15. Lord Caitanya Perfects Vaishnava Philosophy

15. Lord Caitanya Perfects Vaishnava Philosophy:

Krsņa appeared in the form of Lord Buddha to denounce the Vedas and preach ahimsa (non- violence) when He saw that the Vedic injunctions were being misconstrued to justify massive animal slaughter. Then, to bring the people back to the Vedas, He sent Lord Siva in the form of Sańkarācārya to preach Mäyäväda philosophy, a covered form of Buddhism. The Buddhist concept of ultimate reality and perfection is the complete annihilation of the self. Sankarācārya, however, taught that this concept of annihilation is called nirvana and that it comes from the Vedas. He said it means merging the self into the Absolute Reality known as Brahman. While this brought people back to accepting the Vedas, to establish this māyāvādi concept of merging into the formless brahman, Sankarācārya had to make some adjustment to explain the Vedic maxim that the highest form and understanding of Absolute Reality is the personal form of Bhagavan. He did this by saying that the personal form was material and was to be meditated upon by neophytes only until they were advanced enough to meditate on the formless.

Because the Vedas had (necessarily) been re-established in a convoluted and misconstrued way, Krsna sent four acāryas, one from each of the four Vaishnava sampradayas, to reinstate the real teachings of the Vedas. They are Ramanujacarya (sampradaya), Madhvācārya (Brahma-sampradaya Visnusvami (Rudra sampradaya), and Nimbarka (the Kumara sampradaya, also known as the Nimbarka sampradaya). Their mission was to defeat the Mäyäväda teachings that the Supreme formless (monism) and re-establish the real tattva of the personal form of the Supreme Godhead, Bhagavan, as the ultimate and supreme reality, transcendental and full of variety (dualism).

By the Lord's desire, all these ācāryas came to Navadvipa-dhama where they received the darsana and personal instructions of Lord Caitanya for their respective preaching missions. Then Lord Caitanya, Krsna Himself, appeared to complete the revival of the Vedas as the sole and absolute authority on the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personal Reality. He harmonized the contentions between the two schools, namely monism (formless) and dualism (form and variety), by establishing the perfect conclusion of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva inconceivable simultaneous oneness and difference. The spiritual realm, although directly perceived by the perfected souls, is inconceivable and beyond the understanding of the limited intelligence of conditioned souls. Therefore, the knowledge of the absolute must come from a superior and transcendental source - the Vedas. And the Vedas declare that both monism and dualism are equally existent aspects of the Absolute Truth. Monism is the brahman effulgence emanating from the Lord's body, but it is inferior to dualism which is the topmost understanding of the Absolute in His transcendental personal form and is the goal of all transcendentalists.

Lord Caitanya disclosed His plan to Nimbarka when He revealed Himself to the acarya in Bilvapakaşa in Rudradvipa. Lord Caitanya said, "Later, when I bring the sankirtana movement, I Myself will preach the essence of the four Vaishnava philosophies. From Madhva I will receive two essential items: his complete defeat of the Māyāvāda philosophy, and his service to the deity of Krsna, accepting the deity as an eternal spiritual being. From Ramanuja I will accept two great teachings: the concept of bhakti unpolluted by karma and jñāna and service to the devotees. From Vişhnusvami's teachings, I will accept two main elements: the sentiment of exclusive dependence on Krsna, and the path of raga-bhakti. And from you, I will receive two excellent principles: the necessity of taking shelter of Rädhä, and the high esteem for the gopis' love for Krsna."