The Harmonist

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The HarmonistRays of


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Editorialr r Rdh and Kas lla and Their vision of each other is described as nitya navna, eternally

fresh and new. When Rdh sees Ka She thinks, Who is this wonderfully attractive dark com-plexioned boy? I have never seen Him before! Similarly, on the sdhakas journey he experiences

newer and deeper realizations concerning the tattvas of the Absolute, such as his understandingregarding the identity of r Caitanya Mahprabhu, and whether it was for primary or secondaryreasons that Mahprabhu decided to answer r Advaita cryas thunderous calling and inaugaratethe auspicious Sakrtanyaja on earth 513 years ago.

As our genuine love deepens, the covering veils of illusion and misconceptions fall away, revealingfiner and eternally ever fresh perceptions to be experienced and tasted by the sdhaka.

Bhakti devi Herself is described as that dynamic current of positive loving service to our iadevasRdh and Kaand just as any strong current surges to cover newer ground churning the depthsof the river bed, so our appreciation of ri Caitanya Mahprabhu asjagad guru and bhajana ks guru,guiding us to the lotus feet of Rdh and Ka becomes clearer. What was the primary reason for Hisadvent at this time? To taste for Himself that highest conception of Rdhs own unnatojvalla prema.

And what was the treasure He came to give to the bound jvas? The beauty of His own bhakti,unnatojjvalla rasmsva bhakti riyam, that most intimate service to r Rdhik Herself, rdh-dsyam.

anarpita-car cirt karuayvatra kalausamarpayitum unnatojjvala-ras sva-bhakti -riyam

hari puraa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandpitasad hdaya-kandare sphuratu va ac-nandana

anapita-not bestowed; car-having been fomerly; cirt-for a long time; karuay-by causeless mercy;avatra-descended; kalau-in the age of Kali; samarpayitum-to bestow; unnata-elevated;ujjvala-rasm-the conjugal mellow; sva-bhakti-of His own service; riyam-the treasure; hari-Lord Hari ; puraa-thangold; sundara-more beautiful; dyuti-of splendor; kadamba-with a multitude; sandpita-lighted up; sad-

always; hdaya-kandare-in the cavity of the heart; sphuratu-let Him be manifest; va-your; aci-nandana-the son of mother ac.

May that Lord who is known as the son of rmat acdev be transcendentally situated in theinnermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appearedin the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation ever offered before: the mostsublime and radiant spiritual knowledge of the mellow taste of His service.

This loka has been taken from rla Rpa Gosvmss Vidagdha Mdhava, and quoted by rlaKadsa Kavirja three times in his Caitanya Caritmrta, Adi 1.4; Adi 3.4; Antya 1.132.

By our developed love and affection towards the Divine Couple through service to Guru andVaiavas and our steady progressive sdhana bhajana securly aimed at the prema-prayojana, the high-est conception, which, in the Gauya tradition is service in the personal camp of Rdh, our successis assured. It is only then that we can experience the full dynamism of bhakti devis ever fresh cur-rent. At that time our hearts and minds can be immersed in that nitya-navna river of divine hari-kathas spoken by our crya preceptors.

We sincerely hope that our readers will be inspired by the siddhntas revealed by our cryas words,and in particular at this auspicious time relish the contemplation of the Golden Avatra, r CaitanyaMahprabhu.

N.K.Dsa.


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Back cover: Lotus, the representation of r rRdh-Ka's eternal abode.

Front cover: r Caitanya Mahprabhu, given byrla Bhaktivednta Svam Mahrjato r GauyaVednta Samiti, Keavaj Gauya Mah, Mathur.

First RayPublicationsrmad Bhagavad-gt 5Commentary of rla Vivantha Cakravart hkura& rla Bhaktivednta Nryaa Mahrja

Second Ray ForumTaking rla Prabhupda Straight 10Bhakti Vidgdha Bhagawat Mahrja

Condolences 20rla Bhaktivednta Nryaa Mahrja

Third Ray Guru-tattvaThe Charm And Superiorityof the Bhagavad-parampar 21rla Bhakti Prajna Keava Gosvm MahrjaReligion of Nothingness 27Introduction to Being And Nothingness

Being And Nothingness 30rla Bhakti Prajna Keava Gosvm Mahrja

Fourth Ray ParikramCircumambulation ofr Navadvpa Dhma 32rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Prabhupda

Fifth Ray r r Gaura-NtaiEssay on r Caitanya-caritamta 36rla Bhaktivednta Svam Mahrja

r aci-Tanytakam 40rla Srvabhauma Bhacrya

Sixth Ray r r Rdh-KaVabhnu-nndin 42rla Bhaktivednta Nryaa Mahrja


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Published by the

r Gauya Vednta Samiti:

Founder-cryaNity-ll pravita o viupada paramahasa 108

r rmad Bhakti Prajna Keava Gosvmi Mahrja.

President-cryaTridandi svmi

r rmad Bhaktivednta Vmana Mahrja.

Vice-PresidentFounder ofRays of The Harmonist

Tridandi svmir rmad Bhaktivednta Narya Mahrja.

Rays of The HarmonistGirirjaj Mandira, Sev Kuja

Vndvana 281121Mathur Dist., U.P., India

Phone/Fax: +91 / (565) 445-294E-mail: [email protected]

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Layout &Managing Editor

Kalya-damana Dsa

Our purpose is to spread rays of illumination fromthe spirit of the Gauya Vaiavas, as desired by rlaBhaktivednta Nryaa Mahrja. Our heritage is the

Harmonist, or r Sajjanatoanjournal, founded by rlaBhaktivinoda hkura, later edited by rlaBhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Prabhupda. May thepresent day Vaiavas bestow their divine grace uponour attempts to please them.

Contributing EditorVaijyanti-ml Ds

EditorNnda Kiora Dsa

The HarmonistRays of

Associate Editorymala Ds

published by the

Gauya Vednta Publications

r Caitanya Mahprabhu

His life and precepts

The VedntaIts Morphology & Onthology

VaiavismReal & Apparent

Rai Rmnanda

Nm Bhajan

The Bhgavat

Its Philosophy, Theology & Ethics

The Nectar of Govinda-Ll

Going Beyond Vaikuna

Bhakti-Rasyan

r iktaka

Venu Gta

Mana ika

r Bhakti rasmta-sindhu-bindu

Life History of ImpersonalismVictory of Vaiavism

Prabandhval

Pinnacle of Devotion

Ka, the Ocean of Rasa

Their Lasting Relationship

r Upademta

The Essence of All Advice

The True Conception of Guru-tattva

Available from:r Keavaj Gauya MahMathur (U.P.) 281001, India

E-mail: [email protected]

English titles


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First Ray Publication

Rays of The Harmonist Vol. III No. I

rmad Bhagavad-gt"Innermost Intentions"

Commentary of rla Vivantha Cakravart hkura& rla Bhaktivedanta Nryaa Mahrja

Translation ofrla Vivantha Cakravart hkuras

Srrthavari-bhvnuvda (commentary)

gauruka sat-kumuda-pramodsvbhikhyay gos-tamaso nihantr ka-caitanya-sudhnidhirmemanodhitihan svarati karotuprcnavca suvicrya soham-

ajopi gtmta-lealipsuyate prabhoreva mate tadatra

santa kamadhva aragatasya

May r Ka Caitanya Mahprabhu, who dispelledthe darkness of the earth by distributing His own name(r Ka), who is increasing the bliss of the lotus-like devotees, who is the storehouse of the nectar ofprema, who is the bestower ofunnata-ujjvala-rasa whichis the most elevated relationship of divine conjugallove, perform His playful pastimes in my heart.

Although I am devoid of knowledge, by deliberting on the thoughts expressed by previous Vaiavcryas, I have become greedy to taste a drop of nectin the form of the Gt, according to the doctrine of Gaurga-sundara, the crest jewel of all sannysTherefore saintly people should excuse this surredered soul.

The Supreme Absolute Truth, Parabrahman Ka, bhajana (devotional service) to whose lotus feis the intended aim of all stra, appeared as Vasudeva-nandana, the son of r Vasudeva, in Gopla-pur, in His original human-like form. Athough He is supremely inconceivable and beyond thcognition of material senses (adhokaja), He neverthless became visible to the eyes of common men by thmedium of His yogamy potency. He imparted thinstructions ofBhagavad-gt , thus delivering thejvof this world, who were drowning in the ocean of birand death. He submerged them in the great ocean prema (divine love), by giving them a taste of the swee

loka 1dhtarra uvca

dharma-ketre kuruketre samavet yuyutsavammak pav caiva kim akurvata sajaya

Anvaya

Natural sequence of words according to the translation: dhtarra uvca Dhtarra said; sajayaO Sajaykim akurvatawhat did they do?; mma-kmy sons; caand; pavthe sons of Pandu, the Pavevaafter that; samavethassembled; dharma-ketre kuruketrein the land of religion, Kuruketra;yuyutsavadesirous to fight.

Translation

Dhtarra said: O Sajaya, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do, having assembled at Kuruketrthe land of religion, desiring to fight?


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First Ray Publications

Rays of The Harmonist Vol. III No. I6

ness of His beauty (saundarya mdhury) and otherqualities. He appeared in this world, being bound byHis promise to protect the saintly people and annihi-late the demoniac. But on the pretext of removing theburden of the earth, He in fact gave supreme protec-tionin the form of awarding liberation (mukti) to mis-creants, to those who were antagonistic towards Himand to all those jvas drowning in this vast ocean ofmaterial existence which is just like the Kumbhpka-naraka, a hellish planet where sinful people are cookedin boiling oil.

Bhagavn r Ka instructed Bhagavad-gt so thateven after His disappearance pastime conditionedjvas, who are influenced by ignorance since time im-memorial and who are completely subject to lamenta-tion, illusion, etc., could be delivered. Another pur-pose was to uphold His glories sung by munis as foundin the stra. He directed these instructions ofBhaga-vad-gt to Arjuna, His very dear associate (priya-

parikara), who had voluntarily accepted a veil of lam-entation and illusion.This Gt has three divisions: karma-yoga,jna-yoga

and bhakti-yoga. By endowing the purport of all theVedas in eighteen chapters ofBhagavad-gt as eighteentypes of knowledge, r Ka thus ascertained theparama pururtha, the supreme objective. Nikma-karma-yoga (working without attachment to the fruitsof ones prescribed duties) has been described in thefirst six chapters ofBhagavad-gt andjna-yoga (yogathrough knowledge) in the last six chapters. The sixchapters on bhakti-yoga, which is more confidential andmore rare than karma-yoga andjna-yoga, have beenkept between them. Bhakti is the elixir vitae for karmaand jna. Without bhakti, both karma and jna arefruitless, and are partly acceptable only when mixedwith bhakti.

