Sri Guru Parampara

kṛṣṇa hoite catur-mukha, hoy kṛṣṇa-sevonmukha,
brahmā hoite nāradera mati
nārada hoite vyāsa, madhva kohe vyāsa-dāsa,
pūrṇaprajña padmanābha gati

nṛhari mādhava-vaḿśe, akṣobhya paramahaḿse,
śiṣya boli’ ańgīkāra kore
akṣobhyera śiṣya jaya-tīrtha nāme paricaya,
tāra dāsye jñānasindhu tore

tāhā hoite dayānidhi, tāra dāsa vidyānidhi,
rājendra hoilo tāhā ha’te
tāhāra kińkora jaya-dharma nāme paricoy,
paramparā jāno bhālo mate

jayadharma-dāsye khyāti, śrī puruṣottama-yati,
tā ha’te brahmaṇya-tīrtha sūri
vyāsatīrtha tāra dāsa, lakṣmīpati vyāsadāsa,
tāhā ha’te mādhavendra-purī

mādhavendra purī-bara, śiṣya-bara śrī-īśvara,
nityānanda, śrī-advaita vibhu
īśvara-purīke dhanya, korilena śrī-caitanya,
jagad-guru gaura mahāprabhu

mahāprabhu śrī-caitanya, rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya,
rūpānuga janera jīvana
viśvambhara priyańkara, śrī-svarūpa dāmodaro,
śrī-gosvāmī rūpa-sonātan

rūpa-priya mahājana, jīva, raghunātha hana,
tāra priya kavi kṛṣṇadāsa
kṛṣṇadāsa-priya-boro, narottama sevā-paro,
yāra pada viśvanātha āśa

viśvanātha-bhakta-sātha, baladeva jagannātha,
tāra priya śrī-bhaktivinoda
mahā-bhāgavata-boro, śrī-gaurakiśora-boro,
hari-bhajanete yāra moda

śrī-vārṣabhānavī-borā, sadā sevya-sevā parā,
tāhāra doyita-dāsa-nām
tāra pradhān pracārako, śrī-bhaktivedānta nāmako,
pṛthivite gaura-vāṇi bhitore

ei saba-hari-jana, gaurāńgera nija-jana
ta’ der ucchiṣṭe mor kāma

Lord Kṛṣṇa enlightened the four-faced Brahmā with the devotional science, which Brahmā then passed on to Nārada Muni. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Second Canto, Ninth Chapter, the history of how Lord Brahmā received initiation directly from Kṛṣṇa is explained. Brahmā found himself in the midst of darkness. He tried to explore the dark universe by traveling down the stem of the lotus planet of his birth, but, being only a jīva with limited senses, intellect, and power, he failed to find more than darkness. Brahmā then heard the syllables ta and pa from outside the covering of the universe, and following this instruction, he per- formed tapasya, or penance, by which the spiritual realm was revealed to him. The four seed verses of the Bhāgavatam were transmitted by the Lord Himself to Brahmā. The conclusion is that Brahmā could not understand anything by his own attempt; only by Lord Kṛṣṇa’s revelation could Brahmā get absolute knowledge.

Lord Brahmā took to the disciplic succession naturally. He initiated Nārada Muni, who in turn initiated Vyāsadeva, the compiler of all Vedic literatures. It is recorded in the Bhāgavatam, First Canto, Fifth Chapter, that Vyāsadeva compiled the Vedas in four divisions and then wrote the Mahābhārata, Purāṇas, and Upaniṣads, and revealed the conclusion of knowledge in the Vedānta-sūtras. Yet as he meditated he did not feel satisfied, and Nārada Muni explained to him that this was because he had not described the līlās, forms, qualities, etc., of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Then Vyāsadeva expanded the four seed verses of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam into 18,000 verses, and then initiated Madhvācārya. Vyāsadeva is still living in the Himālayas at Badarikāśrama, and, therefore, there is no gap of time between Vyāsa, and Madhva; they are contemporaries, just as we are contemporaries of Vyāsa, who is presently in this world. The ācāryas coming from Madhva are Padmanābha, Nṛhari, Mādhava, Akṣobhya, Jayatīrtha, Jñānasindhu, Dayānidhi, Vidyānidhi, Rājendra, Jayadharma, Puruṣottama, Brahmaṇya-tīrtha, Vyāsatīrtha, Lakṣmīpati, and Mādhavendra Purī. (Baladeva Vidyabhūṣaṇa, the great ācārya who wrote the commentary on Vedānta-sūtra after hearing it directly from the Deity Govindajī, has. confirmed Mādhavendra Purī’s connection with the Madhva-sampradāya.)

Mādhavendra Purī had several disciples who were highly transcendental personalities. Lord Nityānanda, the incarnation of Lord Balarāma, and Śrī Advaita, the incarnation of Mahā-Viṣṇu, accepted initiation from him. However, Śrī Iśvara Purī possessed a very high standard of devotion and would even clean the toilet place for his spiritual master. Thus Iśvara Purī was given the seat of ācārya. He in turn initiated Lord Caitanya, Who is none other than Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Himself and Who is the living force of the followers of Rūpa Gosvāmī. Lord Caitanya is succeeded by Rūpa Gosvāmī along with Svarūpa Dāmodara and Sanātana Gosvāmī, then Raghunātha dāsa and Jīva Gosvāmī, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, and Viśvanātha Cakravarti Ṭhākura. Viśvanātha Cakravarti was the spiritual master of Baladeva Vidyabhūṣaṇa and Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī. Jagannātha dāsa’s most beloved disciple is Śrīla Sac-cid-ānanda Bhaktivinoda, who empowered Śrila Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī, an uttama-adhikārī mahā-bhāgavata (great devotee of the highest order), to initiate Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, who is also spiritually named Śrī Vārṣabhānavi-dayita dāsa. I have added one more line to this song: “His foremost disciple-preacher is Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, who has spread the message of Lord Caitanya throughout the entire world.”