Srila Prabhupada

We don’t claim that we have become perfect Vaisnava

Some of my Godbrothers, they criticize like that, that I am offering sannyāsa to the mlecchas, yavanas. This is wrong idea. This is nārakī-buddhi. Actually, a Vaiṣṇava is above this varṇāśrama-dharma.
But we don’t claim that we have become perfect Vaiṣṇava. We are not so impudent. We want to remain under the Vaiṣṇava. Under the Vaiṣṇava. Otherwise Vaiṣṇava means… In Caitanya-caritāmṛta you’ll find the Vaiṣṇava is paramahaṁsa. Vaiṣṇava has no saffron cloth. Vaiṣṇava is white cloth, because Vaiṣṇava is paramahaṁsa, above. But we don’t claim the position of Vaiṣṇava. We want to remain servant of Vaiṣṇava. Therefore sannyāsa order is below the position of Vaiṣṇava. Sannyāsa order means still in the material classification. But this Vaiṣṇava is paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satām. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ‘tra paramo nirmat… [SB 1.1.2]. This Vaiṣṇavism is meant for paramo nirmatsarāṇām, paramahaṁsa. Sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate [Bg. 14.26].
So Vaiṣṇava position is not very easy thing; above all qualities. Therefore Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura introduced not to become an imitation of Rūpa Gosvāmī. Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana, the Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, they are paramahaṁsas. And in Vṛndāvana you’ll find so-called bābājīs, they have imitated the dress of Rūpa Gosvāmī—half loincloth—but a bīḍī in the mouth. What is this nonsense? […] Therefore to purify, Guru Mahārāja introduced this sannyāsa system, below the paramahaṁsas, not that artificial means I become a paramahaṁsa. No.

 

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.41 by Srila Prabhupada
Date: Oct. 21, 1974
Location: Māyāpur

Share:

Follow us

Padmanayana Krsna Dasa

Recent Posts

An Opportunity for a Life Time Contribution to Bhaktivinoda Asan

Please consider helping the Iskcon Kolkata Ulta Danga center, where Srila Prabhupada met Srila Saraswati…

11 hours ago

Rethinking the 9th July Letter: Exposing the Flaws of the “Final Order” Theory

New Release on Guru Pūrṇimā On this auspicious Guru Pūrṇimā, we’re pleased to release our…

1 week ago

A Grim Warning | Devotees—BEWARE! | (No Clickbait)

Support this channel: https://donate.bvksmedia.net/ Recorded on April 22, 2025 in Atlanta, GA, USA For thousands…

1 week ago

Opposing Feminism Within Vaishnava Society

Support this channel: https://donate.bvksmedia.net/ Recorded on June 30, 2025 in Manchester, UK. For thousands of…

1 week ago

Trivikrama Prabhu, or Maharaja?

Join us today for a critical examination in light of shastra and previous acharyas the…

1 month ago