
THE APASAMPRADAYA FILE


INTRODUCTION


In a standard Sanskrit dictionary, the word sampradaya is defined as "genuine
instruction that has been received through guru parampara or disciplic
succession" (guru paramparagatu sad upadesasya).  The prefix sam indicates
connection, while the stem is a cognate of pradhana, "source".  In the fourth
chapter of Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krsna declares Himself to be the original
source of the transcendental science of bhakti-yoga, and He confirms that one
is connected to this knowledge only through guru-parampara.

In the vocabulary of Western religious traditions, sampradaya really has no
exact equivalent.  One might be tempted to employ "orthodoxy", but as a noted
German Sanskritist has pointed out, this word really applies to matters of
doctrine, not practice.  Admission into a sampradaya does not only depend upon
a theoretically correct grasp of Krsna's teachings.  The candidate must
practically demonstrate his learning through strict adherance to the purified
lifestyle (acara) set down by great saintly teachers (acaryas).

	"One is understood to be in full knowledge whose
	every endeavor is devoid of desire for sense grati-
	fication.  He is said by the sages to be a worker for
	whom the reactions of karma have been burned up by
	the fire of perfect knowledge."

							(Bhagavad-gita 4.19)

Pure acara automatically expands into pure pracara (preaching), upacara (Deity
worship) and all other devotional activities.  By such purity, the devotee
becomes eligible to enjoy the higher taste of transcendence (param drstva)
that is spoken of by Krsna in Bhagavad-gita 2.59, which satisfies all desires
at their very root, within the soul itself.  Thus the lower taste for
meat-eating, illicit sex, gambling and intoxication is lost; consciousness
firmly settles into sinlessness, and the devotee gradually becomes qualified
to enter the rasa of Sri Krsna's personal association.  Raso vai sah rasam hy
evayam labdhvanandi bhavati, declares the Tattiriya Upanisad: "When one
understands the Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of pleasure, Krsna, he
actually becomes transcendentally blissful."

The genuineness of a sampradaya or a person representing a sampradaya is
primarily determined by spiritual quality (sarva maha-guna-gana vaisnava-
sarire - "A Vaisnava is one who has developed all good qualities", Sri
Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 22.75).  The good qualities of the Vaisnava are
actually krsnera-guna, Krsna's own, and they appear in the devotee through his
exchange of rasa with the Lord.  The Lord's transcendental qualities are
unlimited (ananta krsnera-guna), and His devotees are likewise unlimited. This
combination precipitates different moods of love of Godhead, which are visible
in the persons of great acaryas who have descended into this world to teach
genuine Vaisnava qualities via the sampradaya system.

Even when he seems to be at variance with other acaryas on certain matters of
detail, it is clear that a real acarya is situated in perfect knowledge
because he 1) is free from vice, 2) exhibits the good qualities of a Vaisnava,
and 3) accepts Visnu-tattva as Supreme.  Differences between the teachings of
acaryas are due to their individual moods of love for the Lord.

"What Madhvacarya understands, we also understand ... What Ramanuja
understands, we also understand.  What Caitanya Mahaprabhu undestands, we also
understand.  So there is no difference ... That is Vaisnava.  All the
Vaisnavas understand that Visnu is the Supreme.  There may be, sometimes, such
as Krsna is understood as incarnation of Visnu, and sometimes they understand
Visnu as the incarnation of Krsna.  That is sampradaya.  That is sampradaya.
But either Krsna or Visnu, He is Supreme, that is accepted by all ... If I
love somebody, I'll say he is first. And if you love somebody, you'll say he
is first.  But both of them same ... Hanumanji, he'll never accept Krsna.  And
the gopis will never accept Rama or Visnu."

