Guru Sadhu Sastra "As It Is": Bharadvaja Samhita Applicable to ISKCON... Gaura Kesava Prabhu defeated

Bharadvaja-samhita is...

Applicable to ISKCON

—A response to Gaura Kesava Prabhu’s contention, by Damodara Das

In his Facebook Post (Feb 10, 2019, 03:15—Title: “The Wrong Notion that Bharadvaja Samhita is applicable to ISKCON Defeated!”) Gaura Kesava Prabhu says that Bharadvaja-samhita is caste-by-birth-based and prohibit women etc. from worshipping deities, etc. While Hari-bhakti-vilasa rejects such notions found in sastras and goes against them following “spiritual egalitarianism” and allows women etc. for these things. Thus Bharadvaja samhita is not applicable to ISKCON (for detailed point by point reply to his post, go on reading)

This is a wrong contention. Bharadvaja samhita, Narada pancaratra, doesn’t prohibit women or sudras from worshipping deities of the Lord; rather it supports them to worship the deities of the Lord. It seems that without reading Bharadvaja samhita Gaura Kesava Prabhu is giving his comments and unnecessarily misleading devotees. I would humbly ask him to present one quote from Bharadvaja-samhita to prove his point that women are prohibitd from worshipping deities; if not then he should to take back his statement.

Actually all pancaratra sastras have given allowance to women, sudras and lower to worship the deities of the Lord and receive initiation into pancaratrika mantras—tāntrikeṣu ca mantreṣu dīkṣāṁ yoṣitām-api. Similarly, Bharadvaja samhita 1.13-15 also gives them same allowance.

When Bharadvaja-samhita says that women are allowed to take dīkṣā, it means they are allowed to take pañca-saṁskāras (detailed in Chapter 2 of the pariśiṣṭa of Bhāradvāja-saṁhitā). Yāga, the last of the pañca-saṁskāras, makes them eligible to worship Deities. This consideration is the same as given in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. (For more details on ISKCON’s diksa procedure and Panca-samskaras goto

https://siddhanta.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/harinam_diksa_and_fdg-final.pdf)

Bharadvaja samhita says—

prāptum icchan parāṁ siddhiṁ janaḥ sarvo ’py akiñcanaḥ |

śraddhayā parayā yukto hariṁ śaraṇam āśrayet ||13||

One who desires to achieve ultimate benefit ( parā siddhi) and who is without desire for proprietorship (akiñcana) must take shelter of Lord Hari with transcendental faith.

na jāti-bhedaṁ na kulaṁ na liṅgaṁ na guṇa-kriyāḥ |

na deśa-kālau nāvasthāṁ yogo hy ayam apekṣate ||14||

There is no consideration of birth, family, gender, or quality, work, etc., nor is there consideration of time, place, and circumstance in accepting this yoga process (pāñcarātrika-vidhi).

brahma-kṣatra-viśaḥ śūdrāḥ striyāś cāntarajās tathā |

sarva eva prapadyeran sarva-dhātāram acyutam ||15||

Anyone, whether they be brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, śūdras, women, antyajas, or anyone else, should, with full faith, take shelter of Lord Acyuta, who is the master of all living entities, through the medium of this yoga.

THIS IS PANCHARATRIKA VIDHI, WHICH IS DIFFERENT FROM VEDIC VIDHI.

Gaura Kesava Prabhu is trying to mix both vidhis and say that although Vedic literatures prohitbit women from worshipping Lord, that instruction is not valid for initiated vaisnavis. However, one must note that pancharatrika vidhi is different from Vedic vidhi. It is not a whimsical allowance. One must follow some vidhi.

