We Don't Allow Any Literature Not Given by Liberated Soul

BY: MAHESH RAJA

Apr 11, UK (SUN) — The difference between Srila Prabhupada's books and other so-called gurus' (conditioned souls) writing is Srila Prabhupada's instruction was coming directly from Krsna. This is the transcendental platform. Srila Prabhupada encouraged his disciples, however, to write their realizations. Other conditioned souls may present their nonsense commentaries on Bhagavad-Gita etc., but they will NEVER be QUOTED FOR REFERENCES. Srila Prabhupada is on the TRANCENDANTAL platform and Krishna speaks through him, consequently ONLY he will be QUOTED FOR REFERENCE.

His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada is always consulting Krsna:

Srila Prabhupada Interview, July 14, 1976, New York:

Bali-mardana: "In other words, when you decide that someone is to be in charge of a particular temple does Krsna tell you that this person should be in charge.
Interviewer: Or do you by judging him say this person is qualified.
Prabhupada: Yes, because a devotee always consults Krsna and He gives order.
Interviewer: It's a more direct communication.
Prabhupada: Yes. And He gives order.
Ramesvara: Because intelligence, our philosophy is that intelligence comes from Krsna. So if I have some...
Interviewer: And your philosophy is that your daily necessities come from Krsna as well.
Ramesvara: Yes, try to understand. Suppose my intelligence sees that this person is qualified, that means Krsna has told me.
Prabhupada: No, not necessarily, Krsna will tell directly. A devotee always consults Krsna and Krsna tells him, "do like this." Not figuratively. Interviewer: Does that apply then to other kinds of decisions and other kinds of activities as well?
Prabhupada: Everything. Because a devotee does not do anything without consulting Krsna."

His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada speaks as Krsna speaks:

Caitanya-caritamrta Antya 5.71:

"One is forbidden to accept the guru, or spiritual master, as an ordinary human being (gurusu nara-matih). When Ramananda Raya spoke to Pradyumna Misra, Pradyumna Misra could understand that Ramananda Raya was not an ordinary human being. A spiritually advanced person who acts with authority, as the spiritual master, speaks as the Supreme Personality of Godhead dictates from within. Thus it is not he that is personally speaking. When a pure devotee or spiritual master speaks, what he says should be accepted as having been directly spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the parampara system."

The difference is Srila Prabhupada speaks what Krsna speaks and so-called gurus have to jog the brain to give answers.

Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 8.39 - The Author Receives the Orders of Krsna and Guru:

 

"It is not possible for a common man to write books on bhakti, for his writings will not be effective. He may be a very great scholar and expert in presenting literature in flowery language, but this is not at all helpful in understanding transcendental literature. Even if transcendental literature is written in faulty language, it is acceptable if it is written by a devotee, whereas so-called transcendental literature written by a mundane scholar, even if it is a very highly polished literary presentation, cannot be accepted. The secret in a devotee's writing is that when he writes about the pastimes of the lord, the lord helps him; he does not write himself. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (10.10), dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te. Since a devotee writes in service to the Lord, the Lord from within gives him so much intelligence that he sits down near the Lord and goes on writing books. Krsnadasa Kaviraja gosvami confirms that what Vrndavana dasa Thakura wrote was actually spoken by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and he simply repeated it. The same holds true for Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami wrote Sri Caitanya-caritamrta in his old age, in an invalid condition, but it is such a sublime scripture that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja used to say, "The time will come when the people of the world will learn Bengali to read Sri Caitanya-caritamrta." We are trying to present Sri Caitanya-caritamrta in English and do not know how successful it will be, but if one reads the original Caitanya-caritamrta in Bengali he will relish increasing ecstasy in devotional service."

 

 

Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 8.72  - The Author Receives the Orders of Krsna and Guru:

  

"To write about the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not an ordinary endeavor. Unless one is empowered by the higher authorities, or advanced devotees, one cannot write transcendental literature, for all such literature must be above suspicion, or, in other words, it must have none of the defects of conditioned souls, namely, mistakes, illusions, cheating and imperfect sense perceptions. The words of Krsna and the disciplic succession that carries the orders of Krsna are actually authoritative. To be empowered to write transcendental literature is a privilege in which a writer can take great pride. As a humble Vaisnava, Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, being thus empowered, felt very much ashamed that it was he who was to narrate the pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu."

 

 

Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 9.4 - The Tree of Devotional Service:

 

"This is the process for writing transcendental literature. A sentimentalist who has no Vaisnava qualifications cannot produce transcendental writings. There are many fools who consider krsna-lila to be a subject of art and write or paint pictures about the pastimes of Lord Krsna with the gopis, sometimes depicting them in a manner practically obscene. These fools take pleasure in material sense gratification, but one who wants to make advancement in spiritual life must scrupulously avoid their literature. Unless one is a servant of Krsna and the Vaisnavas, as Krsnadasa Kaviraja gosvami presents himself to be in offering respects to Lord Caitanya, his associates and his disciples, one should not attempt to write transcendental literature."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada Letter to Satsvarupa, February 28, 1972:

 

"You ask one question about the nature of books I want you to write as my disciples; on this point, Krsna Consciousness is not limited. Persons like all of the Gosvamis wrote so many books, Visvanatha Cakravarti, and all the acaryas wrote books, and still I am writing books. Similarly, also my disciples will write. So any self-realized soul can write unlimited books without deviating from the original ideas."