     					(His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami
     					Prabhupada, conversation, May 6, 1975)

Admission into a sampradaya ultimately depends upon the aspirant's submission
to the mood of the acarya through strict adherence to the acara he teaches.
When asked what constitutes the personal relationship of a disciple to his
spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada answered, "To obey your spiritual master.
Whatever he has said, you follow strictly.  Follow the regulative principles.
Chant sixteen rounds.  That's all." (SP con A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami
Prabhupada, conversation, May 6, 1975)

"There are four lines of disciplic succession: one from Lord Brahma, one from
Lord Siva, one from Laksmi, the goddess of fortune, and one from the Kumaras.
The disciplic succession from Lord Brahma is called the Brahma-sampradaya, the
succession from Lord Siva (Sambhu) is called the Rudra-sampradaya, the one
from the goddess of fortune, Laksmiji, is called the Sri-sampradaya, and the
one from the Kumaras is called the Kumara-sampradaya. One must take shelter of
one these four sampradayas in order to understand the most confidential
religious system.  In the Padma Purana it is said, sampradaya-vihina ye
mantras te nisphala matah: if one does not follow the four recognized
disciplic successions, his mantra or initiation is useless.  In the present
day there are many apasampradayas, or sampradayas which are not bona fide,
which have no link to authorities like Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, the Kumaras or
Laksmi.  People are misguided by such sampradayas.  The sastras say that being
initiated in such a sampradaya is a useless waste of time, for it will never
enable one to understand the real religious principles."

                                           (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.21, purport)

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura identifies thirteen apasampradayas that split away
from the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya after Lord Caitanya's disappearance:
aula, baula, kartabhaja, neda, daravesa, sani, sahajiya, sakhibheki, smarta,
jata-gosani, ativadi, cudadhari and gauranga-nagari.  These apasampradayas
(apa means "deviated") are like parasitical growths upon the great tree of the
sankirtana movement.  Because they exhibit all the defects of material
conditioning, they are spiritually useless.  The "rasa" relished by such
groups is termed prakrta-rasa by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati.  Their
missionary activities are condemned as cheating.

"A conditioned soul in the material world has the disqualification of
cheating.  He has four disqualifications: he is sure to commit mistakes, he is
sure to be illusioned, he is prone to cheat others and his senses are
imperfect.  But if anyone carries out the order of the spiritual master by
disciplic succession or the parampara system, he overcomes the four defects.
Therefore knowledge received from the bona fide spiritual master is not
cheating.  Any other knowledge which is manufactured by the conditioned soul
is cheating only.  Brahma knew well that Kardama Muni exactly carried out the
instructions received from him and that he actually honored his spiritual
master.  To honor the spiritual master means to carry out his instructions
word for word."

                                                      (Bhag. 3.24.12, Purport)

The ultimate test of whether one is or is not a member of Lord Caitanya's
sampradaya is the quality of his chanting of the holy name of Krsna, which is
the essential acara in the the age of Kali: "...you should always remember
that either grhastha or brahmacari or sannyasi, nobody can strictly follow all
the rules and regulations ... In the Kali-yuga it is not possible... Therefore
Caitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended that hari-nama, chanting Hare Krsna
mantra, should be very rigidly performed, which is common for everyone."  (SP
conversation, March 10, 1976)

If a person advertises himself as a Gaudiya Vaisnava by chanting the Hare
Krsna mahamantra and yet deliberately blasphemes great devotees, denies that
Lord Visnu is the Absolute Truth, considers the spiritual master to be an
ordinary man, blasphemes Vedic literatures and other authorized scriptures,
considers the glories of the holy name to be exaggeration, concocts perverted
theories about the holy name, thinks the holy name to be equivalent to mundane
religious rituals, preaches the glories of the holy name to the faithless or
maintains material attachments while chanting the holy name, he cannot
represent the sampradaya even if he is initiated into it.

"Whether a Vaisnava is properly initiated or not is not a subject for
consideration.  One may be initiated and yet contaminated by the Mayavada
philosophy, but a person who chants the holy name of the Lord offenselessly
will not be so contaminated. A properly initiated Vaisnava may be imperfect,
but one who chants the holy name of the Lord is all-perfect.  Although he may
apparently be a neophyte, he still has to be considered a pure unalloyed
Vaisnava."