So if women, sudras, etc. are to be initiated, then the vidhi or procedure for that is to be had from pancaratras. Please NOTE: here sudras etc. are to be taken by quality and not by birth as already explained in my previous replies. Srila Prabhupada says that brahmana, etc. mentioned in Bharadvaja samhita and pancaratras are to be taken by quality—

It is not a fact that because one is born in a brāhmaṇa family he is automatically a brāhmaṇa. He has a better chance to become a brāhmaṇa, but unless he meets all the brahminical qualifications, he cannot be accepted as such. On the other hand, if the brahminical qualifications are found in the person of a śūdra, he should immediately be accepted as a brāhmaṇa. To substantiate this there are many quotations from Bhāgavatam, Mahābhārata, Bharadvāja-saṁhitā and the pañcarātra, as well as many other scriptures. (SB 4.31.10, Purport)

Feb 10, 2019 | 03:15 | Face Book Page of Gaura Kesava Prabhu

The Wrong Notion that Bharadvaja Samhita is applicable to ISKCON Defeated!

by G. Keshava das

Analyzing the half truths told by those motivated by Caste-by-Birth Asura Varnasharam mentality.

Bharadvaja Samhita like Manu Samhita contains casteist and sexist discrimination about the purely spiritual position of Vaisnava Diksha guru which is rejected by Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON, the Vrndavan Goswamis and Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and should find no place in ISKCON today. Such bodily discrimination isn't applicable to the purely spiritual position of Vaisnava or Vaisnavi Siksha or Diksha Guru. Accepting Bharadvaja Samhita (or Manu Samhita) fully would be to establish the evil of Asura Caste-by-birth Varnashrama principles in ISKCON.

N.B. There are certainly some Vaisnavas and Vaisnava Sampradayas that strictly follow both the prescriptions of Bharadvaja and Manu Samhitas. However even those persons and sampradayas do not 100% follow the Dharma Sastras like Manu. To be clear Manu and even some Vaisnavas do not allow for sudra/mlecca-born mles or any females to hear, chant, receive or give Vedic mantras like Om namo narayanaya, Savitri Gayatri, Gopal mantra and even Hare Krishna Mahamantra (all from the Vedas and Upanisads i.e. Sruti). Vaisnava principles do not accept this. The Goswamis of Vrndavan have given examples of prohibitory rules for women and sudra/mlecca-born males and they say that these sastric statements do not apply to women and sudra/mlecca-born males who are initiated Gaudiya Vaisnavas. This is confirmed in the following quotes from Hari Bhakti Vilasa.

There are certainly some slokas in some Caste-by-birth Asura Varnashrama sastras that indeed say that women cannot perform certain ritual acts or chant Vaidic mantras. However those very same sastric quotes (which have been presented in part by the Anti-VDG malcontents) also like diksha or puja, say that sudra-born or mlecca-born males similarly cannot perform such ritual acts like diksha or puja or chant Vaidic mantras.

Sri Hari Bhakti Vilasa (HBV) which is the standard for Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya behavior (anuṣṭhāna/religious and ritual practice) also mentions this.

brāhmaṇāsyaiva pūjyo’haṁ śucer apy aśucer api

strī-sūdrakara saṁsparśo vajrād api suduḥ sahaḥ

praṇava uccāraṇac caiva śalagrāma śilārcanāt

brahmaṇī gamanāc caiva śūdraś caṇḍālatāmiyat

An example of a prohibitory injunction is “Whether pure or impure, ONLY (those born) Brāhmaṇas are qualified to worship Me. I feel the touch of a (person born) Śūdra or a woman to be more painful than a thunderbolt. If they utter the sacred syllable Oṁ (Oṁkara/praṇava), worship Śalagrāma Śilā, or have sex with a Brāhmaṇa woman, they become dog-eaters.” HBV 5.454-455

The Anti-VDG malcontents say that sastric evidences like this show that no woman can hear or chant Oṁkara (something accepted in Madhva Sampradaya and also by the Vadakalai sect of Ramanuja Vaisnavas also but not the Tengalai Ramanuja sect). Naturally they therefore cannot be diksha gurus because they cannot utter Vaidic mantras or perform diksha rituals. The Anti-VDG malcontents thus say that “if it is stated so in sastra it must apply to women in ISKCON today also, sastra is sastra they say”. They hypocritically do not accept the other half of the slokas which say that sudra or mlecca-born males also have the same low status and also can never hear or chant Vaidic mantras or thus perform diksha rituals. They say that on sastric proofs like this no woman can do any of these things and that anyone who think that women can do these things must be a modern western feminist.

However Gopal Bhatta and Sanatana Goswamis who complied and commented on the Hari Bhakti Vilasa on the order of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu to establish standards for all Gaudiya Vaisnavas disagree with the Anti-VDG malcontents. The prohibitory slokas quoted above are given by the Goswamis as an example of sastric statements that are wrongly applied to initiated Gaudiya Vaisnava women and/or males born in sudra (or mlecca) families.

This is a wrong contention. Bharadvaja samhita, Narada pancaratra, doesn’t at all prohibit women or sudras from worshipping deities of the Lord; rather it supports them to worship the deities of the Lord. Without reading Bharadvaja samhita Gaura Kesava Prabhu is giving his comments and unnecessarily misleading devotees. All the pancaratra sastras have given allowance to women, sudras and lower to worship the deities of the Lord and receive initiation into pancaratrika mantras.

https://siddhanta.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/harinam_diksa_and_fdg-final.pdf)

Bharadvaja samhita says—

prāptum icchan parāṁ siddhiṁ janaḥ sarvo ’py akiñcanaḥ |

śraddhayā parayā yukto hariṁ śaraṇam āśrayet ||13||

One who desires to achieve ultimate benefit ( parā siddhi) and who is without desire for proprietorship (akiñcana) must take shelter of Lord Hari with transcendental faith.

na jāti-bhedaṁ na kulaṁ na liṅgaṁ na guṇa-kriyāḥ |

na deśa-kālau nāvasthāṁ yogo hy ayam apekṣate ||14||

There is no consideration of birth, family, gender, or quality, work, etc., nor is there consideration of time, place, and circumstance in accepting this yoga process (pāñcarātrika-vidhi).

brahma-kṣatra-viśaḥ śūdrāḥ striyāś cāntarajās tathā |

sarva eva prapadyeran sarva-dhātāram acyutam ||15||

THIS IS PANCHARATRIKA VIDHI, WHICH IS DIFFERENT FROM VEDIC VIDHI.

Here are the previous slokas of the section so that we can know the real purport of the Goswamis on these issues in context:

evaṁ śrī bhagavān sarvaḥ śālagrāma śilātmakaḥ

dvijaiḥ strībhiś ca śūdraiś ca pūjyo bhagavataḥ paraiḥ

“Therefore everyone, whether (born) dvija, woman or śūdra, should engage in worshiping the Supreme Lord in His form as the śālagrāma śilā, after being duly initiated.” HBV 5.450

tathā skānde śrī brahma nārada saṁvāde cāturmāsya vrate śālagrāma śilārca prasaṅge

In the conversation between Lord Brahmā and Nārada Muni regarding the worship of śālagrāma śilā in the connection with the caturmasya vow that is found in Skanda Purāṇa, it is stated:

brahmaṇa kṣatriya viśāṁ sat śudrāṇām athāpi vā

śālagrāme'dhikāro'sti na cānyeṣāṁ kadācana

"Brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, and vaiśyas are qualified to worship the śālagrāma śilā. If a śudra is a devotee of Lord Hari then he is also qualified. Otherwise, he is not. (A brāhmaṇa who is not a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu is not qualified to worship the śālagrāma śilā but the śudra who is attached to the devotional service of Lord Hari is qualified to worship the śālagrāma śilā. The word sat śudra in this verse refers to a śudra who is inclined to the devotional service of Lord Hari.) HBV 5.451

tatraivānyatra (Elsewhere in the same Purāṇa it is stated)

striyo vā yadi vā śūdrā brāhmaṇāḥ kṣatriyādayaḥ

pūjayitvā śilā cakram labhante śāśvataṁ padam

"It does not matter whether one is a woman, śudra, brāhmaṇa or kṣatriya, anyone who worships the śālagrāma śilā attains the eternal abode of the Supreme Lord." HBV 5.452

ato niṣedhakaṁ yad yad vacanaṁ śrūyate sphuṭam

avaiṣṇava paraṁ tat tad vijñeyaṁ tattva dirśibhiḥ

This last verse is put together with an example of the sastric statements which do not apply to devotees of Lord Visnu as follows:

ato niṣedhakaṁ yad yad vacanaṁ śrūyate sphuṭam

avaiṣṇava paraṁ tat tad vijñeyaṁ tattva dirśibhiḥ

brāhmaṇāsyaiva pūjyo’haṁ śucer apy aśucer api

strī-sūdrakara saṁsparśo vajrād api suduḥ sahaḥ

praṇava uccāraṇac caiva śalagrāma śilārcanāt

brahmaṇī gamanāc caiva śūdraś caṇḍālatāmiyat

"According to those who are knowers of the truth, the statements prohibiting the worship of the śalagrāma śilā by śudras and women that are found in scriptures are applicable only to those who are not devotees of Lord Viṣṇu." An example of a prohibitory injunction is “Whether pure or impure, ONLY (those born) Brāhmaṇas are qualified to worship Me. I feel the touch of a (person born) Śūdra or a woman to be more painful than a thunderbolt. If they utter the sacred syllable Oṁ (Oṁkara/praṇava), worship Śalagrāma Śilā, or have sex with a Brāhmaṇa woman, they become dog-eaters.” HBV 5.453-455

So I have quoted Hari Bhakti Vilasa above to show that while there are actual sastras that have quotes that deny women or sudra/mlecca born males from receiving, giving, hearing, or chanting Vedic mantras (like Omkara, Gayatri or even Hare Krishna mahamantra) and therefore doing deity worship or other Gaudiya Vaisnava diksha rituals, these sastric quotes are not accepted by Sanatana and Gopal Bhatta Goswamis who above express the Gaudiya Vaisnava scriptural egalitarian opinion that such quotes do not apply to initiated Gaudiya Vaisnava women or sudra/mlecca-born males.

This is a misleading statement. Gaura Kesava Prabhu says “actual sastras that have quotes that deny women or sudra/mlecca born males” but Sanatana Gosvami doesn’t accept them for Gaudiya Vaisnava initiated devotees. This directly accuses Sanatana Gosvami and Gopala Bhatta Gosvami of sastra ninda. Gaura Kesava Prabhu’s logic is going to establish that Gaudiya Vaisnavism is not based on sastras but whimsical cherry picking or practices from sastras and whimsical innovation. This is not in accordance with Srila Prabhupada’s constant order that ISKCON is fully based on guru-sadhu-sastras.

“So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, the initiation ceremony, the marriage ceremony, the sacred thread ceremony, whatever we observe, they are strictly according to the śāstra. That is our point.” (Wedding lecture, New Delhi, Nov 17, 1971)

Gaura Kesava Prabhu seems to purposefully avoid accepting that there are two vidhis in sastras—Vedic vidhi and Pancaratrika vidhi. Pancaratras are also sastras. They are not beyond the scope of bonafide vaisnava sastras as Gaura Kesava Prabhu wants us all to believe. Hari-bhakti-vilasa accepts pancaratrika vidhi and thus accepts allowances for women etc. for getting initiation. He doesn’t go beyond the purview of sastras in allowing women etc. for getting tantrika mantras, performing deity worship, etc. He is not influenced by mordern egalitarian ideas.

Now the same pancaratra sastras prohibit women as gender from becoming diksa-guru. Gaura Kesava Prabhu wants to accept the part of pancaratra sastras which fits with his egalitarian views while wants to reject the part of pancaratras which is against his egalitarian views. This is cherry picking, ardha-kukkutti-nyaya.

As for sudras being prohibited, we have already explained above, according to Srila Prabhupada, Bharadvaja samhita and pancaratras take varna by quality.

What I have thus proved is that these ideas are not in fact modern western feminist ideas as the Anti-VDG malcontents suggest. They are in fact the true philosophical understanding of the Gaudiya Acharyas i.e. the Goswamis as expressed in Hari Bhakti Vilasa which they were ordered to write as the standard for Gaudiya Vaisnava anusthana/ritual religious practice by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Gaura Kesava Prabhu wants to artificially fit modern asastric egalitarianism in Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy. But in doing so he divorces them from sastras.

