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The Four Sampradayas and the Vedanta-sutras
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Subject: The Four Sampradayas and the Vedanta-sutras
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From: nparker@crl.com (Nathan Parker)
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Date: 9 Apr 1995 16:54:26 -0700
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From nparker@crl.com Sun Apr 9 19: 44:42 1995
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The Four Sampradayas and the Vedanta-sutras
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(from the books of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
founder-acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.)
SB 3.12.4
Although Brahma created the principles of nescience as a matter of
necessity for those living entities who were destined to ignorance by the
will of he Lord, he was not satisfied in performing such a thankless task.
He therefore created four principles of knowledge: sankhya, or empirical
philosophy for the analytical study of material conditions; yoga or
mysticism for liberation of the pure soul from material bondage; vairagya,
the acceptance of complete detachment from material enjoyment in life to
ele vate oneself to the highest spiritual understanding; and tapas, or the
various kinds of voluntary austerities performed for spiritual perfection.
Brahma created the four great sages Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanat to
entrust them with these four pri nciples of spiritual advancement, and
they inaugurated their own spiritual party, or sampradaya, known as the
Kumara-sampradaya, or later on as the Nimbaraka-sampradaya, for the
advancement of bhakti. All of these great sages became great devotees,
for w ithout devotional service to the Personality of Godhead one cannot
achieve success in any activity of spiritual value.
SB 4.22.5
Prthu Maharaja was the ideal Vaisnava king; therefore he taught
others by his personal behavior how to receive and respect saintly persons
like the Kumaras. When a saintly person comes to ones home, it is the
Vedic custom first to wash his feet with wa ter and then sprinkle this
water over the heads of oneself and ones family. Prthu Maharaja did
this, for he was an exemplary teacher of the people in general.
4.24.18
Lord Siva is known as the greatest devotee of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. He is known as the best of all types of Vaisnavas
(vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh). Consequently, Lord Siva has a Vaisnava
sampradaya, the disciplic succession known as the Ru dra-sampradaya. Just
as there is a Brahma-sampradaya coming directly from Lord Brahma, the
Rudra-sampradaya comes directly from Lord Siva. Lord Siva is one of the
twelve great personalities, as stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam:
svayambhur naradah sambhuh
kumarah kapilo manuh
prahlado janako bhismo
balir vaiyasakir vayam
These are twelve great authorities in preaching God consciousness.
The name Sambhu means Lord Siva. His disciplic succession is also known
as Visnusvami-sampradaya, and the current Visnusvami-sampradaya is also
known as the Vallabha-sampradaya. The cu rrent Brahma-sampradaya is known
as the Madva-Gaudiya-sampradaya. Even though Lord Siva appeared to preach
Mayavada philosophy, at the end of his pastime in the form of
Sankaracarya, he preached the Vaisnava philosophy: bhaja govindam bhaja
govindam bhaj a govindam mudha-mate. He stressed worshiping Lord Krsna,
or Govinda, three times in this verse and especially warned his followers
that they could not possibly acheive deliverance, or mukti, simply by word
jugglery and grammatical puzzles. If one is ac tually serius to attain
mukti, he must worhsip Lord Krsna. That is Sripada Sankarcaryas last
instruction.
4.28.31
There are fourteen Manus in one day of Brahma. A manvantar, the
life-span of one Manu, is given as 71 multiplied by 4,320,000 years.
After one such Manu passes on, another Manu begins his life-span. In this
way the life cycle of the universe is going on. As one Manu follows
another, the cult of Krsna consciousness is being imparted, as confirmed
in Bhagavad-gita (4.1)
sri-bhagavan uvaca
imam vivasvate yogam
proktavan aham avyayam
vivasvan manave praha
manur iksvakave bravit
"The Blessed Lord said, I instructed this imperishable science of
yoga to the sun-god, Vivisvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the
father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku." Vivasvan,
the sun-god, imparted Bhagavad-gita to one Manu, and this Manu imparted it
to his son, who imparted it to yet another Manu. In this way the
propagation of Krsna consciousness is never stopped. No one should think
that this Krsna consciousness movement is a new movement. As confirmed by
Bhagavad -gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, it is a very, very old movement, for
it has been pasing down from one Manu to another.