Bhakti is of two types: keval (exclusive) andpradhnbht (with bhakti predominating). Keval-bhakti, being independent and supremely powerful,does not need any assistance from karma and jna.Therefore it is also known as parama-prabal (supremelyvalorous), akican (Ka being his only possession),

anany (exclusive) and so on. On the other hand,pradhnbht-bhakti remains mixed with karma andjnathis will later be deliberated upon in more de-tail.

To explain the nature of Arjunas lamentation andillusion, the speaker ofMahbhrata, r Vaiam-pyana, a disciple of Vysadeva, has introduced theBhma-parva section to the listener, Janamejaya, byspeaking the sentence dhtarra uvca etc.Dhtarra asked Sajaya, O Sajaya, desiring to

fight, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do,having assembled at Kuruketra? Here a questionarises. Dhtarra has mentioned that his sons andthe Pavas have assembled with the sole purposeof fighting, so it is certain that they will fight. Whatthen is his intention in asking, What did they do?

Just to answer this, Dhtarra has used the worddharma-ketre, the land of religion. It is said in ruti:kuruketra devayajanaKuruketra is the sacrifi-cial arena of the devas, therefore, this land is famousas a promotor of religion. Thus the influence of asso-ciation with this land can subdue the anger of irreli-gious persons like Duryodhana and others, who maythen become inclined to dharma. The Pavas are al-ready dhrmika by nature. The influence of Kuruketramay arouse the faculty of discrimination and the con-sideration that the massacre of ones own relatives isimproper, and thus both parties may agree to a peace-ful settlement. Outwardly Dhtarra is pretending

that he will be happy with a peace treaty, but inter-nally he is feeling great dissatisfaction. He considersthat if they call a peace treaty, the kingdom will con-tinue to remain an impediment for his sons.Dhtarra thinks, The warriors on my side, likeBhma, Droa and others, cannot be conquered even

by Arjuna. Therefore since our victory is certain, it will be beneficial to fight. These internal sentiments of

Dhtarra, however, are unintelligible to others.Here, by the component ketra in the word dharma-

ketre, Sarasvat-dev is indicating a special meaning.Dharma , that is, the incarnation ofdharma,

Yudhihira, along with his associates, are like plantsof rice, and their maintainer, Bhagavan r Ka, islike a farmer. The various kinds of assistance given byKa to the Pavas are likened to the watering ofthe crop, making a cause-way around the field. TheKauravas, headed by Duryodhana, are like the ym(blackish) weeds which grow in the rice field. This in-dicates that as the ym weeds are uprooted from therice field; similarly Duryodhana along with the otherKauravas will be uprooted from this dharma-ketra.

Translation ofrla B.V. Nryaa MahrjasSrrthavari-prakik-vtti (commentary)

o ajna timirndhasya jnjana alkaycakur unmlita yena tasmai r gurave nama

I offer my most humble obeisances unto r Gurudeva,who has opened my eyes, which were blinded by thedarkness of ignorance, with the torchlight of knowledge.


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nama o viupdya ka-prehya bhtaler rmad bhakti prajna keava iti nmine

atimartya-caritrya svritnca-plinejva-dukhe sadrttya r nma-prema-dyine

I offer obeisances unto the lotus feet of OViupda Aottara-ata r rmad BhaktiprajnaKeava Gosvm Mahrja, who is so dear to r Ka.He is a completely divine personality, who nurturesthose who have taken shelter of him with great affec-tion. He feels aggrieved upon seeing the suffering ofthosejvas who are averse to r Ka, and he bestowsthe holy name along with prema.

nama o viupdya ka-prehya bhtalermate bhaktisiddhnta sarasvatti nmine

I offer my obeisances unto O Viupda r rmadBhaktisiddnta Sarasvat Prabhupda, who is so dear

to ri Ka.

namo bhaktivinodya saccidnanda nminegaura-akti-svarpya rpnuga-varya te

I offer my obeisances unto Saccidnanda rla Bhak-tivinoda hkura, who is the foremost ofrpnugadevotees and the embodiment of r CaitanyaMahprabhus akti.

vivantha-rposau bhakti-vartma pradarantbhakta-cakre varttitvt cakravartykhyaybhavat

Because he illuminates the path ofbhakti for every-one, he is known as Vivantha. And because he hasattained the foremost position among the communityof devotees, he is known as Cakravart. From the mean-ing of both these words, his name has become signifi-cant as Vivantha Cakravart.

The great preceptor, mah-mahopdhyya, rlaVivantha Cakravart hkura, an eminentcrya andgreat scholar ofVednta in the r Gauya-sam-pradya, and the crest-jewel ofrasika-bhaktas, has com-

piled a commentary (k) on rmadBhagavad-gtcalled r Srrthavari, which is invaluable and fullof essential meanings. This commentary was writtenin Sanskrit and was previously only available in Ben-gali scripts. Consequently, the Hindi-speaking audi-ence has been completely deprived of reading this in-valuable treasure. Thus, for the comprehensive wel-fare of faithful people, I am beginning to translate theabove said commentary into Hindi. The style and bhvaof the commentary are extremely deep and enriched

with exalted philosophical conclusions (siddhnta). Tmake the translation simple, easy, and comprehensivI considered it necessary to write a prakik-vtti,further explanation to illuminate the commentary. Tharduous task is not possible without the mercy of Guru, Vaiavas and rla Vivantha Cakravarhkura himself. Therefore I, full of distress, first all pray at their lotus feet for their mercy and blesings.

rmad Bhagavad-gt is the compilation of the essenof all rutis, Upaniads and Puras. Based on sounevidence from Vedic literature received throughguparampar (amnya prama), it is concluded thVrajendra-nandana r Ka, the son of the King Vraja, Himself is Svaya Bhagavn,the Original Pesonality of Godhead. He is the embodiment of anectarean mellows (akhila rasmta murti). He is the omnipotent (sarva aktimn), non-dual absolute reali(advaya jna para-tattva). Among His unlimited p

tencies three are prominent: cit-akti (svarpa-akti),jv

The place where the Gt was imparted by r Ka to Arjun


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First Ray Publications


akti (taasth-akti) and acit-akti (my-akti). By thewill of Svaya Bhagavn r Ka, Vaikuha, Golokaand Vndvana are transformations of His cit-akti. Alljvas are a transformation of His jva-akti, and thematerial creation is the transformation of His my-akti. Thejvas are of two types: mukta (liberated) andbaddha (bound). The mukta-jvas are eternally engagedin relishing the bliss derived from serving Bhagavnin Vaikuha, Goloka and various other dhmas (spiri-tual abodes). They never become bound in this mate-rial world, the prison house ofmy; hence, they arecalled nitya-mukta, eternally liberated. Sometimes bythe will of Bhagavn they appear in this illusory worldas His associates for the sole purpose of giving wel-fare to the people of the world. The other type ofjvais called andi-baddha, or bound since time immemo-rial. Being enveloped by my since beginningless timethey are suffering the three types of miseries whilewandering in the cycle of birth and death.

Bhagavn r Ka, who is an ocean of compassion,seems to have created illusion (ajna) in the heart ofHis eternal associate (nitya-siddha-parikara) Arjuna, bythe influence of His acintya-akti (inconceivable po-tency). Thus, on the pretext of dispelling this illusion,He spoke this Bhagavad-gt, the determinant ofm-tattva, the true nature of the soul, for the deliveranceof all jvas under the grip ofmy. The subject ulti-mately established in Bhagavad-gt is viuddha-bhagavad-bhakti, supremely pure devotional service toBhagavn. Only by taking shelter ofuddha-bhakti, asdescribed in the Gt, can thejvas under the influence

ofmy become situated in their pure constitutionalposition (viuddha-svarpa) and render service to rBhagavn. Besides this there is no other beneficial pathfor the baddha-jvas.

On the basis of concrete stric evidences and in-vincible arguments rla Vivantha Cakravarthkura and other prominent r Gaudya Vaiavacryas have clearly established that the speaker ofBhagavad-gt is not niaktika, devoid of potency;nirviea devoid of variety; nirkara, formless andnirgua, devoid of transcendental qualities such as

transcendental mercy (aprkta day). Thejva is neverparabrahma and, even in the liberated stage, can neverbecome parabrahma. Even after attaining mukti, thejvawill remain a pure atomic spiritual particle only. How-ever, at that time he is said to be a bhagavat-parikara, aneternal associate of Bhagavn.

In ruti-mantras it is proven that both Paramevaraand the jvtm are intrinsically qualified as know-ledge (jna-svarpa),the knower (jt-svarpa), theenjoyer (bhokt-svarpa) and the doer (kart-svarpa),

and possessed of a pure spiritual ego (cinmaya-ahakra). Therefore, regarding their constitution, thereis no difference between them from the perspective oftattva; but because thejva is atomic spirit, his knowled-ge is limited and he can be over-powered by my.Paramevara is the master ofmy. Although there isno difference between vara and thejva on the basisoftattva, the perception of this difference is real. Thisperception of difference is called vaiiya, meaning spe-ciality or having a unique distinguishing characteris-tic. Just as the sun and suns rays are simultaneouslythe same and different, being the possessor of at-tributes and the attribute respectively, similarly the re-lationship between Paramevara and the jva, whichis that of being one and different, is firmly proven inthe Vedas. Since this relationship of simultaneous one-ness and difference is beyond ones intellect and is onlyintelligible with the help ofstra, it is therefore calledacintya, inconceivable. Thus the subject matter ofBhaga-

vad-gt is the nitya acintya-bhedbheda-rpa para-tattva,the eternal supreme reality, who is inconceivably oneand different from His potencies.

Although it is accepted that the Supreme AbsoluteTruth, r Ka, is simultaneously one and differentfrom thejva and the material world, which are bothtransformations of His akti, it is the perception of dif-ference which is eternal, i.e. predominant, not the per-ception of oneness. The knowledge of the jvtm,paramtm, the abode ofparamtm and the means toattain paramtm have been determined in appropri-ate places in Bhagavad-gt.

