vaishnava-smrti-grantha = bhakti-smrti-sastra

[Guest guest]

vaishnava-smrti-grantha = bhakti-smrti-sastra

Wed, 13 Oct 99

 

SASTRA: "a rule book, a treatise"; "any book of divine or recognized

authority, but more especially the lawbooks." ("A Classical Dictionary of

Hindu Mythology" by John Dowson)

 

(What did Prabhupada say about "lawbooks"?)

 

 

Basu Ghosh wrote:

> We still have to take into account the rest of India; the vipras who know

vedas, etc. They are worshipped by Lord Krishna (vida SB, BG, etc.)...

 

< Otherwise, there is no meaning to preaching, uplifting the fallen, etc.,

etc., etc. As I mentioned above, people who are from families that already

follow sanatana dharma - the Hindus - are taught to revere shastras, i.e.

vedas, Mahabharat, Ramayan, etc., from childhood; although it is diminishing

here in India, unfortunately. >

 

There are two distinctions to be made:

1) what WE consider "sastra"

2) what will appeal to our respective AUDIENCE as "sastra"

 

1) for our personal enlightenment and practice as Gaudiya Vaisnavas, we accept

anything written by our previous line of spotless acaryas (amnaya) as good as

sastra.

 

2. a) The Mayavadis and strict Vedantists will not even accept Mahabharata or

the Puranas as bona fide "sastra" (recall the debate between BSST and the

pandits). So that limits what we authoritative reference we can cite.

 

2. b) The Christians and Buddhists accept NO Vedic authority, so we may

sometimes appeal to them on their own ground. Srila Prabhupada set the example

of this by quoting from the Bible when appropriate.

 

Let's not compromise our own understanding of sastra in the name of preaching,

however. Otherwise, by such so-called "preaching", we ignore the very essence

of our Gaudiya legacy to simply concentrate on the Vedas, or in the West, to

read the Bible. Prabhupada specifically addressed that point in one letter to

Sankarsan: we should preach to the Christians by appealing to our own Vaisnava

authority in Bhagavad-gita, etc. The philosophy in the Goswami literatures is

so sublime and comprehensive that it will attract any sincere soul. We don't

require to compromise our understanding of sastra for anybody else's.

 

 

Aspiring to serve the Vaisnavas,

Srila dasa

 

 

> > "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".

>

> > 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).

>

> 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

[Guest guest]

At 04:56 AM 10/15/99 -0400, WWW: Srila (Dasa) ACBSP (Berkeley CA - USA) wrote:

 

>SASTRA: "a rule book, a treatise"; "any book of divine or recognized

>authority, but more especially the lawbooks." ("A Classical Dictionary of

>Hindu Mythology" by John Dowson)

>

>(What did Prabhupada say about "lawbooks"?)

 

Here's Monier Monier-Williams' translation of Shastra: an order, command,

precept, rule; teaching, instruction, direction, advice, good counsel; any

insrument of teaching, any maual or compendium of rules, any book or

treatise, (esp.) any religious or scientific treatise, any sacred book or

compositionof divine authority (applicable even to the Vedas . . .).

 

M-W derives his translations from the way the words are used in ancient

texts; her he cites Rig Veda, puranas, and Mahabharata. I found it

interesting that he includes *even* the Vedas. Any insights here form the

sanskrit students?

 

Your servant,

Babhru das