Please therefore do not be fooled by Anti-VDG malcontents who insist that sastric quotes prove that women and/or sudra/mlecca-born Gaudiya Vaisnavas are not qualified to receive, give, hear, or chant Vedic mantras (like Omkara, Gayatri or even Hare Krishna mahamantra) and therefore doing deity worship or other Gaudiya Vaisnava diksha rituals.

Ramanujacharya himself climbed to the top of the Temple tower and disobeying his guru taught the Vedic mantra Om namo narayanaya to all and sundry, regardless of caste or gender. This is specifically against Dharma Sastra Smarta Caste-by-Birth Asura Varnashrama rules that state that women and sudra/mlecca-born males are forbidden to hear, chant, receive or give Vedic utterances. It is only Caste-by-birth Smartas (and some orthodox Madhva and Vadakalai Sri Vaisnavas) and not most Vaisnavas that accept these Caste-by-Birth Asura Varnashrama regulations. ISKCON and Gaudiya Sampradaya do not (neither do Tengalai Sri Vaisnava or Sattada Sri Vaisnava traditions).

False interpretations and assumptions based on half truths told by Anti-VDG malcontents quoting Bharadvaja Samhita:

[My comments in square brackets inline below]

These verses are presented in serial order, as presented in the saṁhitā.

prāptum icchan parāṁ siddhiṁ janaḥ sarvo ’py akiñcanaḥ | śraddhayā parayā yukto hariṁ śaraṇam āśrayet ||13||

“One who desires to achieve ultimate benefit (parā siddhi) and who is without desire for proprietorship (akiñcana) must take shelter of Lord Hari with transcendental faith.”

[We agree]

na jāti-bhedaṁ na kulaṁ na liṅgaṁ na guṇa-kriyāḥ | na deśa-kālau nāvasthāṁ yogo hy ayam apekṣate ||14||

“There is no consideration of birth, family, gender, or quality, work, etc., nor is there consideration of time, place, and circumstance in accepting this yoga process (pāñcarātrikī vidhi).”

[We agree]

brahma-kṣatra-viśaḥ śūdrāḥ striyāś cāntarajās tathā | sarva eva prapadyeran sarva-dhātāram acyutam ||15||

“Anyone, whether they be brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, śūdras, women, antyajas, or anyone else, should, with full faith, take shelter of Lord Acyuta, who is the master of all living entities, through the medium of this yoga.”

[We agree. N.B. Only in the Gaudiya Math, ISKCON and the Vajrasucika Upanisad are brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas, sudras, women and antya-jas clearly defined by qualifications and not birth.

What about Srimad Bhagatam? That means you reject Srimad Bhagavatam also. What about Srila Prabhupada’s statement—

I request you to please do your research properly before stating something.

The word antya-ja contains the word ja which stands for janma or birth. It means literally "inferior birth" In the translation the word antya-ja is mentioned. Antya-ja in Monier Williams Sanskrit dictionary (the standard dictionary used by Srila Prabhupada and the BBT) as "of the lowest caste, a Sudra, a man of one of seven inferior tribes (a washerman, currier, mimic, Varuḍa, fisherman, Meda or attendant on women, and mountaineer or forester).

Further definition of Varuḍa is "of a low mixed caste (one of the 7 low castes called Antya-ja, whose occupation is splitting canes) and the feminine version Varuḍī is a woman of the above caste. Further the word Meda is defined as "a particular mixed caste (the son of a Vaideha and a Karavara or a Nishada female according to some, any person who lives by degrading occupations). Vaidehas are defined as "a particular mixed caste, the son of a Sudra by a Vaisya or of a Vaisya by a Brahman woman. Further a Kārāvara is defined as "a man of a mixed and low caste (born from a Nishada father and Vaidehī mother, working in leather and hides.