Although karma, jna and bhakti have been ex-plained as the three means of attaining Brahman, infact bhakti-yoga is the only means to achieve Bhagavn.The preliminary stage ofbhakti-yoga is called karma-yoga. When there is further progress, this intermedi-ate stage is called jna-yoga, and in its mature andelevated stage, it is called bhakti-yoga. Karma in itself isnot a direct sdhana to attain Bhagavn, but only a suc-cessive sdhana. When the heart becomes purified byfollowing karma-yoga mixed with bhakti (bhagavad-arpita-karma, offering the fruits of ones activities to

Bhagavn) as described in the Vedas, tattva-jna, trueknowledge of spirit and non-spirit appears there. Bothjna and karma devoid of a sense ofbhagavat-tattvaorGod consciousness are futile. Along with the appear-ance oftattva-jna, keval-bhaktimanifests in the heartsimultaneously. When this keval-bhakti attains its ma-ture stage, then prema manifests in the heart of thejva.This prema is the only means of attaining and havingdirect realization of Bhagavn. This is the concealedmystery of the Bhagavad-gt. One cannot achieve mukti


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been described in such a way that he can acquire theligibility to render service to Bhagavn, the a(whole). uddha-bhakti-tattva,the principle of pure dvotional service, has been explained in the middle schapters. It is this bhakti which is the topmost meanof attaining Godhead, which is parama-pururtha. the third and final part, tattva-jna has been defineThe subject matter of the Gt is keval-bhakti whichlike cintmai, a transcendental touchstone. Thcintmai has been safely kept inside Bhagavad-gwhich is likened to a treasure chest. The lid of thchest is nikma-karma-yoga, the base isjna-yoga anthe treasure is bhakti. Only those people who havstaunch faith, who are fixed in religious principlewho have good character and who are self-controlleare qualified to study this conversation. Such quafied people are of three types: saniha, paranihita annirapeka. For more details on this subject, please refto the bhvnuvda oflokas 13-16 of Chapter 12.

For the proper flow of the book, r Ka Dvapyana Vedavysa has included in the first twentseven verses phrases such as: dharstra uvcasajaya uvca. They should be accepted as the intrductory part of the book. Just as a piece of salt whemixed with the salty ocean gets completely dissolveand becomes one with the ocean, similarly these itroductory words composed by r Vedavysa havalso become one with the great ocean ofBhagavad-gspoken by r Ka.

This Bhagavad-gt is at present being translated in

English from the Hindi edition.

merely by nirviea-jna, featureless, impersonalknowledge. Only when jna is mixed with bhakti-bhva (a devotional mood) can one obtain mukti in theform ofslokya, srpya etc., as the extraneous result.By performing keval-bhakti as described in the Gt,one can attain prema-may-sev, loving service unto thesupreme absolute truth, Svaya Bhagavn r Ka,in His supreme abode, Goloka-Vndvana. When oneattains this abode, there is no possibility of coming backto this material world. Achievement of this prema-sevis the prayojana, the ultimate goal for thejvas.

Bhakti is of two types: keval (exclusive) andpradhnbht (principally inherent). Keval-bhakti isalso called anany, akican, viuddhandnirgu-bhakti.Pradhnbht-bhakti is also of two types: karma-pradhnbht (where bhakti predominates karma) andjna-pradhnbht (where bhakti predominatesjna).Performance ofkarma-pradh-nbht-bhakti graduallypurifies the heart, whereby tattva-jna is achieved, and

by performingjna-pradhnbht-bhakti, one obtainsmukti. Only that karma-pradhnbht-bhakti which aimsat tattva-jna, and that jna-pradhnbht-bhaktiwhich aims at obtaining keval-bhakti are called karma-yoga and jna-yoga respectively, and they are onlysteps to bhakti. Otherwise, without bhakti, bothjnaand karma are futile.

The Gtopaniad is composed of eighteen chapters. Itbegins from Chapter Twenty-five of theMahbhratas

Bhma-parva and continues until Chapter Forty-two.It has three divisions, each consisting of six chapters.The first division explains that the jvtm is an aa

(part) of vra and that his svarpa, constitution, has

Monument at Kuruketra, depicting Arjuna's chariot.


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Second Ray Forum


Introduction

The following letter is written by His Holiness B.V.Bhagavata Maharaja, a disciple of Srila Bhakti PramodaPuri Goswami Maharaja who, at the age of 101 years, isthe most revered and senior disciple of Srila Bhakti-siddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada currently liv-ing on the planet. In this most sober essay, he answersvarious unfounded and fallicious accusations, put for-ward by a member of the ISKCON Governing Bodyagainst the personality of Srila Bhaktivedanta NarayanaGoswami Maharaja. Our reason for publishing this isthat the points raised by him in defence of SrilaNarayana Maharaja are correctly pertaining to funda-mental truths concerning the principal ofacarya. By apatient and unbiased reading of the logical assertionshe makes herein, one will be able to see clearly that oneacarya may differ from another in terms of the detailedmethods which he employs to present the absolutemessage of the sampradaya to the public at large and tohis disciples in particular; but this does not prove, inand of itself, that he is not in the line of his predecessoracarya. Rather, the bold and uncompromising tone ofHis Holiness' presentation challenges us to understandboth the genius and the sensitivity utilized by the acarya

in his merciful delivery of the same esoteric truths ofGaudiya Vaisnavism to the masses. He will neverchange the siddhanta, and his mood will also be ex-actly the same as his predecessor.

Bhakti Vidagdha Bhagawat Maharaja cites the ex-ample of the powerful preaching mission of His DivineGrace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja, theNityananda-saktyavasha-avataraof the 20th century whospread the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhuthroughout the globe. In his presentation of the prac-tices and teachings of Gaudiya Vaisnavism to the mod-ern public, he chose to modify them in a form different

from that of his own Guru Maharaja, Srila Bhakti-siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Maharaja. Yet, in so doing,he was not actually deviating from his Gurudeva, butrather he was demonstrating his absolute dedication tohis orders. By this we must see that in the hearts of themost exalted Vaisnavas there is an overflow of mercy tohelp the plight of the fallen conditioned souls. It is thistrue compassion which inspires them to devise waysto attract and to engage the sincere aspirants willing to

accept the medicine they are delivering. Their appar-ent difference from that of their predecessors is rather a

mark and measure of their own glorious position ofexalted spiritual realization.We appreciate the logic and forthrightness of Sripad

Bhagavata Maharajas letter, and we applaud his cou-rageous effort to defend a pure devotee of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna. - Ed.

The Letter

All Glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga. Hare Krsna.Please accept my respects. As a humble servant of theservant of Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta SarasvatiThakura and following the orders of my Guru-Maha-raja, Om Visnupada 108 Sri Srila Bhakti Pramode PuriGoswami Maharaja, I am writing this letter to warn youin a friendly way not to commit Vaisnava-aparadha. It iswritten from a completely neutral point of view, so thatno one will feel attacked or offended at heart. I ask forforgiveness if such thing is felt.

I came across your letter on the CHAKRA Websitethe other day and thought it my duty to protest againstthe spreading of such wrong conceptions of theGaudiya-Math and its exalted Vaisnavas in the line of

Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.I will just try to show you some of the misconceptionsthat you are spreading in the name ofguru-seva (or ser-vice to your Srila Prabhupada).

1. If you do not like to invite His Holiness NarayanaMaharaja to any of your ISKCON centers, thats fine,

but I think that if a vaisnava shows up at my door and Ido not feel any happiness upon seeing him, that also isto be considered a vaisnava-aparadha. H. H. NarayanaMaharaja is a well-known vaisnava (that you cannotdeny) so if you or any of the members in your organi-zation (which is also supposed to be a vaisnava organi-zation) are not happy to see such a vaisnava at your door-step, then you are generating such aparadhas.

2. You speak about the indications of Srila NarahariSarakara Thakura in the Sri Krsna Bhajanamrita, that ifones spiritual master is in good standing, and yet isnot sufficiently elevated to give a disciple instructionsfor his further advancement, then the disciple may takepermission from his diksa-guru and thus take advan-tage of the more advance vaisnavas for instructions. Then

Taking Srila Prabhupada StraightBhakti Vidagdha Bhagawat Maharaja


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you have asked, What if the diksa-guru does not givehis approval?. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has an-swered this very clearly in his book Jaiva-Dharma asfollows: When the disciple chooses someone as aguru,he has no opportunity to verify if that person is tattvajna(he who knows the treatises of Vaisnavism) andvaisnavas (in the real sense) then at the time of the ef-fect, he cannot get any result from that kind of initia-tion and must give him up at once.

So there is no question of asking permission from sucha so-calledguru (guru-bruva). You are well aware of thefact that many of your ISKCON members are not welltrained to accept aguru and in many cases choose themout of ignorance. When after sometime they come tounderstand that theirguru is not qualified enough, theygive him up and search for a more advanced vaisnavato instruct them. It does not matter if the so-calledguruis in good standing according to your ISKCON or G.B.C.rules. It has been seen that by following the instruc-

tions of your G.B.C. many innocent devotees have beencheated by accepting someone as their guru who wasnever qualified to accept disciples. The most recent ex-ample is that of your Harikesa (Maharaja or Prabhu)which proves my point very clearly. You should not turnthe devotees into slaves of the G.B.C. Rather, accordingto the scriptures you must allow them to freely searchfor a spiritual master. It is not a question of whether adisciple goes to Narayana Maharaja for instructions ornot. You have to understand the reason why thesepeople go to him. Obviously they have the idea thattheir presentguru is not qualified enough to instruct

them. The moment a disciple thinks like this, his rela-tionship with hisguru is automatically broken. Accord-ing to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, he should not disre-spect his previous guide, but should with due respectsearch for a real initiation. This previous initiation is to

be considered as abhasa (a faint presence) and it is strictlynecessary to accept initiation (in the real sense) in orderto begin doing real bhajana-kriya.

