Jahnava Nitai Das

I think you are speaking of the Ranganatha deity in Sri Rangam. The deity is supposed to be facing South to give blessings to Lanka. Years ago the main gopuram (tower) was remade. An astrologer told to the Sri Lankan president that it disturbed the spiritual blessings being sent to Lanka, and as a result that country has faced problems since. Now the Sri Lankan (buddhist) government has began construction on a multimillion dollar Ranganatha temple in Sri Lanka to regain the lost spiritual blessings. Strange but true. Here is the story of the temple: The deity is even older than two million years, as it had been worshipped elsewhere prior to coming to Tamil Nadu.

Certainly the first half of Nectar of Devotion is especially suitable for new devotees to study as it instructs us on the rules and regulations of performing devotional service. Study of it is included in most bhakta programs.

No, it interrupts its natural development and evolution towards human life. By the same logic you can go around killing other people hoping they "may" be born in a spiritual family next life. No. There is no instance mentioned in the shastras of Vishnu eating meat. There is absolutely no mention of Ramachandra eating meat in the Ramayana of Valmiki. Such claims are completely unsubstantiated. The Ramayana states Ramachandra took the vow of eating only roots and fruits. Our actions are chosen by us, and we must suffer the results of our sinful choices. Someone may think that it is his job to go around killing people and stealing their money, but this is just his confused mind cheating him. Similarly the fisherman has chosen to engage in a sinful activity, and he must suffer the results of his actions. Pretending that it is "his duty", as though God has come to him and instructed him to kill fish, is just an attempt to avoid responsibility for our actions. No, the Gita teaches us to give up all false conceptions of religion and simply surrender to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna (sarva dharman parityajya...). By such a logic one can kill anyone and claim the soul didn't die. This is not the message Lord Krishna taught in the Gita.

When you eat potatos, carrots, sprouts, etc., you kill the plant. Even dry dahl is alive. Just add water and let it soak over night. In the morning you have plants growing out of the dahl seeds (i.e. sprouts).

I believe it is ran by his archives and under the guidance of the Bhubaneswar temple. Both have received official (direct) instructions regarding preserving and presenting his teachings.

They changed their site design and added some articles. Its worth a visit: http://www.srilagourgovindaswami.org/

Here is a definitive conversation where Srila Prabhupada rejects changing the sadhana to chanting Gaura-Nitai: We believe these words of Srila Prabhupada are a final, definitive statement regarding this topic of altering the sadhana to chanting the names of Gaura Nitai. Please read through this quote carefully and decide for yourselves if "Gauranga Dharma" is Srila Prabhupada's teaching. Srila Prabhupada's personal example was to chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra. Srila Prabhupada's direct instruction to his disciples was to chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra. Srila Prabhupada did not chant these Gauranga Nityananda mantras as a sadhana and neither has he instructed any of his disciples to do so. As shown in the above quote, to manufacture a new sadhana against the instructions of the guru is an offense to the holy name (guror avajna, one of the 10 offenses to the holy name). You decide for yourself whether you think it was actually Srila Prabhupada's "second phase plan" to establish this new Gaurangaism, or whether he intended his followers to continue his example and continue to follow his direct teachings.

First, no one has said the Pancatattva has been "replaced", what has been stated is that his appointed "Guru for Argentina" (certainly a high post requiring spiritual maturity and discipline) has concocted a chant similar to "Nitai Gaur Radhe Shyam Hare Krishna Hare Rama". It is not a scripturally based chant, it is a mental concoction. Srila Prabhupada's instruction is crystal clear on this matter: "Do not concoct chants". They may be very nice poetry, they may sound wonderful in kirtan, but it is not the right of neophytes to concoct chants about the Lord. Please See Srila Prabhupada's following instruction on this matter: The concocted chant is made by one of the leaders of Gauranga Dharma, (the "Guru for Argentina and World Parliament of Religions"), and the chant was found on the Gauranga Dharma website at the following link: http://www.gaurangadharma.org/blessing3.html Oddly enough, this page has disappeared and there is now a "page not found error". Does this mean someone there accepts it was a concoction and bogus chant?

