Vaishnavism 2 - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami’s followers usedthe more martial model of Chaitanya marchingon the Kazi’s residence as a model for theirchanting in the streets. This gave them wideexposure and a number of converts, but it alsomade them an object of ridicule by the mediaand general public. I personally find them to bean embarrassment, and do my best to distancemyself. That sort of strident evangelism is nothelpful. I think they had to change their tacticsafter the openness of the 1960s. I don’t knowwhat they are doing today, but I doubt if it ismanjari bhav.27. Dr. Stewart: . . . we can see a verycomplex accommodation-process, where theform of ritual, the form of practice, adaptsitself to a changing environment. (116)Again, the contextual nature of the traditionis undeniably there from the beginning. It didnot form and grow in a vacuum. Now it needsto be accommodated to western sensibilitiesand lifestyles.28. Dr. Stewart: . . . Ansas and avataras,those parts of God, are certainly legitimate,and Caitanya was those things, and theYugavatara as well, but they werecoincident with and subject to a much moreimportant descent, which was svayambhagavan, God Himself. (117)Here we have a leading scholar in the fieldaccepting the divinity of Chaitanya.29. Dr. Stewart: . . . androgyny was verymuch perceived to be part of Caitanya’s15