Jahnava Nitai Das

[This came from another list.] Long ago, this was posted by a devotee somewhere else: Krishna wants to go to the forest to tend the cows, and His mother fondles Him, not wanting to let Him go. Everyday Krishna has to convince whole of Vraja not to come with Him to the forest. (Because they all want to follow Him). Anxiously Mother Yasoda holds her son to her chest and tells Him, while bathing Him in her own tears: "My heart is filled with fire and many streams (of tears) flow from my eyes. My heart is breaking out of misery!... How can I tolerate this burning feeling?" "O child of my heart! Don`t we have enough wealth in the house already? You are not from a poor family! Why do You have to go to the forest then? Let the cowherdboys go out with the cows into the forest!" "Exept for You I don`t know anyone else, so if you accidentally become hurt I`ll be driven blind! Being My suckling boy, why are you taking your cows into the forest? Can I just remain at home, peacefull watching it?" "Your body is even softer than butter! I`m shivering of fear when I think what will happen when the harsh sunrays will touch You. How will you tolerate such heat?" "I`m afraid the big Kusha-grassroots will hurt You like javelins. Hearing it I sprinkle my body (with tears). How will Your footsoles, that are more tender than Shirisha-flowerpetals, run over this ground?" "Hearing His mother`s pitiful words, Gokula-mani, Krishna, explains His mother in so many ways: "Don`t be sad at heart! There is nothing to fear in the forest!", and Raaya Shekhara is the witness! When Krishna, the jewel of Gokula, hears these pitiful words He consoles His mother by saying: "Maa! you have not seen the forest of Vrindavan! Don`t worry in vain! The forestpaths are softened by flowers falling from the trees and vines and there are no sharp pebbles or thorns there. We always play in the shade of the trees and the sharp sunrays cannot harm us! The bumblebees zoom around the blooming honey-filled flowers, different birds are blissfully chirping and we enjoy eating the sweet and ripe pomegranates that fall from the trees. In the evening we simply blow our flutes in the flowergardens to call our peacefully grazing cows together before we return home. Maa! Will you deprive us of this festival of bliss by keeping Me locked in the house the whole day? On the strength of your footdust nothing will happen to us, Maa! And what`s more, the cows do not want to go in the forest without Me!" Mother Yasoda thinks: "Aha, if my Gopala feels so happy in the forest, then let Him go." Then she utters the Nrishimha-Mantras for Gopal`s protection.

Memories of Srila Prabhupada recalled by H.H Trivikrama Swami. June '00 , Galway, Ireland. Prabhupada was speaking in London in 1969. It was the first time he did a public program, so many hundreds of people were there and Prabhupada had to be so powerful because so many people were interrupting. Prabhupada said to one man, -Sit down, you're a nonsense. So the next day I was giving Srila Prabhupada massage. He was going to give the next lecture that day, it was like a series of lectures. So I was thinking that I was getting him in shape for another knockout performance for the public, so I was massaging, and massaging, like a trainer massages a prize fighter. Generally Prabhupada would sit and rest for massage. I would massage his arms, his legs and feet and I was talking and talking and it was kind of like, me and you Prabhupada we'll take over the whole world, I didn't exactly say those words but that was my mood. Suddenly Prabhupada shouted "No" . My hands froze on his body. Then Prabhupada said with another voice, like the voice of a child. He said in a very mild voice, - I am just a humble servant. So I got so much realisation from that. I realised that Prabhupada didn't want to be flattered. He really did think of himself as the humble servant although we thought of him as the greatest personality in the world. I really did, I thought that he was the greatest person in the world. But he thought of himself as the humble servant. Because he was thinking of his spiritual master and he was thinking of Krsna and of his relationship with his spiritual master and Krsna, he was the humble servant. But by being the humble servant he has become very prominent in the world. Wherever he went people bowed down to him and offered garlands. He didn't think himself anything special but for preaching sometimes he had to take the position Just like one time I remember some people were challenging him at the airport. One reporter said , -How come you are sitting on a big seat and are getting flower garlands? Why are people bowing down to you? He was openly envious of Prabhupada and Prabhupada understood immediately what his line was and he replied, - Yes the difference between you and me sir, is that in a room full of naked women I wouldn't be disturbed.. The other reporters who were there laughed because they knew that this reporter who asked the question would be disturbed. So Prabhupada was qualified, he was sober, he wasn't disturbed by some sense gratification which otherwise every other man is attracted to and every woman is attracted to, carried away by the senses. But Prabhupada was very sober, very controlled because he thought of himself as the servant and even when he was in the position of the teacher it was done out of concern. He wasn't coming to the western world on his own account, he came on the order of his spiritual master. He was happy to remain in Vrndavan. He was feeling the presence of Krsna in Vrndavan. He came out of duty. Because he was taking that order he had to take the position of master. The teacher may have to take a superior position but he confessed to us when he first came to America, before he had any disciples, he was kind of wandering. He said he was very happy at that time. Having disciples, that was a headache for him, he had to manage. He said that this management gives me a headache. He had to resign from it. So Prabhupada was taking that trouble, that headache, because he felt obliged because that was the order of his spiritual master and he wanted to benefit the people in general. So he had to take the position of a master sometimes Just like when we first got initiated, he would say Ok Bow Down, repeat after me Nama Om ...He even had to say his own name, Bhaktivedanta. So you would think, an ordinary person would think- What kind of trip is this guy on? getting people to bow down and recite his name. But Prabhupada was training us. This is the etiquette. This is how you pray to the spiritual master, but it wasn't because he was needing that, that he was on some kind of power trip, that he got some kick out of some people bowing down to him. He knew that this is what they have to do in order to learn how to please Krsna. Sometimes just a little thing and Prabhupada would be pleased and then we felt satisfied. It used to be that we were always trying to satisfy ourselves but we found that by satisfying him it was more pleasing than trying to satisfy ourselves. If we did something and we saw that Prabhupada was really pleased then it gave us such a feeling of satisfaction within our hearts, better than anything we might do for ourselves, and so we were all so eager to please Prabhupada. There was some competition amongst the disciples, Who can make Prabhupada smile?, who could do something that he could appreciate? and then when that happened, like I remember once in Bombay I was singing Guru puja. After Guru puja Prabhupada, in front of everybody he said, - You are singing very nicely, and I felt so good. He said , - I can see you have affection for your spiritual master. So I felt so happy. It would be just a little thing but it would be better than anything we had experienced before because it wasn't coming from an ordinary person, like your wife or husband, you'd understand, it's nice they appreciate but they may have some motive, you scratch my back, I scratch yours. With Prabhupada it wasn't like that at all because you knew that he didn't need you, he didn't require your service, he had thousands of disciples. I remember one time in Japan I wanted to travel with him. I said -Prabhupada You need more than 2 servants, because 2 servants were already travelling with him and Prabhupada just raised his head and said, - I have many servants. He had so many servants, what did he need me for? But out of love he would reciprocate and when he did this in a loving way we felt so satisfied....

In Kerala many brahmins have to change their names so that they can get jobs. I suppose the back lash against the higher castes is because the brahmins exploited the lower castes for hundreds of years. About the word "vaishnava". In Tamil Nadu it is considered a caste (Iyengar Brahmin caste). Very few view it as a religion. I even once went to the web page www.vaishnava.com (or .org, I forget which one). It turned out to be a gaudiya website. But in the guest book, there were only Tamil Iyengars posting messages saying, "It is nice to see someone has made a site to represent our community." Each and everyone of them was saying the same thing - and they were all Iyengars. I almost laughed.

Perhaps there will be some more general topics we can all agree on. This is one reason I prefer to avoid getting into spiritual details. The finer we go, the more chances there are for disagreement.

In a state like Tamil Nadu, for a brahmin to be accepted into a good quality university (in the field of engineering), he must have at least 99% marks on his exams. But a Christian (or Muslim), being a minority, can get into the same college with much lower marks. And if you are lucky enough to be an untouchable, you can practically get in without any marks at all. I think there was a similar plan in the U.S. some time ago (but in relation to color, not religion). I don't know if it was actually adopted or just suggested. This does give a good incentive for people to convert to minority religions. At least for several generations, their family will have an easy time getting higher education (well, maybe it is better to call it as lower advanced education, or higher lower education, since they are academically stupid). All this does is encourage conversion, and make society full of stupid engineers. Do we really need more software engineers who don't know how to format a floppy?

Still, I think we could make a good case for Richard Nixon being a saint.

The quote you provide was the reason I had heard for the use of the title, but I didn't know where it originated from. It is funny that the title ananda isto indicate realization (or self-realization), but the title is used by every new "swami" of the matha.

And as far as misrepresentation of philosophy, my god! We complain that the gaudiyas misrepresent advaita, and the madhvas misrepresent the gaudiyas, but thats nothing. You should hear how the Christians misrepresent Hinduism. They have no clue at all about any Vedic concept, yet they speak so much about them in their preaching sermons in a derogatory manner. I wont waste anyone's time by going into detail.

About luggage, I would strongly suggest you do not bring things like flashlights, mosquito repellant, etc. Just buy it all in Vrindavana. You can buy a good flashlight for $1.25 in Vrindavana, and most of the western mosquito repellant is less effective than the local stuff like "odomos" which is designed for indian environment. But you may want to bring some non-chemical mosquito repellants like citronella oil or tea tree oil. You wont get that here. Think 10 times before actually bringing an item in your luggage. And if you have a doubt, just ask or send an email. The size of your luggage is going to determine how free you feel when travelling.

I think local people are just so used to them they don't notice it unless the number of bites crosses a certain limit per minute. When you come from a place like California, where there are zero mosquitos in the populated cities, you will definitely notice the difference. It is said if you eat fresh neem leaves every day, mosquitos won't bite you. I never got around to testing it though. You would need to start a few onths before your trip to have it work. Yes, you can get all of that in Vrindavan. Try to bring no luggage at all. Just the emergency stuff. Otherwise your travelling will be less pleasant. You can buy most of what you need in Vrindavan. Since you are in Berkeley, why don't you go speak to Kritakarma (I bet you already did). Get some stories from him and post them here for all of us. He can give you a lot of advise on what to see in Vrindavana, since he has lived there for many years.

What was the date the Ramakrishna Matha was founded? It would be interesting to compare Swami names from prior to this date and see if the trend had not yet started.

And don't mind the mosquitos too much. Someone has to feed them.

If you cant find the book, I can post the chapters here. There are 13 chapters, one for each apasampradaya outlined by Bhaktivinoda Thakur.

I don't want to discourage the missionaries, but their conversions at really shallow. If you look at Kerala, where they have succeeded in converting the majority of the population, the Christians there are nothing more than Hindus named "Thomas". They just take Mary and Jesus, instead of Ganesh and Shiva, and build a temple for them. The worship is done according to Hindu customs. They offer deepam, incense, flower garlands, and even vibhuti! Some of them wear a vibhuti cross on their foreheads (pretty confused people). And despite the promise of being free form caste, they maintain their caste identities and only marry within their particular converted Christian caste. Once a caste always a caste I suppose. Bassically these people are really confused. They certainly aren't Christians. And they really aren't Hindus eaither. But in the game of money and numbers the churches are willing to over look all of these peculiarities in order to claim success in the field. I believe the pope even made some special concessions for Indian christian in regards to the practices of worship. I can't recall the exact details, it is something I read a long time ago. [This message has been edited by jndas (edited 05-16-2001).]

I'm just testing. You actually read these testing messages?

