The Complete Acintya-bhedābheda
This year, on the occasion of Jagad-guru Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda's 150th appearance day, there have been many high-profile events wherein all Gauḍīya Maṭha branches and associated institutions have come together to glorify Śrīla Prabhupāda. This is all wonderful to see and I pray that the Sārasvata family flourishes in its cooperation to serve the vāṇī of Śrīman Mahāprabhu as was Śrīla Prabhupāda's final wish. Some of my seniors have expressed some reservation in publishing these writings of Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, perhaps fearing that some harsh statements herein will cause more divide or "dig up old wounds". However, I trust that if readers read the entirety of this text, they will appreciate that every word Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja has written is laden with supreme compassion. The Vaiṣṇava is both vajrād api kaṭhorāṇi "harder than a thunderbolt" and mṛdūni kusumād api "softer than a flower". Herein, Paramagurudeva Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja lays out all the facts of the matter, all of Śrīyukta Sundarānanda Vidyāvinoda's arguments, before presenting his own. He does not twist quotations or hide sources, as Sundarānanda has done in his writings. This here is a fair but passionate refutation. The objective—to defend the connection of the Gauḍīya-Vaiṣṇavas to the line of Śrī Madhva—is beautifully achieved, leaving little room for doubt. Here Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja has covered the most crucial points in this debate. In effect, he has warded off the sahajiyā and māyāvāda influences Sundarānanda Vidyāvinoda tried to interpolate into the sacred stream of Gauḍīya philosophy. He has furthermore demonstrated that the Śrīman Mahāprabhu's sampradāya is not at all sectarian, but all-encompassing, harmonizing a wide variety of spiritual moods, temperaments, and "philosophical specialities"—not differences that would warrant the creation of a separate so-called "fifth" sampradāya.
My thanks to the Rays of the Harmonist team, my godbrothers and godsisters, and others for their constant encouragement and support. My special thanks to Śrīman Satyarāja Prabhu for gracing this publication with a foreword/review of the text.
The whole of Acintya-bhedābheda, initially published between 1957–1958 in Śrī Gauḍīya Patrikā, is available here in pdf and epub format. The original Bengali text is also available in pdf format.
—Śrīvās dās
2/27/2024
Foreword
Far be it from ordinary mortals to discuss the disagreements that may exist between higher beings. However, the higher beings themselves may disagree for reasons that are often beyond our ken. There are few as qualified as Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Mahārāja to engage in such higher educational purposes, and he does so in this review, clearly enough, for the betterment of all.
Indeed, for the sake of siddhānta and sampradāya, for their very preservation, His Divine Grace refutes Śrī Sundarānanda Vidyāvinoda Mahāśaya’s covert motives, even though these motives are clothed, externally, in the relishable guise of Gauḍīya Vaishnava philosophy. Indeed, a subject as profound as Acintya-bhedābheda, originally articulated by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī in his Paramātmā Sandarbha 78 (Sarva-saṁvādinī), should never have been besmirched with veiled malevolence, dragged, as we see here, through the streets of mundane rationalization, while beaten in the multiple marketplaces of self-interest.
Nonetheless, Sundarānanda Vidyāvinoda, in his tripartite work, i.e., Gauḍīya Darśanera Itihāsa o Vaiśiṣtya, Gauḍīyāra Tina Ṭhākura, and, here, too, in Acintya-bhedābheda-vāda — referred to as the three spears of a trident, but which might more effectively be seen as a pitchfork — has done just that, and Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja appropriately takes him to task for it. In doing so, His Divine Grace thoroughly lays out the history of the Gauḍīya Maṭha, the philosophy of bhakti, and the importance of fidelity to the Brahma-Mādhva Gauḍīya lineage.
Suffice it to say, there is much to glean, both positive and negative, from Sundarānanda Vidyāvinoda’s original work, even though it prompted this learned and passionate retaliation from Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja. That said, reading the latter’s review will no doubt suffice, giving the essence of the original while carrying what it lacks, preserving what it has, and consolidating the integrity of Gauḍīya Vaishnavism.”
—Steven J. Rosen (Satyarāja Dāsa), disciple of Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, author of numerous Vaishnava books, associate editor of Back to Godhead, and founding editor of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies
