Are the dīkṣā and dīkṣā-mantra of Caitanya’s school fruitless? Is Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇnavism really linked with the Madhva school? (Part 1)
Caitanya followers (“Hare-Krishna Movement” aka ISKCON aka Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas aka Bengal Vaishnavism) attach great importance to disciplic succession (guru-paramparā). For them, disciplic succession is the proof of the validity and permanence of the tradition. Caitanya’s school, according to devotees from Gauḍīya Maṭhas and ISKCON, as well as some traditional gauḍīya-paramparā-parivāras, is linked to the Madhva school (tattvavāda).
According to A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda, “All transcendental messages are received properly in the chain of disciplic succession. This disciplic succession is called paramparā.” (Commentary on Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.42)
“By the paramparā system, one can thus be endowed with the original spiritual power coming from the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Com. on Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.15.28)
“The spiritual master must be in the disciplic succession from Kṛṣṇa.” (Com. on Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.29.17)
It is also important for Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas that the guru-paramparā, as well as the Gauḍīya Sampradāya itself, are linked and associated with one of the four true Vaiṣṇava Sampradāyas, namely the Madhva Sampradāya (tattvavāda). For this reason, the Caitanya followers call their tradition the Brahma-Madhva-Gauḍīya-Sampradāya.
It is time to ask the single most important question for those interested in the Caitanya’s school: does Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism provide the working tools to achieve the stated goals of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava spiritual practice?
It is time to look at Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism through the eyes of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism itself, starting from the norms and principles adopted by the teachers and ācāryas of this school.
Guru-paramparā
In research, it is important to understand and consider the context. The context is the historical events of the 16th and 18th centuries that influenced the self-identity of Caitanya’s followers; their self-definition, how they view themselves and who they consider themselves to be.
In Hinduism, which consists of many religious and philosophical schools and movements, tradition — aka school — is based on two basic elements — teaching and paramparā, i.e., the chain of disciplic succession. Spiritual masters are the custodians of the tradition, which continues in the disciples. And so from generation to generation for hundreds of years. The origins of tradition are believed to go back to God Himself. Paramparā is the best means of preserving the teachings.
The question of the position of the Gauḍīya Sampradāya is directly related to paramparā. Discipleship (in the North Indian Vaiṣṇava schools) implies initiation into the tradition. Initiation in the Caitanya school and more widely in the various forms of the North Indian Vaiṣṇava schools is called dīkṣā. The ritual part of dīkṣā consists of the guru giving a mantra, the dīkṣā-mantra, to the disciple. Dīkṣā is a sacrament, so the initiation takes place by whispering the mantra directly into the ear of the disciple. This is how the spiritual bond between spiritual master and disciple is established, this is how the guru-paramparā continues.
The Gauḍīya Sampradāya consists of many paramparās, which began to branch out actively after Caitanya’s death. We have more information about the members of the gauḍīya-paramparā after Caitanya than about the members who lived before him. The more ancient, the less reliable information we have.
Thus tradition, speaking of the North Indian Vaiṣṇava schools, is a guru-paramparā, a succession of spiritual masters transmitting some message/teachings. Initiation into the tradition takes place through the transmission of dīkṣā-mantra.
Sampradāya
The followers of Kedaranātha Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, the reformer of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as his son Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī and ISKCON founder A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda, call the Gauḍīya Sampradāya “Brahma-Madhva-Gauḍīya-Sampradāya”. The name reflects the key links — Brahmā and Madhvācārya. Madhvācārya is the founder of the Tattvavāda or Dvaita Vedānta, a 13th century South Indian Vaiṣṇava school. Its centre is in South India, Udupi, Karnataka.
The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas regard Kṛṣṇa as the source of their tradition and paramparā, who transmitted the innermost knowledge to Brahmā. Brahmā to Nārada, Nārada to Vyāsa, and the latter already to Madhvācārya. Madhva’s disciples continued the paramparā.
Vyāsatīrtha (1460–1539) was one of the prominent Madhva religious and, in a sense, political figures in the 16th century, the time of Caitanya’s life. According to Caitanya’s followers, Vyāsatīrtha is the link and chain of their guru-paramparā and their own previous ācārya.
Vyāsatīrtha’s disciple, according to Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, was Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha, and his disciple was Mādhavendra Purī. Mādhavendra Purī is considered by Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas to be the first guru in the Madhva Sampradāya who introduced the pure moods of devotion to this tradition. Mādhavendra’s favourite disciple, according to Gauḍīya authors, was Īśvara Purī, the dīkṣā-guru of Caitanya himself. Īśvara Purī initiated Caitanya by a dīkṣā-mantra called gopāla-mantra.
Thus, the unbroken succession of spiritual masters of Caitanya’s school, omitting intermediate and unimportant links for this article, goes from Kṛṣṇa through Madhvācārya, Vyāsatīrtha, Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha, Mādhavendra Purī, Īśvara Purī to Caitanya. Mādhavendra’s disciples were also Advaitācārya and Nityānanda, important representatives of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism and contemporaries of Caitanya.
Further on, the gauḍīya-paramparā branched out vigorously. And in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries another branch from traditional Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism appeared. Its founder was Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. His mission was continued by his son Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, the founder of Gauḍīya Maṭha. Then this branch also divided into several gauḍīya-maṭhas. One branch of the Gauḍīya Maṭha was the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), founded in the 1960s by Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda.
The followers of Caitanya, as well as some other Vaiṣṇava streams of North India, are convinced that they are one of the four vaiṣṇava sampradāyas that form their guru-paramparā.
Is Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism really part of the Madhva Sampradāya and Tattvavāda? Why exactly only four vaiṣṇava sampradāyas when in reality there are many more of them? Who came up with the idea of Four Vaiṣṇava Sampradāyas in the first place?
Vyāsatīrtha’s disciple, according to Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, was Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha, and his disciple was Mādhavendra Purī. Mādhavendra Purī is considered by Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas to be the first guru in the Madhva Sampradāya who introduced the pure moods of devotion to this tradition. Mādhavendra’s favourite disciple, according to Gauḍīya authors, was Īśvara Purī, the dīkṣā-guru of Caitanya himself. Īśvara Purī initiated Caitanya by a dīkṣā-mantra called gopāla-mantra.
Thus, the unbroken succession of spiritual masters of Caitanya’s school, omitting intermediate and unimportant links for this article, goes from Kṛṣṇa through Madhvācārya, Vyāsatīrtha, Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha, Mādhavendra Purī, Īśvara Purī to Caitanya. Mādhavendra’s disciples were also Advaitācārya and Nityānanda, important representatives of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism and contemporaries of Caitanya.
Further on, the gauḍīya-paramparā branched out vigorously. And in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries another branch from traditional Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism appeared. Its founder was Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. His mission was continued by his son Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, the founder of Gauḍīya Maṭha. Then this branch also divided into several gauḍīya-maṭhas. One branch of the Gauḍīya Maṭha was the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), founded in the 1960s by Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda.
The followers of Caitanya, as well as some other Vaiṣṇava streams of North India, are convinced that they are one of the four vaiṣṇava sampradāyas that form their guru-paramparā.
Is Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism really part of the Madhva Sampradāya and Tattvavāda? Why exactly only four vaiṣṇava sampradāyas when in reality there are many more of them? Who came up with the idea of Four Vaiṣṇava Sampradāyas in the first place?
