To be very honest, I was hesitating to write about this subject matter, but I think it is very important to clear up a very deep misunderstanding.

Recently I was invited to a Facebook group called Bhagavata Parampara.

The person wrote:

“You should join our group, because our Bhagavata parampara is vastly superior to a simple diksha parampara. In our parampara, every guru is a nitya-siddha. The diksha paramparas are just successions of dead bodies and they suffer from the problem of the weakest link, if anyone in there, any guru, is not a self-realized soul.”

I didn´t bother to reply because a) I was utterly shocked by such heavily offensive statements and b) I am utterly sick of discussing this completely useless subject matter of “whose parampara is superior”.

It seems that these discussions will never end.

In my humble opinion, if anyone claims “superiority” of one´s own chosen parampara, it shows that something is wrong with the attitude of such a person (being a member of both models).

If you are happy and satisfied with your chosen parampara, why is there still the need to constantly show the superiority of YOUR way?

I say: “All glories to the Bhagavata-parampara. I can clearly see that such a system of a parampara produced very wonderful and highly elevated sadhus.”

But nevertheless, I need to make clear why the attitude of the one who wrote the above mentioned (and I know that there are a lot who think the same) is very offensive.

I very much am aware that oftentimes it is said, the concept of an unbroken diksha parivar might be the “weakest” concept because it rests on the strength of the weakest link…

It sounds nice…but I would be VERY careful with such bold statements.

IMHO, it is very difficult to find out where is a weak link in which parivar…and quite honestly, it is a huge offense to the Holy Name (guror-avagya) to even think that there is.

acarya mam vijaniyan navamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyasuyeta sarva-devamayo guru.
(SB 11.17.27)

“The Lord said, “O Uddhava! You should know the Acarya, Sri Gurudeva, to be Myself, and never disrespect him, never be envious of him, judging him to be an ordinary man, because within Sri Guru live all the gods.”

yasya sākṣād bhagavati jñāna dīpa prade gurau
martyāsaddhiḥ śrutaṁ tasya sarvaṁ kuñjara śaucavat
(Śrīmad Bhāgavata 7.15.26)

“Whoever has the foolish notion that the Guru, the bestower of the lamp of divine knowledge, who is God Himself, is a mere mortal, has all his learning lost, just as an elephant throws dust all over himself after bathing.”

As an example:

My parivar (Nityananda parivar) starts with Sri Jahnava Ma as the fountainhead.

Then there are thirteen gurus down the line of our parivar, right down to my Gurudeva, Radhakund Mahanta Srila Ananta das Babaji.

Now, wouldn´t you agree that it is EXTREMELY difficult to ascertain for a bystander which GURU from the previous Gurudevas including my Param Gurudeva and even including my Gurudeva would be a “weak” link?????

Honestly, it is impossible and a most terrible offense towards Guru-tattva.

WHY would ANYONE want to ascertain that there MAY be a weak link or let us speak openly, a “un-realized-guru”?

How would a challenging person progress to “find out” and again, WHY???

If you are happy with your line of gurus, why automatically claim that an unbroken guru-parivar starting straight from Srimati Jahnava Ma may include “weak links” aka “unrealized gurus”?

I would never DARE to venture into the realm of such harmful and completely unnecessary thoughts.

Regarding the “weakest link vada”:

The person who wrote this is a follower of ISKCON.

I too was in ISKCON from 89-97, initiated by Harikesa Swami.

During the last 27 years, I encountered many devotees whose Gurudeva was in what is considered “not admirable standing” or who openly “left the path of bhakti”.

But quite honestly, I met quite a lot of sadhakas within ISKCON who reached an amazing level of bhakti nevertheless and who are truly deserving the title “sadhu”.

So, even though (in pure horrible theory), there might be a “guru” inbetween or even one´s own guru who may or may not be a “weak link”, but we should always be careful of not committing the offense called “guror-avagya” and we should always remember that the GURU-NISTHA of a sadhaka is never to be underestimated.