You have put forward so many arguments to provethat H.H. Narayana Maharaja is not an advanced devo-tee. A word to the wise, please do not spread these ideas

because you have to care for your own spiritual wel-fare and at the same time be careful not to criticize theadvanced devotees. You have also stated that H.H.Narayana Maharajas approach is significantly differ-ent from that of your Srila Prabhupada and that he isnot a siksa-disciple of your founder-acarya. Does thatmean that one who differs in details from the line of hisguru is not an advanced vaisnava? If this is so, I wouldlike to ask you a few questions, and please do not con-sider this as an attack since it has been you who has

brought out all these old issues. We do not disrespeSrila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja, but you yourseare disrespecting him. We just want to warn you so thyou will not commit any offenses against your owngu

by misunderstanding his teachings.I do not think that H.H. Narayana Maharaja is claim

ing to be your authorized spiritual master. It was youown G.B.C. who chose him to be an authorized spirtual master. Previously they had done the same wiSrila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja, and it seemridiculous that you do not understand that the siksa andiksagurus must always be kept on the same level, s

just as you cannot reject Srila Swami Maharaja, you (anthe G.B.C.) cannot reject Srila Sridhara Maharaja or H.HNarayana Maharaja, due to the fact that you yoursehave given them this position.

Your Prabhupada taught you all that one should nblindly accept someone as a spiritual master. My que

tion is that when he taught you all these things had yo

blindly accepted him as a spiritual master? It is quiclear that at the beginning of the ISKCON movemenone of your godbrothers were well-aware of the neessary qualifications of a bonafide spiritual master. Juout of pure inspiration they had taken initiation froSrila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja and were denitely not cheated by following the instructions of thCaitya-guru. Even after having diligently studied thscriptures it does not qualify one to select a bonafidguru. The inspiration that comes from the heart is whhelps you. If this inspiration comes from the G.B.C., theit may not be permanent. The only judgment a discipl

can make about hisguru is whether he is a mayavadiattached to sense enjoyment. If the disciple wants get to know hisguru in every sense, then he has to bon an equal level with thatguru , then what need wouthere be for an initiation? Please stop to think it over fone minute. How was it that you chose your Prabhupda as a bonafideguru when all of you were complete(and it still seems that most of you are) ignorant aboguru-tattva?

I have the answers from the scriptures. This can onhappen by inspiration. Being merciful to the jiva, Srima

Mahaprabhu inspires the heart of the disciple in thform of Caitya-guru so as to accept initiation or instrutions from a certain vaisnavaacarya. Your G.B.C. mem

bers are trying to prove that Mahaprabhu has cheatethem, because at first they were inspired to take sikfrom Srila Sridhara Maharaja and later rejected him unauthorized. Then they accepted instructions froH.H. Narayana Maharaja and once again stopped coming to him also. Does this mean that they were wronginspired by Mahaprabhu again and again so as to tak


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instructions from non-bonafide siksa-gurus? Tomorrowthey may discover that they were cheated by Mahapra-

bhu when they accepted Srila Bhaktivedanta SwamiMaharaja as their diksa and siksa-guru. Is this the reasonwhy Harikesa left your movement as well as the in-structions of your Prabhupada and so have many oth-ers?

siksa guruke ta jani krsnera swarupaantaryami bhakta-srestha ei dui rupa

I know the siksa-guru to be directly Lord Krsna. Hefunctions in two ways, as antaryami and as the greatestdevotee.

Some of your ISKCON G.B.C. members acceptedH.H. Narayana Maharaja as their siksa-guru who must

be on an equal level as the diksa-guru, and now you arequestioning whether he is a rasika-bhakta and an ad-vanced devotee or not. Maybe after some time you willhave the same doubts about your own diksa-guru also.

We would not, however, put forth such a question sincewe know yourguru better than you do.Rasika means a devotee who has established his rela-

tionship with the Supreme Lord. Our entire guru-parampara is composed of eternally liberated (ragat-mika)residents of the transcendental Vraja-dhama. All of themare rasika devotees. An unfortunate disciple who can-not accept hisguru as a rasika devotee has no chance ofmaking progress on the spiritual path. We accept yourGurudeva as well as H.H. Narayana Maharaja as rasikadevotees and as advanced vaisnavas. But will you ac-cept that?

You have argued that H. H. Narayana Maharaja hasaggressively targeted ISKCON members and congre-gations. I would like to know if it is that he goes to thetemples and drags the people out or they, who go tohim to listen to his Hari katha. It seems to me that youare saying that the Gaudiya Math has no right to attackthe apasampradayas andMayavadis. Then what are wegoing to preach? It is not Narayana Maharaja who re-veals the evils of your G.B.C. and other ISKCON lead-ers. Your G.B.C. has rejected 7 of your original 11gurus.Does Narayana Maharaja have anything to do with this?

You must feel ashamed that these people (the 7 G.B.C.members who left) have proven by their activities thatthey were not even on the level ofkanistha-adhikaris. IfH. H. Narayana Maharaja ever spoke of them askanistha-adhikaris, then he must have spoken about the

best in your present ISKCON organization.To say that the present ISKCON structure is a karma-

yoga organization is to give them the highest respect.Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written that apart fromthe niskama-karmi, a sakama-karmi cannot be referred to

as a yogi. Therefore according to him only a niskamkarmi is performing karma-yoga. It is a shame that duing the Tulasi worship and parikrama you chant yakani-ca papani and so on, when it is clearly known thit is a prayer for a sakama-karmi who wants to subduall of his sins by doing devotional service. Yoursannyasandgurus (at least most of them) keep the NrisimhKavaca and little pendants of Lord Nrisimhadeva otheir necks for protection an this is clearly sakama-karmPersons who have such tendencies cannot be counteamongst the karma-yogis. We think that a few amongthe best are practicing karma-yoga. We have due respefor them and may be H.H. Narayana Maharaja is awaof that, and therefore he is giving such high apprecition of ISKCON, as a karma-yoga organization, just respect those few who are performing niskama-karma

You have also complained that H.H. Narayana Mharaja reinitiated disciples of ISKCON gurus. But dyou think of it as a reinitiation or a real initiation? R

garding those Harikesa disciples who had lost faith twor three years ago, and later took real initiation froNarayana Maharaja, was it not an intelligent move otheir part? Were they ever initiated by Harikesa in threal sense of the word? So where is the question reinitiation? Actually H.H. Narayana Maharaja oninitiates those who are sincere spiritual seekers whhave been cheated, as well as those who were about

be cheated by your present G.B.C.s. So why are you disturbed? He has never reinitiated anyone, because thterm reinitiation is in itself ridiculous. It means noting!

It is a true fact that Tamal Krishna Goswami anGiriraja Maharaja used to respect H.H. Narayana Mharaja as their siksa-guru. They even performed gurpujaaratikas to him many times at the Kesavaji GaudiyMath. How is it that they can abandon a person whothey have accepted as their siksa-guru without any aparent reason? Both of them are initiating gurus ISKCON at the moment, but if they argue that thecould not recognize him before, that means that thedo not have any realizations as to how to understanwhat are the principle symptoms of an advance

vaisnava. So why are they initiating so many people anyour G.B.C. supports them as bonafide gurus, if thedo not have the power to distinguish the position ofvaisnava, which is a minimum qualification formadhyama-adhikari?

You are disturbed because H.H. Narayana Maharaspends an exceptionally long time in the most succesful preaching area of Tamal Krishna Goswami. Pleatry to understand the situation. If today Srila Bhakvedanta Swami Maharaja came in his previous form


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Srila Narayana Maharaja is writing the samadhi-mantraon the body of your Gurudeva. You cannot make amockery out of this.

I am sure that you are being led down a primrosepath of deviation by this performance ofvaisnava-aparadha and in this way putting your Gurudeva in alower position. You are always concocting differentways to control the present situation in your society andare never consulting with the more advanced and ex-perienced vaisnavas who can give good advice.

You wrote that your Prabhupadas instructions to youare open and direct, but by what you have written itseems to be the complete opposite. I will give you anexample to clarify this point. You quote yourPrabhupada as having said that the Gaudiya Math hadfailed, but in your writings you say that SrilaBhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada radi-cally reformed the Gaudiya tradition transforming itinto a global preaching mission in the modern world.

Now what is the name of that mission? It is the GaudiyaMath. And who were its members that dedicated them-selves to that mission? You must learn to appreciate theirposition, but unfortunately you are busy publishing

books that make false propaganda against these exalteddevotees. If it is not against your G.B.C. rule I stronglyrequest you to read the book entitled 'PrabhupadaSarasvati Thakura' published by Mandala Media andin that way get lots of real information about the globalsuccessful preaching mission, because according to yourwritings the Gaudiya Math is unsuccessful.

Again you have quoted a room conversation in

Bombay (August 16, 1976) wherein your Prabhupadawanted to nourish the very soft faith of the newly initi-ated (those who were less than ten years or so) and youthink this is exactly the fact.

Before the passing away of Srila PrabhupadaBhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he gave orders thatthere would only be oneguru and the rest should workin a very harmonizing way as to be able to preach themessage of Rupa-Raghunatha. He also said that AnantaVasudeva will preach the message of Rupa-Raghunathaand Kunjavihari Vidyabhusana (later on Srila Bhakti

Vilasa Tirtha Maharaja) will do the managing for as longas he lived and must be respected by all. A few yearsearlier he had written, vasudevananta dasye thakiya tasadalahanamaalways remain in the service of AnantaVasudeva and chant the Holy Name.

In his presence it was said that Srila BhaktisiddhantaSarasvati Thakura Prabhupada wanted all of the mem-

bers of the Gaudiya Math to stay under the guidance ofAnanta Vasudeva Prabhu and chant the holy name. Onthat basis he had been selected as the acarya of the

Gaudiya Math and no one had been fighting for thpost. Your Gurudeva was also part of the Gaudiya Maand he also did not object at that time. They did ncreate an artificial acarya. Srila Ananta Vasudeva Prabhwas a brahmacari (in white dress. According to GaudiyMath tradition only when a brahmacari accepted the voto maintain a life-long celibacy, the acarya will offer hithe saffron cloth) at that time, and afterwards, when hgodbrothers saw some flaws in his behavior they lehis association. Srila Oudulomi Maharaja was then slected as the following acarya of the Gaudiya Missionand Srila Ananta Vasudeva Prabhu accepted the life a vaisnavagrihasta and stopped giving initiations. Aftthe disappearance of Srila Oudolomi Maharaja, SriBhagawata Maharaja was appointed as the next acaryand when he disappeared Sripad Parivrajaka Maharawas the next. There is nothing wrong with this.

