Page 33 - SBV (English)

Apologia

Within Çré Bhaktisiddhänta Vaibhava I have incorporated limited descriptions
of the underlying strife in the Gauòéya Maöha prior to the departure of Çréla
Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté. Yet despite being requested by several devotees, I
have not depicted the bedlam that later overtook the Gauòéya Maöha.
The general events are well known. Shortly after the passing of Çréla
Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté, the internecine war he had foretold broke out and
shredded the institution he had worked so hard to establish. A Gauòéya essay
published four years after his tirobhäva stated that throughout the entire annals
of the earth, such enmity as was then being shown to Vaiñëavas had never been
heard of anywhere, let alone actually manifest against anyone. The task of
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restoring the dignity of the sampradäya, an undertaking Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta
Sarasvaté had so ably continued after the departure of Çréla Bhaktivinoda
Öhäkura, became largely undone, for the tremendous esteem earned from
the populace quickly evaporated as they beheld sadhus openly and viciously
contesting for power and property. The true spirit of the Gauòéya Maöha became
clouded for many years by accusations and counteraccusations, factionalism,
litigation, scission, violence, and reportedly even murder. Some devotees were
jailed. And the printing press, so dear to Çréla Sarasvaté Öhäkura’s heart, was
sold to finance subsequent court battles.
Yet the minutiae of that saga are unknown to virtually all contemporary
recipients of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté’s genuine legacy. And due to
the complexity of the subject, preponderance of misinformation, and dearth
of reliable first-hand evidence, it is unlikely that any fully authentic detailed
account will ever manifest. Descriptions of the post-1936 Gauòéya Maöha
imbroglio are fraught with inaccuracies and sectarian tendentiousness,
the admirers and detractors of sundry Gauòéya Maöha personages relating
impossibly contradictory versions of those individuals’ activities. Present-
day discipular descendants of some of the most maligned associates of Çréla
Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté insist that their respective gurus have been
misrepresented and misunderstood—which is tenable, for the exalted devotional
qualities of certain of those descendants indicate that their gurus were not
lacking spiritual substance. Moreover, that a number of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta
Sarasvaté’s disciples apparently performed acts unbecoming of Vaiñëavas is not
an indictment of His Divine Grace, who is glorious for having given diverse
people the opportunity to perform devotional service. Factually, one way or

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