Aesthetic Vedanta : The Sacred Path of Passionate Love' [Hardcover]

Swami B.V. Tripurari (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1998

Swami B.V. Tripurari's Aesthetic Vedanta illuminates the classic Sanskrit poem rasa-lila — the sacred love affair of the Hindu deities Radha and Krishna. Interspersed with original poetry and renderings of medieval verse of several Hindu mystics, this book reveals the means to access the spiritual reality of India's erotic mysticism. Aesthetic Vedanta illuminates a tradition that is practical and profoundly beautiful, replete with visualization, ritual, song, and dance, both affirming and spiritualizing the erotic principle that lies within our souls.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Aesthetic Vedanta recounts India's most important treatise on romantic love. Swami Tripurari's treatment is a masterpiece." -- - Louis Meldman, Ph.D., Author of Mystical Sex: Love, Ecstasy, and the Mystical Experience

"I'm so glad to have Aesthetic Vedanta to spell out the theology of rasa-lila." -- - Andrew Schelling. Naropa Institute, Author of For Love of the Dark One: Songs of Mirabai

"This book truly deserves, and undoubtedly will receive, a place among serious and scholarly works of global spirituality." -- - George Fowler, Author of Learning to Dance Inside: Getting to the Heart of Meditation

About the Author

Swami B.V. Tripurari has spent over 30 years as a Hindu monastic. Awarded the sannyasa order in 1975, Swami Tripurari has studied under several spiritual masters in the Gaudiya lineage, notably AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja. Noted as the 'Thomas Merton of the modern bhakti tradition,' Swami Tripurari has authored a number of ground-breaking works .

His books include Aesthetic Vedanta: The Sacred Path of Passionate Love, Rasa: Love Relationships in Transcendence, Ancient Wisdom for Modern Ignorance, Tattva- sandarbha: Sacred India's Philosophy of Ecstasy, Joy of Self, and Sri Guru Parampara.

His latest work, Bhagavad-gita:Its Feeling and Philosophy was published in fall of 2001. When not travelling and teaching, Swami lives and writes at Audarya, a hermitage in Northern California.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 235 pages
• Publisher: Mandala Publishing (February 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188606914X
• ISBN-13: 978-1886069145
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,038,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most importsnt book on spiritual love of the decade., May 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Aesthetic Vedanta : The Sacred Path of Passionate Love' (Hardcover)

There are many books in this store that talk about spiritual love in its highest form, the cosmic dance between the lover and beloved and their passage through stages of separation and union. One of my favorites is the Essential Rumi. To this collection, and in my humble opinion, to the forefront comes this remarkable work by Swami Tripurari. In it he tells the sacred love story of Radha and Krishna, who personify the transcendental forms of the highest potential of the human soul and God respectively, seeking nothing other than merging in love on the level where divinity and humanity fully embrace one another. There are so many excellent topics in this book to contemplate that on numerous occasions while reading it I decided I would go back to school and do research on several of them. For example, Vedanta was never associated for me with eccological wisdom, nor have I seen much written about it. In this book, the divine play of Radha and Krishna occurs in the fields and forests where animals roam, transforming everything into a sacred sanctuary. It is in one sense an inspiring message of love for the Earth. But it is the unbridled, unconditional love of the mystics of this tradition that stands out the most. Their urge to tread this path comes not from obligation, necessity, fear, need of security, or desire for material gain, rather from a deeply spiritualized erotic impulse fueled by tangible visionary experience of the Absolute. Their's is an experience of, for lack of better words, pure beauty. The nectar of this beauty emenates from every page of Swami's work.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Wonderful!, July 12, 2001

By 

Alan R, Smallwood (Camarillo, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aesthetic Vedanta : The Sacred Path of Passionate Love' (Hardcover)

This book is guaranteed to deeply affect all who read it. It is a book about the greatest love story ever told. Over the centuries poets have written about it, story tellers have captivated untold numbers with it, painters have filled their canvasses with beautiful images of it, and now we all have access to it through this wonderful book written by Tripurari Swami who brings this story to life like no other can, having immersed himself in the life of love that the book is all about. The book is divided into three distint sections. The first section sets the stage and gives the reader the necessary philosophical background in order to fully appreciate the story. The second section is dedicated to the Rasa-lila itself, the dance of love depicted in the Bhagavata Purana. It is so wonderfully written that you will find yourself literally becoming part of the story as you read it. The final section of the book explains how the Rasa-lila story relates to a life of devotion and spiritual practice that culminates in the development of divine love within the sincere praticioner.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the conclusion of vedanta, December 7, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aesthetic Vedanta : The Sacred Path of Passionate Love' (Hardcover)

I have spent four years studying Vedanta from a number of tradtitions, including Buddhism (which although technically not Vedic contains within it Vedic principles such as reincarnation) Advaita Vedanta, and a few standard Gaudiya Vaishnava texts.This book is not only the most comprehensive presentation of the highest conclusions of Vedanta but is also offered with the sincere sensitivity necessarry to truly understand such a simultaneously simple and complex theology.