Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
HARMONIST PUBLISHERS
60 WASHINGTON PARK AVE
MILL VALLEY, CA 94941
RI GURU-PARAMPAR
RI GURU-PARAMPAR
Bhaktisiddhnta Saraswat hkura,
Heir to the Esoteric Life of Kedarntha Bhaktivinoda
HARMONIST PUBLISHERS
60 WASHINGTON PARK AVE
MILL VALLEY, CA 94941
C O N T E N T S
Introduction
1
I. Siddha-pral-dk and
the eligibility for rgnug bhakti
6
Notes
43
Introduction
Gauya Vaiavism in the West is indebted to rla
Bhaktivinoda hkura both for its practice and the considerable
interest it has awakened in academia. The hkura has been
dubbed the Pioneer of Gauya Vaiavism in the West. If
this epithet is justifiable, it is for the theoretical underpinnings,
the inspiration and the orientation he gave to the religious
movement founded by r Caitanya, which made it possible
for it to reach out to the rest of the world. Those who followed
him in his missionary zeal dedicated themselves to his dream, a
dream in which he envisioned people from all nations embracing one another in the name of r Caitanya, flooding the
world with Vraja bhakti. After his departure from this world,
these dedicated souls formed missions that enjoyed considerable
success ministering to Western civilization. The father of such
missions was Bhaktivinodas son, Bimal Prasda, later known
as Bhaktisiddhnta Saraswat hkura. Bhaktisiddhnta saw
Bhaktivinoda hkura as an eternally liberated associate of r
Caitanya, the Seventh Goswm. He conceived of himself as
Bhaktivinoda-parivra, or heir to Bhaktivinodas teachings, and
taught his followers to also identify themselves as such.
The conviction that Bhaktisiddhnta inherited the legacy
of a worldwide preaching mission from his father is not a point
of contention.1 However, since Bhaktisiddhntas own mission,
the Gauya Mha, and ISKCON, its more well-known offspring
34
in the West, have placed such a priority on evangelism, a number of scholars and practitioners have been led to believe that
these movements lack the internal spiritual culture which is
identified with the religion of the Gosvms and, indeed, that
of rla Bhaktivinoda hkura. Some have pointed to the tradition maintained by Bhaktivinoda hkuras youngest son, Lalit
Prasda hkura, as being more true to his fathers inner life.
Bhaktisiddhnta Saraswat hkura would no doubt have been
the first to disagree with this assessment. In his estimation it was
not possible to separate Bhaktivinodas outreach from the depths
of his inner realization.
In some respects, Bhaktisiddhnta Saraswat hkuras
preaching went against the current of Gauya Vaiavisms
existing orthodoxy. When he began his mission under the
direction of Bhaktivinoda hkura, he was one soul standing up against what he considered to be an enormous edifice
of religious misconception. His mission, as he envisioned it,
involved declaring an all-out war against my. His critique
of the Gauya Vaiava spiritual heritage focused primarily on
its approach to the esoteric pratice of rgnug sdhana, practices which Bhaktivinoda hkura himself engaged in and wrote
about, but which Bhaktisiddhnta did not incorporate into his
own mission. His protest was expressed in a novel approach to
the concept of disciplic succession.
The basis of all criticism levied at Bhaktisiddhnta and his
goh by other Gauya Vaiava sects, the Rdh-kua bbjs
34
34
I. Siddha-pral-dk and
the eligibility for rgnug bhakti
Though initiation is offered in what has been called the
Gauya-Saraswata sampradya, i.e., the Gauya school which
follows Bhaktisiddhnta Saraswat, it does not follow the siddhapral system as was practiced by Bhaktisiddhntas contemporaries and which continues to be followed in many Gauya
Vaiava sects today. In the siddha-pral system, which adds
the assignation of a spiritual identity as an integral element of
the initiation process, particular emphasis is placed on an unbroken dk-guru-parampar reaching back to one of the associates
of r Caitanya. rla Bhaktisiddhnta Saraswat hkura radically revised the concept of initiation by not only severing with
the tradition in its stress on an unbroken dk-parampar, but
by de-emphasizing the type of devotional practices which grow
out of the siddha-pral tradition. However, it should be noted
that in doing so he nonetheless conceived of his own spiritual
identity as a handmaiden of Rdh (Nayanamai Majar), a
realization that appears to have been awakened through divine
grace and the kind of spiritual practice he advocated.5
Outside Bhaktisiddhntas line, siddha-pral-dk is common. It represents initiation into rgnug sdhana-bhakti. In
rgnug sdhana, practitioners cultivate a particular bhva of
Kas eternal Vraja, externally in their practitioner identity
(sdhaka-deha) as well as internally in their eternal identity (siddha34
time who, although perhaps qualified themselves, gave siddhapral-dk to unqualified persons. This should be construed as
an act of mercy, and we are not to judge the decisions of great
souls. Bhaktisiddhnta Saraswat hkura, however, having
been commissioned by Bhaktivinoda hkura to propagate r
Caitanyas religion of love all over the world, and theoretically
at least in a position to do the same, did not approve of doing
so in consideration of the importance of the missionary activities. When unqualified people demonstrate their lack of a basic
moral sense in the name of rgnug bhakti, public esteem of
r Caitanyas gift is lowered. The condition of the Gauya
sampradya during the time of Bhaktivinoda is evidence of the
negative effects of siddha-pral-dk when given to unqualified
persons. Public opinion of Gauya Vaiavism was at a low ebb,
so much so that pious people considered it nothing more than
a so-called religion designed to give licence to immorality. The
goal of Bhaktisiddhntas reform was to re-establish the movements prestige by uprooting the moral laxity being promoted by
immature culture of rgnug-sdhana.