 

 

Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 12.150   - The Cleansing of the Gundica Temple:

 

"This is a matter of etiquette. If a previous acarya has already written about something, there is no need to repeat it for personal sense gratification or to outdo the previous acarya. Unless there is some definite improvement, one should not repeat."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada Room Conversation, July 5, 1976:

 

Prabhupada: "brahma-sutra-padais caiva hetumadbhir viniscitaih. Very.... Nyaya-prasthana. But Vedanta-sutra is explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam. Therefore our gaudiya Vaisnavas, they did not write any comment on the vedanta-sutra. They accept Srimad-Bhagavatam is the real bhasya. But when the gaudiya-vaisnavas are challenged that "you have no vedanta-sutra-bhasya, therefore you cannot be accepted as transcendental party," so Baladeva Vidyabhusana immediately gave Govinda-Bhasya on vedanta. Our gosvamis, they did not write because they knew brahma-sutra bhasya, Srimad-Bhagavatam."

 

 

Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 9.5 - The Tree of Devotional Service:

 

"This is the sum and substance of transcendental writing. One must be an authorized Vaisnava, humble and pure. One should write transcendental literature to purify oneself, not for credit. By writing about the pastimes of the Lord, one associates with the Lord directly. One should not ambitiously think, "I shall become a great author. I shall be celebrated as a writer." These are material desires. One should attempt to write for self-purification. It may be published or it may not be published, but that does not matter. If one is actually sincere in writing, all his ambitions will be fulfilled. Whether one is known as a great author is incidental. One should not attempt to write transcendental literature for material name and fame."

 

 

Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 11.7  - The Expansions of Lord Nityananda:

 

"One should not write books or essays on transcendental subject matter for material name, fame or profit. Transcendental literature must be written under the direction of a superior authority because it is not meant for material purposes. If one tries to write under superior authority, he becomes purified. All Krsna conscious activities should be undertaken for personal purification (apana sodhite), not for material gain."

 

 

Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 14.1  - Lord Caitanya' s Childhood Pastimes:

 

"The author of Caitanya-caritamrta takes shelter of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu to describe the pastimes of His appearance as a child because one cannot write such transcendental literature by mental speculation. One who writes about the Supreme Personality of Godhead must be especially favored by the Lord. Simply by academic qualifications it is not possible to write such literature."

 

 

Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 19.132  - Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Instructs Srila Rupa Gosvami:

 

"Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami had no fixed residence. They stayed beneath a tree for one day only and wrote huge volumes of transcendental literature. They not only wrote books but chanted, danced, discussed Krsna and remembered Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's pastimes. Thus they executed devotional service.

  

In Vrndavana there are prakrta-sahajiyas who say that writing books or even touching books is taboo. For them, devotional service means being relieved from these activities. Whenever they are asked to hear a recitation of Vedic literature, they refuse, saying, "What business do we have reading or hearing transcendental literatures? They are meant for neophytes." They pose themselves to be too elevated to exert energy for reading, writing and hearing. However, pure devotees under the guidance of Srila Rupa Gosvami reject this sahajiya philosophy. It is certainly not good to write literature for money or reputation, but to write books and publish them for the enlightenment of the general populace is real service to the Lord. That was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's opinion, and he specifically told his disciples to write books. He actually preferred to publish books rather than establish temples. Temple construction is meant for the general populace and neophyte devotees, but the business of advanced and empowered devotees is to write books, publish them and distribute them widely. According to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, distributing literature is like playing on a great mrdanga. Consequently we always request members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to publish as many books as possible and distribute them widely throughout the world. By thus following in the footsteps of Srila Rupa Gosvami, one can become a rupanuga devotee."

 

 

Caitanya-caritamrta Antya 1.211  - Srila Rupa Gosvami' s Second Meeting With the Lord:

 

"Unless one is a fully unalloyed devotee of the Lord, one should not try to describe the pastimes of Krsna in poetry, for it will be only mundane. There are many descriptions of Krsna's Bhagavad-gita written by persons whose consciousness is mundane and who are not qualified by pure devotion. Although they attempted to write transcendental literature, they could not fully engage even a single devotee in Krsna's service. Such literature is mundane, and therefore, as warned by Sri Sanatana Gosvami, one should not touch it."

 

 

Caitanya-caritamrta Antya 5.133  - How Pradyumna Misra Received Instructions from Ramananda Raya:

 

"Only if you follow the principles of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His devotees will your learning be successful. Then you will be able to write about the transcendental pastimes of Krsna without material contamination."

