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BY: SUN STAFF
HH Srila Bhakti Prajnan Kesava Goswami Maharaja Dec 18, CANADA (SUN) — In two parts, the Introduction and Forward of Vaisnava Vijaya: Life History of Mayavadism by HH Srila Bhakti Prajnan Kesava Gosvami. Vaisnava Vijaya or the Life History of Mayavadism in English is the translation of the original work in Bengali entitled "Mayavader Jivani" by my Divine Master, Nitya-lila Pravista Om Visnupada Astottara Sata Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnan Kesava Gosvami Maharaj. It was first published as twenty articles in the Sri Gaudiya Patrika, the monthly news magazine of Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti. Later a second edition was published with additions and alterations in book form and printed on April 20, 1968. It received great acclaim from Vaisnavas all over Bengal and throughout India was honored by the followers of Sanatana Dharma. The book contains compelling evidence, authoritative verifications and illuminating commentaries concurring with the Vaisnava tradition while at the same time completely refuting any and all deviations from the principles of Sanatana Dharma. Over the years there were many requests for an English edition, which led to the manifestation of this book "Vaisnava Vijaya: in its present form from the Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti. We are optimistic that knowledgeable and sincere devotees as well as scholars and indologists in the medium of the English language will be benefited by this translation and this work will receive wide appreciation around the world based on its own merit. The holy lineage of the Sri Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya are all devout followers of Sri Svarupa Damodara and Sri Rupa Gosvami, the direct disciples of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who are revered and venerated by Srila Vinode Barshananavi Kesava Maharaja and all who are truly blessed and fully loyal. Enlightenment by His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Prajnan Kesava Gosvami Maharaja came by his constant attendance and attentive hearing of the delightful nectarian discourses on Srimad Bhagavatam and other scriptural deliberations delivered by His Divine Grace Jagad Guru Nitya-lila Pravista Om Visnupada Astottara Sata Sri Srimad Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada was convinced that until the mayavad philosophy is completely vanquished the Earth will not be a safe place for devotional service in its highest manifestations of bhakti. Thus Srila Prabhupada declared total war against mayavadism. It became the underlying theme of all his lectures, writing, seminars, conferences, meetings and books. He was already known as the human encyclopedia so vast and prolific was his knowledge and he utilized it fully by revealing verifications from hundreds of scriptures and evidences from dozens of commentaries clearly illuminating the imperishable path of Sanatana Dharma. Srila Prabhupada boldly broadcast the holy name according to the original ideas of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's judgement on Vyasadev's immortal Vedanta-sutra. He also destroyed all concocted ideas and speculative theories from all impersonal religions as well as their mundane opinions and uninformed assumptions in regard to the paramount sanctity of Deity worship of the Supreme Lord and his wonderful incarnations." Whenever and wherever he heard the comments of a shapeless, formless, indistinct and unqualitive divinity was termed as Brahman, he ferociously demolished them by the sharp sword of sastra based argument. In this way all throughout India he relentlessly destroyed Sankaracarya’s atheistic ideas at the very root. Following in the footsteps of his beloved Gurudeva, Srila Bhakti Prajnan Kesava Gosvami Maharaj founded Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti in 1940 to purely promulgate the concepts, methodology and philosophy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s glorious and eternal sankirtan movement. In this darkened age of Kali atheistic forces are extremely strong. Who can deny or ignore this in the world today Manufactured ideas of the epicureanism give the misguided illusion that the physical body of the human being in non different and synomonous with the spirit soul. Without being able to distinguish the difference and oblivious that the body is also perishable in due course of time this understanding has led to dangerous proportions in the formation of the eat, drink and be merry philosophy found to me motivating the world today; and is the foremost stumbling block in preaching the tenets of devotional service and the main obstacle in obstructing Sanatana Dharma. Sri Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasadeva, the literary incarnation of the Supreme Lord Krsna and the supreme giver of spiritual truth as well as the spiritual scriptures, revealed that the unlimited source of all creation, maintenance and destruction is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna. Five thousand years ago in Dvarapa yuga, Srila Vyasadeva made dire forecasts predicting the inauspicious and miserable conditions awaiting this material world in the age of kali. Living entities in clutches of the mortal coils of kali yuga and its attendant vices and evils foolishly defy