Chapter One

JATA-GOSANI (Caste Gosvamis)

"So there are thirteen pseudo pretenders belonging to the Caitanya sampradaya
... So if I describe these thirteen, it will take thirteen hours. So I don't
describe them all. But one or two must be described. The most important is the
jati-gosai. They created a caste of gosvamis, just like they created a caste
of brahmanas. So this gosvami will come by hereditary birth, just like
brahmana. So my Guru Maharaja's contribution is that he defeated these caste
gosvamis, the same way as Caitanya Mahaprabhu did that, as Caitanya Mahaprabhu
said: kiba vipra sudra nyasa kebe naya yei krnsa tattva vetta sei guru haya -
'There is no consideration whether a man is a sannyasi, a brahmana, or a
sudra, or a grhastha, householder, or - No. Anyone who knows the science of
Krsna, he is alright. He is gosvami. He is brahmana.'

"That is the contribution, say, within a hundred years. That is the
contribution. And for this reason, he had to face so many vehement protests
from this brahmana class gosvamis. They conspired to kill him. Guru Maharaja
told me personally, because by his grace, when I used to meet alone, he used
to talk so many things. He was so kind that he used to talk with me. So he
personally told me, 'These people, they wanted to kill me. They collected
25,000 rupees and went to the police officer in charge of that area, that,
"You take this 25,000 rupees. We shall do something against Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati. You don't take any step."' And the police officer refused and came
to my Guru Maharaja that 'You take care. This is the position.'" (Srila
Prabhupada, lecture, 7 February 1969)

The following quotations from Srila Rupa Gosvami define the qualifications of
a bona fide spiritual master, who is sometimes addressed as gosvami, gosani or
gosai in the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya.

iha yasya harer dasye karmana manasa gira
nirhilam api avasthasu jivanmurtah sa ucyate

"One who engages in the transcendental service of the Lord in body, mind and
word is to be considered liberated in all conditions of material existence."
(B.r.s. 1.2.187)

vaco vegam manasah krodha-vegam jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah sarvam apimam prthivim sa sisyat

"One who can control the urge to speak, the mind, anger and the tongue, belly
and genitals is able to accept disciples from all over the world." (Sri
Upadesamrta 1)

The scriptures give clear warnings to those who would accept the post of guru
without qualification:

na ca mantra upajivi syanna capya arco upajirikah
na aniredita bhogas ca na ca nirdyah niredika

"Never accept the post of an initiating spiritual master or temple priest as a
profession. Never eat what is not offered, and never offer what is not
recommended in the scriptures." (Narada Pancaratra)

svalpa api handi bhuyam sam svadharma nirdita kriya
drstim kudrstir bhaktis tu devatantapo samsraya

"Even the slightest disreputable activity destroys a great quantity of virtue.
Vast learning is destroyed by just the slightest wrong understanding. Bhakti
is destroyed by the slightest dependence upon the demigods." (Narada
Pancaratra)

guru nasa syat sva jana nasa syat
pita nasa syat janani na sa syat
daivam na tat syan na patis ca sa syan
na mocayea yah samupaiti matyum

"One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and
death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or
a worshipable demigod." (Bhag. 5.5.18)

The jata-gosani are a hereditary caste of so-called spiritual masters. Their
qualification to give initiation is too often limited to the boast of family
connections to associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu or to disciples of these
associates. A famous example of such a family is the so-called Nityananda-
vamsa.  They claim seminal descent from Lord Nityananda through persons who
were actually disciples, not sons, of Lord Nityananda's only and childless son
Sri Virabhadra Gosvami.

The jata-gosani use of "gosvami" as a family name is a deviation peculiar to
this apasampradaya. Though sunken in mundane family affairs, they think
themselves as important as the renounced gosvamis of the Gaudiya sampradaya.

"One who is still in family life should not misuse the title gosvami. Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura did not recognize the caste gosvamis because
they were not in the line of the six Gosvamis in the renounced order who were
direct disciples of Lord Caitanya - namely, Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Sanatana
Gosvami, Srila Bhatta Raghunatha Gosvami, Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Jiva
Gosvami and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura said that the grhastha-asrama, or the status of family life, is a sort
of concession for sense gratification. Therefore a grhastha should not falsely
adopt the title gosvami. The ISKCON movement has never conferred the title
gosvami upon a householder. Although all the sannyasis we have initiated in
ISKCON are young, we have awarded them the titles of the renounced order of
life, svami and gosvami, because they have completely dedicated their lives to
preach the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu." (C.C. Adi 12.27, purport)

A popular superstition in Bengal, alluded to in the purport of C.C. Madhya
10.23, is that persons born in caste gosvami families are automatically
uttama-adhikaris. Thus the title Prabhupada is theirs by birthright. The
Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya rejects this.

"It is said, phalena pariciyate: one is recognized by the result of his
actions. In Vaisnava society, there are many types of Vaisnavas. Some of them
are called gosvamis, some are called svamis, some are prabhus, and some are
prabhupada. One is not recognized, however, simply by such a name. A spiritual
master is recognized as an actual guru when it is seen he has changed the
character of his disciples." (C.C. Antya 3.143, purport)

In Vrndavan, many of the important temples are managed by caste gosvamis. The
history of two such prominent families illustrates how the jata-gosani
contamination can divert even highly-qualified persons from the path of the
great acaryas. To avoid the unpleasantries of controversy, some names are
omitted.

One clan has temples in Mathura, Jatipur, Gokul and Kaman. They descend from a
brahmana who is a famous contemporary of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who, as
described in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, became formally linked with Gaudiya
Vaisnava Sampradaya when he received initiation from Sri Gadadhara Pandita.
Srila Prabhupada remarked that Lord Caitanya accepted him as a great scholar,
but not necessarily as a great devotee. At Govardhana, he took over the
management of a temple that had been established by a great Gaudiya Vaisnava
acarya. During this time, the learned brahmana associated with the six
Gosvamis, especially Rupa and Sanatana. Because his own men lacked training,
Gaudiya Vaisnavas were appointed to do the puja under his supervision.

The brahmana had two sons; after he left the world in the year 1530, Srila
Raghunatha dasa Gosvami requested one son to take over the temple management.
The temple duties continued to be shared between Gaudiya Vaisnavas and the
learned brahmana's disciples until around the year 1550, when an intrigue was
begun against the Gaudiya devotees. Once, while they were worshiping the
Deity, an envious disciple of the brahmana set fire to the homes of the
Gaudiya pujaris and drove them out. Thereafter, the Deity was claimed as the
sole property of the brahmana's clan. (In 1699, due to threat of Muslim
attack, the Deity vacated Vrndavana and eventually came to Rajasthan.)

Though the brahmana's son was not part of the intrigue, he took no steps to
heal the rupture with the Gaudiya sampradaya. To block a challenge to his
authority from among his father's disciples, he appointed his seven sons as
acaryas and willed that only they and their descendants could use the title
"Gosvami Maharaja" and give initiation. Later on, the family propagated a myth
that the great brahmana's son was an incarnation of Krsna; the same
pseudo-divinity was appropriated by succeeding generations and used as means
of explaining away the "amorous pastimes" of some of the clan.

The second line of Vrndavana caste gosvamis under discussion was started by
someone who took sannyasa from Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. As if in imitation of
Lord Nityananda, he later married two sisters and claimed that he had been
ordered to do so by Sri Krsna personally. The Gaudiya Vaisnava community
disapproved both his deed and defense. In the year 1585, he established a
mandira near Kaliya Ghat. The caste gosvamis who manage this mandira today are
descendants of his first son. Descendents of his second son manage another
famous Vrndavana temple.

This clan takes a dim view of what they think are the unnecessary austerities
of the gosvamis of the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya. Krsna loves his devotees,
they argue, and He becomes pleased when He sees them living a life of material
comfort and sense gratification. They uphold their founder's example as
superior to that of the Six Gosvamis. One Priyadasa of this clan composed a
work called Suslokamanimala in which he asserts that the founder was the
spiritual master of Sanatana Gosvami and Jiva Gosvami. With this and other
fabrications, they defend their apasampradaya as the genuine sampradaya.

Several historical accounts, including the biography of Srinivasa Acarya
entitled Prema-vilasa, relate that the founder met his death by having his
head chopped off, either by robbers or by a disgruntled pujari.

