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Rittvik is a New (Apa) Sampradaya
by bhakta Eric Johanson In recent years the rittvik advocates have come up with a new philosophical term for those who disagree with them. They call them “living guru” devotees. Take for example this characterization of Kailasa Candra dasa, a longtime opponent of rittvik, as found on p576 of book 1 of Srila Prabhupada’s Hidden Glories: “By 1989 he had become a living guru radical who had become an apologist for the living guru argument. He remains antagonistic to the rittvik order of Srila Prabhupada.” The thing is, and this also spotlights a big dishonesty of most rittvik advocates, in 1989 most devotees had never heard of rittvik,…
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Srila Bhaktisiddhanta on Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Appearance
From Amrita Vani, Sri Chaitanyadeva by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada, English translation by Bhumipati dasa 9. How does the Supreme Lord perform His appearance pastimes? Since mother Saci and Jagannath Misra are eternally perfect devotees, their hearts and bodies consist of pure goodness. They are never to be considered ordinary jlvas. Pure goodness is also called vasudeva. Lord Vasudeva, who enjoys transcendental pastimes, appears only in pure goodness, or vasudeva. Mother Saci’s pregnancy did not occur through lusty association with her husband, as if they were a mundane male and female interested only in sense gratification, whose bodies were made of flesh, bones, and blood. Even to think…
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The Greater Krishna Consciousness Movement Part 4 of 4
by Nitya Krsna dasa Srila Prabhupada’s Non-Sectarian Movement & Apa-Sampradaya? cont. Servant to All Until the zonal acaryas and their abuses, virtually every devotee in the ISKCON institution had a strong service attitude. When the reform movement devotees concluded that they were just as qualified to lead the movement as the zonals, political maneuvering started to displace their service attitude. Similarly, for decades the movement’s women were sidelined and suppressed by the male GBC and apparent gurus. That changed after the child abuse scandals of the 80’s and 90’s, along with their lawsuits. The women then understood that their suppression had failed both the children and the…
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The Hard to Hide Incarnation
Jaya Sacinandana! Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat, Antya Kanda, Chapter 9, English translation by Bhumipati dasa, Commentary by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada Text 157 eka-dina advaita sakala bhakta-prati balila paramanande matta hai’ ati//CB, Antya 9.157// TRANSLATION One day when Advaita Prabhu was intoxicated with ecstasy, He spoke to all the devotees. Text 158 “suna bhai-saba, eka kara samavaya mukha bhari’ gai’ aji sri-caitanya-raya//CB, Antya 9.158// TRANSLATION “Please listen, My dear brothers. Let us all together glorify Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. COMMENTARY The word samavaya means “together.” Text 159 aji ara kona avatara gaoya nai sarva-avatara-maya—caitanya-gosani//CB, Antya 9.159// TRANSLATION “Today we will not glorify any incarnation other than Lord Caitanya, who is the source…
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Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Glorification of Srimad Bhagavatam
Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat, Antya Kanda, Chapter 3, English translation by Bhumipati dasa, Commentary by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada Devananda Pandita’s request to the Lord as to how to preach Srimad Bhagavatam Text 501 eka nivedana prabhu tomara carane ki kari upaya prabhu, balaha apane//CB, Antya 3.501// TRANSLATION “O Lord, I have one request at Your lotus feet. Please instruct me. Text 502 muni asarvajna-sarvajnera grantha laiya bhagavata padana apane ajna haiya//CB, Antya 3.502// TRANSLATION “I am an ignorant person yet I teach Srimad Bhagavatam, which is a book meant for the most intelligent persons. COMMENTARY Sarvajna Visnusvami has accepted Srimad Bhagavatam as the commentary on Vedanta. Devananda Pandita said, “It…
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Lesser-Known Verse Predicting Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Cited by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada in Commentary to Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat, Antya Kanda, Chapter 1, Texts 262-265 (English translation by Bhumipati dasa): In the Visnu-sahasra-nama of the Atharva Veda, Third Kanda, it is stated: ity aham krta-sannyaso ‘vatarisyami kalau catuh-sahasrabdopari pancasahasrabhyantare gaura-varno dirghangah sarva-laksana-yukta isvaraprarthito nija-rasasvado misrakhyo vidita-yogo ‘syam. “I will descend from Goloka-dhama and appear on the earth planet during the first sandhya of Kali-yuga—after four thousand and before five thousand years have passed—in Mayapur, Navadvipa, on the banks of the Ganges. I will appear in the form of a brahmana with a large, golden complexioned body measuring four cubits in height and in breadth, endowed…
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Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Mahaprakasa
Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat, Madhya Kanda, Chapter 9-10, English translation by Bhumipati dasa, Commentary by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada Chapter 9 – The Lord’s Twenty-One Hour Ecstasy and Descriptions of Sridhara and Other Devotees’ Characteristics This chapter describes Sri Gaurasundara’s sata-prahariya-mahaprakasa, or twenty-one-hour divine manifestation, His sitting on the throne of Lord Visnu, the performance of His abhiseka by the devotees, the offering of prayers and the worship of Mahaprabhu with sixteen ingredients according to the rules and regulations prescribed with the ten syllable Gopala-mantra, the Lord’s eating foodstuffs offered by the devotees, Mahaprabhu’s narration of the previous histories of devotees headed by Srivasa, the devotee’s performance of evening arati, topics…