                                                 (C.c. Madhya 15.111, Purport)

"If one chants the Hare Krsna mantra while committing offenses, these unwanted
creepers will grow.  One should not take advantage of chanting the Hare Krsna
mantra for some material profit.  As mentioned in verse 159:

	'nisiddhacara', 'kutinati', 'jiva-himsana'
	'labha', 'puja', 'pratisthadi yata upasakha-gana

The unwanted creepers have been described by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura.  He states that if one hears and chants without trying to give up
offenses, one becomes materially attached to sense gratification.  One may
also desire freedom from material bondage like the Mayavadis, or one may
become attached to the yoga-siddhis and desire wonderful yogic powers. If one
is attached to wonderful material activities, one is called siddhi-lobhi,
greedy for material perfection.  One may also be victimized by diplomatic or
crooked behavior, or one may associate with women for illicit sex.  Others may
make a show of devotional service like the prakrta-sahajiyas, or one may try
to support his philosophy by joining some caste or identifying himself with
the support of family tradition, one may become a pseudo guru or so-called
spiritual master.  One may become attached to the four sinful activities -
illicit sex,  intoxication, gambling and meat eating - or one may consider a
Vaisnava to belong to a mundane caste or creed.  One may think, 'This is a
Hindu Vaisnava, and this is a European Vaisnava.  A European Vaisnava is not
allowed to enter the temples.'  In other words, one may consider Vaisnavas in
terms of birth, thinking one a brahmana Vaisnava, a sudra Vaisnava, a mleccha
Vaisnava and so on.  One may also try to carry out a professional business
while chanting the Hare Krsna mantra or reading Srimad-Bhagavatam, or one may
try to increase his monetary strength by illegal means. One may also try to be
a cheap Vaisnava by chanting in a secluded place for material adoration, or
one may desire mundane reputation by making comprises with non-devotees,
compromising one's philosophy or spiritual life, or one may become a supporter
of a hereditary caste system.  All these are pitfalls of personal sense
gratification.  Just to cheat some innocent people, one makes a show of
advanced spiritual life and becomes known as a sadhu, mahatma or religious
person.  All this means that the so-called devotee has become victimized by
all these unwanted creepers and that the real creeper of bhakti-lata-bija has
been stunted."

                                                 (C.c. Madhya 19.160, Purport)

The link between namaparadha and full-blown deviation from the sampradaya is
indicated by Srila Jiva Gosvami, who warns in Bhakti-sandharba that there are
offenders to the holy name who are acikitsya or incorrigible (jnana-lava-
durvidagdhastra-acikitsya-atva-dupeksa).  Devotees, always compassionate, try
to help fallen souls with good instruction.  But if someone becomes insolent
and arrogant due to acquiring a little knowledge from their association, he is
disqualifed from the sampradaya because of three kinds of namaparadha:
sadhu-nindha (blasphemy of the devotees of the Lord), guru-avajna (disregard
of the spiritual master) and sruti-sastra-nindha (blasphemy of the revealed
scriptures).

Yet the incorrigible offender never concedes the fact of his offenses.  He
cannot understand that the mercy of the spiritual master and the association
of pure devotees are indispensible to the chanting of the holy name.  Because
he highly values worldly knowledge and accomplishments, he looks down upon the
simple devotees who have surrendered themselves to devotional service. This is
sadhu-ninda.  He cannot accept that the spiritual master is a transcendental
teacher, not a worldly one; thus he tries to measure the person and
instructions of the guru by his own mental standards.  This is guru-avajna. He
studies the revealed scriptures as he would ordinary literature, gleaning from
it whatever seems to support his preconceived notions, heedless of the rest.
This is sruti-sastra-nindha.

If, on the strength of a false show of advancement in Krsna consciousness, he
pretends to have fully realized the glories of the holy name, such aparadhi is
fit to be shunned by the bona fide community of devotees.

