Vaisnavism — Its Philosophy, Religion and Culture

A Course by Bhakti Caitanya Swami (Chairman, Board of Examiners, 
Bhaktivedanta College of Education and Culture, South Africa)

International Society for Krishna Consciousness
(Founder-acarya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada)

Introduction: This course is designed to present to an academic audience the basic principles, philosophy and practices of Vaisnavism, (popularly known today as Kåñëa consciousness). The Vaisnava tradition has its roots in India, but in the latter part of this century has spread throughout the world, particularly by the efforts of the Founder-acarya (founding spiritual master) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The course will take place over a six day period, and will cover the following subject matters:

a) The Scriptural Basis of Vaisnavism - 
A general overview of the Vedic Scriptures, in terms of their divisions: 
Sruti and Smriti  
Further Subdivisions
The Four Vedas with their corollaries 
The Itihasas 
Vedanta Sutra 
The Puranas
	The concepts of karma kanda, jnana kanda and upasana kanda
b) The Main Vaisnava Scriptures - 
Bhagavad-gétä
Çrémad Bhägavatam.
c) Four Schools of Vaisnava Thought - 
The concept of Sampradaya. 
The Four Vaisnava Sampradayas:
	Brahma Sampradaya
	Sri Sampradaya
	Kumara Sampradaya
	Rudra Sampradaya
d) The Appearance of Lord Kåñëa
The concept of Avatara
Lord Kåñëa's appearance and activities
e) The Fundamentals of Vaisnava Philosophy - 
The soul 
The Absolute Truth in 3 features
The relationship between the individual soul and God
The falldown of the soul to material existence
Material nature described, 
Reincarnation
Karma
Materialistic religion
The redemption of the fallen soul:
	The concept of moksa (liberation)
	The concept of Kåñëa prema (love of God)
Vaisnava moral principles, etc.
f) The Concept of Pure Devotional Service - 
Rupa Goswami's definition:
	Anyabhilasita sunyam ....
	2 main categories of qualifications:
		3 positive qualifications
		3 negative qualifications
g) Caitanya Mahaprabhu's contribution - 
The concept of Yuga dharma (prescribed religious activity for each age)
The chanting of the holy names and the saëkéåtana movement
Gaudiya Vaisnavism.
h) Gaudiya Vaisnavism since the time of Caitanya Mahaprabhu - 
The 6 Goswamis
Çréla Viçvanatha Cakravarti Öhäkura
Çréla Bhaktivinoda Thäkura
Çréla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupäda
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness
i) Varnasrama, the Vaisnava Social System - 
Four orders of spiritual life
Four orders of social life.
j) A Visit to Çré Våndävana Dhäma, the place of Lord Kåñëa
Slide Show, showing the main places of Kåñëa's pastimes in India