Danda 1995 - Suhotra Maharaja Archives

The defects of "In Vaikuntha etc." have arisen because, of the two authors, onetakes lessons in Sanskrit and philosophy from a pandita who is not in the lineof Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and the other is too fond ofargument.I am presently reading a translation by a disciple of Srila Prabhupada of JaivaDharma by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. I've only forten through the first sevenchapters, but already I have found a number of explanations that corroboratewhat we know from Srila Prabhupada about the jiva's original status as aneternal servant of Krsna prior to his entering material existence. Bhaktivinodaconfirms that the jiva fell because of deliberately rejecting Krsna's service.He does not confirm that the jiva was for all eternity within the material worldand never had a relationship with Krsna at all. It is very clear to me fromthis that Srila Prabhupada exactly followed Srila Bhaktivinoda's footsteps inhis presentation of the jiva-tattva. Jiva-tattva is what Jaiva Dharma is allabout.Another point that should be mentioned is the duty a scholarly disciple has tothe founder-acarya. Srila Madhvacarya, who revived the Brahma Sampradaya in theKali Yuga, is still today considered in Indian philosophical circles as veryrevolutionary in his explanations of the Vedic knowledge. For instance, toconfound the Mayavadis, he refuted their favorite slogan, tattvamasi (I am thesame), by arguing that Sankaracarya quoted Chandogya 6.8.7 incorrectly. Thecorrect quote according to Madhva is atattvamasi (I am not the same). This andother explanations are so bold as to be unique in history. Therefore in booksabout Indian philosophy written by non-Vaisnavas one often finds Madhvacaryabeing accused of introducing non-traditional ideas into Vedic philosophicaldiscourse. Now, in the pre-Gaudiya history of the Brahma-Madhva Sampradaya,there are two great scholar-devotees after Madhva. These are Jayatirtha andVyasatirtha. Madhva is the 5th prominent acarya in our disciplic line, followedby Jayatirtha (the 10th) and Vyasatirtha (the 17th). They are referred to asthe muni-traya (three great sages) of the sampradaya efore Madhavendra Puri (the19th), who is the first Gaudiya acarya of the line. Jayatirtha and Vyasatirthaemployed their unlimited knowledge of the sastra and their Sanskrit expertise insoundly defeating all those who criticized the writings of Madhva, theirfounder-acarya. They did not try to deflect criticisms of Madhva's "radical"explanations by half-hearted appeals to some special preaching strategy of his.In this light, then, "In Vaikuntha etc." proves to be an annoying disservice tothe bold presentation of the Founder-acarya of ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada.I have a question for you. Does this name you use have anything to do with theAmerican slang expression I've sometimes heard, "happy camper"?Comment by (erased object 1833)March 25, 1995, 13:50 SWTDear Maharaja,Please accept my most humble obeisances -- all glories to Srila Prabhupada andhis beloved representatives.Thank you for this explanation. I very much appreciate your analysis of theorigin of the falldown of "In Vaikuntha Not Even the Leaves Fall" --- that theSankritist learned his craft outside the sampradaya of Srila BhaktisiddhantaSarasvati, and that the English expert is just too argumentative. This is veryinteresting.Regarding my name, I know what you mean. Recently I came across 2 examples ofthe phrase "happy camper." In an esoteric magazine, a man who was interviewed