Is it me or do the followers of Swami Gaurangapada just copy and paste the same 10 quotes over and over again? Sure, let's look at the quote: You say "Shrila Prabhupada has clearly authorized both japa and kirtana of the Gauranga Mantra", could you point to which words exactly specify this? You cite the last sentence and claim that because Lord Krishna and Chaitanya are one and the same therefore Srila Prabhupada has "clearly authorized both japa and kirtana of the Gauranga Mantra". You must be reading a different purport then I am, because none of what you say is written in the quote above. The name of Gauranga has been chanted in the past by nitya-siddha associates of the Lord, but one should not imitate their sadhana. One should humbly accept the sadhana instructed by Srila Prabhupada if one is claiming to be his follower. The name of Radha is also full of spiritual potency, and some nitya siddhas have exclusively chanted the names of Sri Radha as sadhana. This does not mean we should alter the teachings of Srila Prabhupada to adjust to our whims and fancy. There is a general habit of the followers of Swami Gaurangapada that we see repeated again and again. They have a list of only 10 or 15 quotes (out of Srila Prabhupada's voluminous writings) in which he glorifies Caitanya's name. Then they completely twist the quotes and claim it means something that is nowhere near to what the quote says at all, or they cut off the last paragraph that contradicts their stance and try to support their position through selective quoting. A classic example of this is Swami Gaurangapada's claim that anytime Srila Prabhupada uses the english word "chant" it automatically means both japa and kirtan. Why? Just because they want it to. Swami Gaurangapada's exact words are as follows: Using this logic, anytime Srila Prabhupada says "one should chant the name of Gauranga", they claim it specifically means one should perform japa of gauranga's name. How many times a day did Srila Prabhupada chant the Gauranga-Nityananda "mantrarajas"? How many times a day did Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati chant the Gauranga-Nityananda mantrarajas? How many times a day did Srila Prabhupada tell his disciples and followers to chant the Gauranga-Nityananda mantrarajas? The answer to all these questions is ZERO. Srila Prabhupada's personal example and order was that all devotees should chant once the pancatattva mantra before each round and then chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra. This is the sadhana taught by Srila Prabhupada. He said by this process we are worshipping Mahaprabhu and receiving His mercy to chant the names of Lord Krishna. To his disciples he has instructed that they must chant the full pancatattva mantra. In response to this, Swami Gaurangapada says we should not imitate liberated souls like Srila Prabhupada. He claims Srila Prabhupada has the potency to directly give the Hare Krishna maha-mantra to fallen souls, but for the non-liberated gurus they should not try to copy this activity. So what should they do? Instead the non-liberated gurus should reject their guru's teachings, throw aside his instructions and make-up a new sadhana on their own whims called gauranga-kriya yoga!? A sadhana that will not only help you spiritually, but will also solve your finacial problems, repay your debts, recover bad loans and cure cancer! Wow! Talk about being a humble disciple. Srila Prabhupada's most emphatic order was to not change his teachings. "Speak as I have spoken, do as I have done." By sincerely repeating the instructions of the spiritual master as they are one becomes an authorized representative of the parampara. When one of his senior sannyasis decided to innovate and create a new sadhana of chanting the Pancha-tattva mantra on beads, Srila Prabhupada replied "Who is that Rascal sannyasi, give me his name." Srila Prabhupada would not tolerate even the smallest deviation. We have seen what is the result of deviation. All have seen the deviations of Kirtananda and the result of such deviations. At the time he was glorified as a pure devotee, and his disciples had plenty of distorted quotes from Srila Prabhupada authorizing their deviations. Anyone who disagreed was an "offender" committing "vaishnava aparadha". Those offenders were all damned to hell, and there were dozens of verses to quote that described the hell they would face for their offenses to the "pure devotee". Today all those loud spoken disciples are silent and the deviations of their guru are clear.