Among Vaisnavas there may be some difference of opinion due to
everyones personal identity, but despite all personal difference, the
cult of Krsna consiousness must go on. We can see that under the
instructions of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhak tisiddhanta
Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja began preaching the Krsna consciousness
movement in an organized way within the past hundred years. The disciples
of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja are all Godbrothers,
and although there are some differences of opinion, and although we are
not acting cojointly, every one of us is spreading this Krsna
consciousness movement according to his own capacity and producing many
disciples to spread it all over the world. As far as we are concerned, we
ha ve already started the International Society for Krishna Consciousness,
and many thousands of Europeans and Americans have joined this movement.
Indeed, it is spreading like wild-fire. The cult of Krsna consciousness,
based on the nine principles of dev otional service (sravanam, kirtanam
visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam/acanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam
atma-nivedanam), will never be stopped. It will go on without distinction
of caste, creed, color or country. No one can check it.
The word bhoksyate is very important in this verse. Just as a
king gives protection to his citizens, these devotees, following the
principles of devotional service, will give protection to all the people
of the world. The people of the world are very m uch harassed by
so-called religious principled svamis, yogis, karmis and jnanis, but none
of these can show the right way to become elevated to the spiritual
platform. There are primarily four parties spreading devotional service
all over the universe. These are the Ramanuja-sampradaya, the
Madhva-sampradaya, the Visnusvami-sampradaya and the Nimbarka-sampradaya.
The Madhva-Gaudiya-sampradaya in particular comes from Lord Caitanya
Mahaprabhu. All these devotees are spreading this Krsna consciousness m
ovement very widely and giving protection to innocent people who are being
so much embarrassed by pseudo-avataras, -svamis, -yogis and others.
SB 6.8.42
In the Padma Purana it is also said, sampradaya-vihina ye mantras
te nisphala matah. There are four sampradayas, or disciplic successions,
namely the Brahma-sampradaya, the Rudra-sampradaya, the Sri-sampradaya and
the Kumara-sampradaya. If one wants to advance in spiritual power, one
must recieve his mantras from one of these bona fide sampradayas;
otherwise he will never successfully advance in spiritual life.
Adi 1.19
The devotees of Orissa are called Udiyas, the devotees of Bengal
are called Gaudiyas, and the devotees of southern India are known as
Dravidi devotees. As there are five provinces in Aryavarta, so
Daksinatya, southern India, is also divided into five pr ovinces, which
are called Panca-dravida. The four Vaisnava acaryas who area the great
authorities of the four Vaisnava disciplic succession, as well as Sripada
Sankaracarya of the Mayavada school, appeared in the Panca-dravida
provinces. Among the four Vaisnava acaryas who are all accepted by the
Gaudiya Vaisnavas, Sri Ramanuja Acarya appeared at Pajakam (near
Vimanagiri) in the district of Myangalora, Sri Visnusvami appeared at
Pandya, and Sri Nimbarka appeared at Mungera-patana in the extreme south.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted the chain of disciplic succession
from Madhva Acarya, but the Vaisnavas in His line do not accept the
tattva-vadis, who also claim to belong to the Madhva-sampradaya. To
distinguish themselves clearly from the tattva-vad i branch of Madhvas
descendents, the Vaisnavas of Bengal prefer to call themselves Gaudiya
Vaisnavas. Sri Madhva Acarya is also known as Sri Gaudapurnananda, and
therefore the name Madhva-Gaudiya-sampradaya is quite suitable for the
disciplic succession of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas. Our spiritual master, Om
Visnupada Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, accepted
initiation in the Madhva-Gaudiya-sampradaya.
7.101
krsne bhakti kara -- ihaya sabara santosa
vedanta na suna kene, tara kiba dosa
Translation:
"Dear sire, there is no objection to Your being a great devotee of
Lord Krsna. Everyone is satisfied with this. But why do You avoid
discussion on the Vedanta-sutra? What is the fault in it?"
