what are Bona-fide sampradayas

Pankaja_Dasa · August 6, 2004

Letter to: Upendra

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Los Angeles

13 February, 1968

68-02-13

San Francisco

My Dear Upendra,

Please accept my blessings. I am so glad to hear that you are released now; this I expected when you came to see me. I entrusted the matter to Krishna to give you release. Anyway, Krishna has been so much merciful upon you that He has taken you out of the state laws. So in every kind of miseries we have to depend on Krishna and we should not be too much disturbed when such miseries come upon us. You have shown very great example in sticking yourself to chanting Hare Krishna while you were in tribulation. Follow this practice all along your life, and surely Krishna will accept you into the Kingdom of God, Back to Godhead.

So far going to India: For the time being, it may be postponed because there is good prospect of starting a center at Berkeley, and Gargamuni is arranging for that. I think Gargamuni and yourself and Krishna das may be the main figures in conducting this center. In the meantime, the Indian center may be organized by Acyutananda, and later on we shall have to see where we shall have to concentrate more energy on the Brahmacaris.

Your strong desire to serve me is very beautiful; your serving me means serving Krishna. I am also your servant so I cannot accept your service from you, or from any of my disciples. I accept service from my disciples on behalf of Krishna. Just like a tax collector must collect for the treasury, not for himself. If he himself touches so much as a farthing it would be unlawful. So I have no right to accept service from any disciple, but on behalf of Krishna I can accept. Sincere service to the Spiritual Master is service to the Supreme Lord. As stated in the prayer, ``Prasadad Bhagavat Prasadad''. That means because Krishna accepts service through the via media of Spiritual Master, therefore pleasing the Spiritual Master is equal to pleasing the Supreme Lord.

There are four Sampradayas from the beginning of the creation. One is called Brahma Sampradaya, and is coming down by disciplic succession from Brahma; another Sampradaya is coming down from Laksmi, called Sri Sampradaya; another is coming down from the Kumaras, they are known as Nimbarka Sampradaya; another Sampradaya is coming from Lord Siva, Rudra Sampradaya or Visnu Swami. These are four bona fide Sampradayas that are accepted by the bona fide spiritualists. The Impersonalist Sampradaya is not original neither the Impersonalist Sampradaya or party can help us. At the present moment there are so many Sampradayas, but we have to test them about their method of disciplic understanding. Anyway, all the four Sampradayas above mentioned, they are after worshipping the Supreme Lord Visnu, in His different Expansions, and some of them are in favor of worshipping Radha Krishna. In the later age the Brahma Sampradaya was handed down though Madhva Acarya; in this Madhva Acarya disciplic succession came Isvara Puri. This Isvara Puri was accepted as Spiritual Master of Lord Caitanya. Therefore, we being in disciplic succession of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we are known as the Madhva Sampradaya. And because Lord Caitanya appeared in Bengal, which country is called Gaudadesa, our Sampradaya party is known as Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya. But all these Sampradayas are non-different from one another because they believe and worship the Supreme Lord. Any other Sampradaya who are Impersonalist or voidist or non-devotee, they are rejected by us.

My Guru Maharaja was in the 10th generation from Lord Caitanya. We are 11th from Lord Caitanya. The disciplic succession is as follows: 1. Sri Krishna, 2. Brahma, 3. Narada, 4. Vyasa, 5. Madhva, 6. Padmanabha, 7. Nrihari, 8. Madhava, 9. Akshobhya, 10. Jayatirtha, 11. Jnanasindhu, 12. Purusottama, 13. Vidyanidhi, 14. Rajendra, 15. Jayadharma, 16. Purusottama, 17. Vyasatirtha, 18. Laksmipati, 19. Madhavendra Puri, 20. Isvara Puri (Advaita, Nityananda) 21. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, 22. (Svarupa, Sanatana) Rupa, 23.(Jiva) Raghunath, 24. Krishna dasa, 25. Narottama, 26. Visvanatha, 27. (Baladeva.) Jagannatha, 28. (Bhaktivinode) Gaura-kisora, 29. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Sri Barshabhanavidayitadas, 30. Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta.

Hope you are well.

Your ever well-wisher,

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami