Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Vaisnava Siddhanta-mala
Thakura published the book Vaishnava-Siddhanta-Mala
in the year 1892 from Calcutta, West Bengal, India.
The Thakura cited the famous verse
"Sri Madhvah praha vishnum paratamam akhila amnaya-vedyam ca visvam" on the cover of his book.
This famous verse appears in the
Prameya-Ratnavali of Sripada Baladeva
Vidyabhusana (Prameya-Ratnavali 1.8).
This verse is a summary description of
the ten fundamental truths of Vaishnavism as enunciated by Sripada Madhvacarya, the founder of the Brahma-Madhva-sampradaya.
This theological treatise of the
Thakura presents the fundamental
truths of Gaudiya Vaisnavism in a clear,
concise format of questions and answers. This book was originally published as a philosophical introduction to
the five sections of a book describing the
method of spreading the Nama Hatta
program or the market place of the Holy
name of Krsna. We invite the readers to
carefully read the Thakura's masterful
and elegant presentation and appreciate
the depth of His devotion and preaching
spirit.
Translated from the original Bengali by Dasaratha Suta dasa
Copyright (c) 1994, Nectar Books
First Chapter
Nava-prameya-siddhanta (Nine Truths of Evidence)
Q. What command has the supremely worshipable Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu given to us?
A. His order is this: that we very carefully observe the nine instructions of truth
that Sri Madhvacarya has given us through the guru-parampara (disciplic succession).
Q. Who forms the guru-parampara?
A. The adi-guru (original guru) of all the spiritual masters in the disciplic
succession is Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Showing His great mercy, He
gave instructions in the truth to Lord Brahma, the adi-kavi (original poet). These truths
were in turn taught by Brahma to Sri Narada, by Narada to Vyasa, and successively from
Vyasa to Sri Madhvacarya. Such instructions received through this disciplic succession are
called Guru-Parampara-Upadesa.
Q. What are the names of these nine instructions given by Sri Madhvacarya?
A. Their names are thus:
1) Bhagavan alone is the Supreme truth, one without a second.
2) He is the object of knowledge in all the Vedas.
3) The universe is real [satya].
4) Differences [between Isvara, jiva and matter] are real.
5) Jiva souls are the servants of Lord Hari.
6) All souls are different according to their different situations.
7) Liberation [moksa] is the name of attainment of Bhagavan's feet.
8) Bhagavan's pure worship [amala bhajana] is the only way to attain liberation.
9) Pratyaksa [direct perception], anumana [logic], and sabda [spiritual sound] are the
three types of evidence.
Second Chapter
Bhagavan Alone Is the Supreme Truth
Q. Who is Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead?
A. Bhagavan is the one Who expands all jivas and all matter by His own inconceivable
energy (acintya-sakti), and then enters into these creations as the Supreme Lord
(Isvara-svarupa). He also transcends all souls and matter as the impersonal Brahman
effulgence (brahma-svarupa), which is far beyond all imagination; and moreover, it is He
who manifests His divine potency (para-sakti) to reveal His form of eternity, knowledge
and bliss (sac-cid-ananda svarupa), thereby becoming the object of devotion for all souls.
Q. What are the different types of the Lord's potencies?
A. We are unable to fully describe the Lord's potencies. The reason for this is His
saktis have no boundaries, whereas we have boundaries; therefore, His energies are called
para-sakti. These saktis are completely imperceptible to us, but on the other side of the
matter, in the divine realm of His para-sakti, all things are accomplished effortlessly.
Thus the para-sakti simultaneously conducts the opposing affairs of spirit and matter
automatically.
Q. Then is Bhagavan subordinate to the sakti?
A. It is not that Bhagavan is one thing and the sakti is another, just as the burning
power of the fire is inseparable from the fire, similarly Bhagavan's sakti is inseparable
from Bhagavan.
Q. If Bhagavan is the one and only Supreme truth then why did Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
give His followers instructions about devotional service to Sri Krsna (Krsna Bhakti)?
A. Bhagavan has six eternal qualities — He possesses all wealth, strength, fame,
beauty, knowledge and renunciation. Different forms of the Lord (Bhagavad-svarupa)
manifest according to whether certain of these qualities are being expressed to greater or
lesser degrees. For example, when His wealth feature is foremost, then He manifests as
Narayana, the Lord of Vaikuntha; when His beauty and sweetness predominate, then He
manifests as Vrindavana-Candra Sri Krsna. Therefore, only Sri Krsna is the topmost supreme
manifestation of Bhagavan.
Q. How many types of forms does the Lord have?
A. All of His forms are fully conscious, supremely beautiful, overflowing with divine
bliss, all attractive, vibrantly active, and perceivable by pure love. According to the
different natures of different souls, the Lord's eternal form manifests in an infinite
number of ways. Thus, according to these differences in the Lord's manifestation,
different natured souls are eternally attached to Him in their own original forms. Only
the form of Sri Krsna is the eternal blissful svarupa.
Q. What is Sri Krsna's lila?
A. Among the limitless variegated realms of the entire spiritual world, the most
supremely charming portion is called Sri-Vrndavana. There, Sac-Cid-Ananda Sri Krsna is
present in the form of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna for the purpose of performing eternal pastimes.
When souls manifest their own form of divine bliss, then they live in Vrindavana in the
mood of Sri Radhika's girlfriends (since She is the personification of supreme bliss), and
thus they attain the qualification for participation in Sri Krsna's eternal pastimes.
Q. What are the obstacles to the attainment of Sri Krsna lila?
A. There are two types of obstacles: 1) material consciousness (jada-buddhi) and 2)
beyond the conception of material consciousness, there is impersonal consciousness
(nirvisesa-buddhi).
Q. What is material consciousness?
A. Material consciousness is an awareness that is limited to material time, place,
objects, aspirations, thoughts and activities. According to material consciousness, one
sees the realm of Vrindavana dhama to be a material place. Time is divided into three
parts: past, present and future. Objects refer to all perishable things. Aspiration refers
to the hopes for impermanent happiness, such as attaining the heavenly planets, etc. In
this condition, the soul can think only in material thoughts. Such a soul imagines the
following temporary activities to be worthwhile:
— the culture of civilization
— moral ethics
— scientific learning
— industrial development
— and the increase of domestic prosperity.
Q. What is impersonal consciousness?
A. First, the principle in the material world which separates all things is called
visesa (distinction based upon material quality). By merely renouncing material thinking,
one only gives up the conception of material distinction, and thereby one's consciousness
falls into the realm of nirvisesa (non-distinction). In this condition, one is unable to
perceive the differences between material objects, since the self is situated in nirvana
or merging with the impersonal abode of Brahman. This state is not a happy one at all;
being bereft of the natural bliss of the eternally conscious soul, the prema or ecstatic
love for the Lord remains concealed. The eternal pastimes of Sri Krsna are certainly
beyond matter; indeed, they are endowed with cin-maya-visesa, or divinely conscious
distinction.