So wherever we see the word Antya-ja it refers to a person of lower birth (antya or inferior, ja or janma/birth). So it does not indicate a person who is judged according to his guna and karma but by his birth. All the classes in this sloka including brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas, sudras, women, antya-jas are being defined by their birth only and not by their gunas and karmas or qualifications.

We cannot superimpose the ideas of Gaudiya Math and ISKCON that these classes are defined by their qualifications on the text of Bharadvaja Samhita. Neither do most Sri Vaisnavas accept that definition. So we cannot superimpose on Sri Vaisnavas or Madhvas or any Vaisnavas outside of Gaudiya Math and ISKCON the definition of these classes by qualification or guna and karma.

So you are saying that the idea of varna by quality is just the idea of Srila Prabhupada and his Guru Maharaja. It is not sastric. This is what it boils down to.

When it is said in the Bhagavad-gita that varna is by qualities not by birth, then this fact is to be applied in sastras wherever brahmana etc. is mentioned. Please come with your all arguments on this matter and I am ready to prove that in all sastras brahmanas etc. is actually by qualities not by birth.

The logic that you are putting forward is full of smarta understanding. Srila Prabhupada doesn’t subscribe to it. He has quoted Manu samhita supporting activities of Brahmana etc. in his purport to SB 7.11.14 which is actually quoted by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. You do not find anywhere mentioned in Manu samhita that brahmanas etc. are to be judged by qualities. Nonetheless Srila Prabhupada uses these instructions of Manu samhita to forward the cause of varna by qualities varnasrama system.

This is because Prabhupada doesn’t “throw the baby out with the bath water.” What he rejects it the point that varna be judged based on birth. He doesn’t reject the idea of dividing varnasrama duties among different varnas. We have to just change the identification method—rest, the duties are the same as mentioned in Manu samhita etc.

That is not the definition given in Manu Samhita or other Dharma Sastras and is also not the definition given here in Bharadvaja Samhita as seen by the use of the word Antya-ja which contains the word ja or janma i.e birth. This will become more important in the next slokas.]

prapitsur mantra-nirataṁ prājñaṁ hita-paraṁ śucim | praśāntaṁ niyataṁ vṛttau bhajed dvija-varaṁ gurum ||38||

“Thus, one who is desirous of surrendering with faith, should take shelter of a guru who is always engaged in chanting the mantra and is a knower of bhakti-siddhānta (prājñam), is always engaged, without any desire for personal benefit, in showering mercy on fallen souls (hita-param), who is always pure in heart or free of sins, peaceful, and always committed to his prescribed duties (ordained by his guru or by varṇāśrama). Such a guru should be the best of the twice-born (dvija-varam meaning brāhmaṇa).”

[Again the words dvija-varam here mean best of those who have taken second birth or upanayanam samskara which is ONLY offered in Caste-by-Birth Asura Varnashrama or in Dharma Sastras to those males born in the families of brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas.

It does not refer to those who have been elevated to the level of Vaisnavas by Vaisnava Mantra Diksha. Such persons may be considered by Gaudiya Math and ISKCON as exactly equal to those born in Brahmana families but outside of Gaudiya Math and ISKCON this is considered as a theoretical equivalence and not a practical one.

Being elevated by Vaisnava initiation does not entitle any woman or sudra or antya-ja male from taking upanayanam or savitri gayatri initiation according to these verses. So this idea should not be superimposed on the sastra Bharadvaja Samhita.

Gaura Kesava Prabhu is superimposing his caste-by-birth smarta ideas on Bharadvaja-samhita. Srila Prabhupada says—

This verse clearly means that ONLY those who are actual born dvijas i.e. males born in brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya families and having their second birth by upanayanam or gayatri initiation may be a guru.

Conversely it also means that this verse not only excludes women but also males born in sudra or antya-ja families from being gurus. Please ask any Sri Vaisnava if this is the understanding. However the translators seem to conveniently forget that in explaining that women cannot be gurus the Bharadvaja Samhita also bans males born in sudra or antyaja families also.]

sapta-pūruṣa-vijñeye santataikānti-nirmale | kule jāto guṇair yukto vipro śreṣṭhatamo guruḥ ||39||

“The best guru of all is a learned brāhmaṇa endowed with good qualities who has taken birth in a sinless lineage of devotee ancestors, traceable up to seven generations.”