I think some people have forgotten what the purpose of these forums are for. They have the misconception that this is their private compost heap or something. Maybe that was fine on VNN, but this isn't VNN. If you don't have anything positive to contribute to these forums, as per the declaration of purpose, then don't post. These forums have nothing at all to do with Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Gaudiya Matha, or ISKCON. Certainly many people from those organizations frequent these forums, but the forums are not connected with those topics at all. Discussion on any topic is allowed, provided it does not disrupt the general discussions going on in the forums. If one topic causes a disturbance, perhaps it requires a separate forum to deal with that discussion. Regarding the current arguments: 1) It is quite meaningless, as everything is based on personal opinions. "My guru is great, your guru is bogus." This is less than childish. 2) I see no symptoms of sat-bhava or sadhu-bhava manifested in the writings of the participants. This is a direct sign that their sadhana and bhajana has had no effect on their conditioned consciousness. 3) The writings are thoroughly influenced by tamo-guna, which one would not expect coming from an assembly of bhaktas. 4) I have not seen any positive contributions to these forums from most of the participants prior to this discussion. In my mind this indicates that these participants are not interested in developing spiritual discussions, but rather in settling their old scores (which they are no longer able to settle on VNN). 5) The majority of readers (95%) are from India, with no particular affiliation to any philosophical school. They couldn't care less about your childish disagreements. I am sure they are thoroughly convinced that Sri Chaitanya was a loon, and His followers are materialistic quarellers. 6) When trying to reply to such discussions in a sane and logical manner (by refering to traditional language usages, traditional cultural practices, and traditional philosophical schools), the only response is, "You guys are bogus." This seriously brings into doubt the credibility and qualification of various participants, and it certainly brings into question the desire of the participants to actually discuss in a meaningful manner. In conclusion, I would suggest those who have personal problems stemming from their past spiritual mistakes and affiliations see a qualified psychologist to properly deal with the anger deep in their hearts. I would also suggest that those who have no interest in spiritual discussion avoid interfering with others who are sincere in their attempts at communication. Likewise, I would suggest those who have no other aim than to settle old scores to grow up and study the principle of sadhu-bhava. I would personally suggest they take guidance from the writings of Swami Shivananda of Rishikesh, for though he was an impersonlist, he exemplified sadhu-bhava. And a practical suggestion for those who feel they need to voice their complaints about various personal matters. If you feel so strongly about your complaints, then start your own bulletin board system, and post your insults to each other there. Call it "cyber babas forums", or "vnn compost forums", or "we really hate those fellows forums", or "my guru is the only real one forums", or what ever name you think fully reflects your topic. Unfortunately these posts here are really off topic, and just annoying to the public, who this system was set up for. The truth is the public doesn't care less about what a Gaudiya is. They don't know whether it refers to a fruit or a vegetable. And the final suggestion, just try to understand Sri Chaitanya's instruction: trinad api sunichena taror iva sahishnuna "Be more humble than the straw in the street and more tolerant than a tree." It is quite evident that depite the dikshas, sikshas and rikshas everyone has received, no one has any basic adhikara. You are just living in a fantasy world thinking you are saved because you belong to a particular school of thought. But there is no application of Sri Chaitanya's universal love. Sri Chaitanya travelled for six years throughout South India, meeting with philosophers and practictioners from all sorts of schools. Where ever he went he offered his respects even to the materialistic religionists. In Benares, at the assembly of sadhus, he chose to sit outside where the other sadhus had washed their feet. Only by invitation did he enter their presence. When another learned pandit approached Him in Puri, Sri Chaitanya simply replied, "You are too great to be around Me." This is Sri Chaitanya's achara. Those of you who claim to be His followers, show it in your actions. [Note: This message has been edited by jndas]

What exactly was the point of that message? I couldn't make it out. I think some people just want to waste my server space.

I know many people who have come and gone without any problem (except, like I said, maybe indigestion). Personally I wouldn't go for a vacine, but if it makes you feel safer, and if there is no side effect, go ahead.

As far as vacinations I wouldn't recommend them. I wouldn't expect any serious illness. You may get some minor indigestion from the food, water and climate, but nothing serious.

I visited the site, but I must admit I felt odd. I mean, being surrounded by babaji katha without all of your insults flying left and right. It was just a strange feeling - almost paranormal.

I visited the site, but I must admit I felt odd. I mean, being surrounded by babaji katha without all of your insults flying left and right. It was just a strange feeling - almost paranormal.

