Śrī Madhvācārya’s Appearance Day: The Four Sampradāyas, Lakṣmī and the Gopīs
• Rāmānuja’s Viśiṣṭādvaita: Rāmānujācārya taught that Brahman is one but qualified by unlimited qualities, as “red” qualifies a horse. Against the advaitavādīs he showed that Bhagavān has a form, though not a prākṛta one, and manifests different svarūpas to His bhaktas according to their prema.
• Madhva’s Five Differences: Madhvācārya, without compromise, made bheda primary: between Īśvara and jīva (vibhu and aṇu, Māyādhīśa and māyā-vaśa), between jīva and jīva, between Īśvara and jaḍa, and between one material thing and another, as Nanda Mahārāja has nine lakh cows and Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja eleven. The cetana has the power of feeling, willing and knowing; apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā means His feet are aprākṛta.
• Two Bhāṣyas and Strict Rules: Madhva wrote the Mādhva-bhāṣya and Rāmānuja the Śrī-bhāṣya on the Vedānta-sūtra. The Śrī-sampradāya worships Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa by the vidhi-mārga and will never enter the temple of any devatā or devī.
• Mahāprabhu with the Bhaṭṭas: At Śrīraṅgam Mahāprabhu stayed four months with Trimalla Bhaṭṭa, Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa and Prabodhānanda. Joking that Kṛṣṇa is a gopa and Nārāyaṇa a brāhmaṇa, He asked why the chaste Lakṣmī yearns for Kṛṣṇa. They answered that Bhagavān is one, as one man may be a lawyer in court and a doctor in the clinic, and that seeing a difference between His forms is an offence.
• Why Lakṣmī Missed the Rāsa: Mahāprabhu then asked why the Upaniṣads entered the rāsa as gopīs but Lakṣmī, despite her tapasyā, could not (kasyānubhāvo ’sya …). The one Śrīmatī Rādhikā manifests as the gopīs in Vraja, the mahiṣīs in Dvārakā and Sītā or Lakṣmī in Vaikuṇṭha and Ayodhyā. Entry needs birth in a gopa home, the gopīs’ ānugatya and parakīyā-bhāva, which Lakṣmī would not accept; even the apsarās did not receive the gopīs’ fortune (nāyaṁ śriyo ’ṅga …).
• The Potential Needs Satsaṅga: The Bhaṭṭas left the Śrī-sampradāya and accepted Mahāprabhu’s ānugatya, and Prabodhānanda Sarasvatīpāda wrote Rādhā’s glories. One cannot force the rasa in the heart to manifest; it comes only through satsaṅga, as Uddhava, Kṛṣṇa’s wise counsellor (vṛṣṇīnāṁ pravaro mantrī …), stayed about ten months in Vraja and saw the Vrajavāsīs’ prema.
• Kṛṣṇa Asks Uddhava: Kṛṣṇa received two letters at once, Yudhiṣṭhira’s invitation to the rājasūya and the plea of the kings jailed by Jarāsandha. Gurudeva recalls Duryodhana sitting at Kṛṣṇa’s head and Arjuna at His feet before Kurukṣetra. Uddhava advised freeing the kings first so that they would follow Kṛṣṇa to the rājasūya and spread His glory.
• The Four Sampradāyas: On Madhvācārya’s appearance day Gurudeva names the Śrī, Brahma, Rudra and Sanaka sampradāyas, with Lakṣmī and Rāmānuja, Brahmā and Madhva, Rudra and Viṣṇusvāmī, the Catuḥsana and Nimbārka. Mantras without sampradāya are fruitless; one must know the guru-paramparā and, as Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda says, first hear hari-kathā from the guru’s mouth to know whether he is a Māyāvādī or a Vaiṣṇava. The rāgānugā sādhaka must also know the five kinds of sādhana and be established in tattva-siddhānta, not nāma alone.
Gurudeva closes by explaining that Mahāprabhu did not convert the Bhaṭṭas: they had not yet reached the sthāyi-bhāva, and by His mercy the mādhurya-rasa already in their hearts became manifest.
Verses quoted
• 00:14:02: ‘māyādhīśa’ ‘māyā-vaśa’ — īśvare-jīve bheda… [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 6.162]
• 00:32:11: … īśvaratve bheda mānile haya aparādha [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.154]
• 00:33:10: kasyānubhāvo ’sya na deva vidmahe… [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.16.36]
• 00:36:44: nāyaṁ śriyo ’ṅga u nitānta-rateḥ prasādaḥ… [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.47.60]
• 00:41:55: vṛṣṇīnāṁ pravaro mantrī… [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.46.1]
• 00:56:21: … nārada haite vyāsa, madhva kahe vyāsa-dāsa… [Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, Guru-paramparā, verse 1]
• 01:02:15: sampradāya-vihīnā … [Padma Purāṇa, quoted in Prameya-ratnāvalī 1.5]