Guru-seva pleases Krishna very very much…and if there is something maybe missing…Krishna protects what we have and provides what we lack…also and ESPECIALLY spiritually

I witnessed that this happened a lot over the years.

Also, Srila Jagannatha das Babaji, Srila Gaur kishor das Babaji, Srila Vamsidas Babaji and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur received diksha initiation from traditional diksha paramparas. Does this mean that their paramparas are also to be condemned and called a succession of dead bodies where we can find weak links?

We can clearly see that these great mahatmas became siddhas ALTHOUGH they received diksa from unknown, obscure members of a traditional diksha parampara.

This clearly proves the absurd theory of “weak links” wrong.

Regarding a “succession of dead bodies”:

First of all, this a very offensive and a very harmful concept.

Also, oftentimes I hear people say that an unbroken diksha parampara is a “lifeless succession” without any energy, meaning no “existing” siksha.

This is a very ridiculous claim. Those people don´t know that many traditional diksha-parivars have a siksha-parivar (in the same mood) too and some even have a vamsha-parivar additionally (genealogical).

The Bhagavata-parampara is a fine mixture of siksha and diksha (Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipad for example never personally met Srila Narottama das Thakur).

But this doesn’t automatically mean a pure diksha parampara is “lifeless” or devoid of siksha-input…How could it be? Does a diksha Gurudeva not give siksha? You think that in our parampara nobody is there to give me for example siksha? Absurd.

Second of all, the concept of “dead bodies” is offensive because Vaishnavas NEVER die.

Srila Rupa Goswami is not present here on earth anymore. He left the planet. Does this mean he is dead?

Many stalwart acaryas of the Gaudiya Vaishnava family left the planet. Are they dead? Never.

Of course, now the opponent will say that one cannot compare Srila Rupa Goswami with a possible weak link of a diksha-parampara.

But also in the lineages of ISKCON and the Gaudiya Math, many stalwart gurus passed away in recent times. Are they dead bodies then too? Never.

And here we come to the next claim:

Only the members of the Bhagavata-parampara are nitya siddha devotees, coming from Goloka Vrindavan.

Every sadhaka has the right to think that his Gurudeva is a nitya siddha devotee.
But every sadhaka means EVERY SADHAKA.
But honestly, how does a sadhaka know if someone REALLY is a nitya siddha devotee?

Again, this is a very troublesome subject to “ascertain”.

And again, why would the nitya siddha devotees only appear in the Bhagavat parampara exclusively?

If we check the recent history of ISKCON and the Gaudiya Math, and if we are to assume that ALL gururs therein are nitya siddhas, then we must also see that quite a few of them left the path of bhakti altogether. Would nitya siddha devotees EVER leave bhakti?

Therefore, we should be very careful in proposing such theories of a succession of dead bodies and/ or of a possible weak link.

We should always take great care to look deep within our own hearts and examine our motivations.

If I have found a wonderful parampara, either the Bhagavata-parampara or a diksha parampara, I will do my utmost best to follow the teachings of my chosen parampara.

Like I said in the beginning, if I always carry a feeling of superiority in my heart towards the parampara of another sadhaka, something is very wrong.

Time should then be spent in examining WHY there is such a feeling of superiority and the need to constantly express it.

We should always judge a tree by its fruits.

In this world, it is wonderful to see so many wonderful fruits on both trees, the Bhagavata parampara AND the traditional diksha paramparas.

The mercy of the Divine Young Couple flows through all rivers of sincerity.

If we block our rivers with dams of arrogance and pride, this wonderful mercy will never flow.

Therefore, the need in one´s heart for my parampara being superior to another is a huge obstacle in our journey through bhakti.

Instead, we should focus on our similarities and as followers of Sriman Mahaprabhu, I bet there are quite a few.

Dandavat pranams,
Tarun Govinda das