The Authorized Sri Caitanya-Saraswat Parampara

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Recent writings have been shamelessly published on the internet which are in direct contradiction to the teachings of our Gaudiya Vaishnava acaryas. We use the word shameless, because the teachings presented in these articles have manytimes been dealt with thoroughly and clearly shown to be filled with false conclusions and improper, premature and detrimental practices. The recent publication, "The Authorized Sri Caitanya-Saraswat Parampara" by Swami B. G. Narasingha, available from Mandala Publishing Group (http://www.mandala.org/), expertly presents conclusive arguments and fine siddhantic points necessary to clearly understand these defective presentations, and has been enthusiastically received by the Vaishnavas.

 

The shameless articles we are referring to are those such as "Ekadasa-bhava and Raganuga Sadhana Bhakti" which, among other things, advocates the practice of freely giving siddha pranali initiation to unqualified candidates. These writings are particularly insidious as they are couched in sastric references and appear to the uneducated as attractive and bonafide. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura has referred to such sahajiyas as the "Anti-party" and Srila Sridhara Deva Goswami, the Guardian of Devotion, called them "pukura-curiwale" or pond thieves. They are trying in their impure state, riddled with anarthas, to imagine themselves as confidential associates of the Lord's dearmost associates at Radha Kunda.

 

In "The Authorized Sri Caitanya-Saraswat Parampara," Sripad Narasingha Maharaja expertly clarifies the proper conception of pure devotion, as received thru the divine preceptorial line of Srila Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada.

 

It is perhaps the ultimate irony that the sublime process of Krsna consciousness, which is comprised of the deepest and most profound philosophical cohesiveness and which demands the greatest self-sacrifice and renunciation or self-denial, has once again fallen into a pit of misconception, after having been manytimes enunciated and painstakenly delineated by the Lord and His pure representatives. All practitioners will heartily agree that the process is perfect and the goal certain, but just what the attainment (prayojana) is and how to reach it (abhidheya) raises severe differences of opinion amongst the devotees. The entire process is perfect and pure, precisely engraved in the Vaisnava literatures and precisely enunciated by the Lord's pure agents. The fault lies entirely in the practitioners. As a lens on a camera filters everything according to it's capacity, we find in this troubled age that some of the neophyte devotees of the Lord have taken to filtering the process of bhakti and applying it according to their own desires and necessities. Real devotion is a life of divine slavery, saranagati-full surrender to that which is recognized as the highest necessity. Pure devotion-jñana-karmady-anavrtam, necessitates the abandonment of prior conceptions and necessities-sarva-dharman-parityajya, otherwise we are guilty of karma-misra-bhakti (devotional service tainted with fruitiveness). So many divergent opinions and impure alternatives have arisen, due to our failing or inability to adhere strictly to the essential core necessities of the process. Mayavadism arises out of our false ego-our impure desire to lord it over all as the supreme enjoyer, rather than surrender to the pure Lord. Sahajaism arises due to our desire to enjoy the result now, without paying the price of purity, thus cheapening the process. Materialism, or the spirit of enjoyment, must be sacrificed in the fire of surrender-in recognition of our factual constitutional position as eternal servants of Krsna.

 

It matters not what our fertile brains may think, speculate or desire, the Absolute Truth remains unchanged, in spite of our fallen condition. Our greatest necessity remains to recognize properly and serve the Absolute Truth according to His desire. According to the intensity of our surrender to the unillusioned and full divine conception of the Supreme Absolute Truth, we validate for ourselves His substantial position and our relationship with Him. The Bhagavad-gita warns us that the fruits of demigod worship are limited and temporary, yet many pursue this path. Similarly, the taste of immediate sense gratification-the desire to enjoy Krsna consciousness now, or that now we must concentrate on our own advancement at the cost of the serving disposition, overpowers us and deflects us from the true path.

 

Krsna is the enjoyer, not ourselves, yet we put ourselves first, cheating ourselves of the ultimate fruits and husk empty paddy.

 

sri-gauranumatam svarupa-viditam rupagrajenadrtam

rupadyaih parivesitam raghu-ganair-asvaditam sevitam

jivadyair abhiraksitam suka-siva-brahmadi-sammanitam

sri-radha-.-sevanamrtam aho tad-datum iso bhavan

 

What was sanctioned by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu by His descent, was intimately known only to Sri Swarupa Damodara Goswami. Sanatana Goswami, the elder brother of Sri Rupa, was attentive to that divine truth, and Rupa Goswami himself served that very thing with his own hands to the devotees. Raghunatha Dasa Goswami tasted its sweetness and also added something of his own to its flavor. What was distributed by Rupa and tasted by Raghunatha Dasa was protected by Sri Jiva Goswami, who lent support to it's divinity with scriptural evidence. The taste of that divine truth is aspired after by Sri Sukadeva Goswami, Lord Siva, and Lord Brahma, who regard it with the highest respect from a distance. What is that inconceivable ambrosia? O Bhaktivinode Thakura, within this world, you fully possess the ability to give us that extraordinary nectar.

 

The Authorized Sri Caitanya Saraswat Parampara completely focuses our conception, bringing us in line with the Lord's desires. Swami Narasingha has done a most valuable service of pointing out the true path of devotion-clearly explaining the many constituent essential teachings and practices. The real value of this book is that the cheating of the deviant sects are exposed for what they are, so that the intelligent discerning devotees may more easily avoid their pitfalls and more clearly recognize the very precise line of Gaudiya Vaisnavism-as enuncited by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and brought to the contemporary world by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura.

 

Swami Bhaktibhavana Vishnu

http://www.gosai.com/chaitanya/saranagati

gosai@gosai.com