Nontheless, it is seen that some acikitsya-namaparadhis become very
influential in the Kali-yuga.  Somehow or other they make use of the bona fide
spiritual master for their own ends. Advertising themselves as his dearmost
disciples, they seem to serve, glorify and worship the spiritual master with
considerable sincerity.  But all pains taken by them are for the sake of
self-promulgation alone.  Their progress is in the accumulation of material
wealth and fame, not in devotional service to Krsna.

The acikitsya-namaparadhi, propelled to prominence by cunning, diplomacy and
material qualifications like noble birth, opulence, erudition and beauty, may
attract followers from the ranks of two lesser grades of namaparadhis who have
not firmly taken shelter of the sampradaya due to misfortune.  These two kinds
of offenders are the ignorant and the weak.

The ignorant offenders are compared to damp wood: lacking bhakti-sukrti and
the association and mercy of the saintly, they are sunk in material
conceptions; even if they are exposed to the purifying fire of Krsna
consciousness, it does not ignite their good fortune immediately.  Thus they
are liable to be misled. But if they take refuge in the holy name, Krsna's
mercy will some day be available to them, even if after a long time.

The weak are hesitant to take advantage of genuine sadhu-sanga due to a
paucity of faith.  Innocent and without duplicity, the more they can simply
surrender to the chanting of the holy name in good association, the more they
are blessed by Krsna's mercy.  But until their lingering sins are destroyed by
the effect of sadhu-sanga, they cannot muster the strength to transcend
namaparadha.

The acikitsya-namaparadhi expertly spins a net of illusion sticky-sweet with a
perverted enjoying mood (prakrta-rasa) by which he entraps his unfortunate
followers.  Awakening and nourishing seeds of worldly desire (anarthas) within
their hearts, he misleads them into thinking that these growing anarthas are
the bhakti-lata-bija.

"Bhakti-lata-bija means 'the seed of devotional service.' Everything has an
original cause or seed.  For any idea, program, plan or device, there is first
of all the contemplation of the plan, and that is called bija, or the seed.
The methods, rules and regulations by which one is perfectly trained in
devotional service constitute the bhakti-lata-bija, or seed of devotional
service.  This bhakti-lata-bija is received from the spiritual master by the
grace of Krsna.  Other seeds are called anyabhilasa-bija, karma-bija,
jnana-bija or political and social or philanthropic bija.  However,
bhakti-lata-bija is different from these other bijas.  Bhakti-lata-bija can be
received only through the mercy of the spiritual master.  Therefore one has to
satisfy the spiritual master to get bhakti-lata-bija (yasya prasadad
bhagavat-prasadah).  Bhakti-lata-bija is the origin of devotional service.
Unless one satisfies the spiritual master, he gets the bija, or root cause, of
karma, jnana and yoga without the benefit of devotional service.  However, one
who is faithful to his spiritual master gets the bhakti-lata-bija.  This
bhakti-lata-bija is received when one is initiated by the bona fide spiritual
master.  After receiving the spiritual master's mercy, one must repeat his
instructions, and this is called sravana-kirtana - hearing and chanting.  One
who has not properly heard from the spiritual master or who does not follow
the regulative principles is not fit for chanting (kirtana).  This is
explained in Bhagavad-gita (2.41): vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana.
One who has not listened carefully to the instructions of the spiritual master
is unfit to chant or preach the cult of devotional service.  One has to water
the bhakti-lata-bija after receiving instructions from the spiritual master."

                                                 (C.c. Madhya 19.152, purport)

In the apasampradayas, chanting and preaching are never undertaken with regard
for Vaisnava traditions of regulative principles and spiritual instruction.
The "ecstasy" of prakrta-rasa generated by such unauthorized chanting and
preaching is but poison in devotional guise.

"Instead of awakening real love for Krsna, such hearers of the Bhagavatam
become more and more attached to household affairs and sex life (yan
maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham).  One should hear Srimad-Bhagavatam
from a person who has no connection with material activities, or, in other
words, from a paramahamsa Vaisnava, one who has achieved the highest stage of
sannyasa. This, of course, is not possible unless one takes shelter of the
lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.  The Srimad-Bhagavatam is
understandable only for one who can follow in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu."