If you say that this is not enough proof thPrabhupada wanted Srila Ananta Vasudeva Prabhu

be the acarya, one may ask, Did PrabhupadBhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura want to appoiBhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja as his successacarya? If not, did he try to become more than hisgurAll of these are your questions , can you answer themYou may say that Srila Swami Maharaja inspired smany people to come to Krishna Consciousness anthat proves that he was the successor of his guru. that argument one may say that H.H. Narayana Mahraja is also inspiring so many of your godbrothers angodsisters to follow him, which proves that he is a serevealed successor of your Prabhupada. Then why a

you so disturbed?You have said that you will ask yourgurudeva wh

he did not promote Narayana Maharaja as the neacarya, but will you ask him why he engaged sucpersons as Kirtanananda, Bhavananda, Bhagavan anfour other persons as G.B.C.'s ? Do you think that yougodbrothers and godsisters are blindly following H.HNarayana Maharaja, or would you rather they follopeople like Kirtanananda and the other six G.B.C.s bcause they were appointed by yourgurudeva as leaers of ISKCON?

Lastly, you have directly hit a very sensitive poiwhich ultimately concerns yourgurudeva. In it you sathat H.H. Narayana Maharaja has deviated from thline of Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta SarasvaThakura. Do you believe that what he preaches is ou

1) The brahma-gayatri refers only to the first line of thgayatri, not to the rest, like guru, gaura, gopal, and kamgayatris. In the Gaudiya tradition the first line is only givto men.]


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side of the line of Srila Prabhupada? I request you toread the lectures and articles of Srila Prabhupada inthe weekly Gaudiya Magazine. The preaching and de-livering system of your Prabhupada comes from dif-ferent places rather than just the mission of Srila Pra-bhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. We donot want to criticize him because we know him betterthan you, but it willbe difficult for you toaccept this as thetruth.

1. The maha-mantrain ISKCON is alwayssung as a full mantra.You can never chantit half and then theother half. It is clearlycoming from the ideaof the babajis and

other groups that en-tered the GaudiyaMission (i. e. PuriGoswami or SrilaAnanta VasudevaPrabhu and SrilaAudolomi Mahara-jas line) and yourGurudeva taughtyou to follow in theirfootsteps. If you saythat they deviated

does that mean thatyour Gurudeva tookideas from deviatedpersons?

2. Keeping peacockfeathers on Mahapra-bhu can only be seenin the temple estab-lished by Srila Anan-ta Vasudeva Prabhu(Puri dasa mahasaya)

at Radha-Kunda andin the prominent gauranga-nagarisampradaya, one ofthe thirteen pseoudo-sects. We can clearly see this inthe temples established by Srila Swami Maharaja.Where has this come from?

3. Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta SarasvatiThakura clearly said that Adwaita Acarya Prabhunever had a beard and used to keep clean shaven. Butthe bauls (one of the thirteen apasam-pradayas) wantedto make him a baul and put a beard on his face. On the

Deities at the Yoga-Pitha or Srivas Angan as well asany other Gaudiya Math temple you will never find a

beard on Adwaita Acaryas face. But at the MayapuraISK-CON temple as well as other temples (in San Di-ego and Hawaii) we can see Adwaita Acarya with a

beard. Will you say that your Gurudeva was follow-ing the bauls?.

4. One prominentdisciple of Srila Bhak-tivinoda Thakuragave the brahma-gayatri1) to a ladydisciple. Srila Pra-

bhupada later wrotean article in theweekly Gaudiya en-titled bhai-sahajiya(brother sahajiya).Most recently the

Santikunja at Hari-dwara was preachingthat anyone can getthe brahma-gayatriinitiation. Can I sim-ply ask you fromwhich line your gu-rudeva get the idea ofinitiating lady dis-ciples into the brahma-gayatri?

5. Srila Prabhupa-

da BhaktisiddhantaSarasvati Thakura ac-cepted that the borderof Mayapura is asmall canal calledgurgure (just beforeone approaches theYoga-Pitha templefrom the ISKCONtemple side you willfind a canal crossing

the road and that isthe border of Sri Mayapura according to Srila Prabhu-pada on his commentary in the Caitanya Bhagawata).Long after his disappearance he revealed in the heart ofSrila B.D. Madhava Maharaja that near the confluence ofthe Ganga and Sarasvati rivers Ishodyan is situated whichis part of Antardwipa, Sridham Mayapura. The presentIshodyan was revealed by Srila B.D. Madhava Maharajawhich was also supported by Srila B.R. Sridhara Maha-raja and yourgurudeva established his world headquar-

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada & disciple.


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ters of ISKCON in that part of Mayapura, which was notaccepted by his gurudeva but was revealed by hisgodbrother. Why could not he take Srila Prabhupadastraight?

6. Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta SarasvatiThakura taught us how to worship the Deity in thetemple. In Gaudiya Math temples his orders are mostlyfollowed. They offer bhoga five times a day and aratiksthree times a day on regular days. But in your ISKCONtemples we find a different system which is more likelyto the system of the castegosvamis and other temples inVrindavana who follow the worship according to theeight-yama pastimes of the Lord. We like that system andalso appreciate it, but our question is from where didyourgurudeva learn this kind of worship? Did he takesiksa from the castegosvamis?

7. Kirtana with the harmonium was prohibited by SrilaPrabhupada. Only in the temple of Srila B.H. Bon Maha-raja this was seen before. We are not criticizing him be-

cause we know that he is an exalted vaisnava. He was aqualified acarya and has the right to introduce any mu-sical instrument into his temple. Your Prabhupada alsointroduced it in his ISKCON temples. Did he learn thatfrom Srila Bhakti Hriday Bon Maharaja?

8. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura instructedus to worship Sri Sri Guru Gauranga-Gandharvika-Giridhari . In all the temples established by him we findSriman Mahaprabhu and Sri Sri Radha-Krishna. Themangala-aratik and other aratik songs specifically written

by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Prabhupadafollow in their footsteps. Whereas in your ISKCON

temples there are different combinations of Deities anddifferent kinds of songs are recommended for mangala-aratik which are not considered as mangala-aratik songs.Do you think this is a deviation or not?

9. Srila Prabhupada ordered his disciples to print anddistribute books of the previous acaryas and speciallythose of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He did not writemany books himself because he thought it unnecessary,whereas you clearly state that yourgurudeva instructedyou to print, publish and read his books only. Does thatmean that he thought that the books of Srila Bhaktivi-

noda Thakura are less valuable than his?10. Srila Prabhupada or his disciples never recom-mended a new devotee to chantHarinamaon a ml with-out being properly initiated by aguru. According to thecommentary by Srila Viswanatha Cakravarti Thakura,on Srimad Bhagavatam Sixth Canto (the case of Ajamila)it will only generate a great offense (gurvavajna). YourPrabhupada began this in ISKCON. Where did this ideacome from?

11. You have complained that H.H. Narayana Maha-

raja has accepted services from young ladies (kumariFor your information I want to say that in his missioSrila Prabhupada strictly prohibited the ladies from sering even in the kitchen where sannyasis, brahmacaris anvanaprasthas were living. He never allowed any wome(with the exception of two elderly women disciples Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura that sometimes used to cooonly for Srila Prabhupada) to serve the Math residenin any way possible. Later on a few Gaudiya Math acaryallowed some women into the kitchen, and youPrabhupada is no exception. Many times young Wesern ladies used to serve him including to cut his hair, bwe do not dare criticize him for this behavior becauwe know that he was elderly and the girls were oenough to be his granddaughters and besides he was such an elevated consciousness that there was no chanof him being affected by sensual desires. H.H. NarayanMaharaja is also at that age and if he is following thfootsteps of your Prabhupada why does that bother you

This European lady whom you say is your reliable sourof information found this tableau filled with eroticisbecause there is one logickamuka pasyanti kamini mayajagat. A lustful person sees the whole world as full lust. By falsely accusing H.H. Narayana Maharaja, yoare accusing your own Gurudeva.

These are a few of the examples on how youPrabhupada differs from the teachings and practices Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati ThakurHis Mayapura Dham, his process of Deity worship, hnama-sankirtan, his book publications, his personal coducts, his Deity installations, his process of initiating di

ciples all differs from his Gurudeva. We cannot knothe cause how it happened, but do you want to say thhe is not a bonafide siksa ordiksadisciple of his Gurudevor not in a direct line from him? Then how can you denH.H. Narayana Maharajas claim as the successor of yoPrabhupada, only because his teachings differ from him

You say that Narayana Maharaja has no attraction fthe Gita, but have you seen his beautiful Hindi transltion edition of Bhagavad-Gita with the commentaries Srila Viswanatha Cakravarti Thakura, as well as othprofound commentaries by H.H. Narayana Mahara

himself? If he has no taste for the Gita then why has hbothered to give such nice presentation and commetaries?

At the cornerstone laying of the Baghbazar GaudiyMath, Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta SarasvaThakura expressed his desire to publish the authentcommentaries of the higher topics of the SrimaBhagavatam such as Gopi-Gita and Bhramara-Gita. Hsaid, ... [although] we should not read the commetaries of Gopi-gita and Bhramara-gita written by th


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prakrita-sahajiyas, but we must also publish authenticeditions of the Gopi-gita and the Bhramara-gita of theSrimad- Bhagawatam, because we need to perform realkrishnanusilanam. This was printed in the weeklyGaudiya. H.H. NarayanaMaharaja is now trying tofulfill that desire of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta SarasvatiThakura Prabhupada, so how can you say thatNarayana Maharaja has become an instrument of thisattack against the mission of Srila PrabhupadaBhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura? Our Gurudeva OmVisnupada 108 Sri Srimad Bhakti Pramode PuriGoswami Maharaja considers him to be the best weaponto resist the misconceptions of the so-called babajis ofRadha-Kunda and it is a proven fact that when he goesto Radha-Kunda he openly challenges them to comeforward and have a debate with him if they do not ac-cept the mission of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati asbonafide. Nobody dares to come near him. Do you thinkthat any of your ISKCONgurus can do this?

You also say that Narayana Maharaja has dismissedbook distribution as an inferior activity. But whateveryou have quoted from your Prabhupada also supportsit. First of all you have quoted that your Prabhupadahas said, Book distribution is in the mood of thegopis.Again you have quoted about your ultimate goal as ,we shall transcend and get through the invincibleimpass of Maya and reach the effulgent kingdom of Godto render Him face to face eternal service, in full blissand knowledge. You do not want to distribute booksat the stage of ultimate attainment, but desire anotherkind of face to face service to God. Doesnt that mean

that your means and goals are not the same? But ourguru-varga and yourgurudeva also have taught that themeans and the goal are the same. You yourself haveagreed that book distribution is not the ultimate goal oreternal bhakti . Then this can be called bhaktyabhasa, orbhaktyaropa, but never real bhakti, because it is a tempo-rary seva, and not like sravanam and kirtanam which areeternal.

