Page 9 - Viveka Satakam - Eng
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Foreword
As if influenced by the worldwide dominance of śūdra
culture, very few Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas today have even an
inkling of the tremendous scholarly heritage to which
they are heirs. And even if informed of it, very few
take interest, as if it has nothing to do with them. But
factually, service to the literary contributions of the
previous ācāryas is a major area of devotional service
that if neglected by the whole Vaiṣṇava community
constitutes a collective offense known as guror avajñā,
neglecting the gurus.
There is practically unlimited work to do in collecting,
preserving, reproducing, translating, and commenting
on old manuscripts, and in many other scholarly
fields also. It is regrettable that much of the Vaiṣṇava
world today is more inclined toward adapting
Kṛṣṇa consciousness to mleccha society rather than
understanding and embracing our own glorious and
fully spiritual tradition.
Symptomatic of this is that despite the ongoing massive
recruitment achievements of Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupāda and his followers, only a very few
within his community have shown serious interest
in Vaiṣṇava scholarship – and most of those few
have opted to pander to the largely agnostic secular
academia. Hence appreciation is due to Bhakta Demian
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