the followers of Sanatana Dharma and the devotees of the Bhagavata religion. Human being following depraved ways of life have fallen judgement and thus they shun the super excellent, merciful and blessed, sanctifying path which the Supreme Personality of Godhead has exemplified and demonstrated b y His own personal example in the acceptance of a spiritual master. The Supreme Lord Krsna Himself accepted Sandipani Muni as His spiritual master and He duly entered the ashram of Brahmacari and accepted twice born initiation. At his guru’s ashram He studied all branches of Vedic scriptures and fully served and satisfied His guru as a humble disciple. For those living entities that choose to negate, disregard or ignore the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, He especially sent His dearmost Mahadeva Siva to incarnate as Sankaracarya to spread the doctrine of mayavadism and thus by bewildering the demonic, misguide them further by misinterpreting the supreme knowledge of the Vedas by interpolating the principles and misrepresenting the fundamental concept of Vedanta. In this way the idea of illusory ideas in an illusory world was fabricated. Sankaracarya performed his service relentlessly, completely twisting and deforming the pristine absolute truth of the Supreme Lord, into a non-distinct impotent facsimile of a formless and qualitiless Brahman, implicitly following the ultimate order of the Supreme Lord Krsna. Sanatana Dharma and devotional service as understood by Brahma, Narada, Madhvacarya and all Vaisnava authors including Sandilya, Vyasadeva and Garga Muni all reject completely any conception of a formless, indistinct, phenomenalism. Anything that is harmonious with devotional service should always be accepted and anything contrary to devotional service should always be rejected. The author of "Vaisnava Vijaya" always advised all to make reference and consult the "Mayavad Niramaya Anuvashya" and the "Gaudiya Vasya" written by Jagatgur Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaj Srila Prabhupada, the dearmost to the followers of Vaisnavism, the conqueror of the phonemenalists and the root establisher of the pure devotional religion. He wrote the introduction of Srila Madhvacarya's "Tattva-muktavali" where he paraphrases that "Those we attempt to falsely establish the world as a phenomena and try to erroneously establish the individual soul as non existent are the patrons and followers of mayavadism. Without the mercy of the Vaisnavas and without devotion to the Supreme Lord Krsna, mere study of the Vedas only leads to temporal bondage and subsequent ruin. Baseless arguments proposed by speculating phenomenalists with little if any knowledge or scriptural foundation are all unable to lead to the absolute truth. An unsubstantiated imagination only leads to misconceptions and illusions, like the seemingly visualization of a mirage. " It appears to be real, so it is," quotes the phenomenalist and their illusory conceptions based on inadequate knowledge and the foolish dependence on their material sense perceptions leads to gross errors in judgement which undermines their understanding and falsified their conclusions. Thus they are unable to break the cycle of birth and death and attain only the miserable ordeal of having to enter another womb be it human or animal species, totally wasting their precious life and unfortunately unable to use it to improve themselves and attain the spiritual world. We are deeply indebted to His Divine Grace Om Visnupada 108 Sri Srimad Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja Srila Prabhupada for his complete and comprehensive understanding of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Srimad Bhagavatam is the perfect, infallible commentary on Vedanta and Srila Vyasadeva compiled this work as the essence and final commentary on all his other works. But as prolific and beneficial as it is for all of humanity there are still groups of living entities in this world inimical to Bhagavat Dharma. Hiranyakasipu was a terrible demon and an openly determined atheist, but it is those who knowingly deceive others of their factual positions that are truly detrimental and dangerous. Followers of the indistinct formless Brahman like Prakasananda still had the facility for self-analysis and because of this he was able to rectify himself in Varnasi along with 60,000 other mayavadi sannyasis and receiving the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu accept the devotion of loving service to the Supreme Lord called bhakti as the supreme dharma or supreme purpose of human existence. It is not possible for non-devotees to be able to understand the impeccable magnitude and sublime beauty of such refined and sophisticated subject matters as loving, devotional service to the Supreme Lord. In the very first sloka of the 18,000 slokas contained in the Srimad Bhagavatam we find the words "satyam param dhimahi" which means I meditate on the absolute truth. Followers of the Vaisnava tradition are never hypocrites, they are the clear and knowledgeable followers of the absolute truth and the complete absolute truth in its highest manifestation is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, Who is worshipable by all. The Supreme truth is extremely esoteric and highly confidential, far beyond the consumate reasoning and conceptual power of the mind