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, August 21, 1972, Los Angeles:

 

"Uttama, uttama means udgata-tama. This material world is tama, ignorance, darkness. And Krsna is beyond this material world; therefore He is called para. Para means transcendental. So uttama-sloka. So when we offer our prayers to krsna, they are not ordinary words. Therefore those who are not liberated soul, they cannot offer prayers actually. we have to repeat the prayers offered by liberated soul, not by ordinary man. Because he is not yet uttama, he is not yet in the transcendental platform. Therefore we don't allow songs which are not sung by liberated souls like Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Narottama dasa Thakura. They are liberated souls. We don't allow any literature which is not given by liberated soul. Literatures, they are always following Vedic principles. Vedas, the original transcendental literature, and any literature which is produced under the guidance of Vedic literature, that is also nice. That is perfect. Therefore whenever we write something, we give immediately vedic evidence. We give some sanskrit verse. This means that we are not manufacturing ourself. What we have heard from the parampara system, from higher authorities, we are presenting, simply, in our own language, and the evidence is this Vedic verse. This is perfect literature."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, September 26, 1972, Los Angeles:

 

"So everything is there Srimad-Bhagavatam. That is the topmost knowledge. That is transcendental knowledge. That is not material knowledge. Material knowledge, if you write some book, it has no meaning, because it is defective. But Srimad-Bhagavatam is not ordinary knowledge. It is transcendental knowledge. There is no defect."

 

 

 

Srimad Bhagavatam 9.10.3 - The Pastimes of the Supreme Lord, Ramacandra:

tasyanucaritam rajann
rsibhis tattva-darsibhih
srutam hi varnitam bhuri
tvaya sita-pater muhuh

SYNONYMS

tasya--of Him, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Ramacandra and His brothers; anucaritam--transcendental activities; rajan--O King (Maharaja Pariksit); rsibhih--by great sages or saintly persons; tattva-darsibhih--by persons who know the Absolute Truth; srutam--have all been heard; hi--indeed; varnitam--as they have been so nicely described; bhuri--many; tvaya--by you; sita-pateh--of Lord Ramacandra, the husband of mother Sita; muhuh--more than often.

 

TRANSLATION

O King Pariksit, the transcendental activities of Lord Ramacandra have been described by great saintly persons who have seen the truth. Because you have heard again and again about Lord Ramacandra, the husband of mother Sita, I shall describe these activities only in brief. Please listen.

 

PURPORT

"Modern Raksasas, posing as educationally advanced merely because they have doctorates, have tried to prove that Lord Ramacandra is not the Supreme Personality of Godhead but an ordinary person. But those who are learned and spiritually advanced will never accept such notions; they will accept the descriptions of Lord Ramacandra and his activities only as presented by tattva-darsis, those who know the Absolute Truth. In Bhagavad-gita (4.34) the Supreme Personality of Godhead advises:

 

tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam
jnaninas tattva-darsinah

 

"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth." Unless one is tattva-darsi, in complete knowledge of the absolute truth, one cannot describe the activities of the personality of Godhead. Therefore although there are many so-called Ramayanas, or histories of Lord Ramacandra's activities, some of them are not actually authoritative. Sometimes Lord Ramacandra's activities are described in terms of one's own imaginations, speculations or material sentiments. But the characteristics of Lord Ramacandra should not be handled as something imaginary. While describing the history of Lord Ramacandra, Sukadeva Gosvami told Maharaja Pariksit, "You have already heard about the activities of Lord Ramacandra." Apparently, therefore, five thousand years ago there were many Ramayanas, or histories of Lord Ramacandra's activities, and there are many still. But we must select only those books written by tattva-darsis (jnaninas tattva-darsinah), not the books of so-called scholars who claim knowledge only on the basis of a doctorate. This is a warning by Sukadeva Gosvami. Rsibhis tattva-darsibhih. Although the Ramayana composed by Valmiki is a huge literature, the same activities are summarized here by Sukadeva Gosvami in a few verses."

 

 

Srimad Bhagavatam 10.3.14:

"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth." Vasudeva begot the Supreme Personality of Godhead, yet he was in full knowledge of how the Supreme Lord appears and disappears. He was therefore tattva-darsi, a seer of the truth, **because he personally saw** how the Supreme Absolute Truth appeared as his son."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, August 10, 1976:

 

"So things are to be adjusted as it is prescribed by great authorities. In Bhakti-rasamrta you'll find the regulative principles. That is called Vaisnava-smrti. So here we cannot live without working, and still we have to become always Krsna conscious. This art, to understand and to practice, is Krsna consciousness movement. Then in spite of my being engaged in so many so-called material things because a devotee has nothing to do with material things. Even if he works for maintenance of the body, that is not material. Just like Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who was magistrate. But it is not for a magistrate to write so many books--siddhanta-purnam. So he was in a different transcendental platform. So that is possible."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, January 17, 1971:

 

"If you sit down and write some article on Krsna, that means you have to concentrate on Krsna's activities or Krsna's devotees' activities, and that very process will purify your heart. Therefore we always recommend to our students that you write articles, read our magazine, read our book. In this way if we keep ourself... Work for Krsna. This... We have come here in this pandal or in this Kumbha-mela not for any other purpose than to glorify the Supreme Lord so that people may understand the importance of this movement."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Bahurupa, November 22, 1974:

 

"I am pleased to hear that you are chanting 16 rounds daily and reading my books regularly and following the four rules. In my books the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness is explained fully so if there is anything which you do not understand, then you simply have to read again and again. By reading daily the knowledge will be revealed to you and by this process your spiritual life will develop."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, December 8, 1973, Los Angeles:

 

"So if you want to understand Bhagavad-gita, then we must understand in the same way as the person who directly heard from. This is called parampara system. Suppose I have heard something from my spiritual master, so I speak to you the same thing. So this is parampara system. You cannot imagine what my spiritual master said. Or even if you read some books, you cannot understand unless you understand it from me. This is called parampara system. You cannot jump over to the superior guru, neglecting the next acarya, immediate next acarya."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, March 31, 1976, Vrindavan:

 

"Satam prasangad mama virya-samvidah. That sravana, hearing also, should be accepted from devotee, from real devotee. Sri Svarupa Damodara Gosvami recommended that a brahmana... He wrote something about Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and there were so many discrepancies. So Svarupa Damodara Gosvami was not at all satisfied with such writings. He chastised the brahmana that "You cannot write." So unless one is self-realized, there is practically no use writing about krsna. This transcendental writing does not depend on material education. It depends on the spiritual realization. You'll find, therefore, in the comments of bhagavatam by different acaryas, even there are some discrepancies, they are accepted as asat-patha. It should remain as it is.