[Here this sloka explains that the best guru is born in a pure family. This is quite in context of the above sloka being about the qualification of a guru as being a male born in a higher class family i.e. brahmana, ksatriya or vaisya.]

svayaṁ vā bhakti-sampanno jñāna-vairāgya-bhūṣitaḥ | sva-karma-nirato nityam arhaty ācāryatāṁ dvijaḥ ||40||

“Even if a twice-born brāhmaṇa (dvija) happens to have some non-devotees in his family line, or has not been fortunate to take birth in a renowned family of pure devotees, he nevertheless always deserves to be an ācārya if he is endowed with all good qualities like knowledge and renunciation, is engaged in his prescribed duties (sva-karma), and is steeped in loving devotion to the Lord.”

[We agree. A divja as defined in the above slokas as a male born in the families Brahmana, Ksatriya or Vaisya, has some non-Vaisnavas in his family or has not taken birth in a family of pure Vaisnavas i.e. only of ordinary brahmanas, ksatriyas or vaisyas. Still he can be a guru. This sloka in context here does not mean that a male who is not a dvija by birth can be a guru.]

nācāryaḥ kula-jāto ’pi jñāna-bhakty-ādi-varjitaḥ | na ca hīna-vayo-jātiḥ prakṛṣṭānām anāpadi ||41||

“On the other hand, one cannot become an ācārya even if one is born in a great family line (as mentioned before) but is devoid of jñāna, bhakti, good qualities, etc. Also, unless there is an emergency, an ācārya from a lower birth or age should not initiate a person from a higher birth or age.”

[Two points are made in this sloka. First even if one is born in a great family line and is a male dvija, if he does not have jnana, bhakti, good qualities, etc. he cannot be guru. Thus he needs to be born male in a dvija family AND ALSO he needs jnana, bhakti, and good qualities. It does not say that he can substitute jnana, bhakti and good qualities for being born a male in a dvija family.

Secondly amongst male dvijas, those males born in the families of brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas, should not initiate persons older than themselves nor those born in a higher class than themselves.]

na jātu mantra-dā nārī na śūdro nāntarodbhavaḥ | nābhiśasto na patitaḥ kāma-kāmo ’py akāminaḥ ||42||

“Even then, a woman, a śūdra and an antyaja can never act as initiating gurus, nor can anyone who is accused of a great sin or is fallen. And an aspiring disciple who is already accomplished in detachment (akāmī) should never accept a guru who is infected with material desires.”

[This is completely contradicted by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhus statement in Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya Lila 8.128:

kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya

yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya

“Whether one is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī or a śūdra—regardless of what he is—he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa.”

Therefore for Gaudiya Sampradaya and ISKCON this order of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and the Vrndavan Goswamis (as quoted above) supercede the caste-by-birth rules of Caste-by-Birth Asura Varnashrama as mentioned in Bharadvaja Samhita and Manu Samhita. (Some other Vaisnavas and Sampradayas may wish not to follow Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Prabhupada and the Vrndavan Goswamis and to follow Bharadvaja Samhita and Manu Samhita more strictly but clearly Gaudiya Vaisnavas and specifically ISKCON can not.)]

striyaḥ śūdrādayaś caiva bodhayeyur hitāhitam | yathārhaṁ mānanīyāś ca nārhanty ācāryatāṁ kvacit ||43||

“Women, śūdras, etc., can give ethical and moral instructions and are also worthy of respect as per their qualifications and conditions but are not entitled to get the position of ācārya.”

[We disagree. We accept the teachings of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Prabhupada and the Vrndavan Goswamis on this matter that supercede the caste-by-birth Asura Varnasharama rules presented in Bharadvaja Samhita and Manu Samhita. For details see above.]

kim apy atrābhijāyante yoginaḥ sarva-yoniṣu | pratyakṣitātma-nāthānāṁ naiṣāṁ cintyaṁ kulādikam ||44||

“But, because perfect yogis (or nitya-siddha devotees) who are on the stage of yoga-pratyakṣa (i.e. are self- realized – seeing God face-to-face), pratyakṣitātma-nāthānām, may take birth in any family tradition, in such cases no consideration of kula, gender, etc. as mentioned earlier apply (they can become ācāryas).”

