Radha-ramana caran das Babaji...incarnation of Nityananda Prabhu?!

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Home Base: Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Navadwip Dhama, Nadia, WB, INDIA

Camp: Narasimha Caturdasi (Appearance) Festival, ISKCON Sri Mayapur, India

 

> His Holiness Jayapataka Swami maharaja,

> please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to ISKCON

> founder-acarya Srila Prabhupada. All glories to your tireless service and

> pure, unalloyed devotion.

> I had a quick question in regards to Radha-Ramana caran das Babaji. He

> is of course, as you know, the one who began the famous chant of "Jaya

> Nitai Gaura Radhe-Syama, Japa Hare Krsna Hare Rama". I had read in one

> book, the "Saints of Bengal", that at the end of his life he gave some

> allusion to the idea that he was Ananga-manjari(Balarama/Nityananda in the

> madhurya-rasa or as some say, Jahnavi devi, the internal potency of Sri

> Nityananda Prabhu). I don't mean to cause any offense to the author of

> that book, but I am simply confused on this point: he mentions in his

> notes for that chapter that just as Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave evidence in

> the Caitanya-Bhagavata that He would return in other incarnations, so it

> is fully possible that Nityananda Prabhu could also return again and he

> seems to support the notion that Radha-ramana caran das Babaji was an

> incarnation of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. But I have read in the biography of

> Bhakti-siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur that he opposed this Radha-ramana caran

> das Babaji and called him out as a sahajiya and because of this the Thakur

> was not very much appreciated in Jagannatha Puri.

> Have you heard anything of this before? Please be kind and merciful

> and bless me with your insights on this issue.

>

> your aspiring servant,

> jayadeva dasa

 

It is not accepted by our sampradaya that either of these two are

incarnations of anyone from the spiritual world. It is quite common in

India to claim to be an incarnation of someone, but Srila Prabhupada has

given the standard criteria for how to tell an incarnation:

 

1) through sastric predictions,

 

2) specific bodily features which match up with the predictions and sastric

descriptions, and

 

3) finally being able to do something extra-ordinary which a normal person

couldn't do.

 

Unless the three criteria are met we can't accept anyone as an incarnation.

> I don't mean to cause any offense to the author of

> that book, but I am simply confused on this point: he mentions in his

> notes for that chapter that just as Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave evidence in

> the Caitanya-Bhagavata that He would return in other incarnations, so it

> is fully possible that Nityananda Prabhu could also return again and he

> seems to support the notion that Radha-ramana caran das Babaji was an

> incarnation of Sri Nityananda Prabhu.

 

Basicly the "Nitai Gaur RAdhe Shyama" group were not considered as a bona

fide sampradaya by Srila Prabhupada. He mentions them by name in CC as not

being properly situated, but still feeling bliss when they chant the name of

Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So what to speak of being

incarnations...

 

By word jugglery so many things can be interpolated. We have to be very

careful about this kind of tendency to speculate and deviate. If Nityananda

Prabhu is going to come again then it should be specifically predicted in

Sastra. If He is coming with Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu then

where is Lord Caitanya? So please be careful and try to concentrate on

reading Srila Prabhupada's books. For reference if we have to read

something then we should take as authoritative bona fide translations of

actual works of previous acaryas or recognized scripture. I could say more,

but let's follow the KISS principle: Keep It Short Sadhu...

 

I hope that this finds you in good health.

 

Your well wisher,

 

Jayapataka Swami