Join Us for Daśa-mūla-śikṣā Verse Memorization & Śrī Harināma-cintāmaṇi Study

We're continuing our journey through Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's writings, now diving into his Śrī Harināma-cintāmaṇi and memorizing the verses of Daśa-mūla-śikṣā. I wanted to share some details in case you'd like to join us.

Śrī Harināma-cintāmaṇi

We just finished the middle section of Jaiva-dharma (chapters 13–25), which covered Daśa-mūla-tattva (the ten fundamental teachings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu). The last three chapters focused on nāma-tattva, nāmāparādha, and nāmābhāsa. When Sarveśvarī Mātājī suggested we read Śrī Harināma-cintāmaṇi next, I discovered it was the perfect next step in our readings, as those last three chapters of Jaiva-dharma were pretty much a synopsis of Harināma-cintāmaṇi.

[[An interesting note: In the introduction of Harināma-cintāmaṇi, which we read yesterday, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura mentions that he intentionally kept Sanskrit verses out to make it more accessible and that if Kṛṣṇa desired, he'd soon publish Pramāṇa-mālā (which he ended up titling Bhajana-rahasya) to provide śāstrika evidence for every sentence of Harināma-cintāmaṇi.]]

Our Study Time and Plan

Almost every day at 7AM India time, we're reading through one chapter at a time (we just completed Chapter One). While we go through the nāmāparādha section (chapters 4-13), we'll also memorize four verses from Padma Pūrāṇa detailing the ten nāmāparādhas.

Starting tomorrow: Daśa-mūla-tattva Verse Memorization Program

I've been seeing more and more how central Daśa-mūla is to Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's presentation of Gauḍīya philosophy. Even in today's reading, when Mahāprabhu asked Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura about how the jīvas could be easily delivered, Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura's response was rooted in Daśa-mūla. So now I'm feeling even more inspiration to start a verse memorization program focusing on the twelve verses Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura wrote on these ten tattvas. By memorizing these verses, we'll have a clear framework to understand where any topic in our devotional discussions fits in with the rest of Mahāprabhu's teachings.

Here's how the sessions will work:

• We'll break down each verse word by word
• See how the Sanskrit words fit together
• Practice memorizing each line
• For those who like, they can share recitations in a dedicated WhatsApp group for support and accountability

I'm thinking of doing this program every few days or weekly to give everyone enough time to memorize the verses. These sessions will replace our regular Harināma-cintāmaṇi readings on the days we do them.

Want to join us? You can stay updated on all our daily online programs and resources by joining our Bhaktivinoda-gīti-dhārā WhatsApp group.

If you haven't noticed, I've resumed my Ekādaśī Eve postings here on Vine of Devotion, so I'll have to figure out something to write about by next Friday. If you have any ideas, let me know!