Purport:
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura comments in this
connection, "Mayavadi sannyasis accept that the commentary by Sri
Sankacarya known as Sarirakabhasya gives the real meaning of
Vedanta-sutra. In other words, Mayavadi sannyasis accept the meaning
expressed in the explanations of Vedanta-sutra, the Upanisads and all such
Vedic literatures in theri own impersonal way." The great Mayavadi
sannyasi Sadananda Yogindra has written a book known as Vedanta-sara in
which he writes:
vedanto nama upanisat-pramanam
tad-upakarini sariraka-sutradina ca
According to Sadananda Yogindra, the Vedanta and Upanisads, as
presented by Sri Sankacarya in his Sariraka-bhasya commentary, are the
only sources of Vedic evidence. Actually, however, Vedanta refers to the
essence of Vedic knowledge, and it is not a fa ct that there is nothing
more than Sankacaryas Sariraka-bhasya. There are other Vedanta
commentaries written by Vaisnava acaryas, none of whom follow Sri
Sankaracarya or accept the imaginative commentary of his school. Their
commentaries are based on t he philosophy of duality. Monist philosophers
like Sankaracarya and his followers want to establish that God and the
living entity are one, and instead of worshiping the Supreme Personality
of Godhead they present themselves as God. They want to be wor shiped as
God by others. Such persons do not accept the philosophies of the
Vaisnava acaryas, which are known as suddhadvaita (purified monism),
suddha-dvaita (purified dualism), visistadvaita (specific monism),
dvaitadvaita (monism and dualism) and aci ntya-bhedabheda (inconceivable
oneness and difference). Mayavadis do not discuss these philosophies, for
they are firmly convinced of their own philosophy of kevaladvaita,
exclusive monism. Accepting this system of philosophy as the pure
understanding o f Vedanta-sutra, they believe that Krsna has a body made
of material elements and that the activities of loving service to Krsna
are sentimentality. They are known as Mayavadis because according to
their opinion Krsna has a body which is made of maya, an d the loving
service of the Lord executed by devotees is also maya. They consider such
devotional service to be an aspect of fruitive activities (karma-kanda).
According to their view, bhakti consists of mental speculation or
sometimes meditation. This is the difference between the Mayavadi and
Vaisnava philosophies.
Mad 25.56
Purport:
The ultimate goal of studying all Vedic literature is the
acceptance of Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This Krsna
consciousness movement is propagating the philosophical conclusion of
Srila Vyasadeva and following other great acaryas like Ramanujacarya,
Madhvacarya, Visnusvami, Nimbarka and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself.
Ant 2.95
vaisnava hana yeba sariraka-bhasya sune
sevya-sevaka-bhava chadi apanare isvara mane
Translation:
When a Vaisnava listens to the Sariraka-bhasya, the Mayavada
commentary upon Vedanta-sutra, he gives up the Krsna conscious attitude
that the Lord is the mater and the living entity is His servant. Instead,
he considers himself the Supreme Lord.
Purport:
The philosophers known as kevaladvaita-vadis generally occupy
themselves with hearing the Sariraka-bhasya, a commentary by Sankaracarya
advocating that one impersonally consider oneself the Supreme Lord. Such
Mayavada philosophical commentaries upon Ved anta are simply imaginary,
but there are other commentaries on Vedanta philosophy. The commentary by
Srila Ramanujacarya, known as Sri-bhasya, establishes the
visistadvaita-vada philosophy. Similarly in the Brahma-sampradaya,
Madhvacaryas Purnaprajna-b hasya establishes suddha-dvaita-vada. In the
Kumara-sampradaya, or Nimbarka-sampradaya, Sri Nimbarka establishes the
philosophy of dvaitadvaita-vada in the Parijata-saurabha-bhasya. And in
the Visnusvami-sampradaya, or Rudra-sampradaya, which comes from Lord
Siva, Visnusvami has written a commentary called Sravajna-bhasya, which
establishes suddhadvaita-vada.
A Vaisnava should study the commentaries on Vedanta-sutra written
by the four sampradaya-acaryas, namely Sri Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya,
Visnusvami and Nimbarka, for these commentaries are based upon the
philosophy that the Lord is the master and that al l living entities are
His eternal servants. On interested in studying Vedanta philosophy
properly must study these commentaries, especially if he is a Vaisnava.
These commentaries are always adored by Vaisnavas. The commentary by
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati is elaborately given in the Adi-lila
Chapter Seven text 101. The Mayavada commentary Sariraka-bhasya is like
poison for a Vaisnava. It should not be touched al all. Srila
Bhaktivinoda Thakura remarks that even a maha-bhagavata, or highly ele
vated devotee who has surrendered himself unto the lotus feet of Krsna,
sometimes falls down from pure devotional service if he hears the Mayavada
philosophy of Sariraka-bhasya. This commentary should therefore be
shunned by all Vaisnavas.
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Note: Translations and Purports of Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, and
Caitanya-caritamrita are those of His Divine Grave A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acarya of the International Society for
Krishna Consciousness, and are copyrighted by the Bhaktivedanta Book
Trust.