  

So Sanatana Gosvami therefore said, avaisnava-mukhodgirnam putam hari-kathamrtam, sravanam naiva kartavyam: "One who is not vaisnava, from him one should not hear hari-kathamrtam." Hari-katha Srimad-Bhagavatam is hari-katha, and it is amrta, nectarine. But if it is recited or explained by some avaisnava, one should not hear. It is forbidden. The example is given, sarpocchistam payo yatha. So professional reciters or one who speaks and writes for living means it is strictly prohibited. Na vyakhyam upayunjitah. One should not make Bhagavata recitation as a means of livelihood. That is, the process is not accepted. So sravanam kirtanam visnoh. You should hear from Vaisnava, at least one who is trying to become Vaisnava, not professional man. Bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra syat.

  

So the test of advancement in Krsna consciousness is that one should be detestful, lose attachment to the material things."

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, August 21, 1968, Montreal:

 

"In the Bhagavad-gita it is said, the Lord says, "Anyone who is engaged in unalloyed devotional service unto me, so he is transcendental." sa gunan samatityaitan. Gunan means these modes, different modes--modes of ignorance, modes of passion, modes of goodness. Goodness is also material. That is not spiritual. If you become very good moralist or very religious, following all the rules and regulations, that is good but that is not spiritual. The spiritual is far above."

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Lecture on Brahma-Samhita, August 14, 1972, Los Angeles:

 

"Brahma-Samhita means... Brahma is the first living creature appeared in this universe, and after his realization, he is offering prayer. Realization means you should write, every one of you, what is your realization. What for this Back to Godhead is? You write your realization, what you have realized about Krsna. That is required. It is not passive. Always you should be active. Whenever you find time, you write. Never mind, two lines, four lines, but you write your realization. Sravanam kirtanam, writing or offering prayers, glories. This is one of the function of the vaisnava. You are hearing, but you have to write also. Then write means smaranam, remembering what you have heard from your spiritual master, from the scripture. sravanam kirtanam Visnoh: about Visnu, not for others. Don't write any nonsense thing for any nonsense man. Useless waste of time. Visnu. Write about Visnu, Krsna."

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Arrival Address, June 20, 1975, Los Angeles:

 

Prabhupada: "…yes. And our men, all our men should write. Otherwise how we shall know that he has understood the philosophy? Writing means sravanam kirtanam. Sravanam means hearing from the authority and again repeat it. This is our business, sravanam kirtanam visnoh, about Visnu, not for any politician or any other man. Sravanam kirtanam visnoh, about Krsna or Visnu. So that is success. Hear and repeat, hear and repeat. You haven't got to manufacture. Any one of us, simply if you reproduce the purport which I have given in the Bhagavata, you become a good speaker."

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Satsvarupa, December 13, 1969:

 

"Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 7, 1969 along with the article of Acyutananda. Your decision not to publish this article is correct. To the neophyte devotees we should issue instruction that there are four stages of understanding the absolute truth. The first stage is re-establishing our relationship with Krishna. This is the first stage. The second stage is after understanding our relationship, to perform devotional service under proper guidance. The third stage is acquisition of the desired object. The fourth stage is relishing the nectar of perfectional love. So Radha-Krishna lila belongs to the fourth stage of understanding, and we are publishing BTG for people in general to re-establish their forgotten relationship with Krishna. So we should always remember this and from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-Gita, and Isopanisad they should try to write how our relationship is revoked from this stage of forgetfulness. They should write articles like this: 1) Krishna, the omnipotent, 2) how God can be realized as all-pervasive, 3) the original source of everything, 4) transcendental process of hearing, 5) how one gets out of the clutches of maya, 6) prayers by arjuna, 7) prayers by kunti devi, 8) prayers by Bhismadeva. They should try to understand krishna first in so many ways which are described in our Bhagavatam. They should read them carefully and pick up subject matters as above mentioned. What general people will understand about Radha-Krishna lila? Immediately they will take it as ordinary boys and girls in spite of a thousand warnings, "This is not this, this is not this." So you shall issue instruction that they should write articles on the subject matters as above mentioned. They should read our Bhagavatam. The purports are there: they should assimilate them in their own words in a literary career."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Satsvarupa, January 11, 1971:

 

"I hear from all our centers that they have instituted regular classes for writing articles and still you say they do not contribute sufficiently to Back to Godhead. How is that? I want all our students to write articles for our transcendental magazine."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Billy Reyburne, March 12, 1972:

 