                                                   (C.c. Antya 5.131, purport)

In their "ecstacy", the apasampradayas enjoy the holy dhama (or a place they
claim is a dhama) as a facility for hucksterism, self-promotion and
money-making.  They enjoy disciples by diverting them from the Lord's service
and engaging them in the service of the senses of cheating gurus.  They enjoy
great Vaisnavas through lip-service and cheap imitation; eager to bewilder the
innocent and advance their own schemes, they strive for some kind of
recognition from a great Vaisnava so that they can freely exploit this
"endorsement."  And they enjoy propagating esoteric doctrines of their own
invention that they claim are the real teachings of guru, sastra and sadhu.

All this results in three kinds of inauspicious qualities that are ever
prominent in the apasampradayas.  These are mentioned in Vaisnava Ke by Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati: anitya-vaibhava (hankering for material success),
kaminira-kama (illicit sexual affairs that are usually passed off as
"transcendental"), and mayavada (philosophical speculation that undercuts the
personal nature of God as taught by the Vaisnava sampradayas).

In the chapters that follow, the backgrounds of the thirteen apasampradayas
will be investigated and their deviations analyzed.  I have undertaken this
work out of a firm belief that these thirteen cases are archetypical of all
sorts of misrepresentations of the sankirtana movement of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu that have been seen down to this very day.

As he declared in a lecture on July 4, 1970, Srila Prabhupada considered his
only success to be the extension of Lord Caitanya's sampradaya into the
Western World.  It will be our success as his followers to protect the growth
of ISKCON so that it may extend to every town and village of this planet as
Lord Caitanya predicted.  Let us heed the warning from another prediction made
by Lord Caitanya regarding the rise of the apasampradayas: visva andhakara
koribe - "In My name they will make the whole world dark."

In preparing this volume, I have drawn from a number of sources, Vaisnava and
academic.  The most important of these are the books, letters and lectures of
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada.  From Sri Bhakti-vilasa
Bharati Maharaja, a godbrother of Srila Prabhupada, I used resumes and
refutations of apasampradaya philosophy given in Apasampradaya Svarupa, kindly
translated from the Bengali by Bhakta Krishanu Lahiri, a student of languages
at Calcutta University and member of Bhaktivedanta Youth Services.  I also
took help of the wealth of data on the Gaudiya sampradaya's long-standing
differences with the jata-gosani and smarta castes in The History and
Literature of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas, an unpublished manuscript by another
godbrother of Srila Prabhupada named Sambidananda dasa (who in the 1930's
accompanied two Gaudiya Matha sannyasis on a preaching tour of Europe).  The
following scholarly books were consulted: Vaisnavism in Bengal by Dr.
Ramkantha Cakravarti (Sanskrit Pushtak Bandhar, Calcutta 1985), Obscure
Religious Cults by Dr. Sashi Bhushan Das Gupta (1976 reprint by Firma KLM
Ltd.), The Bauls of Bengal by Rebati Mohan Sarkar (Gian Publishing House, New
Delhi 1990) and Braj - Center of Krishna Pilgrimage by Alan W. Entwistle
(Egbert Forsten, Holland 1987).

Sri Bhakti Vikasa Svami Maharaja and Kiranasa Prabhu brought me up to date
with a detailed account of the modern-day apasampradaya phenomena encountered
in their years of preaching in Bangladesh.  Sriman Sarvabhavana Prabhu helped
with the translation of Bengali source material on the Aul apasampradaya, and
Kishore Ghosh of the B.Y.S. similarly helped with material on the Bauls.  Atma
Tattva Prabhu of the ISKCON Mayapura Gurukula was kind in ways too numerous to
mention.  The following devotees assisted me in processing the raw data out of
which this book was churned: Anadi dasa, Rama Gopala dasa, Sucirani devi-dasi,
Priti-laksana devi-dasi, and Daya Dharma devi-dasi.