If you are going to do this you may as well accuseSrila Gaurakisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja as well as SrilaJagannatha Dasa Babaji Maharaja because they never

went out on the streets to sell books due to the fact thatthey were in the mood of thegopis. Such offenses willbring utter ruin in your spiritual life as has happenedto many of your godbrothers already.

An acarya can instruct his disciples according to aparticular time, place and circumstance whereas in othercircumstances the disciple can be given different instruc-tions. Theguru has the right to accept necessary direc-tions from the Scriptures and preach them by his per-sonal conduct. The definition of an acarya is as follows:

acinoti yah sastrartham acare sthapayatyapiswayamacarate tasmat acaryah tena kirtitah

A person who chooses the conclusions of the autho-rized scriptures according to a particular time, place andcircumstances and practices what he preaches to othersis called an acarya.

Sometimes for the disciple the words of hisguru dif-fers from those of the other saints and the authenticscriptures. In such cases he must not offensively thinkthatguru or sastra or saints are wrong. Rather he mustremember the famous song by Srila Narottama DasaThakura Mahasaya,

sadhu sastra-guru-vakya hrdaye kariya aikyasatata bhavisa prema majhe

karmi jnani bhaktihina ihare karibe bhinanarottama ei tattva gaje

Narottama sings the tattva that one must harmonizethe directions of the sadhus, sastras andguru in his heartand always float in the ocean ofprema. The karmis andjnanis are devoid ofbhakti, so you must keep yourselfapart from them.

Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura Mahasaya advices usto harmonize the words ofsadhusastra andguru. If thewords of the sadhu seems to be different than those ofsastra andguru, then one should not offensively thinkthat the sadhu is wrong, but he must consider himselfunable to understand the words of that sadhu and must

follow guru-vakya. If the guru differs from sadhu andsastra, then, instead of thinking that theguru is wrong,one must consider himself unable to understand thereal purpose ofguru-vakya and on such cases he mustfollow sadhu-vakya. The sastras are never wrong. Eithertheguru or sadhu guide us to follow the necessary di-rections of the sastras, otherwise,

ye sastra vidhim utsrijya vartate kamacaratana sa siddhim avapnoti na sukham na para gatim

It seems that you are confused regarding the instruc-tions of yourguru and are unable to harmonize them inyour heart. I humbly suggest you to choose some reali-zed sadhu to clear up your doubts rather than offendH.H. Narayana Maharaja. If you do not like to go tohim thats fine but you have no right to stop those whowant to go and receive instructions or initiations fromhim. You have requested your godbrothers andgodsisters to follow Satsvarupa Maharajas footsteps,

but how can they believe you? Previously your G.B.C.


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Second RayForu


had requested them to follow their footsteps and manydid. Right now seven out of eleven guides do not evenexist or are in proper standard according to your G.B.C.rules. Who knows, maybe after a few years you willpass the same judgment on Satsvarupa Maharaja. Bythen H.H. Narayana Maharaja may not be physicallypresent and thus the devotees will be forever deprivedof his direct association. Which fool will want to de-pend on your words? Do you rely on your own self?

From yourgurudeva you have quoted as follows, Apure devotee can distinguish between the bhakti-latacreeper and a mundane creeper, and is very alert todistinguish them and keep them apart.

You also say that you have distinguished some ofthese weeds quite evident in the person of H.H.Narayana Maharaja. It is simply a strange audacity thatyou call yourself as a pure devotee and thus deny otherexalted devotees who recommend Narayana Maharajaas a sad-guru and a rasika devotee. Our Guru-Maharaja

has said openly that Narayana Maharaja is a sadguruand a rasikabhakta. Although I am neither a siksa ordiksa disciple of H.H. Narayana Maharaja, still I neverdare to stop someone from taking instructions or ini-tiations from him. Quite to the contrary; if they wantto go to him I am the first to encourage them to do so.

It is completely ludicrous and outrageous that mostof you ISKCON G.B.C.s came to Krishna Conscious-ness less than 30 years ago and many of them are outof their devotional practices already, and claiming your-selves as bonafide preceptors and detectors of un-wanted weeds (upasakhas) in the person of a devotee

who has been practicing Krishna Consciousness forover 50 years without faltering once, even years beforemany of your G.B.C.'s had taken birth. Our most re-spected Guru-Maharaja has been practicing KrishnaConsciousness continuously almost from his birth, andwith 100 years of experience in such matters he is notqualified to guide others or recommend a person as anelevated vaisnava? On the other hand your G.B.C., whohad never heard krishna-nama before 1966, and whosefuture is uncertain, is qualified to do so?

In fact you are scared of the Gadiya Math preachers,

especially those who are born in Bharata-Bhumi (In-dia). The Gaudiya Math has never had to complain thatISKCONgurus are taking away their disciples. If it isonly your ISKCON G.B.C.'s who are disturbed, then itseems to me that you want to monopolize everythingsimply by using the name of Srila Bhaktivedanta SwamiMaharaja. In India some people (backward class) havea reservation for education and government services

because they have no chance in an open competitionwith the more intelligent class of people. So the gov-

ernment of India reserves some seats for them so ththey may have an opportunity.

My humble request to you is that you please give usuch useless effort to engage in the copyrights to intiate innocent devotees. Rather let us try to follow thlast instruction of Srila Prabhupada BhaktisiddhanSarasvati Thakura. All of you preach in the most hamonious way the teachings of Rupa and Raghunathwith great enthusiasm.

I write this letter from a neutral point of view, bcause Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta SarasvaThakura has instructed us not to be disheartened eveif not a single person is ready to hear the open truth. Aa humble servant of his servant, I thought it my duty given to me by my Guru-Maharaja to protest againsuch wrong conceptions. If anyone has been hurt withhis heart or felt any type of anxiety by reading this,pray for your forgiveness and hope that one day he wcome to realize all of these points.

Sri Guru-Vaisnava dasanudasBhakti Vidagdha Bhagawa


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Second Ray Forum


My dear darling daughter Prema Lata,

Accept my heartly blessings. All glories to Sri SriGuru & Gauranga! All glories to Sri Sri Radha-Vinoda-

Bihariji!This morning I was informed by Vrajanatha Prabhu

that you called last night with the sad news that mybosom friend, Hayesvara Prabhu, has left his body.Hayesvara Prabhu was not only my friend, he was thefriend of all the devotees. Especially he was a verylarge and tall tree under whose shade all the devoteesof Holland were protected and nourished. He was avery dear son of an orthodox Christian preacher, butfrom the beginning of his childhood he was not satis-fied with the principles of Christianity. When he re-

ceived the great fortune to meet with the world fa-mous devotional preacher in the line of Sri CaitanyaMahaprabhu, Sri Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maha-raja, Hayesvara Prabhu was at once charmed, and hetotally surrendered unto his lotus feet.

He was a famous writer and journalist, and he verysoon translated the Bhagavad-gita and other devo-tional literatures into the Dutch language. AfterSwamijis departure from this world, he came into theassociation of such an elevated param-bhagavata, SriSrila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja, who laterentered into aprakata-lila. At that time HayesvaraPrabhu felt bereft ofsadhu-sanga, but soon he came intoour association. He was very much intimately con-nected with us, and so much attracted to the deep con-clusions of Gaudiya Vaisnavism. He translated manyof my books into the Dutch language and alsopreached on my behalf. His house was a preachingcenter and a home for all devotees. He was rewardedby the Dutch government for his beautiful literary con-tribution, but he was much more rewarded by theGaudiya Vaisnavas for his devotional writings and ser-

vices.

Today we are observing a condolence ceremony andwe pray to Hayesvara Prabhu to give us his associa-tion and mercy. We know that he is eternal, but we arefeeling bereft of his association. We are very happy toknow that he was so calm and quiet at the last mo-ments of his stay with us. He chanted the holy names,Hare Krsna, and at the last moment, with tears in his

eyes, he chanted with his last breath, Radhe,Radhe! and left his body. We pray to Sri Sri Radha-Krsna Yugala, to Sri Sri Gaura-Gadadhara and Sri SriGaura-Nityananda Prabhu to bestow Their causelessmercy upon our dear Hayesvara Prabhu.

Your ever well-wisher,Swami B.V. Narayana

P.S. My heartly blessings for all the devotees whoare with you, Also all the devotees who are here,Navina-Krsna Prabhu, Pundarika Prabhu, VrajanathaPrabhu, Vrnda devi, Tungavidya devi and many more,all offer their heartfelt puspanjali to our dearmost bo-som friend, who gave us his kind association. Sri SriRadha-Krsna mercifully gave us the association of

Hayesvara Prabhu and now They have taken him backso that he will continue to serve Them under the guid-ance of Their dear devotees.

Condolences


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Third Ray Guru-tattv


The Charm And Superiorityof the

Bhagavad-paramparr rmad Bhakti Prajna Keava Gosvm Mahrja

In recent times ever new questions are being in-vented in regard to r guru-parampar in the GauyaVaiava sampradya. Some people are of the opinionthat r Baladeva Vidybhuaa was initiated in the

Madhva sampradya and that he was not a GauyaVaiava. Their assertion is that, in spite of his attain-ing the association of Gauya Vaiavas, the influ-ence of the Madhva sampradyaupon him was so great,that in his own literatures he has stubbornly includedr Caitanya Mahprabhu and His Gauya Vaiavasampradya in the Madhva sampradya. And this, theyclaim, has been done by him without any reasonable

justification. Thus they declare that he cannot be con-sidered an crya of the Gauya Vaiava sampradya.Another section of ignorant persons say that jagad-

guru r Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Prabhupdaj hascreated a new concept named the bhgavata-parampar.In this bhgavata-parampar he has explained that rlaBhaktivinoda hkura is a disciple of VaiavaSrvabhauma rla Jaganntha dsa Bbj Mahrja,and that r Gaurakiora dsa Bbj Mahrja is a dis-ciple of rla Bhaktivinoda hkura. Some sahajiyVaiavas are also presenting the doubt that rBhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat accepted the renouncedorder (sannysa) from himself, and consequently, hisguru-parampar cannot be considered bona fide. Mymost worshipable rla Gurudeva has shattered all

these accusations by the use of powerful logic and solidscriptural evidence. His analysis of the subject is be-ing presented within this article.