"Regarding your question about writing songs about krishna, this is not very important thing. You can write, but one cannot take it very seriously. If any vaisnava is writing song about krishna, that should be from one who himself has realized Krishna, just like our great saints and acaryas like Madhvacarya, Ramanujacarya, Rupa gosvami, six gosvamis, Bilvamangala, Bhaktivinode Thakura, like that. They are self-realized souls, therefore if they write something song about Krishna, that is perfectly from the transcendental platform, without any tinge of mundane influence or nonsense imagination. Unless someone comes in the category of these great leading vaisnava personalities, his manufacturing some songs will be misleading to himself and to others. And unless his writing of poems and songs can be accepted as gospel, as vedas or the Absolute Truth, such writing is diverting the attention from the subject matter only and should not be regarded very seriously. Now you should become serious to pursue this Krishna consciousness movement with full energy of body, mind and soul. If you are writing poems and songs, that's alright, you can do it also, but if you can write articles for our Back to Godhead magazine, that is better, that is solid preaching work. No one should write songs of Krishna unless he is self-realized soul, that will spoil the value of the whole thing. But try to use your writing and singing talent for krishna's preaching work, by writing articles, singing the kirtana, like that. Than you will be happy, and I think you should without further delay try to become devotees as the others are doing and live with us and practise the regulative principles of brahmacari life. In this way, become determined to fix your all attention for seeing Krishna face to face by the Krishna Consciousness process and than you shall qualify yourself for writing songs about Krishna and you chant always this Hare Krishna mantra you can come to the highest point of seeing Krishna very soon, you may know it for certain."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Patita Uddharana, October 14, 1973:

 

"'It is by the mercy of all these Vaisnavas and gurus that I attempt to write about the pastimes and qualities of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Whether I know or know not, it is for self purification that I write this book."

 

The purport is that for transcendental writing one must be an authorized vaisnava and should write to purify oneself, not for credit. It may or may not be published, but one who is actually sincere in writing, all his ambitions will be fulfilled."

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Room Conversation, February 16, 1977, Mayapur:

 

Hari-sauri: "That man from Delhi said that he thought you were an incarnation of Vyasadeva.

Prabhupada: Yes. Any devotee in literary career, he is to be understood... Just like our Vrndavana dasa Thakura. He is described as incarnation of Vyasadeva because Vyasadeva wrote Bhagavatam and he wrote Caitanya-bhagavata.

Pradyumna: Vyasa-puja.

Prabhupada: Vyasa-puja. Vyasa-prasadam. Unless one is blessed by Vyasadeva, he cannot write transcendental literature."

 

 

 

Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.4.20 Purport - Vidura Approaches Maitreya:

 

"Sri Uddhava's actual life is the direct symbol of the catuh-sloki Bhagavatam enunciated first to Brahmaji by the Personality of Godhead. These four very great and important verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam are particularly taken out by the Mayavadi speculators, who construe a different purport to suit their impersonal view of monism. Here is the proper answer to such unauthorized speculators. The verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam are purely theistic science understandable by the postgraduate students of Bhagavad-gita, the unauthorized dry speculators are offenders at the lotus feet of the Lord Sri Krsna because they distort the purports of Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam to mislead the public and prepare a direct path to the hell known as Andha-Tamisra. as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (16.20) such envious speculators are without knowledge and are surely condemned life after life. They unnecessarily take shelter of Sripada Sankaracarya, but he was not so drastic as to commit an offense at the lotus feet of Lord Krsna. According to Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sripada Sankaracarya preached the Mayavada philosophy for a particular purpose. Such a philosophy was necessary to defeat the Buddhist philosophy of the nonexistence of the spirit soul, but it was never meant for perpetual acceptance. It was an emergency. Thus Lord Krsna was accepted by Sankaracarya as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in his commentation on Bhagavad-gita. Since he was a great devotee of Lord Krsna, he did not dare write any commentary on Srimad-Bhagavatam because that would have been a direct offense at the lotus feet of the Lord. But later speculators, in the name of mayavada philosophy, unnecessarily make their commentary on the catuh-sloki Bhagavatam without any bona fide intent."

 

 

 

Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.24.45-46 Purport - Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Siva:

 

"Without serving Krsna according to the vidhi-marga regulative principles of the pancaratrika-vidhi, unscrupulous persons want to jump immediately to the raga-marga principles. Such persons are called sahajiya. There are also demons who enjoy depicting Krsna and His pastimes with the gopis, taking advantage of Krsna by their licentious character. These demons who print books and write lyrics on the raga-marga principles are surely on the way to hell. Unfortunately, they lead others down with them."

 

 

 

Caitanya-caritamrta Antya 7.134  - The Meeting of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Vallabha Bhatta:

 

"Whatever you might write due to false pride, trying to surpass Sridhara Svami, would carry a contrary purport. Therefore no one would pay attention to it.

 

PURPORT

Srimad-Bhagavatam has many tikas, or commentaries, following the parampara system, but Sridhara Svami's is first. The commentaries of all the other acaryas follow his. The parampara system does not allow one to deviate from the commentaries of the previous acaryas. By depending upon the previous acaryas, one can write beautiful commentaries. However, one cannot defy the previous acaryas. The false pride that makes one think that he can write better than the previous acaryas will make one's comments faulty. At the present moment it has become fashionable for everyone to write in his own way, but such writing is never accepted by serious devotees. Because of false pride, every scholar and philosopher wants to exhibit his learning by interpreting the sastras, especially Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, in his own way. This system of commenting in one's own way is fully condemned by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Therefore He says, 'artha-vyasta' likhana sei. Commentaries written according to one's own philosophical way are never accepted; no one will appreciate such commentaries on the revealed scriptures."