34
who accept the life of a bbj receive. All of these mantras are
extremely esoteric in their import, and their efficacy is liberation
from sasra and a conceptual orientation (sambandha) to Vraja
bhakti. The holy name of Ka, which is to be chanted by all
practitioners, is fully competent to grant entrance into Vraja ll,
especially when chanted by a liberated soul who has awakened
to his or her spiritual identity by perfecting the dk mantra.
It is said that the muni-cr gops who are sdhana siddha
gops attained svarpa siddhi by perfecting the chanting of these
dk mantras (gopla mantra). According to Padma Pura,
Gyatr herself desired gop bhva and thus incarnated as Goplatpa Upaniad, in which the kma bja and gopla mantra are
revealed.
Jva Goswm explains in his commentary on Gopla-tpan
Upanisad that the ruti brings up questions posed by various is
to Brahm so that the mystery of the eighteen-syllable gopla
mantra might be revealed. They ask plainly and confidently,
without hesitation about confidential matters, thus indicating
their adhikra for rgnug sdhana. Brahm is driven by the
inquiries of the sages to contemplate, How can a special taste
in devotional practice be attained? Thus he begins to explain
the import of the gopla mantra.26
The same gopla mantra in conjunction with nma-sakrtana
gave Gopa Kumra of Santana Prabhus Bhad-bhgavatmta
Vraja bhakti. Santana Goswm explains that Gopa Kumra was
instructed in Dvrak by Nrada and Uddhava to return to earth34
also confirmed in their writings that rgnug sdhana and realization of ones svarpa is possible without siddha-pral dka.
Gaddhara pra dsa, a disciple of Lalit Prasda, says in Why
Did Caitanya Mahprabhu Come, and What Did He Come to Give
(Part One): If a person desiring to perform rgnug sdhana has
previously received initiation from a sampradya in which the
system of siddha-pral is not available, and if he is reluctant
to perform the dk-saskra, another alternative may feasibly
be adopted. Such persons may meditate on their nitya-svarpa
according to the tma-dhyna in stra. Placing faith on the
acintya-akti of hari-nma, aaklna mnas sev may be performed with the following tma-dhyna:(Sanat-kumra-sahit
cited). Nitai dsa (Neal Delmonico), who accepted siddhapral from Kiorikiornanda bbj of Rdh-kua and is
currently a professor at the University of Iowa, writes in Sacred
Gifts of Wonder, It [siddha deha] is produced either in the course
of practice or given by the guru in a special initiation [siddhapral dks].32
In the approach to rgnug bhakti of Bhaktisiddhnta,
esoteric practices of rgnug sdhana are not dismissed, nor
are they imitated. As ruci and akti stages are reached, these
internal practices are incorporated into the sdhakas practice.
Before reaching these stages, sdhakas may also consider themselves rgnug practitioners proportionate to their eagerness for
attaining Vraja bhakti. They are not, however, to entertain artificial internal practices, projecting their material conceptions into
34
34
he is guru. Otherwise, the guru-parampar is only a body parampar, a succession of bodies. Then the caste brhmaas, the caste
goswms, will continue with their trade, because body after
body, they are getting the mantra. But their mantra is dead. We
are after a living mantra, and wherever we can trace the living
tendency for a higher type of devotional service, we shall find
that there is our guru. One who has that sort of vision awakened
will be able to recognize the guru wherever he may appear.34
Scriptural evidence for a bhgavata and ik guru-parampar
can be drawn from the rmad-Bhgavatam in terms of its own
descent. rmad-Bhgavatam is the most important scripture for
the Gauya Vaiavas. How has it come to themwhat is its
parampar? Ka spoke its essence to Brahm. Brahm spoke it
to Nrada, and Nrada in turn taught Vysa its tenets. ukadeva,
who was known to have undergone no dk saskra, learned its
essence from Vysa. ukadeva spoke it to the emperor Parkit.
At that time, Sta heard it as well, and he in turn spoke it to
aunaka. This is the bhgavata guru-parampar, a ik parampar.
Bhaktisiddhnta Saraswat hkura, speaking out against
the conception of a formal dk guru-parampar taking precedence over a substantial spiritual guru-parampar of great realized
preceptors, thus fashioned his bhgavata (or ik) guru-parampar. His is not a formal line of physical bodies, but a line, a
pral, that is full of siddhas. One might ask, What is the meaning of a siddha-pral (line of siddhas) if it is not full of siddhas?
Thus Saraswat hkuras criticism of siddha-pral included his
34
34
34
34
34
NOTES