Unfortunately English comprehension is severely lacking by some of the guests participating in this thread. They fail to see the difference between the Bhagavatam advising that people should worship the Lord whether they have desires or not and teaching that by chanting the name of God your financial problems will be removed. The verse akamah sarva-kamo va moksha-kama udara-dhih speaks nothing about removing your financial problems through seva to the Lord. It tells us that regardless of our desires, our own self interest is to surrender to the Lord in service. "Whether you have no desires (akama), all desires (sarva-kama) or desire liberation (moksha-kama) one should surrender to the Lord and worship Him." Likewise the verse from Bhagavad Gita that speaks about four types of people that surrender to the Lord simply states that a pious person desiring wealth will turn to the Lord. It never says that by chanting the Lord's name one's financial problems will be solved. Srila Prabhupada taught pure unalloyed devotional service: anyabhilashita-shunyam jnana-karmady-anavritam anukulyena krishnanu-shilanam bhaktir uttama "One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Krishna favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service." Swami Gaurangapada on the other hand is directly teaching karma-mishra-bhakti. His teachings are not the pure teachings of Srila Prabhupada, they are a very diluted and distorted form of mixed devotional service and fruitive activity. Could anyone imagine Srila Prabhupada diluting his teachings by advertising "Solve your financial problems by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra". Such a teaching brings the holy name down to the level of a karma-kanda ceremony, which is a nama-aparadha. Such mundane conceptions of the holy name have never been taught by Srila Prabhupada.

This is based on the faulty premise that new souls are not entering the material realm from the spiritual realm (Brahma jyothi/Viraja/Vaikuntha) and that the number of souls in existence is limited. New souls are visiting, old souls are going back home back to Godhead all the time. There are unlimited souls in existence (spiritual and material existence together). 99.9% of all souls are in the spiritual realm. Unlimited means unlimited, not 1,000, nor 10,000, nor 100 trillion.

I am not interested in challenging or disturbing your faith in your guru, so I will not get into refuting his statements here unless that is what you want. I will only reply to one question by Maharaj, and that is how to understand Srila Prabhupada's cited purport. The answer is simple, by reading the complete purport and not cuting out the last paragraph. That is the way to understand what Srila Prabhupada's teachings were:

My position has not changed one bit. In 2002 someone posted a message on COM saying "No one in the history has chanted the name of Gauranga in japa." In response to this I pointed out that this was not true, that Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya had chanted the name of Gauranga in japa and that it was recorded in Caitanya Caritamrita. But I made it clear that this does not justify deviating from the teachings of Srila Prabhupada: "Whether ISKCON devotees should perform this japa is another topic, but the fact that it was not manufactured by Sadhu maharaj should be admitted." Please note that this was a response to a claim that Gauranga japa was first invented by Sadhu Swami. It had nothing to do with agreeing with or disagreeing with the teachings of Sadhu Swami. In fact Sadhu Swami had not yet started his "Gauranga Dharma" religion, nor had he created his hodge-podge teachings of kriya-gauranga yoga whereby one is relieved of all financial problems. Nor did he claim to be the 33rd acharya in the parampara, the pure representative of Srila Prabhupada and foremost preacher of gauranga-bhakti yoga in the world. Nor had he changed the quotes of Srila Prabhupada to support his opinions, nor did he manufacture statements from Srila Prabhupada's conversations that did not factually exist. Now he has completely distorted the teachings of Srila Prabhupada while claiming to be the true pure representative of Srila Prabhupada's teachings. In fact he claims that it was Srila Prabhupada's desire to start Gaurangaism as his "second phase" plan, but that he left it for his disciples, namely Swami Gaurangapada the "foremost preacher of Gauranga dharma in the world". Yes, this is all rubbish. He has rejected the advice of senior sadhus and has ran to the Gaudiya Matha since he would not be accomodated or given sannyasa within ISKCON. That is fine, but don't try to pretend such things are the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. He is not a disciple or follower of Srila Prabhupada any more than Gandhiji is a follower of Lord Krishna's Gita. Gandhiji takes Krishna's Gita and claims it teaches nonviolence. Use Krishna's name to sell Gandhi's teachings. Swami Gaurangapada is doing the same with Srila Prabhupada. Use Srila Prabhupada's name and fame to sell his own teachings of Gaurangaism. The fact is that without Srila Prabhupada's name on his site, no one would give him a second thought. Please reread through this thread and see what is being criticized. No one has said the chanting of the names of the Lord (including Gauranga) are bad. What is being criticized is specifically these points: 1) A concocted mantra by one of his appointed "Gurus for Argentina", namely "Jaya Nityananda Jaya Gauranga Hare Krishna Nitai Gauranga". This just confirms their tendency to flout spiritual authority and the teachings of Srila Prabhupada in favour of their own whims and speculations. 2) Using Srila Prabhupada's name and claiming these are the actual teachings of Srila Prabhupada, when Srila Prabhupada's reply is "Who is that rascal sannyasi, give me his name." 3) Altering the quotes of Srila Prabhupada, claiming quotations exist that do not exist, and claiming to know parts of conversations that took place prior to the tape recorder being turned on. Using all of this falsified material as "proof" that Srila Prabhupada wanted Gauranga japa spread. The above has been emphatically denied by Brahmananda Prabhu and I accept his word on it. The conversation occured so many years ago that it may have been misheard. Again, I repeat what I have said all along. Chanting the names of Gauranga and Nityananda is great, but claiming it is the teaching of Srila Prabhupada is a lie. Those who misuse Srila Prabhupada's name for personal gain are great offenders to his lotus feet.