The disciples and grand-disciples of r Bhakti-siddhnta Sarasvat Prabhupda are currently preach-ing uddha ka-bhakti and r harinma throughout theworld as preached and practised by r CaitanyaMahprabhu. They have preached extensively all overthe world. Consequently, in every prominent city,

moreover, in every town and village, the streets anavenues are resounding with the sound of the honame and young men and women are applying themselves to the cultivation ofuddha-bhakti with gre

enthusiasm. They are meeting Vaiavas from Indiperforming harinmasakrtana together and preacing uddha-bhakti. Being agitated by this, a few ignrant, so-called Vaiavas of the sahajiy community atrying to mislead the common man by presentinfraudulent accusations against the Srasvata GauyVaiava lineage. rla Gurudeva has established thrational and perfect conclusion on this matter in hown essay entitled Gauya Vedantcrya Baladeva. We are extracting some lines from that esay

Guru-parampar of the Commentator(r Baladeva Vidybhuaa)

We are presenting before you the historical truwhich is obtained upon considering theguru-parampaof the commentator, r Baladeva Vidybhuaa. Firof all, he acquired specific expertise in bhakti-stunder the guidance ofvirakta-iromai(the crest-jewof detached sdhus) Ptambara dsa. After that, he acepted pcartrik-dk from a Vaiava by the namof r Rdh Dmodara dsa, who had appeared

the seminal brhmaa dynasty in Knyakubja. RdhDmodara dsa was the grandson of RasiknandMurri. He accepted dka from another Knyakubjybrhmana, r Nayannandadeva Gosvm. Rasiknada Prabhu is the fourth person in the pcartrika-gurparampar of the commentator Baladeva Vidy

bhuaa. r Rasiknanda Prabhu was a disciple r Symnanda Prabhu. The aforementioned Naynnandadeva Gosvm was the son of r Rasiknada. The guru of r Symnanda was r Hdaya Ca

An excerpt about the true conception of guru-tattva, from the forthcoming biography of nitya-llpravia o viupda aottara-ata r rmad Bhakti Prajna Keava Gosvm Mahrja by rlBhaktivednta Nryaa Mahrja.


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Third Ray Guru-tattva


tanya, whose guru was Gaurdsa Paita. rmanNitynanda Prabhu had bestowed H is mercy uponGaurdsa Paita. Even though Symnanda Prabhuwas a disciple ofcrya Hdaya Caitanya, afterwardshe accepted discipleship under r Jva Gosvm. rJva Gosvm was a disciple of r Rpa Gosvm, whowas a disciple of r Santana Gosvm. r SantanaGosvm was a follower and associate of rmanMahprabhu.

iya-parampar of the Commentator

An account of the pcartrika-parampar has beengiven, beginning from rman Mahprabhu down tor Baladeva Vidybhuaa. Now an account of hisiya-parampar is being given: r Uddhara dsa, re-ferred to in some places as Uddhava dsa, was a dis-ciple of the commentator. Some hold the opinion thatthese are two different personalities. Whatever the case

may be, Uddhava dsa had a disciple named r Ma-dhusdana dsa. Jaganntha dsa Bbj was a dis-ciple of this very r Madhusdana dsa. Previously,as Srvabhauma Vaiava or prominent leader of theVaiava community in Mthura maala, Ketramaala and Gaua maala, he became famous bythe name of Siddha Jaganntha dsa. rla Bhaktivi-noda hkura accepted this very Jaganntha dsaBbj Mahrja as his bhajana ika-guru by the sys-tem ofbhgavata parampar. Under the direction ofVaiava Srvabhauma rla Jaganntha dsa BbjMahrja, rla Bhaktivinoda hkura discovered the

birthplace of rman Mahprabhu at rdhmaMypura. rla Bhaktivinoda hkura was the ik-guru or bhajana-guru of rla Gaurakiora dsa BbjMahrja. rla Gaura Kiora dsa Bbj Mahrja,giving dk-mantra, etc., accepted mygurupda-padma,o viupda aottaraata r rmad Bhaktisid-dhnta Sarasvat Prabhupda, as his own disciple.Whoever is incompetent in accepting this parampar isto be counted among one of the thirteen types ofapasampradya mentioned in writing by r TotrmaBbj Mahrja. Alternatively, he may be regarded as

the creator of a fourteenth apasampradya.From the aforementionedguru-parampar we acquire

the understanding that r Baladeva Vidybhuaa isa follower of rman Mahprabhu within the spiritualfamily lineage (parivara) of r ymananda prabhu.On account ofacrya r ymananda accepting theguidance of r Jva Gosvm, and because JvaGosvm is exclusively rpnuga (a follower of r RpaGosvm), it therefore follows that r Baladeva

Vidybhuaa is also a rpnuga Vaiava. Whoeverdoes not acknowledge that r Baladeva Vidybhu-aa is a rpnuga Vaiava, having said that he is inthe line of r ymananda, and thinks that he is notqualified for the topmost service mood ofunnata-ujjvala-rasa, is certainly a deluded offender. Althoughr Baladeva Vidybhuaa was initiated in pca-rtrika-dk by r Rdh Dmodara dsa, he also ac-cepted ik in rmad-Bhgavatam and the literaturesof the Gosvms.

Pcartrika-parampar is includedwithin the Bhgavata-parampar.

Bhgavata-parampar is superior to pcartrika-parampar. It is founded on the degree of proficiencyin bhajana (bhajana-nih). The charm and superiorityofbhgavata-parampar is that pcartrika-parampar isincluded within it. In bhgavata-parampar there is no

obstruction in regard to time. From the viewpoint ofuddha-bhakti, both the doctrine ofpcartrika and ofbhgavata expound synonomous opinions with thesame objective. In r Caitanya Caritmta it is said,pcartre bhagavate ei lakaa kaya (Cc.Madhya 19.169).The prkta-sahajiy-sampradya, while introducingthemselves as the followers of r Rpa Gosvm, ac-cumulate offences to the lotus feet of r Jva Gosvm.Similarly, nowadays thejti-gosvms and those whoaccept their remnants, such as several members of thesahajiy , kartbhaj, kiorbhaj, and bhajanakhjsampradyas, while proudly conceiving themselves to

be the followers of Cakravart hkura, employ vari-ous disrespectful explanations against the commenta-tor r Baladeva Vidybhuaa. In this way, they aregrowing excessively hateful and progressing towardshell.

We are presenting herein a diagram of thepcartrika-guru-parampar and bhgavata-param-par

by which readers will be able to properly appreciatethe speciality ofr bhgavata-parampar, and also un-derstand how pcartrika-guru-paramparis included

within the bhgavata-parampar .Through the medium of this diagram we will give

an account of the pcartrika-guru-parampar andbhgavata-parampar of r ymnanda Prabhu, rNarottama hkura, r Raghuntha dsa Gosvm,r Baladeva Vidybhuaa, rla Bhaktivinodahkura and rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat hakura,and so forth:


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Siksa relationship only (Bhagavata line) Diksa / Siksa relationship (Pancaratrika line)


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r ymnanda Prabhu In pcartrika-guru-parampar r Nitynanda Prabhus disciple isGaurdsa Paita, and his disciple, Hdaya Caitanyais the dk-guru of r ymnanda Prabhu. Inbhgavata-parampar r Caitanya Mahprabhus dis-ciple is r Santana Gosvm, the disciple of Santana

is r Rpa Gosvm, and his disciple is r JvaGosvm. r ymnanda Prabhu is the ik discipleof this very r Jva Gosvm. It will not be an exag-geration to mention here that in consideration oftat-tva, rasa, bhajana and in all respects, r Jva Gosvmwas superior to r Hdaya Caitanya. Therefore rHdaya Caitanya himself personally sent rymnanda Prabhu to r Jva Gosvm for advancedinstruction in the practice ofbhajana and rymnanda Prabhu accepted the anugatya (guidance)of r Jva Gosvm. Thus the serious matter which isdeserving of our consideration here is the questionwhich is superior, pcartrika-guru-parampar orbhgavata-parampar?

r Narottama hkura In the same way, accord-ing to pcartrika-guru-parampar, r Narottamahkuras guru is r Lokantha dsa Gosvm. Yetthere is no record of r Lokantha dsa Gosvmspcartrika-dk-guru to be found anywhere. In suchtexts as r Gauya Vaiava Abhidhna, it has beenstated that his guru is r Ka Caitanya Mahprabhu.However, it is a well known fact that rman

Mahprabhu did not make anyone His disciple accord-ing to the pcartrika-pral(method). Therefore, ifrman Mahprabhu is the guru of r LokanthaGosvm, then it is only on the basis ofbhgavata-parampar. On the other hand, although r Narottamahkura is the pcartrika disciple of r LokanthaGosvm, he is also the disciple of r Jva Gosvm inbhgavata-parampar . In the anugatya of r JvaGosvm, r Narottama hkura became steeped inbhajana-ik.

r Raghuntha dsa Gosvm In pcartrika-parampar r Raghuntha dsa Gosvm is a discipleof r Yadunandancrya, who is situated in thepcartrika-kh (branch) of r Advaita crya. Onthe other hand, if we deeply consider the life historyof r Raghuntha dsa Gosvm, we then find the in-

delible influence of the bhajana-ik of r SvarpaDmodara, and r Rpa Gosvm is very clear. rSvarpa Dmodara and r Rpa Gosvm are hisgurus in bhgavata-parampar . In this example also, ifwe compare pcartrika-parampar with bhgavata-parampar then we find the superiority ofbhgavata-parampar is shining as radiantly as the sun.

r Baladeva Vidybhuaa According topcartrika-guru-parampar, r Baladeva Vidy-

bhuaa is a pcartrika disciple of r RdhDmodara in the paramparof r ymananda Prabhu.On the other hand, from the viewpoint ofbhgavata-parampar he is a disciple of r Vivantha Cakravarthkura. r Rdh Dmodara himself had personallysent r Baladeva Vidybhuaa to r VivanthaCakravart hkura to study rmad-Bhgavatam andall the various Gosvm literatures and also to receiveadvanced instruction in bhajana. The guidance of rVivantha Cakravart hkura in the life of rBaladeva Vidybhuaa is widely known. Only un-der the guidance of r Vivantha Cakravart hkuradid he defeat the r Vaiavas in the royal court of