In a standard Sanskrit dictionary, the word sampradaya is defined as "genuine instruction that has been received through guru parampara or disciplic succession" (guru paramparagatu sad upadesasya). The prefix sam indicates connection, while the stem is a cognate of pradhana, "source". In the fourth chapter of Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krsna declares Himself to be the original source of the transcendental science of bhakti-yoga, and He confirms that one is connected to this knowledge only through guru-parampara. In the vocabulary of Western religious traditions, sampradaya really has no exact equivalent. One might be tempted to employ "orthodoxy", but as a noted German Sanskritist has pointed out, this word really applies to matters of doctrine, not practice. Admission into a sampradaya does not only depend upon a theoretically correct grasp of Krsna's teachings. The candidate must practically demonstrate his learning through strict adherance to the purified lifestyle (acara) set down by great saintly teachers (acaryas). "One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every endeavor is devoid of desire for sense grati- fication. He is said by the sages to be a worker for whom the reactions of karma have been burned up by the fire of perfect knowledge." (Bhagavad-gita 4.19) Pure acara automatically expands into pure pracara (preaching), upacara (Deity worship) and all other devotional activities. By such purity, the devotee becomes eligible to enjoy the higher taste of transcendence (param drstva) that is spoken of by Krsna in Bhagavad-gita 2.59, which satisfies all desires at their very root, within the soul itself. Thus the lower taste for meat-eating, illicit sex, gambling and intoxication is lost; consciousness firmly settles into sinlessness, and the devotee gradually becomes qualified to enter the rasa of Sri Krsna's personal association. Raso vai sah rasam hy evayam labdhvanandi bhavati, declares the Tattiriya Upanisad: "When one understands the Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of pleasure, Krsna, he actually becomes transcendentally blissful." The genuineness of a sampradaya or a person representing a sampradaya is primarily determined by spiritual quality (sarva maha-guna-gana vaisnava- sarire - "A Vaisnava is one who has developed all good qualities", Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 22.75). The good qualities of the Vaisnava are actually krsnera-guna, Krsna's own, and they appear in the devotee through his exchange of rasa with the Lord. The Lord's transcendental qualities are unlimited (ananta krsnera-guna), and His devotees are likewise unlimited. This combination precipitates different moods of love of Godhead, which are visible in the persons of great acaryas who have descended into this world to teach genuine Vaisnava qualities via the sampradaya system. Even when he seems to be at variance with other acaryas on certain matters of detail, it is clear that a real acarya is situated in perfect knowledge because he 1) is free from vice, 2) exhibits the good qualities of a Vaisnava, and 3) accepts Visnu-tattva as Supreme. Differences between the teachings of acaryas are due to their individual moods of love for the Lord. "What Madhvacarya understands, we also understand ... What Ramanuja understands, we also understand. What Caitanya Mahaprabhu undestands, we also understand. So there is no difference ... That is Vaisnava. All the Vaisnavas understand that Visnu is the Supreme. There may be, sometimes, such as Krsna is understood as incarnation of Visnu, and sometimes they understand Visnu as the incarnation of Krsna. That is sampradaya. That is sampradaya. But either Krsna or Visnu, He is Supreme, that is accepted by all ... If I love somebody, I'll say he is first. And if you love somebody, you'll say he is first. But both of them same ... Hanumanji, he'll never accept Krsna. And the gopis will never accept Rama or Visnu." (His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada, conversation, May 6, 1975) Admission into a sampradaya ultimately depends upon the aspirant's submission to the mood of the acarya through strict adherence to the acara he teaches. When asked what constitutes the personal relationship of a disciple to his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada answered, "To obey your spiritual master. Whatever he has said, you follow strictly. Follow the regulative principles. Chant sixteen rounds. That's all." (SP con A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada, conversation, May 6, 1975) "There are four lines of disciplic succession: one from Lord Brahma, one from Lord Siva, one from Laksmi, the goddess of fortune, and one from the Kumaras. The disciplic succession from Lord Brahma is called the Brahma-sampradaya, the succession from Lord Siva (Sambhu) is called the Rudra-sampradaya, the one from the goddess of fortune, Laksmiji, is called the Sri-sampradaya, and the one from the Kumaras is called the Kumara-sampradaya. One must take shelter of one these four sampradayas in order to understand the most confidential religious system. In the Padma Purana it is said, sampradaya-vihina ye mantras te nisphala matah: if one does not follow the four recognized disciplic successions, his mantra or initiation is useless. In the present day there are many apasampradayas, or sampradayas which are not bona fide, which have no link to authorities like Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, the Kumaras or Laksmi. People are misguided by such sampradayas. The sastras say that being initiated in such a sampradaya is a useless waste of time, for it will never enable one to understand the real religious principles." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.21, purport) Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura identifies thirteen apasampradayas that split away from the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya after Lord Caitanya's disappearance: aula, baula, kartabhaja, neda, daravesa, sani, sahajiya, sakhibheki, smarta, jata-gosani, ativadi, cudadhari and gauranga-nagari. These apasampradayas (apa means "deviated") are like parasitical growths upon the great tree of the sankirtana movement. Because they exhibit all the defects of material conditioning, they are spiritually useless. The "rasa" relished by such groups is termed prakrta-rasa by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. Their missionary activities are condemned as cheating. "A conditioned soul in the material world has the disqualification of cheating. He has four disqualifications: he is sure to commit mistakes, he is sure to be illusioned, he is prone to cheat others and his senses are imperfect. But if anyone carries out the order of the spiritual master by disciplic succession or the parampara system, he overcomes the four defects. Therefore knowledge received from the bona fide spiritual master is not cheating. Any other knowledge which is manufactured by the conditioned soul is cheating only. Brahma knew well that Kardama Muni exactly carried out the instructions received from him and that he actually honored his spiritual master. To honor the spiritual master means to carry out his instructions word for word." (Bhag. 3.24.12, Purport) The ultimate test of whether one is or is not a member of Lord Caitanya's sampradaya is the quality of his chanting of the holy name of Krsna, which is the essential acara in the the age of Kali: "...you should always remember that either grhastha or brahmacari or sannyasi, nobody can strictly follow all the rules and regulations ... In the Kali-yuga it is not possible... Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended that hari-nama, chanting Hare Krsna mantra, should be very rigidly performed, which is common for everyone." (SP conversation, March 10, 1976) If a person advertises himself as a Gaudiya Vaisnava by chanting the Hare Krsna mahamantra and yet deliberately blasphemes great devotees, denies that Lord Visnu is the Absolute Truth, considers the spiritual master to be an ordinary man, blasphemes Vedic literatures and other authorized scriptures, considers the glories of the holy name to be exaggeration, concocts perverted theories about the holy name, thinks the holy name to be equivalent to mundane religious rituals, preaches the glories of the holy name to the faithless or maintains material attachments while chanting the holy name, he cannot represent the sampradaya even if he is initiated into it. "Whether a Vaisnava is properly initiated or not is not a subject for consideration. One may be initiated and yet contaminated by the Mayavada philosophy, but a person who chants the holy name of the Lord offenselessly will not be so contaminated. A properly initiated Vaisnava may be imperfect, but one who chants the holy name of the Lord is all-perfect. Although he may apparently be a neophyte, he still has to be considered a pure unalloyed Vaisnava." (C.c. Madhya 15.111, Purport) "If one chants the Hare Krsna mantra while committing offenses, these unwanted creepers will grow. One should not take advantage of chanting the Hare Krsna mantra for some material profit. As mentioned in verse 159: 'nisiddhacara', 'kutinati', 'jiva-himsana' 'labha', 'puja', 'pratisthadi yata upasakha-gana The unwanted creepers have been described by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. He states that if one hears and chants without trying to give up offenses, one becomes materially attached to sense gratification. One may also desire freedom from material bondage like the Mayavadis, or one may become attached to the yoga-siddhis and desire wonderful yogic powers. If one is attached to wonderful material activities, one is called siddhi-lobhi, greedy for material perfection. One may also be victimized by diplomatic or crooked behavior, or one may associate with women for illicit sex. Others may make a show of devotional service like the prakrta-sahajiyas, or one may try to support his philosophy by joining some caste or identifying himself with the support of family tradition, one may become a pseudo guru or so-called spiritual master. One may become attached to the four sinful activities - illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat eating - or one may consider a Vaisnava to belong to a mundane caste or creed. One may think, 'This is a Hindu Vaisnava, and this is a European Vaisnava. A European Vaisnava is not allowed to enter the temples.' In other words, one may consider Vaisnavas in terms of birth, thinking one a brahmana Vaisnava, a sudra Vaisnava, a mleccha Vaisnava and so on. One may also try to carry out a professional business while chanting the Hare Krsna mantra or reading Srimad-Bhagavatam, or one may try to increase his monetary strength by illegal means. One may also try to be a cheap Vaisnava by chanting in a secluded place for material adoration, or one may desire mundane reputation by making comprises with non-devotees, compromising one's philosophy or spiritual life, or one may become a supporter of a hereditary caste system. All these are pitfalls of personal sense gratification. Just to cheat some innocent people, one makes a show of advanced spiritual life and becomes known as a sadhu, mahatma or religious person. All this means that the so-called devotee has become victimized by all