Who is Swami Gaurangapada? From his website:

From Swami Gaurangapada's website:

Don't forget to mix in some Kriya yoga and pranayama into your Gauranga chanting as Swami Gaurangapada instructs on his website: Srila Prabhupada's process is simple and sweet. Crisp and clean, with no Kriya yoga. Never had it, never will.

This is what Gauranga dharma does according to their website: Nope, not what Srila Prabhupada taught.

I offer the following from an article by Swami Gaurangapada without comment:

Please see the following quote from Swami Gaurangapada: This conversation doesn't mention anything specifically about chanting japa or whether it is in reference to chanting on japa beads, yet Swami Gaurangapada adds the following caption, "Shrila Prabhupada's Room Conversation with Yoga Student specifically regarding Japa". And Swami Gaurangapada repeatedly makes wild claims like "in this quote Prabhupada authorized" and "recommended" the chanting of Nityananda-gauranga on "japa beads". None of this exists in this conversation. There is no way for anyone to know what the conversation was about because it is a 10 second conversation that abruptly switches to discussing Islam. Prabhupada was in Iran talking to a yoga student, this is not an instruction to a disciple on how sadhana should be done. Please see the full conversation. It begins very abruptly with the tape recorder being turned on just as the discussion on chanting is ending. There is no way for anyone to know what they were talking about, nor what the question of the yoga student was, or if it was specifically about japa. Yet Swami Gaurangapada claims this is a conversation specifically about japa, and that the unrecorded question of the yoga student was about chanting nitai-gauranga on japa beads and about preaching this japa to others!? And that in reply Srila Prabhupada approved and recommended the chanting of Nitai Gaura specifically on japa beads. I'm sorry, but none of this exists on the recording. Here is the complete conversation: Based on this recording between Srila Prabhupada and a yoga student in Iran, Swami Gaurangapada claims that "This conversation is specifically about the japa chanting the Mantras on beads", and that Srila Prabhupada "authorized and recommended" this chanting on beads. Swami even tells us what the yoga student was asking to Srila Prabhupada, despite it not existing on the recording: "The Yoga Student is not only asking about his own self but also how to preach to others about japa on beads." How does he know the yoga student specifically asked Srila Prabhupada about the chanting of Nitai Gaur on japa beads? This is complete misrepresentation of the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. And what does Swami claim Srila Prabhupada's answer is: "And in his response Shrila Prabhupada recommends and authorizes the chanting of the two names of Nityananda and Gauranga on japa beads". None of this occurs in the recorded conversation. This is an unfortunate misrepresentation of the teachings of Srila Prabhupada in an article written by Swami Gaurangapada. There is nothing wrong if someone wants to teach others to chant Nitai Gauranga on japa beads, but why try to claim it is Srila Prabhupada's instruction? Srila Prabhupada has established the sadhana for his disciples to follow, and he personally taught his disciples how to chant and what to chant for sadhana. It is unfortunate that often those from the Gaudiya matha who are not disciples of Srila Prabhupada want to tell Srila Prabhupada's followers what Srila Prabhupad actually meant or what he actually taught. What Srila Prabhupada taught is clear by what he had his disciples do and by what he himself did.