and the senses and impossible to understand except by the purified medium of a Vaisnava Guru and by receiving initiation from him become qualified to serve the Supreme Lord with all one’s heart and soul and execute loving devotional service to Him. The Supreme Personality of Godhead with Mayadevi submissively behind him was sighted at Soumyapras at Badarikashram on the bank of the Sarsvati River by Srila Vyasadeva. Temporal power is illusory power. It manifests differently in the form of Kapila's Sankhya philosophy which postulates that material natures is the cause of the cosmic creation. IN Kanada’s Vaisesik atomic theory which concludes that a combination of atoms is the cause of the cosmic creation. In Jaimini’s Mimamsaka philosophy which he propounds that if there is a God, He is subject to the laws of fruitive activities and thus controlled by actions In Gautama’s Nyaya theory of logic the conclusion is that the atom is the sole cause of the cosmic creation. In Patanjali’s Vibhuti Kaivalyadi or astanga yoga system the premise is that by practicing meditation and mastering mystic yogic postures Brahman is attained when self-realization comes; and finally the mayavadi philosophers headed b Sankaracaya put forth the hypothesis that this world is false and that everything is an illusion and the impersonal Brahman effulgence is the cause of the cosmic creation. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu traveled to the south of India through the Jarikhanda forest it was seen that elephants, tigers, deers, birds, trees, plants and all moving and crawling flying and stationary beings chanted Hare Krsna in divine ecstasy and experienced bliss. Since the concealment of Sanatana Dharma 500 years ago with the departure of the Supreme Lord Krsna to His eternal abode and the subsequent degraded commencement of the age of quarrel known as kali yuga. From that time onwards until even today an over abundance of diverse and obtuse religious points of view have manifested and been indoctrinated concerning the Supreme Lord. The universality of their doctrines depending upon the innate, internal development of the culture in question. From atheism which denies the very existence of God to zoomorphism which conceives of God as an animal; throughout this world these speculative concoctions abound unlimitedly and the deviation and distortion down through the ages has been horrendous. However it is well documented that Saivites, Saktas, Hindu, Buddhist, Hebrew, Christian, Muslim yogis, yavanas, mleechas, dacoits, infidels an mayavadis alike; irregardless of caste, creed, color, ashram conception or designation in far away countries or within Mother India, before B.C. and all through A.D. receiving the mercy of Vaisnava and Bhagavat dharma joyfully engaged themselves in devotional service of the Supreme Lord and tasted bliss. This declaration should be noted and not be taken lightly for it is an archaeological reality that the Greek ambassador Heliodorus was a Vaisnava devotee of Vasudeva Krsna one century and a half before the birth of Jesus Christ. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is absolute, eternal and transcendental to the temporal nature of the material worlds. If this misunderstanding is transported by ones imagination into the mundane scope of human intellect it is falsely understood and subsequently misconceived as idol worship. Then it is subjected to the conception of dualities perceived as form or formless, distinct or indistinct, existent or non-existent in accordance to one’s conditioned understanding. Fortunately the Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to all material conceptions and designations and far beyond any and all ontological opinions and dialectics. Supporters as well as antagonists of a conceptual God transgress His supreme transcendence with mundane visions of time, place and objective reality. But just as the sun existing millions of miles away shines pure light in a clean or dirty place equally; but is uninfluenced by either of them. In the same way the Transcendent Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Krsna and His supra mundane and wonderful incarnations although appearing in the material world are never influenced and never subject to the jurisdiction of the material energy. Gross material enjoyment makes most humans happy as pigs in stool. Epicureans will shamelessly go into debt to satisfy their carnal pleasures. To be conscious of the obvious and potent spiritual energy which is orchestrating everything which is known and unknown is the birthright of every human being. One has to be a flesh eater, an alcohol drinker, a drug user or retarded to deny one’s birthright. Total amnesia to spiritual life is what the human race has created for themselves. Atheistic Sakya Singha and atheistic Kapila Muni aimed a gnostic life ignoring the spiritual world. Sankaracaya and other earlier ascetics also prescribed to this theory. Out of 8,400,000 different species in this material creation the human species is only one. It is so very difficult and rare to attain a human birth; yet billions of people misuse a truly golden opportunity and simply waste their human life trying to fulfill their animal propensities by foolishly pursuing their desires. In more modern times in Sri Navadvipa Dham, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura the pioneer