Tattva Sandarbha

Book excerpt: The Sandarbhas are one of Jīva Gosvāmī's major works. Sandarbha literally means "stringing together." Baladeva explains, "The wise say a Sandarbha is that which possesses various matters of importance which should be known. Bhāgavatam verses are gathered together (sandṛbhyate)."In this case, it is a literary composition consisting of a series of prose sections mixed with verse mainly from Bhāgavatam. It is in six parts which explain Gauḍiya epistemology, theology and philosophy. Tattva Sandarbha deals with the epistemology, while Bhagavat, Paramātmā and Kṛṣṇa Sandarbhas deal with object of worship (sambandha). Bhakti Sandarbha deals with the process or abhidheya, bhakti, and Prīti Sandarbha deals with the goal or prayojana, prema.Tattva Sandarbha first explains the various pramāṇas or methods of proof and concludes that śabda or scripture is the strongest. Using scriptural proofs, finally Bhāgavatam is concluded to be the best among all scriptures. The second part of Tattva Sandarbha explains prameya--what is proved by Bhāgavatam: Kṛṣṇa as the object of worship, bhakti as the method and prema as the goal. These topics are expanded in the other Sandarbhas.