The spiritual lineage of Sri Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur
krishna haite chatur-mukha, hana krishna-sevonmukha,
brahma haite naradera mati
narada haite vyasa, madhva kahe vyasa-dasa,
purnaprajna padmanabha gati [1]
Through Krishna, Brahma became devoted to Krishna’s service. Brahma inspired Narada then Narada inspired Vyasadev. Madhva Acharya is a servant of Vyasa. Then, the line of succession continued through Purnaprajna and Padmanabha.
nrihari madhava-vamse, aksobhya paramahamse,
sisya bali’ angikara kare
aksobhyera sisya jaya- tirtha name parichaya,
tanra dasye jnanasindhu tare [2]
Nrihari Tirtha and Madhava Tirtha were also disciples in Madhva Acharya’s line. Madhava Tirtha accepted the paramahamsa Aksobhya Tirtha as his disciple. Aksobhya Tirtha’s disciple was Jaya Tirtha. Jaya Tirtha’s servant was Jnanasindhu.
tanha haite dayanidhi, tanra dasa vidyanidhi,
rajendra ha-ila tanha haite
tanhara kinkara jaya- dharma name parichaya,
parampara jana bhala mate [3]
After Jnanasindhu came Dayanidhi. Dayanidhi’s servant was Vidyanidhi. After Vidyanidhi came Rajendra. Rajendra’s servant was Jaya Dharma. Know the parampara properly in this way.
jayadharmma-dasye khyati, sri purusottama-yati
tan’ha’te brahmanya-tirtha suri
vyasatirtha tanra dasa, laksmipati vyasa-dasa,
tanha haite madhavendra puri [4]
Jaya Dharma’s renowned servant was Sri Purusottam Tirtha. After Sri Purusottam Tirtha came the learned Brahmanya Tirtha. Brahmanya Tirtha’s servant was Vyasa Tirtha. Vyas Tirtha’s servant was Laksmipati. After Laksmipati came Madhavendra Puri.
madhavendra puri-vara, sisya-vara sri-isvara,
nityananda, sri-advaita vibhu
isvara-purike dhanya, karilena sri-chaitanya,
jagad-guru gaura mahaprabhu [5]
The best disciples of the great Madhavendra Puri were Ishwara Puri, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, and Sri Adwaita Acharya Prabhu. Jagad-guru Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu blessed Ishwara Puri by accepting Ishwara Puri as His Guru.
mahaprabhu sri-chaitanya, radha-krishna nahe anya,
rupanuga janera jivana
vishwambhara priyankara, sri svarupa-damodara,
sri gosvami rupa-sanatana [6]
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is nondifferent from Sri Sri Radha-Krsna and is the very life of Sri Rupa’s followers. Srila Svarup Damodar Goswami, Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu, and Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu are most dear to Vishwambhar.
rupa-priya mahajana, jiva-raghunatha hana,
tanra priya kavi krishnadasa
krishnadasa-priya-vara, narottama sevapara,
yanra pada viswanatha-asa [7]
Sri Rupa’s dear followers are the great souls Sri Jiva and Sri Raghunath. Their dear follower is Srila Krsnadas Kaviraj. His dearmost follower is Sri Narottam, who is ever engaged in divine service. His feet are the aspiration of Sri Viswanatha Chakravarti Thakur, who lived two generations afterwards.
visvanatha-bhakta-satha, baladeva jagannatha,
tanra priya sri-bhaktivinoda
maha-bhagavata-vara, sri-gaura-kisora-vara,
hari-bhajanete janra moda [8]
Srila Baladev Vidyabhusan is a foremost devotee of Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur, who was not his initiated disciple, but who he guided with inspiration and instruction. Next comes Srila Jagannath Das Babaji, after a gap in time of one hundred years, more or less. The dear follower of all these Acharyas is Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur. His dear associate Srila Gaura Kisor Das Babaj is the best of the devotees in the renounced order of life, for his sole joy is service of Sri Hari.
tadanuga-mahajana sri-krsna-kirtana-dhana
yeba dila puri jaga kama
sri varsabhanavi-bara sada sevya sevapara
tanhara dayita-dasa nama [9]
The follower of Srila Gaura Kisor Das Babaji, the great soul Dayita Das (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur), whose wealth is Sri Krishna-kirtan, fulfilled the spiritual desires of the whole world, sending missionaries around the globewho teach Sri Gauranga’s message of love. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati is the dearmost one of Sri Varsabhanavi, as he is always engaged in Her service.
tad abhinna deha-divya svarupa-rupa-raghu-jivya
sada sevya yanra padapadma
susiddhanta murti-dhara sri sridhara guru-vara
rupanuga-sadhu-sreya-sadma [10]
Sri Dayita Das’ nondifferent divine form, the living manifestation of Srila Svarup Damodar, Sri Rupa, and Sri Raghunath, whose lotus feet are to be served eternally, is the best of Gurus, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. He is the embodiment of perfect siddhanta and the ultimate refuge for the sadhus who follow Sri Rupa.
After the departure of Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj from this world, I accepted his very capable and liberal successor Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj as my Siksa-Guru, my instructor spiritual master.
The spiritual succession of Gurus, the Guru Parampara of Sri Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami, is a Siksa-Guru Parampara, a succession of instructor Gurus.
It is an historical fact that the Guru-Parampara of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur is not a diksa-guru parampara, an unbroken succession of initiating Gurus. There are gaps of many years, indeed gaps of entire generations, in our spiritual lineage. There is a gap of two generations between Srila Narottama das Thakura and Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur. Another gap of almost a hundred years between Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur and Srila Jagannatha Das Babaji. Moreover, in our spiritual succession (parampara) we note the fact Sri Raghunathdas Goswami is recorded as a disciple of Swarup Damodar Goswami and Srila Rupa Goswami irregardless of the historical fact that he was initiated by Sri Yadunandana Acharya, a Vaishnava priest who lived in the town of Chandpura.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj said: We are not concerned with a material connection. The mediator is not this flesh and body as we generally think. In studying the development of scientific thought, we may connect Newton to Einstein, leaving aside many unimportant scientists. We may trace the development of science from Galileo to Newton, and then to Einstein, neglecting the middle points. If their contributions are taken into account, then the whole thing is taken into account, and lesser scientists may be omitted. When a long distance is to be surveyed, the nearest posts may be neglected. Between one planet and another, the unit of measurement is the light year; distance is calculated in light years and not from mile to mile, or metre to metre. In the disciplic succession, only the great stalwarts in our line are considered important.
Srila Guru Maharaj, Sripad B. P. Aranya Maharaj, and myself (Muralidhar das)
In regards to who is a real Guru or spiritual master and who is not, I urge readers to study the teachings of Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur in this regard. Please read this revealing article penned in English titled Putana.
Within that article, Srila Saraswati Thakur states:
“The baby, when he or she comes out of the mother’s womb, falls at once into the hands of the pseudo-teachers of religion. These teachers are successful in forestalling the attempts of the good preceptor whose help is never sought by the atheists of this world at the baptisms of their babies. This is ensured by the arrangements of all established churches of the world. They have been successful only in supplying watchful Putanas for effecting the spiritual destruction of persons from the moment of their birth with the cooperation of their worldly parents. No human contrivance can prevent these Putanas from obtaining possession of the pulpits.”