Galt and keep intact the service and worship of rr Rdh-Govindaj. Attaining the mercy of rGovindadeva, the worshipable deity of r RpaGosvm, he composed r Govinda-bhya. There iscertainly no room for any doubt about r VivanthaCakravart hkura being a rpnuga Vaiava. There-fore, since r Baladeva Vidybhu-aa is under theguidance of r Vivantha Cakravart hkura thereis also no doubt about his rpnugatva, his being arpnuga Vaiava. Furthermore, it is a well known


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fact that, having attained the mercy of r Govindadeva,he ensured the continuing service of that very deity whowas the treasured lifes breath of r Rpa Gosvm. Sofrom this perspective, in the light of his attaining themercy of rla Rpa Gosvm and his rdhyadeva rGovindaj, what doubt could possibly remain in regardto his rpnugatva?

r Bhaktivinoda hkura According to thepcartrika-guru-parampar, r Vipina Bihr Gosvm,who is situated in the pcartrika-parampar of r r

Jhnav hkurn, is the dk-guruof r Bhaktivinodahkura. On the other hand Vaiava Srvabhaumarla Jaganntha dsa Bbj Mahrja is his bhajana ik-guru in bhgavata-parampar . Jaganntha dsa BbjMahrja is a disciple of the famous Madhusdana dsaBbj Mahrja in the parampar of r BaladevaVidybhu-aa. In regard to tattva-jna, bhajana-ik,etc., it is not necessary to say that Vaiava Srvabhauma

rla Jaganntha dsa Bbj Mahrja is superior to rVipina Bihr Gosvm. No-one can deny that the stampof the guidance (anugatya) of rla Jaganntha dsaBbj Mahrja is imprinted in the life of r Bhaktivi-noda hkura.

r Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat hkura Accord-ing to pcartrika-guru-parampar, his dk-guru is rGaurakiora dsa Bbj Mahrja, who, by pcartrika-guru-parampar, is situated in the branch of r Jhnavhkurn. rla Bbj Mahrja accepted the attire ofa renunciate (vea) from a disciple of rla Jaganntha

dsa Bbj Mahrja, namely r Bhgavata dsa BbjMahrja. Thus by bhgavata-parampar, r Gaurakioradsa Bbj Mahrja is in the branch of rla Jagannthadsa Bbj Mahrja. In this way, rla Sarasvathkura is in the parampar of r Jhnav hkurn

by pcartrika-parampar, and he has been connectedwith rla Jaganntha dsa Bbj Mahrja in bhgavata-parampar. By shedding light on his life history, it is es-tablished that he made the practices, precepts, bhajana-pranli and fulfillment of the aspirations of r Bhak-tivinoda hkura the sole aim and object of his life. Thus,

in bhgavata-parampar his guru was r Bhaktivinodahkura, whose guru was rla Jaganntha dsa BbjMahrja. Therefore there is not even the least oppor-tunity to raise a finger against theguru-parampar of rlaSarasvat hkura, the founder-crya of the r GauyaMahas.

Several additional facts worthy of our considerationon the subject ofpcartrika-guru-parampar andbhgavata-parampar :

(1) The guru of lower rasa

If a pcartrika-dk-guru in his siddha-svarpa (costitutional spiritual form) is situated in a comparativelower rasa than his disciple, then how will he givbhajana-ik pertaining to the more elevated rasa? In thsituation, the disciple must go elsewhere and take sheter of such a Vaiava who is qualified to administthe appropriate superior guidance. For example, Hdaya Caitanya, in ka-ll, was an associate sakhya-rasa, whereas his disciple r ymnanda Prabh(Dukh Ka dsa) was an associate in madhura-rasTherefore r Hdaya Caitanya himself had personalsent Dukh Ka dsa to rla Jva Gosvm to receivhigher bhajana-ik pertaining to madhura-rasa.

(2) The lesser qualified guru

The guru and disciple in pcartrika-guru-parampa

may be in the same rasa, however the guru may not bso highly qualified. Under such circumstances, fhigher bhajana-ik the disciple must go and take sheter of another uttama Vaiava who will be called hguru in bhgavata-parampar.

From the above-mentioned two considerations, wcan conclude that there are some inherent defects in thpcartrika process, whereas bhgavata-parampar, bing completely free from these defects, is flawless in arespects.

(3) rman Mahprabhu is not pacartrika-guru anyone

All members of the Gauya sampradya considthemselves to be the followers of r CaitanyMahprabhu, accepting Him asjagad-guru. Howeveupon what basis do they consider that they are His folowers and accept that He is their guru? rmaMahprabhu is not anyones guru in pcartrikparampar, although He Himself is a disciple of r vaPur in pcartrika-parampar. There is no recorded a

count anywhere to the effect that rman Mahprabhhas given dk-mantra to anyone. Therefore if thGauya Vaiava community accepts the anugatya andiscipleship of r Caitanya Mahprabhu then that caonly be on one basis, and that basis is bhgavatparampar.

(4) All Gauya Vaiavas are rpnuga on thbasis of bhgavata-parampar only


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Each and every Gauya Vaiava is proud to callhimself rpnuga. But let us consider this point: Howmany people did r Rpa Gosvm make his discipleby the pcartrika method? r Jva Gosvm is his oneand only dk disciple. So on what basis do theGauya Vaiava community accept r RpaGosvm as their guru? r Rpa Gosvm himself isalso not a dk disciple of r Caitanya Mahprabhu.Therefore how is it possible to be a follower of r RpaGosvm and at the same time be a follower of r Cai-tanya Mahprabhu? Even r Santana Gosvm whois the ika-guru of r Rpa Gosvm has not a secondthought about calling himselfrpnuga.

The basis of all these examples is onebhgavata-param-par. r Rpa Gosvm is the disciple of r Cai-tanya Mah-prabhu and the Gauya Vaiava com-munity consider r Rpa Gosvm to be their guruonly on the basis ofbhgavata-parampar . Who is the

pcartrika-dk-guru of rla Ka-dsa KavirjaGosvm? He has not mentioned the name of hispcartrika dk-guru in any of his literatures. He hasdescribed the names of his ik-gurus in r Caitanya-caritmta,di 1.37:

ei chaya guru ik-guru ye mrata-sabra pda-padme koi namaskra

I offer millions of obeisances at the lotus feet ofthese six ik-gurus of mine.

And at the end of each chapter ofr Caitanya-caritmta it is written:

r-rpa-raghuntha-pade yra acaitanya caritmta kahe ka dsa

I, Ka dsa, whose aspiration is to attain the lo-tus feet of r Rpa and Raghuntha, narrate CaitanyaCaritmta.

By these statements he has accepted r RpaGosvm and r Raghuntha dsa Gosvm as hismain ik-gurus. Thus he has also accepted them asgurus on the basis ofbhgavata-parampar . From thesefacts it becomes thoroughly obvious that bhga-vata-param-par, which includes pcartrika-parampar, al-ways shines forth brilliantly. Therefore, whoever ig-nores these facts and casts aspersions upon the guru-pralof r Baladeva Vidybhuaa, rla Bhaktivi-

noda hkura and r Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvathkura, or whoever doubts that they are rpnuga, iscertainly a staunch opponent of r Caitanya Mah-prabhu and a secret agent of Kali.

Thus, whatever opinion my most worshipable rlaGurudeva has written on the subject of theguru-pralof r Baladeva Vidybhuaa, and also in regard topcartrika-guru-parampar and bhgavata-parampar is

both logical and fully in agreement with the establishedconclusions of the scriptures (stra-siddhnta).

r rmad Bhakti Prajna Keava Gosvm Mahrja and diciples.


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Religion of NothingnessIntroduction to Being And Nothingness

The subject matter of this article was first presentedin the previous issue. There rla Bhakti PrajnaKeava Gosvm Mahrja discussed the concept ofnya, or nothingness. In the following article he willclarify that understanding, by quoting from the mostpopular and essential of Buddhist scriptures. The rea-son we have translated the word nya as nothing-ness and the word brahma as being is that it comesfrom the title of the magnum opus, Being and Nothing-ness, by Jean-Paul Sartre, the founder of modern-dayexistentialism. Not surprisingly, we find similaritiesof this type of existentialism in its roots, that is, Bud-dhism. We have borrowed the title from him in order

to discuss the same concepts that stirred the Frenchelite and intellectual class, consequently bringingSartre the Nobel Prize for his seemingly new philoso-phy.

rla Bhakti Prajna Keava Mahrja mentions thework called Praj-Pramit-Stra. Since it will be spo-ken of in many places, it should be understood in thelight of its importance to Buddhist philosophy. Al-though at first glance we may think that we are goingtoo far, and it is becoming too esoteric to delve into,we discover a most interesting point that he is affirm-ing. This Stra has become so commonly known inBuddhist circles that one cannot be said to factuallyknow the Buddhist philosophy without understand-ing it. It is, therefore, popularly known as The HeartStra. Here is what one modern text says regardingThe Heart Stra:

When Buddhism first moved from India to China[Tibet] in its Mahyna forms, it was known not asBuddhism, but as the Religion ofPraj-pramit or,since the stras of the Praj-pramitcentered around

the teaching ofnyat (somewhat loosely translatedas emptiness or nothingness), as the Religion of Noth-ingness.

TheHeart Stra is one of approximately 38 strasin the Praj-pramit group, and its shortest. In it, thedynamic vibrancy ofnyat and the cryptic delinea-tion of its meaning have been captured with a radicaleconomy of expression that has exercised a fascina-tion over the minds of countless generations of Bud-

dhist thinkers in India, China, Tibet and other landwhere Mahyna Buddhism flourished.

While it celebrates nyat as a timeless truth, thHeart Stra has also to be seen as an historical document, engaged in rivalry with the rationalist-schematapproach taken by earliest sects of Buddhism (desinated as Hnaynathe lowest vehicleby its rivalIn the centuries after Buddhas death, the Hnaynfollowers, with the encyclopedicAbhi-dharma as theliterature, had created categories of analysis to thpoint where it became, in the words of HeinricDumoulin, the Zen historian, a dishearteningly lif

less product without metaphysical elan Mahynstras thunder again and again against philosophe(abhidharmists) who are disposed to freeze reality ina categorical permanence and to discriminate betweesubject and object.

In the still-solidifying tradition of Mahyna, thHeart Stra is a key document demolishing all thecat

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