānta-Sūtra 3.3.53)

१३.९

ओं अमृतरूपा च

13.9

oṁ amṛtarūpā ca

Bhakti is the very form of immortal nectar.

(Nārada-bhakti- sūtra 1.3)

१३.१०

ओं यल् लब्धा पुमान् सिद्धो भवत्यमृती- भवति तृप्तो भवति

13.10

oṁ yal labdhā pumān siddho bhavatyamṛtī- bhavati tṛpto bhavati

On attaining divine love man attains perfection and immortality. He becomes

thoroughly satisfied. 

(Nārada-bhakti-sūtra 1.4)

१३.११

ओं यत् प्राप्य न किञ्चित् वाञ्छति 

न शोचति न द्वेष्टि

न रमते नोत्साही भवति

13.11

oṁ yat prāpya na kiñcit vāñchati 

na śocati na dveṣṭi

na ramate notsāhī bhavati

Upon attaining love of God one neither hankers nor laments. He is freed from

attachment and detachment, and takes no pleasure in material things. 

(Nāradabhakti- sūtra 1.5)

There are Two Kinds of Bhakti: Vaidhī or regulated and Rāgānugā or spontaneous

१३.१२

शास्त्रोक्तया प्रबलया तत्-तन्-मर्यादयान्विता

वैधी भक्तिर् इयं कैश्चिन्- मर्यादामार्ग उच्यते

13.12

śāstroktayā prabalayā tat-tan-maryādayānvitā

vaidhī bhaktir iyaṁ kaiścin- maryādāmārga ucyate

Devotional service governed by the rules and regulations of the scriptures is also

called maryāda-mārga, or the reverential path of devotion, the path of serving

the Lord in opulence, by different scholars [such as Vallabhācārya]. 

(Bhaktirasāmṛta-sindhu, Pūrva-vibhāga 2.269)

१३.१३
इष्टे स्वारसिकी रागः परमाविष्टता भवेत्
तन्-मयी या भवेद्-भक्तिः साऽत्र रागात्मिकोदिता
13.13
iṣṭe svārasikī rāgaḥ paramāviṣṭatā bhavet
tan-mayī yā bhaved-bhaktiḥ sā'tra rāgātmikoditā 

Rāga-bhakti is complete absorbtion in the Deity of one's choice; that absorbing

devotion is here described as rāgātmikā-bhakti. In other words, spontaneous

attraction for Kṛṣṇa while being completely absorbed in thoughts of Him with

an intense desire of love. 

(Bhakti-rasāmṛta- sindhu, Pūrva-vibhāga 2.272)

Vaidhī-bhakti Or "regulative" bhakti.

१३.१४

सुरर्षे विहिता शास्त्रे हरिमुद्दिश्य या क्रिया

सैव भक्तिर् इति प्रोक्ता तया भक्तिः परा भवेद्

13.14

surarṣe vihitā śāstre harimuddiśya yā kriyā

saiva bhaktir iti proktā tayā bhaktiḥ parā bhaved

O sage amongst the demigods, Nārada, those activities prescribed in the revealed scriptures for satsifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Hari, are called the regulative principles of bhakti, (sādhana-bhakti), by practicing which one may attain the highest bhakti (prema). 

(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Pūrvavibhāga 2.13)

Rāga-bhakti

১৩.১৫

লোক-ধর্ম, বেদ-ধর্ম, দেহ-ধর্ম, কর্ম 

লজ্জা, ধৈর্য়, দেহ-সুখ, আত্ম-সুখ-মর্ম 

দুস্ৎয়জ আর্য়-পথ, নিন্জ পরিজন স্ব-জনে 

করয়ে য়ত তাডন-ভর্ৎসন সর্ব-ৎয়াগ করিঽ করে 

কৃষ্ণের ভজন কৃষ্ণ-সুখ-হেতু করে 

প্রেম-সেবন ইহাকে কহিয়ে কৃষ্ণে দৃঢ অনুরাগ

স্বচ্ছ ধৌত-বস্ত্রে য়ৈছে নাহি কোন দাগ 

অতএব কাম-প্রেমে বহুত অন্তর

কাম অন্ধ-তমঃ, প্রেম-নির্মল ভাস্কর 

অতএব গোপী-গণের নাহি কাম-গন্ধ

কৃষ্ণ-সুখ লাগি মাত্র, কৃষ্ণ সে সম্বন্ধ 

আত্ম-সুখ-দুঃখে গোপীর নাহিক বিচার 

কৃষ্ণ-সুখ-হেতু চেষ্ট মনো-ব্য়বহার 

কৃষ্ণ লগিঽ আর সব করে পরিৎয়াগ

কৃষ্ণ-সুখ-হেতু করে শুদ্ধ অনুরাগ

13.15

loka-dharma, veda-dharma, deha-dharma, karma 

lajjā, dhairya, deha-sukha, ātma-sukha-marma 

dustyaja ārya-patha, ninja parijana sva-jane 

karaye yata tāḍana-bhartsana sarva-tyāga kari' kare 

kṛṣṇera bhajana kṛṣṇa-sukha-hetu kare 

prema-sevana ihāke kahiye kṛṣṇe dṛḍha anurāga

svaccha dhauta-vastre yaiche nāhi kona dāga 

ataeva kāma-preme bahuta antara

kāma andha-tamaḥ, prema-nirmala bhāskara 

ataeva gopī-gaṇera nāhi kāma-gandha

kṛṣṇa-sukha lāgi mātra, kṛṣṇa se sambandha 

ātma-sukha-duḥkhe gopīra nāhika vicāra 

kṛṣṇa-sukha-hetu ceṣṭa mano-vyavahāra 

kṛṣṇa lagi' āra saba kare parityāga

kṛṣṇa-sukha-hetu kare śuddha anurāga

Social dharma, Vedic dharma, bodily dharma, and duty karma; The gopīs have given up everything for Kṛṣṇa. 

They have no interest in chastity,  patience, bodily pleasures, and even self-satisfaction: They have forsaken the Aryan path of varnāśramadharma, as well as the welfare of their own  relatives and family. They have given up all these in spite of harsh words, punishment and scolding, for the sake of serving Lord Kṛṣṇa.

The gopis render loving service to Him for the sake of His enjoyment. 

This kind of bhakti is called firm attachment (anurāga) to the Lord. It is spotlessly pure, like clean white cotton that has no stain. 

Therefore lust and divine love are quite different. Lust is like dense darkness, but

prema love is like the bright sun. 

Thus there is not the slightest taint of lust in the gopīs love. Their relationship with Kṛṣṇa is only for the sake of His enjoyment. 

The gopīs do not care for their own pleasures or pains. All their physical and mental

activities are directed toward offering enjoyment to Kṛṣṇa. They have renounced everything for Kṛṣṇa. They have pure attachment (anurāga) to giving Kṛṣṇa pleasure. 

(Cc. Ādi 4.167-172, 174-175) 

The Nine Limbs of Bhakti

१३.१६

श्रबणं कीर्तनं बिष्णोः स्मरणं पाद- सेबनम्

अर्चनं बन्दनं दास्य़ं सख्य़म् आत्म- निबेदनम्

13.16

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda- sevanam

arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma- nivedanam

Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities,

paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu, remembering them, serving the lotus

feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of

paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering

the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other

words, serving Him with the body, mind and words) these nine processes are

accepted as pure devotional service. 

(Bhāg. 7.5.23)