and master foundation layer for the devotional religion of bhakti yoga has explained that one must be accepted by one of the four authorized sampradaya’s as given below: 1)Ramanuja’s Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya 2)Madhvacarya’s Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya 3)Visnusvami’s Rudra Vaisnava Sampradaya 4)Nimbarka’s Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Lord incarnate, Himself accepted the Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya of Madhvacarya when he accepted diksa form Sripad Isvara Puri and thus glorified or disciplic succession eternally. Caitanya Mahaprabhu did this to set the example and exemplify that the first limb of devotional service which is accepting a spiritual master must be followed and that this injunction is mandatory for every human being. Mahaprabhu declared that aul, baul, shain, daresh, kartabhaja, ativari and other various and sundry deviant sects of these four original sampradyas are factually not Vaisnavas. Their concocted assumptions and speculative interpretations have developed into full fledged distortion and deviation having no longer any connection with Bhagavat Dharma and Vaisnavas cannot be held responsible for their actions. Those who are respectful of Sanatana Dharma are not advaita-vadis and pantheists. ******************** "Sri Krsnadas Kaviraj Gosvami in defiance of mayavadism wrote about the evolution of the Brahman in detail. Srila Vyasadeva charts the precise course in this regard in His Vedanta-sutra consisting of the transcendental absolute truth without any human deficiency. The human deficiency is apparent in the form of so many unqualified commentaries of Vedanta sutra with Sankaracarya's Sariraka Bahsya heading the list. The message revealed in the Upanisads as expressed in Vedanta is definitively glorified. The Brahman indicates that the source of everything is Bhagavan, who is full with all transcendental opulences and superior to all and that this Bhagavan has a name, form, body, abode, associates, paraphernalia and a personality and that this Supreme Personality of Godhead is the one without a second Lord Sri Krsna. Wherever He descends becomes the spiritual world by His exalted position and who are unable to perceive His transcendental glories are blinded by the limited interpretations of their own erudition and thus the most they can do is establish Him as impersonal. While writing this introduction for "Vaisnava Vijaya" the transcendental welfare and ultimate salvation of all humanity is foremost in my mind. Without accurate reasoning, correct understanding and proper guidance this can never be achieved; for an appreciation of the higher concepts and finer principles of spiritual life which are extremely subtle will not be realized. In the regard we the devotees of Sanatana Dharma are eternally grateful to all the care and time that was given by the stalwarts of religious principles, the previous Vaisnavacaryas who systematically and comprehensively following implicitly the siddhanta of the disciplic succession left a spiritual legacy in their writings complete with commentaries for posterities future generations of Vaisnavas. At this time it would not be inappropriate or out of place; nor is it possible to resist the temptation to recall the illustrious devotees starting with Sri Brahma, Sri Narada, Sri Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasadeva, Sri Madhvacarya, Sri Ramanuja, Sri Visnuswami, Sri Nimbarka, Sri Madhavendra Puri, Sri Rupa, Sri Sanatana, Sri Jiva, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta, Sri Gopal Bhatta, Sri Raghunatha Das, Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraj, Sri Visvanatha Chakravarti, Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Prabhupada, Srila Bhakti Prajnan Kesava Gosvami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Gosvami Maharaj, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja; all who were luminaries and divine preceptors empowered in their own right and who dedicated their lives to the universal preaching of Bhagavat dharma in Lord Caitanya's glorious sankirtana movement to every nook and corner throughout all the worlds. In closing I wish to express that it is a habit for worms and insects to look for faulty cracks and crevices in marble palaces even though it is futile. It is also the nature of the demonic and evil to attempt to thwart and attack any noble effort form saintly people. Contrarily saints, seers and men of virtue are able to gather nectar from common flora and herbs. Vaisnavas are the most beloved of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are unbiased, unenvious and unoffensive and naturally always humble. They will always avoid mayavadism or any philosophy where there is no possibility to have a personal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even if their position is lowly and far away they still will shun impersonalism like the plague and with full faith and undeviated mind, peacefully and contentedly worship the Supreme Lord Krsna surrendering everything unto His lotus feet. Always desiring the blessings and causeless mercy of my Divine Master, Nitya-lila Pravista Om Visnupada 108 Sri Srimad Srila Bhakti Prajnan Kesava Gosvami Maharaj, I humbly take your leave. Tridandi-Bhiksu Bhakti Vedanta Vaman
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