[Every person who knows the science of Lord Krsna, yei krsna tattva vetta sei guru hoy, knows that Lord Krsna appears in His non-different deity form in the temple and homes of all Vaisnava Sampradayas. Anyone with this knowledge can and does see the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His Arca Avatar form "face to face" each time they have darshan of the deities in these places. The idea given in this sloka is that someone should understand the Vaisnava philosophical doctrines fully which is exactly the same as Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Prabhupada and the Vrndavan Goswamis insistance on a person being yei krsna tattva vetta sei guru hoy. Thus we agree that a person who knows such transcendental knowledge thus sees the deity in the temple as non-different from God Himself. This is in contrast to someone who sees the deity in the temple simply as a statue or ordinary stone. Those who think otherwise have a hellish mentality.

arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matir vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhir

viṣṇor vā vaiṣṇavānāṁ kali-mala-mathane pāda-tīrthe 'mbu-buddhiḥ

śrī-viṣṇor nāmni mantre sakala-kaluṣa-he śabda-sāmānya-buddhir

viṣṇau sarveśvareśe tad-itara-sama-dhīr yasya vā nārakī saḥ

If one thinks that the worshipable śālagrāma-śilā is a mere stone, that the spiritual master is an ordinary human being or that a pure Vaiṣṇava preaching the bhakti cult all over the world is a member of a particular caste or material division of society, he is considered a nārakī, a candidate for hellish life. CC Antya 6.294 (Quoted from Padma Purāṇa)

N.B. Nara-matir means literally “[ordinary] person-mentality” if we consider a Vaisnava or Vaisnavi guru or teacher to be an ordinary human being that is a hellish mentality and Jāti-buddhir means literally "birth-mentality” if we consider an aspect of a Vaisnavas or Vaisnavis material birth to be a disqualification, it is a hellish mentality. Females are also a material division of society.

The malcontents against VDGs (Vaisnavi Diksha Gurus) say that the above does not apply to those born female, it only applies to those born male. Thus they consider the qualification for being a Vaisnava Mantra Diksha guru to be dependent on a customary or social convention i.e. that only dvija born males can be diksha gurus.

Srila Prabhupada did not teach or agree to follow the caste and gender discriminatory rules given in those certain sastras which deal with hereditary, customary social or ecclesiastical conventions, as a basis for the purely spiritual position of Vaisnava Diksha Guru.

Srila Prabhupada did not accept that the qualification to be guru is based on customary hereditary, ecclesiastic or social considerations. He tells us this clearly in the section defining Guru Tattva in Caitanya Caritamrta (the first chapter of Adi Lila teaches Gaudiya Vaisnava Guru Tattva):

Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī advises that one not accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social and ecclesiastical conventions. One should simply try to find a genuinely qualified spiritual master for actual advancement in spiritual understanding. CC Adi 1.35 purport

Accepting a guru ONLY from a group of hereditary lines of dvija born male gurus is wrong as per this statement.

Accepting a guru ONLY from a customary social group i.e. only (dvija) males is wrong as per this statement.

Accepting a guru ONLY from an ecclesiastically approved group i.e. approved by a Church system (ecclesiastical convention means Church rules or GBC resolutions) is wrong as per this statement.

One may accept a guru from one of the above groups, but one must not think that only those who are hereditary gurus, male gurus or Church approved gurus are the ONLY spiritually qualified persons to be guru. If one does then as stated above in the Padma Purana, he has a hellish mentality. This evil hellish mentality must not be allowed to enter ISKCON.]

Guru Sadhu Sastra "As It Is"

Bharadvaja Samhita Applicable to ISKCON... Gaura Kesava Prabhu defeated

No comments:

Post a Comment