these unwanted creepers and that the real creeper of bhakti-lata-bija has been stunted." (C.c. Madhya 19.160, Purport) The link between namaparadha and full-blown deviation from the sampradaya is indicated by Srila Jiva Gosvami, who warns in Bhakti-sandharba that there are offenders to the holy name who are acikitsya or incorrigible (jnana-lava- durvidagdhastra-acikitsya-atva-dupeksa). Devotees, always compassionate, try to help fallen souls with good instruction. But if someone becomes insolent and arrogant due to acquiring a little knowledge from their association, he is disqualifed from the sampradaya because of three kinds of namaparadha: sadhu-nindha (blasphemy of the devotees of the Lord), guru-avajna (disregard of the spiritual master) and sruti-sastra-nindha (blasphemy of the revealed scriptures). Yet the incorrigible offender never concedes the fact of his offenses. He cannot understand that the mercy of the spiritual master and the association of pure devotees are indispensible to the chanting of the holy name. Because he highly values worldly knowledge and accomplishments, he looks down upon the simple devotees who have surrendered themselves to devotional service. This is sadhu-ninda. He cannot accept that the spiritual master is a transcendental teacher, not a worldly one; thus he tries to measure the person and instructions of the guru by his own mental standards. This is guru-avajna. He studies the revealed scriptures as he would ordinary literature, gleaning from it whatever seems to support his preconceived notions, heedless of the rest. This is sruti-sastra-nindha. If, on the strength of a false show of advancement in Krsna consciousness, he pretends to have fully realized the glories of the holy name, such aparadhi is fit to be shunned by the bona fide community of devotees. Nontheless, it is seen that some acikitsya-namaparadhis become very influential in the Kali-yuga. Somehow or other they make use of the bona fide spiritual master for their own ends. Advertising themselves as his dearmost disciples, they seem to serve, glorify and worship the spiritual master with considerable sincerity. But all pains taken by them are for the sake of self-promulgation alone. Their progress is in the accumulation of material wealth and fame, not in devotional service to Krsna. The acikitsya-namaparadhi, propelled to prominence by cunning, diplomacy and material qualifications like noble birth, opulence, erudition and beauty, may attract followers from the ranks of two lesser grades of namaparadhis who have not firmly taken shelter of the sampradaya due to misfortune. These two kinds of offenders are the ignorant and the weak. The ignorant offenders are compared to damp wood: lacking bhakti-sukrti and the association and mercy of the saintly, they are sunk in material conceptions; even if they are exposed to the purifying fire of Krsna consciousness, it does not ignite their good fortune immediately. Thus they are liable to be misled. But if they take refuge in the holy name, Krsna's mercy will some day be available to them, even if after a long time. The weak are hesitant to take advantage of genuine sadhu-sanga due to a paucity of faith. Innocent and without duplicity, the more they can simply surrender to the chanting of the holy name in good association, the more they are blessed by Krsna's mercy. But until their lingering sins are destroyed by the effect of sadhu-sanga, they cannot muster the strength to transcend namaparadha. The acikitsya-namaparadhi expertly spins a net of illusion sticky-sweet with a perverted enjoying mood (prakrta-rasa) by which he entraps his unfortunate followers. Awakening and nourishing seeds of worldly desire (anarthas) within their hearts, he misleads them into thinking that these growing anarthas are the bhakti-lata-bija. "Bhakti-lata-bija means 'the seed of devotional service.' Everything has an original cause or seed. For any idea, program, plan or device, there is first of all the contemplation of the plan, and that is called bija, or the seed. The methods, rules and regulations by which one is perfectly trained in devotional service constitute the bhakti-lata-bija, or seed of devotional service. This bhakti-lata-bija is received from the spiritual master by the grace of Krsna. Other seeds are called anyabhilasa-bija, karma-bija, jnana-bija or political and social or philanthropic bija. However, bhakti-lata-bija is different from these other bijas. Bhakti-lata-bija can be received only through the mercy of the spiritual master. Therefore one has to satisfy the spiritual master to get bhakti-lata-bija (yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah). Bhakti-lata-bija is the origin of devotional service. Unless one satisfies the spiritual master, he gets the bija, or root cause, of karma, jnana and yoga without the benefit of devotional service. However, one who is faithful to his spiritual master gets the bhakti-lata-bija. This bhakti-lata-bija is received when one is initiated by the bona fide spiritual master. After receiving the spiritual master's mercy, one must repeat his instructions, and this is called sravana-kirtana - hearing and chanting. One who has not properly heard from the spiritual master or who does not follow the regulative principles is not fit for chanting (kirtana). This is explained in Bhagavad-gita (2.41): vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana. One who has not listened carefully to the instructions of the spiritual master is unfit to chant or preach the cult of devotional service. One has to water the bhakti-lata-bija after receiving instructions from the spiritual master." (C.c. Madhya 19.152, purport) In the