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Kirtanananda, April 7, 1967:

 

"I have seen in the bible that Lord Jesus Christ recommended this Kirtana performances in the Bible. You know better than me and I would request you to write a small book on sankirtan movement in the Bible. I have given a note of direction to Hayagriva for writing a drama on Lord Caitanya and if he can deliver us a nice drama for staging in your different parts of the state it will be a great stride for our mission and I hope it will help us financially a great deal. Just you encourage Hayagriva to write this Drama very nicely in Poetry so that they can be sung in western tone all over America and Europe and staged everywhere to cover our expenses."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Krsna dasa, October 21, 1968:

 

"I can see from your writing that you have got capacity to write, this is a great help. You can write articles for Back to Godhead, so writing capacity is not discouraged. And I shall always be glad to receive your long letters."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Janardana, December 19, 1968:

 

"So far as reviews I think that there is no need to review nonsense books and give them publicity at our cost. The sincere theists and philosophers will surely appreciate our presentation of Bhagavad-gita as it is so you can write some articles on the basis of our discussions in this book or in Srimad-Bhagavatam."

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Rayarama, February 22, 1969:

 

"Now our policy should be as follows: 1. The layout should be done by us, 2. There should be no advertisements, 3. Under different headings we shall publish articles from Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Brahma Samhita, Nectar of Devotion, Vedanta Philosophy, Upanisads, etc. as well as comic pictures when possible. Besides that, if some of our students write as they have assimilated the philosophy, that also should be welcome."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Satyabhama, March 30, 1969:

 

"And you will have ample opportunity to educate children and write books for them because there is sufficient matter for publishing such books from the Puranas, Mahabharata, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and many other allied literatures. There are thousands of ideal historical events, which if we can put with suitable pictures, it will be a great idea and people will like to have such literature."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Vibhavati, July 15, 1969:

 

"Regarding your proposal of writing a book about child-raising, I do not think this is required with all the other writings that we have to do. And besides that, you are not the master of this subject, so who will read such a book? I have seen in your article on Mr. Lennon that you have a very nice gift for writing, so better you should utilize this God-given talent for writing articles for our Back to Godhead. There is immediate necessity for this, and for this writing you are qualified because you are a sincere devotee of this Krishna Consciousness Movement. So why not write nice articles of this philosophy as you have assimilated it? This will be a very great service because we are now converting BTG to exclusively contain articles by my disciples and myself, along with many pictures of our sankirtana activities."

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Yogesvara, July 19, 1970:

 

"Some time back you sent another poetry which I have also sent to the editors; These poetics are nice, but now if you would write some articles for our BTG that will be even better. Now you have got some good understanding of our Krsna consciousness so you write it for publication.

  

I am very glad to know that you have got the experience and talent as well as the desire to write Krsna conscious children's books. I have very encouraging report from Syamasundara. That the grammar school children in the villages of both England and Holland are very eager and ready for learning Krsna consciousness and their instructors are also very enthusiastic to introduce our program. So you can write many books for children and insert pictures, then they will be a sure success.

 

The books should be written in simple language. First of all try to explain what is God, then what is the relationship of God with the world and the living entities. Then explain what is our duty in that relationship with God. In this way write the subjects very clearly. What one learns as child is not lost throughout the life. So this is a very important business. Please execute it with great care and seriousness of purpose. May Krsna bless your sincere endeavor in his service. The more you work for Krsna, the more He will bestow auspicious intelligence upon you for furthering your loving service unto Him."

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Lecture on Bhagavad-gita, July 29, 1973, London:

 

"So this Mahabharata was written: stri-sudra-dvija-bandhunam trayi na sruti gocarah. Woman and dvija-bandhu and the sudras, it is very difficult for them to understand the Vedic literatures directly, because they have no advanced knowledge or education. Therefore the same thing. The Vedic knowledge was described in the Mahabharata. Because it is history. Everyone is interested to read history. So through history, the Vedic knowledge was imparted. Therefore, Mahabharata is called the fifth Vedas. There are four Vedas, Sama, Yajur, Rk, Atharva. And Mahabharata is fifth Veda. They are meant for this stri, sudra, dvija-bandhu. So Bhagavad-gita is within the Mahabharata. So actually it was meant for the less intelligent class of men. But, at the present moment, the highest intelligent class of men cannot understand. Just see the difference. Formerly, 5000 years, this was meant for the less intelligent class of men, and we have deteriorated so much that the so-called highest intelligent class of men cannot understand this Bhagavad-gita. And he is posted as the professor in the Oxford University."

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada clearly opposed the Gaudiya math books:

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Sukadeva, November 14, 1973:

 

"Regarding the Gaudiya Math books being circulated there, who is distributing? Who is sending these books? The Gaudiya Math does not sell our books, why we should sell their books. Who has introduced these books? Let me know. These books should not at all be circulated in our society. Bhakti Vilas Tirtha is very much antagonistic to our society and he has no clear conception of devotional service. He is contaminated. Anyway, who has introduced these books? You say that you would read only one book if that was all that I had written, so you teach others to do like that. You have very good determination.:

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Visvakarma, November 9, 1975:

 

"Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated September 3, 1975 with the enclosed statement about Van Maharaja. So I have now issued orders that all my disciples should avoid all of my godbrothers. They should not have any dealings with them nor even correspondence, nor should they give them any of my books or should they purchase any of their books, neither should you visit any of their temples. Please avoid them."

