Jagat

The four sampradayas. P.C. " My Krishna Our Krishna ." The principle of Guru-tattva is a cornerstone of the Hindu, and certainly of the Vaishnava, tradition. Rupa Goswami's enumeration of the 64 limbs of bhakti begins with taking shelter of a guru, followed by learning about Krishna from him and then taking initiation: guru-padāśrayas tasmāt kṛṣṇa-dīkṣādi-śikṣaṇam viśrambhena guroḥ sevā sādhu-vartmānuvartanam "First take shelter of a spiritual master, then take initiation in the Krishna mantra and instruction about Krishna from him. Then serve the spiritual master with confidence and trust and follow the path established by previous saints." (BRS 1.2.74) It is not our purpose here to argue for the necessity of taking a guru, which I assume every one of my readers will accept. Bhaktivinoda Thakur himself writes on the subject often, and never deviates from the injunctions of the Upaniṣads, Gīt ā   or Bh ā gavatam in this matter. In Daśa-mūla, o r th...

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati started a NEW sampradaya. There are two Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradayas, with two different diksha paramparas. The Gaudiya Math diksha parampara STARTS with Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. Saraswati Thakur rejects the previous diksha parampara which was followed by Bhaktivinoda Thakur. Am I right or wrong? So if you choose to accept Siddhanta Saraswati's line, then fine. But you have to recognize that they are two different paths, similar in many respects, supposedly following the same shiksha tradition. But in the traditional paramparas, the shiksha includes a particular culture of raganuga bhakti that is NOT accepted by the Gaudiya Math. They have their reasons, their interpretations of shastra that are their own. They are not in agreement. But in view of the similar objective and similar antecedents there is a possibility of cooperation, but it is not very likely as long as each considers the other illegitimate. In fact, since everyone is chanting the Hol...

tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ Know the ways of sacrifice [i.e., sādhanās ] should be learned by submission, exhaustive inquiry and by service [i.e., obedience to instruction]. Those who have seen the truth are knowledgeable about the means, and they will instruct you if you have the above qualifications. (Gita 4.34) This instruction is given in relation to the series of yajñas listed in Gita 4.25-33. Yajña is used in the Gita as a synonym for sādhanā . One should take one's sādhanā from the guru. Mañjarī-bhāva is a sādhanā . You don't get the siddhi , you get the sādhanā . A siddha-deha doesn't mean you are siddha . The sādhanā is performed internally with the siddha-deha . And that which you practice is the unripe form of what you achieve, which is the ripe form. All India sādhanā traditions are oral as well as written. We tend to value the written traditions over the oral, but that would be a mi...