vaishnava-smrti-grantha = bhakti-smrti-sastra

[Guest guest]

> Dear Basu Ghosh Prabhu,

> Hare Krsna. Please accept my humble obeisances. All Glories to Srila

> Prabhupada.

>

> > "The subject matter of the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, by Sri Sanatana Gosvami,

> > was collected by Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami and is known as a

> > vaishnva-smrti. This vaishnava-smrti-grantha was finished in twenty

> > chapters, known as vilasas." (CC Madhya 1.35 SP Purport)

> >

> > So Srila Prabhupada calls it "Vaishnava Smriti Grantha". So you will

> > have to revise your phraseology here. :-)

>

> > It's a historical question here. Even Srila Prabhupada employed the

> > term "Vaishnava Smriti Grantha", which does distinguish those

> > literatures from Smriti shastras and, for instance dharma shastras and

> > vaishnava agama shastras (pancharatra & vaikhanasa agamas).

>

> In my humble opinion, you seem to have forgotten the instruction of Sri

> Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Sanatana Goswami which I had posted earlier and

> from where this term 'bhakti-smrti-sastra' has come from. I can repeat

> that:

>

> Cc Madhya 23.104:

>

> vrndavane krsna-seva, vaisnava-acara

> BHAKTI-SMRTI-SASTRA* kari' kariha pracara

>

> "Establish devotional service to Lord Krsna and Radharani in Vrndavana.

> You should also compile bhakti scriptures and preach the bhakti cult from

> Vrndavana."

>

> And in pursuance of those insrtuctions Sanatana Goswami composed the

> Hari-bhakti-vilasa. So it clearly means that HBV is 'bhakti-smrti-sastra',

> as per the words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.

>

> If Prabhupada mentions in CC Madhya 1.35 Purport that HBV is

> 'vaishnava-smrti-grantha', we can obviously conclude that:

>

> vaishnava-smrti-grantha = bhakti-smrti-sastra

>

> You can address the books of the acaryas by any of these two names. One is

> used by Lord Caitanya and one is used by Prabhupada. So I don't have to

> revise my phraseology at all. Both mean the same thing. So we can see that

> just because Prabhupada has used the word 'vaishnava-smrti-grantha'

> dosen't mean that are not sastras. They are & remain smrti-sastras.

>

> > Yes, we Gaudiya Vaishnavas accept the CC & CB, etc., as "Vaishnava

> > Smriti Granthas". But... other sampradayas may not.

>

> Again as proved above; vaishnava-smrti-grantha = bhakti-smrti-sastra

>

> > This is in order for us to convince other followers of the vedic

> > literatures that the path we are on is bona fide. In all humility I

> > ask; doesn't that make sense to you?

>

> In all humility, I have to say Prabhu, that it dosen't make sense. Why do

> we care what the other sampradayas accept or not accept? They don't accept

> Srila Rupa Goswami as acarya but we accept and we are proud that we are

> the servant of his servants. In the Vallabha sampradaya they accepted

> Girdhar Lal as acarya but Srila Jiva Goswami rejected him because he was

> not willing to accept the latter part of SB i.e the lilas between Krsna &

> the gopies.

>

> And because they don't accept dosen't mean that the acaryas books cease

> from being bhakti-smrti-sastras. We only accept the verdict of Sri

> Caitanya Mahaprabhu irrespective of what anyone else says or feels about

> it. We are not ashamed of calling the books of our acaryas as

> bhakti-smrti-sastras even in front of them. Infact we loudly proclaim this

> truth so that the whole world comes to know about the literatures of the

> six goswamis and Srila Prabhupada and gets their mercy by reading these

> books.

>

> Your servant,

> Nayana-ranjana das

 

I claim victory for Nayana-ranjana in this debate, but this is not the

victory or defeat of the school yard boys, no, this is the non-envious

victory and defeat of the cowherd boys that they experience in their games.

After all, both sides in this debate, are on the same Iskcon team, and both

want to please Srila Prabhupada.

 

So let it be established that Srila Prabhupada's books are

bhakti-smrti-sastra. This will certainly be recognised in the future. Like

Manu samhita, Srila Prabhupada's books will be the basis of human

civilization for 10,000 years.

 

Ys TS