- Srila Prabhupada

- Srila Prabhupada

The concocted mantra that was on the gauranga dharma site was: "Jaya Nityananda Jaya Gauranga Hare Krishna Nitai Gauranga", very similar to "Nitai Gaur Radhe Shyam Hare Krishna Hare Rama" which was criticized by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta. This concocted mantra was being propogated by one of the "appointed gurus" of Gauranga Dharma. What I sense here is a tendency to flout spiritual authority, to manufacture our own path, and a refusal to be a humble disciple and follow the instructions and examples of previous acharyas. First Swami Gaurangapada creates a new sadhana of "mantrarajas", then in one month one of his "appointed gurus" has created his own mantra ("jaya nityananda jaya gauranga hare krishna nitai gauranga"). In another month another follower will create his own mantra, and this will go on. It is a fact that neither Srila Prabhupada nor Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati (whom Gaurangapada likes to quote and show photos of) have instructed their disciples to chant nityananda gauranga on japa beads as a sadhana. Both acharyas have instructed their disciples to chant the hare krishna mahamantra, and both have practically demonstrated this sadhana by performing it themselves. There is no such thing as an initiation into nityananda-gauranga mantrarajas. Its a fabrication. It is good that it gets people to chant the names of the Lord, but there is an underlying refusal to submit to the acharya's example behind it. Again, I will restate the following point: If Swami Gaurangapada cannot explain why the panchatattva mantra cannot be chanted on japa beads, then he is not quaified to decide which mantras can and cannot be chanted on japa beads. Other troubling things include his opinion that his own books on Chaitanya lila should be distributed instead of Srila Prabhupada's books. He believes his own books will have more effect in making devotees (because they speak of Gaura Lila) than the books of Srila Prabhupada. Did he forget that he became a devotee by reading Srila Prabhupada's books, not by reading a gaura lila book on Gauranga Dharma? Did he forget that Srila Prabhupada's books have made thousands of devotees throughout the world? Unfortunately many Gaudiya organizations exist by cultivating people already associated with ISKCON. They are practically unable to make devotees on their own, so they try to point out defects in ISKCON in an attempt to draw people away from ISKCON to their camp. Gauranga Dharma is no different in that it targets those already practicing Krishna consciousness (under the teachings of Srila Prabhupada). Naive newcomers who have not actually read the books of Srila Prabhupada are impressed by a couple quotes taken from Srila Prabhupada's books glorifying Gauranga's name. By misuse of these few quotes, they are led to believe Srila Prabhupada's true desire was to spread "Gauranga dharma". All those who disagree with their view of Srila Prabhupada are labelled offenders to Gauranga's holy name and to the feet of the acharya Swami Gaurangapada. This shows clearly that these followers are newcomers to Krishna consciousness with little understanding of the history or teachings of Krishna consciousness. Everyone is looking for an easy answer to their problems. Rather than accept our own shortcomings in spiritual life and become introspective we prefer to blame our process of sadhana. "We aren't advancing because the chanting of Hare Krishna is a difficult and long process." Such grasshoppers jump around to "easier" sadhanas that offer more for less. Srila Prabhupada's most emphatic instruction was not to change anything. In just 30 years, someone who never saw him wants to alter his teachings and create a new religion called gaurangaism by collecting impatient followers of Srila Prabhupada who want something for nothing, an easy path that requires less work for more gain. Unfortunately they will find the flaw was not in the sadhana but in ourselves, and as such their advancement will remain at the same pace regardless of which mantra they choose to chant.

I was quite surprised to come across this: http://www.gaurangadharma.org/blessing3.html Listen to the kirtan mantra: "jaya nityananda jaya gauranga hare krishna nitai gauranga". This is a complete speculation, no different than "nitai gaur radhe shyam hare krishna hare rama". I was actually looking through the site to see if I could find something nice to say about it, but it was quite discouraging to come across this mantra concoction. Especially since Gaudiya acharyas criticize another line for manufacturing a similar mantra (nitai gaur radhe shyam...). This particular recording is by "Mahatmaji His Grace Mahatma Gaurakrishnananda Dasa Prabhu Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Chief Leader and Guru for Argentina and Parliament of Religions)". It appears Swami Gaurangapada has established a series of gurus throughout the world, who initiate disciples. I would be interested in Swamiji's view on this concocted mantra and why one of his appointed gurus would be propogating it on the gauranga dharma website.

In the Gita Krishna says, "attaining my abode" and "going to my abode" one never returns again to the material world. He does not say one cannot fall from one's original spiritual nature. After having experienced the material world and returning to Lord Krishna, one will never again fall to the material world. A child who burns his hand by touching fire will never again try to touch fire.

There are large numbers of Hindus in the following countries: India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bali (Indonesia), Singapore, Malaysia. Nepal is the only official Hindu country in the world.