Inquiries Into the Absolute: Digest 136, Disciplic succession:

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Digest 136, September 18th, 2005. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami

Maharaja

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Disciplic succession: Madhvacarya and Lord Caitanya

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Q:

We are taught to accept Guru as he represents the disciplic line. I've read and

heard that guru always speaks without deviation from the previous Acharya in

the line. I was wondering about the difference between Sri Madhvacharya and Sri

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Specifically as it pertains to our line, and the question

of authenticity.

 

Answer:

The mandate for a bona fide representative of the disciplic line is indeed, as

you say, to speak without deviation from the previous acharyas; but they also

present the subject matter according to their own personal realization and

according to the needs of the time and audience - this is not a contradiction.

This is explained nicely in SB 1.4.1 p.(http://vedabase.net/sb/1/4/1/en)

Besides it is the special prerogative of especially empowered acharyas and the

Supreme Lord to make such necessary adjustments according to time and place

without contradicting scriptural principles and conclusions of previous

acharyas. Based on these two considerations, there is actually no difference

between Sri Madhvacharya and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

 

In a conversation about the apparent difference of opinion among the four

principal vaishnava acharyas - Madhva, Ramanuja, Nimbarka and Vishnu Swami -

Srila Prabhupada explained that actually there are no contradictions. Despite

some minor differences their conclusions are consistent: "There is no

difference of opinion, but (each of them) has explained the Absolute Truth more

vividly in their own angle of vision. Otherwise there is no difference."

(Lecture on Science of Krsna - Hyderabad, April 14, 1975) And specifically

regarding Lord Caitanya, Srila Prabhupada remarked, "No, there is no

difference. Rather, Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teaching is the summary of ...all

four sampradayas. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu follows everyone." (Room Conversation

with Dr. Copeland, Professor of Modern Indian History - May 20, 1975,

Melbourne) As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Caitanya unified all the

four sampradayas - this was demonstrated by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati who

installed and honored the deities of all fo

ur acharyas in Mayapur. Lord Caitanya took the essential principles of each

sampradaya and presented the acintya bheda-abheda philosophy, which is not

contradictory to the teachings of Madhvacharya but exemplifies it in its

completeness.

 

Once Srila Prabhupada explained the differences among the five great preachers

who appeared in India - Buddha, Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva and Lord Caitanya:

"But you will find a link, a link, although superficially we may see that Lord

Buddha is speaking something which is contradictory to Lord Sankaracharya's

teaching, or Ramanujacharya is speaking something which is contradiction to

Sankara. No. There is no contradiction. It is the question of studying how they

are paving way for ultimate spiritual realization. That requires a very, I mean

to say, substantial knowledge, how they are paving the way, just step by step.

So these are gradual development so far the human society is concerned."

(Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.58-59 - New York, April 27, 1966

 

As you have likely heard before, Lord Buddha rejected the Vedas in order to

stop unauthorized animal sacrifices and preached non-violence; later on

Shankara preached 'covered Buddhism' and brought back people under the fold of

Vedic authority. Both Sri Ramanuja and Madhva came to defeat the stronghold of

Shankaracharya's Mayavada theory and firmly established Lord Vishnu as the

Supreme Person. Later, when the time was appropriate, Srila Madhavendra Puri

coming in the same disciplic line as Madhvacharya exhibited symptoms of

ecstatic love, which was so far latent in the disciplic line.

 

The Caitanya Caritamrita explains: "Sri Madhavendra Puri introduced the

conception of conjugal love for the first time in the Madhva Sampradaya. This

conclusion of the Madhvacarya Sampradaya was revealed by Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu when he toured Southern India and met Tattvavadis, who supposedly

belonged to the Madhva Sampradaya." (Cc Madhya 4.197

http://vedabase.net/cc/madhya/4/197/en) Thus, 'this conclusion of Madhvacharya

sampradaya' (viz. the conception of ecstatic worship of Radha-Krishna) was not

a foreign element but one of the inherent conclusions of Madhvacharya

sampradaya later revealed by Lord Caitanya. Likewise, although Madhvacharya

established the ultimate goal of transcendentalism to be attainment of pure

devotional service, love of Godhead (Cc Madhya 9.11

http://vedabase.net/cc/madhya/9/11/en), followers in that sampradaya had

accepted the five kinds of liberation as the ultimate goal and varnashrama as

the means to achieve it. This is not the conclusion of pure devotional service

as Lord Cait

anya points out to them during his discussions with the Tattvavadis in His

South Indian tour. (Cc Madhya 9.256-260 http://vedabase.net/cc/madhya/9/256/en,

http://vedabase.net/cc/madhya/9/257/en, http://vedabase.net/cc/madhya/9/258/en,

http://vedabase.net/cc/madhya/9/259-260/en)

 

In summary, the apparent differences viz. Lord Caitanya's presentation of

acintya-bheda-abheda tattva, love of Krishna as the highest goal and the

worship of Radha-Krishna in ecstatic love are neither contradictions nor

attempts to artificially supercede the teachings of the previous acharyas.

Rather, these conclusions were inherently present in Madhvacharya's teachings

but were revealed and perfectly explained only by the mercy of Lord Caitanya

and His devotees, when the time was ripe.

 

Moreover, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He

came with a mission of delivering vraja-prema, which was distinct from the

mission of Madhvacarya (who is commonly accepted as an incarnation of Vayu),

whose primary mission was to solidly refute and defeat mayavada doctrine. As

their mission was distinct, so also were their points of emphasis. However,

this does not constitute a deviation.

 

Even the staunch Ramanadis of the Sri Vaisnava sampradaya accepted Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu and his followers as a bonafide branch of the Madhva line, in one

historical debate on this issue in Jaipur; this historical incident

demonstrates that it is allowed even in the strictest of forums of vaisnava

authority for comprehensive structuring of vaisnava conclusions to represent

the vaisnava line from which it descends, with some specific points of emphasis

which may not appear to match cent-percent the prior acaryas' points of

emphasis, provided there is a systematic representation of these teachings

which follow the Vedanta Sutra codes. This condition was fulfilled by Baladev

Vidyabhusana in his Govinda Bhasya, and thus Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was

accepted by the Ramanadis as fully and authentically representing the Madhva

line.

 

 

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