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada states that his godbrothers disobeyed the Guru (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura). This is the 3^rd offence in chanting the holy name. If they disobey the Guru how can they be Guru? Srila Prabhupada says they were not acarya but they may be Kanistha adhikari (neophyte). This means they were not tattva darsinah (BG 4.34) self-realized. Books from such contaminated conditioned souls must be filled with faulty mental speculations.

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Rupanuga, April 28, 1974:

 

"In the latter days of my Guru Maharaja he was very disgusted. Actually, he left this world earlier, otherwise he would have continued to live for more years. Still he requested his disciples to form a strong Governing body for preaching the cult of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He never recommended anyone to be acarya of the gaudiya math. But Sridhara Maharaja is responsible for disobeying this order of Guru Maharaja, and he and others who are already dead unnecessarily thought that there must be one acarya. If Guru Maharaja could have seen someone who was qualified at that time to be acarya he would have mentioned. Because on the night before he passed away he talked of so many things, but never mentioned an acarya. His idea was acarya was not to be nominated amongst the governing body. He said openly you make a GBC and conduct the mission. So his idea was amongst the members of GBC who would come out successful and self effulgent acarya would be automatically selected. So Sridhara Maharaja and his two associate gentlemen unauthorizedly selected one acarya and later it proved a failure. The result is now everyone is claiming to be acarya even though they may be kanistha adhikari with no ability to preach. In some of the camps the acarya is being changed three times a year. Therefore we may not commit the same mistake in our ISKCON camp. Actually amongst my godbrothers no one is qualified to become acarya. so it is better not to mix with my godbrothers very intimately because instead of inspiring our students and disciples they may sometimes pollute them. This attempt was made previously by them, especially Madhava Maharaja and Tirtha Maharaja and Bon Maharaja but somehow or other I saved the situation. This is going on. We shall be very careful about them and not mix with them. This is my instruction to you all. They cannot help us in our movement, but they are very competent to harm our natural progress. So we must be very careful about them."

 

 

The faulty conclusions of the Gaudiya Math's Sridhara Maharaja, Narayana Maharaja, Puri Maharaja, etc. are proved here as they reject  Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's own words!

 

Even when Srila Prabhupada has quoted Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself they can not accept this conclusion.

Krsnera 'nitya-dasa': "Every living entity is constitutionally an eternal servant of Krsna.

 

The soul was formerly nitya (eternally) serving Krsna krsnera 'nitya-dasa in lila (sport) with Krsna: but they oppose Srila Prabhupada by stating brahmajyoti is the actual origin of the soul. This proves Srila Prabhupada is the realized Maha-bhagavata whereas the Gaudiya Math camp is based on mental speculations.

 

 

Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.29.36-37 Purport - Talks Between Narada and King Pracinabarhi:

 

"Bhakti refers to those activities performed in the service of Lord Vasudeva. Because Lord Vasudeva is the Supreme, one should engage oneself in His service, not in the service of the demigods. Devotional service begins from the neophyte stage--the stage of observing the rules and regulations--and extends to the point of spontaneous loving service to the Lord. The purpose of all stages is to satisfy Lord Vasudeva. When one is perfectly advanced in the devotional service of Vasudeva, one becomes completely detached from the service of the body, that is, his designated position in material existence. After becoming so detached, one becomes actually perfect in knowledge and engages perfectly in the service of Lord Vasudeva. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, jivera 'svarupa' haya--krsnera 'nitya-dasa': "every living entity is by constitutional position an eternal servant of krsna." As soon as one engages in the service of Lord Vasudeva, he attains his normal constitutional position. This position is called the liberated stage. Muktir hitvanyatha-rupam svarupena vyavasthitih: in the liberated stage, one is situated in his original Krsna conscious position. He gives up all engagements in the service of matter, engagements concocted under the names of social service, national service, community service, dog service, automobile service and so many other services conducted under the illusion of "I" and mine."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada Letter to Unknown - Crow And Tal-Fruit Logic:

 

"We cannot say therefore that we are not with Krsna. As soon as we try to become Lord, immediately we are covered by Maya. Formerly we were with krsna in his lila or sport. But this covering of Maya may be of very, very, very, very long duration, therefore many creations are coming and going. Due to this long period of time it is sometimes said that we are ever-conditioned. But his long duration of time becomes very insignificant when one actually comes to Krsna consciousness. Just like in a dream we are thinking very long time, but as soon as we awaken we look at our watch and see it has been a moment only. Just like with Krsna's friends, they were kept asleep for one year by Brahma, but when they woke up and Krsna returned before them, they considered that only a moment had passed.