apasampradayas, chanting and preaching are never undertaken with regard for Vaisnava traditions of regulative principles and spiritual instruction. The "ecstasy" of prakrta-rasa generated by such unauthorized chanting and preaching is but poison in devotional guise. "Instead of awakening real love for Krsna, such hearers of the Bhagavatam become more and more attached to household affairs and sex life (yan maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham). One should hear Srimad-Bhagavatam from a person who has no connection with material activities, or, in other words, from a paramahamsa Vaisnava, one who has achieved the highest stage of sannyasa. This, of course, is not possible unless one takes shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The Srimad-Bhagavatam is understandable only for one who can follow in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu." (C.c. Antya 5.131, purport) In their "ecstacy", the apasampradayas enjoy the holy dhama (or a place they claim is a dhama) as a facility for hucksterism, self-promotion and money-making. They enjoy disciples by diverting them from the Lord's service and engaging them in the service of the senses of cheating gurus. They enjoy great Vaisnavas through lip-service and cheap imitation; eager to bewilder the innocent and advance their own schemes, they strive for some kind of recognition from a great Vaisnava so that they can freely exploit this "endorsement." And they enjoy propagating esoteric doctrines of their own invention that they claim are the real teachings of guru, sastra and sadhu. All this results in three kinds of inauspicious qualities that are ever prominent in the apasampradayas. These are mentioned in Vaisnava Ke by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati: anitya-vaibhava (hankering for material success), kaminira-kama (illicit sexual affairs that are usually passed off as "transcendental"), and mayavada (philosophical speculation that undercuts the personal nature of God as taught by the Vaisnava sampradayas). In the chapters that follow, the backgrounds of the thirteen apasampradayas will be investigated and their deviations analyzed. I have undertaken this work out of a firm belief that these thirteen cases are archetypical of all sorts of misrepresentations of the sankirtana movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu that have been seen down to this very day. As he declared in a lecture on July 4, 1970, Srila Prabhupada considered his only success to be the extension of Lord Caitanya's sampradaya into the Western World. It will be our success as his followers to protect the growth of ISKCON so that it may extend to every town and village of this planet as Lord Caitanya predicted. Let us heed the warning from another prediction made by Lord Caitanya regarding the rise of the apasampradayas: visva andhakara koribe - "In My name they will make the whole world dark." In preparing this volume, I have drawn from a number of sources, Vaisnava and academic. The most important of these are the books, letters and lectures of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada. From Sri Bhakti-vilasa Bharati Maharaja, a godbrother of Srila Prabhupada, I used resumes and refutations of apasampradaya philosophy given in Apasampradaya Svarupa, kindly translated from the Bengali by Bhakta Krishanu Lahiri, a student of languages at Calcutta University and member of Bhaktivedanta Youth Services. I also took help of the wealth of data on the Gaudiya sampradaya's long-standing differences with the jata-gosani and smarta castes in The History and Literature of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas, an unpublished manuscript by another godbrother of Srila Prabhupada named Sambidananda dasa (who in the 1930's accompanied two Gaudiya Matha sannyasis on a preaching tour of Europe). The following scholarly books were consulted: Vaisnavism in Bengal by Dr. Ramkantha Cakravarti (Sanskrit Pushtak Bandhar, Calcutta 1985), Obscure Religious Cults by Dr. Sashi Bhushan Das Gupta (1976 reprint by Firma KLM Ltd.), The Bauls of Bengal by Rebati Mohan Sarkar (Gian Publishing House, New Delhi 1990) and Braj - Center of Krishna Pilgrimage by Alan W. Entwistle (Egbert Forsten, Holland 1987). Source: Apasampradayas: Deviant Vaishnava Sects, published by Bhaktivedanta Academy (Mayapur)

Bhagavad Gita 17:28 asraddhaya hutam dattam tapas taptam krtam ca yat asad ity ucyate partha na ca tat pretya no iha Anything done as sacrifice, charity or penance without faith in the Supreme, O son of Prtha, is impermanent. It is called asat and is useless both in this life and the next.

As to whether they belong to the same sampradaya philosophically, fundamentally I would say yes. Just have a look at the nine-prameyas of each school, which are their nine points of philosphical foundation. They are nearly word for word identical. And in the Guadiya version it begins, sri madhva praha... Of course this is organized by Baladeva Vidyabhushana, so it wouldn't be a proof to the exact topic on hand, but as far as the similarities in philosophy, it certainly is an evidence. Actually all four Vaishnava lines are based on the same nine prameys, only the order of thenine points creates variations in the philosophy. For example if you see the order given by Madhva it is different from that given by Chaitanya (as mentioned by Baladeva). The emphasis on the order of importance results in the slight differences in philosophical conclusions.

Even though he names his book as a "history" book. In reality it is his personal opinions on the matter (probably based on his research). There will always be unique views on every topic.