Gaudiya Vaishnavism in late 19th century and early 20th century

[Guest guest]

On Fri, 27 Dec 2002, Madhava wrote:

>Anyone who has read of the history of the Gaudiya tradition in the end of

the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century will inevitably know that

the tradition was nowhere close to being extinct, as is often presented,

but rather was in a very vibrant, lively state, with various mahatmas

present who instructed others, some of them traveling around to preach as

well.>>>

 

The kind of person who can assert this claim is also the kind of

person who can revere sahajiya babajis even now. Only s/he could have

such a perception of reality--out of piety or whatever. Two or so of

us in this thread no longer accept Srila Prabhupada or even his gurus,

so I'll have to supply pramanas they do seem to respect.

 

 

Here is the view of one well-known scholar, writing at the very

time in question, whose work _The Chaitanya Movement_ (Delhi:

Munshiram, 1993) is still a standard academic reference. In the

subsection of Ch 5 titled "Two Centuries of Decline," Kennedy writes:

 

"After the vigorous expansion of the seventeenth and eighteenth

ceturies, the fortunes of the sect seem to have gone under a cloud that

lasted for nearly two hundred years" (Kennedy 1993: 76). Noting that

nothing of significance was written after Bhatiratnakara, Kennedy

continues, "The sect seems to have burnt itself out, with neither leaders

nor spirit worthy of its tradition" (ibid., 77).

 

Kennedy actually calls this the "dark ages," and adds (ibid. 77):

 

"Even members of prominent Gosvami families renounced their

sectarian faith and wandered off into corrupt cult, which spread their

rank growth everywhere. No longer appealing to the better elements in the

community, its increment was restricted to the lowest sections of the social

order, the ignorant, and the morally outcast. "

 

It is worth noting that most babajis--as well as the few ISKCON

apostates who now adore them--seem to fit this mold pretty well too.

 

More recently, the chief Braj expert Dr. Alan Entwistle echoes the

view of Kennedy, noting in his Braj: Centre of Krishna Pilgrimage (Groningen:

Egbert Forsten, 1987) Shakta influences in Bengal and "a period of

relative inactivity" in Vraja itself (Entwistle 1987: 218-9). Here too,

we may recall some of Srila Prabhupada's comments expressing disgust that

so many of the babajis in particular secretly keep women for tantric

purposes (i.e., sahajiyas).

 

It is also considerable that the above scholars probably read more

than most or all of us have, while both were also fairly favorable (if not

committed) to Gaudiya Vaisnavism as well.

 

Therefore it's basically just plain wrong to claim that:

 

"> Anyone who has read of the history of the Gaudiya tradition in the end

> of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century will inevitably know that

> the tradition was nowhere close to being extinct, as is often presented,

> but rather was in a very vibrant, lively state . . ."

 

MDd