So this dreaming condition is called non-liberated life, and this is just like a dream. Although in this material calculation it is a long, long period, as soon as we come to Krsna consciousness then this period is considered as a second. For example, Jaya and Vijaya. They had their lila with Krsna, but they had to come down for their little mistake. They were given mukti, emerging into the Brahmasayujya after being killed three times as demons. This Brahmasayujya mukti is non-permanent. Every living entity wants pleasure, but Brahmasayujya is minus pleasure. There is eternal existence only. So when they do not find transcendental bliss, they fall down to make a compromise with material bliss. Just like Vivekananda founded so many schools and hospitals. So even Lord Brahma, he is still material and wants to lord it over. He may come down to become a germ, but then he may rise up to Krsna consciousness and go back to home, back to Godhead. This is the position.

 

So when I say Yes, there is eternal lila with Krsna, that means on the evidence of Jaya-Vijaya. Unless one develops full devotional service to Krsna, he goes up only up to Brahmasayujya but falls down. But after millions and millions of years of keeping oneself away from the lila of the Lord, when one comes to Krsna consciousness this period becomes insignificant, just like dreaming.

Because he falls down from brahmasayujya, he thinks that may be his origin, but he does not remember that before that even he was with Krsna."

 

Unlike the deviant (self-made) "gurus", Srila Prabhupada is tattva darsinah. Srila Prabhupada has warned us against such opportunists.

 

Srila Prabhupada Conversation, June 28, 1976, New Vrindaban:

 

Pusta Krsna: "What about the so-called gurus that take a little bit here and a little bit there?

Prabhupada: So-called gurus, they are so-called gurus. They are not gurus. That is already explained. If one does not speak what Krsna speaks, he is not guru. If you accept so-called guru, that is your misfortune. What can be done?

Pusta Krsna: Some of them will say some things that Krsna says, but they'll take from other places also. What is the position of such persons?

Prabhupada: He's most dangerous. He's most dangerous. He is opportunist. He's finding out customer, something here... According to the customer he is giving something, as the customers will be pleased. So he is not guru. He's a servant. He wants to serve the so-called disciples so that he may be satisfied and pay him something. He's servant. He's not guru. Guru is the master. You cannot disobey guru. But if you become a servant, you want to please the disciple by flattering him to get his money, then you are not guru, you are servant. Just like a servant pleases the master. He's not guru. He's servant. So our position should be servant, yes, but servant of the Supreme. So guru means heavy. You cannot utilize him for satisfying your whims. That is not guru."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada is *this* Nitya siddha (time eternal) Spiritual Master described here in Bhagavad-gita 4.42. Bona fide means genuine, just as gold is gold it does not change to iron, does not deviate at all (does not fall down), Lord Krishna manifests in Srila Prabhupada's words this is why there is no possiblity of deviation. Please accept Srila Prabhupada and reject those who are jealous mundane people in the dress of Vaisnavas who are after personal aggrandizement and deviate others from the actual path.

 

 

Bhagavad-gita 4.42 Purport - Transcendental Knowledge:

 

"A bona fide spiritual master is in the disciplic succession from time eternal, and he does not deviate at all from the instructions of the Supreme Lord as they were imparted millions of years ago to the sun-god, from whom the instructions of Bhagavad-gita have come down to the earthly kingdom. One should, therefore, follow the path of Bhagavad-gita as it is expressed in the Gita itself and beware of self-interested people after personal aggrandizement who deviate others from the actual path.

 

 

Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 1.218 - The Later Pastimes of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

 

"Envy and jealousy are manifested by mundane people, not by Vaisnavas. Why should a Vaisnava be envious of another Vaisnava who is successful in spreading the holy name of the Lord? An actual Vaisnava is very pleased to accept another Vaisnava who is bestowing the Lord's mercy. A mundane person in the dress of a Vaisnava should not be respected but rejected. This is enjoined in the sastra (upeksa). The word ... or neglect those who are envious or jealous. There are many jealous people in the dress of Vaisnavas in this Krsna consciousness movement, and they should be completely neglected. There is no need to serve a jealous person who is in the dress of a Vaisnava. When Narottama dasa Thakura says chadiya vaisnava seva nistara payeche keba, he is indicating an actual Vaisnava, not an envious or jealous person in the dress of a Vaisnava."

 

 

Srila Prabhupada is quoted as authority because Lord Krishna manifests in his words, just like we quote the predecessor acaryas of our parampara like Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. All sections of the society quote Srila Prabhupada who *IS* the prominent acarya because it is *his* law books that are accepted. Mundane "Vaisnavas" are not quoted as authority because Krishna does not manifest in their words.

 

Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Dayananda, April 12, 1968:

 

"Regarding parampara system: there is nothing to wonder for big gaps. Just like we belong to the Brahma Sampradaya, so we accept it from Krishna to Brahma, Brahma to Narada, Narada to Vyasadeva, Vyasadeva to Madhva, and between Vyasadeva and Madhva there is a big gap. But it is sometimes said that Vyasadeva is still living, and Madhva was fortunate enough to meet him directly. In a similar way, we find in the Bhagavad-gita that the Gita was taught to the sungod, some millions of years ago, but Krishna has mentioned only three names in this parampara system--namely, Vivasvan, Manu, and Iksvaku; and so these gaps do not hamper from understanding the parampara system. We have to pick up the prominent acaryas, and follow from him. There are many branches also from the parampara system, and it is not possible to record all the branches and sub-branches in the disciplic succession. We have to pick up from the authority of the acharya in whatever sampradaya we belong to."

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