Did Srila Prabhupada break tradition? Contodicting Sastra? MAYBE NOT!
August 26, 2012 in Articles by Nityananda Rama dasa
Hare Krishna, Prabhus, obeisances, all glories to SrilaPrabhupada. Please permit me to recommend some articles of interest,pertaining to these topics: —
WHETHER SRILA PRABHUPADA BROKE WITH TRADITION, CONTRADICTINGSHASTRA (The argument of “NO PRECEDENT”)
More Vaishnava Acharyas Accept Ritvik – Madhu Pandit das
“There are several suchinstances in Sri Vaishnava Parampara (tradition). Take the example ofSri Ramanujacharya himself, who was the foremost amongst theSrivaishnavacharyas. He was initiated into the Srivaishnava texts andsecrets by five great acharyas who are the disciples of AcharyaYamuna. That is why is called Panchacharya Pradarshita. Though he wasa disciple of these five Acharyas, just like the Ritviks appointed byHH Srila Prabhupada ji, these ritviks never claimed that they were theAcharyas of Ramanujacharya.”
(http://www.bhaktivedantas.com/ART_NAMHATTA/Sri-Sam-rittvik231107.php)
SrilaPrabhupada is Shastra -Praghosa das
“[Prabhupada] IS THE SHASTRA.THE SHASTRA IS ONLY RELEVANT IF IT AUTHENTICATES THE REALITY OF THEFULL INDEPENDENCE OF THE LORD AND HIS PURE LOVINGDEVOTEES!!”
(http://www.bhaktivedantas.com/ART_NAMHATTA/shastra190908.php)
Whatare the Shastras? – Hansaduttadas
“In one essay [ThakurBhaktivinode] Srila Bhaktisiddhanta says, ‘What are the shastras? Theyare nothing but the words of the devotees (pure devotees) orsadhus.'”
(http://www.bhaktivedantas.com/ART_NAMHATTA/shastra210908.php)
Formalities – MaheshRaja
“ALL Srila Prabhupada did waschange FORMALITIES in the way initiation was to be conducted in firstand second initiations: ‘The formalities may be slightly changed hereand there to make them Vaisnavas.'”
(http://www.bhaktivedantas.com/ART_NAMHATTA/rittvik-formalities190908.php)
Last MinuteThoughts – Hansaduttadas
“If Srila Prabhupada isshaktavesha avatar (which we do recognise that he factually is), hecan do anything, and it becomes LAW. Because the fully liberated soulis always in touch with Krishna, whatever he does or says is shastra,law, absolute, non-different from Krishna. Because we do notunderstand does not mean it is incorrect.
‘Except for God, no one canestablish the principles of religion. Either He or a suitable personempowered by Him can dictate the codes of religion.’-purport,Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.43
Many things were never done before.Ramanujacharya engaged dacoits for collection, then had them killed.Madhvacharya pummeled his opponents. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sang anddanced in public–never done before by sannyasis . Buddha rejected theVedas. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada created a GBC to manage hispreaching mission, leaving no successor acharya , as was traditionallydone. Srila Prabhupada made the same arrangement. In both instances,the order was disobeyed, and in both instances the result was thesame–chaos, confusion and disintegration of the Acharya’s mission.Great acharyas like Srila Prabhupada do establish the principles ofreligion according to time, place andcircumstances.”
(http://www.bhaktivedantas.com/ART_NAMHATTA/SPMAY11.html)
WHETHER WE NEED A LIVING GURU
Living Guru – Hansaduttadas
“What is your idea of living? Amoving body? A warm body? The body is never living. It is the soul,the spirit within the body. … ‘You need a living guru.’ What do theymean by ‘living’? Do they mean to say that Srila Prabhupada is dead?Do they mean to say that Krishna is dead? Lord Chaitanya is dead?Vyasadeva is dead?
“If you say we need to have someone physically present givinginstructions, that also is not a fact. That is helpful, but it is nota fact. It is not a fact. Because there are many examples of boys andgirls who received Srila Prabhupada’s books, and although he was notphysically present, by reading and capturing the spirit, they becameawakened to Krishna consciousness. It is not true that I need a livingbody through which this message, this spirit will come. It will comethrough the book, or it may come through the sincereservant…”
(http://www.bhaktivedantas.com/ART_NAMHATTA/livingguru180309.php)
QUESTION OF BREAKING THE PARAMPARA
LastMinute Thoughts – Hansaduttadas
“First of all, neither SrilaPrabhupada nor we say guru parampara should be abandoned. Rather,Srila Prabhupada has given specific instructions how it should becontinued and its integrity preserved.
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