In 1932, the caste gosvamis of Vrndavana opposed the Vraja Mandala Parikrama
of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and his Gaudiya Matha disciples on
the grounds that he had deviated from the Vedic system by offering the sacred
thread to persons not of brahminical parentage. Srila Prabhupada explained the
fallacy of the jata-gosani in this regard in a letter to Acyutananda Swami:
"Regarding the validity of the brahminical status as we accept it, because in
the present age there is no observance of the garbhadhana ceremony, even a
person born in a brahmana family is not considered a brahmana, he is called
dvijabandhu or unqualified son of a brahmana. Under the circumstances, the
conclusion is that the whole population is now sudra, as it is stated kalau
sudra sambhava. So for sudras there is no initiation according to the Vedic
system, but according to the pancaratrika system initiation is offered to a
person who is inclined to take Krsna consciousness."

In Bengal, besides caste gosvamis who at least have a valid genealogical link
to some Vaisnava of the past, there are even pretenders whose claim to the
name "gosvami" lacks any foundation whatsoever. Many of the important temples
and holy places connected with Lord Caitanya's pastimes remain under
jata-gosani control. Up until the early part of this century, they held the
lower-caste Vaisnavas in an iron grip of ignorance and exploitation.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura challenged the jati-gosani in such works as Jaiva
Dharma and Hari Nama Cintamani by proclaiming that it is not enough to accept
a spiritual master merely on the basis of his caste. Before initiation, the
candidate must be completely satisfied that the initiator is fully conversant
with the scriptures and can lift his disciples out of ignorance. The guru must
be of spotless character: if he is addicted to sinful acts, even those he may
have already initiated must reject him. Bhaktivinoda's books unleashed a wave
of reform in Bengal that pushed the jata-gosani into a defensive stance. But
the confrontation came to open war when his son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati, took over the Gaudiya mission.

In 1912, he was invited to attend a sammilani (assembly) of Vaisnavas
sponsored by the Maharaja of Kossimbazar. But some jata-gosani and their
sahajiya supporters prevented him from giving a public lecture; in protest, he
fasted for four days straight. According to the account of his disciple
Sambidananda dasa, Acarya Siddhanta Sarasvati refuted all the arguments placed
before him by the caste's proponents in a discussion separate from the main
program. The jata-gosani thus learned to fear Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
as the singlemost threat to their privileged existence.

After taking sannyasa in 1918, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati mounted a
concerted effort to smash the influence of the jata-gosani even in their
strongholds. He fearlessly toured Jessore and Khulna (now in Bangladesh), the
home turf of Priyanath Nandi, who was the leading spokesman of the caste
gosvamis. Priyanatha met defeat in a public debate held at the village of
Toothpada.

Things came to a head in February-March 1925, just as the Gaudiya Matha began
nine days of a Navadvipa parikrama leading up to that year's Gaura Purnima
festivities. The party of devotees, numbering several thousand and personally
lead by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, was viciously attacked by goonda hirelings of
the jata-gosani when it entered the city of Navadvip without paying a tax for
maintenance of caste gosvami temples. Armed with brickbats and other weapons,
the goondas charged the elephant procession, injuring many pilgrims. The
shocked public sided with the Gaudiya Matha devotees and the pilgrimage
continued under police protection. This incident permanently tarnished the
reputation and influence of the jata-gosani. Overnight, their stubborn
opposition to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta's preaching lost all force.


The Caste Gosvami Mentality and ISKCON

By Srila Prabhupada's mercy, the grossest jata-gosani deviation - hereditary
guruship - seems unlikely to take root in the ISKCON he constituted. Yet the
author recalls a period in the 1970's when the devotees of the New York temple
were addressing their GBC man as "Gosvami Maharaja" even though he'd abandoned
his sannyasa asrama and taken a wife (Bali Mardan). After various indelicacies
about his marriage came to light, this person was forced to relinquish his
position. So here is at least one example of how an aberration of the
jata-gosani type found its way, albeit briefly, into ISKCON.

In this connection, there are other characteristics of the caste gosvami
apasampradaya that are worth noting. The jatagosani are the priestly class of
a mundane religion that superficially resembles Vaisnava-dharma. As Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati used to say, they use the saligram-sila and
arcavigraha as "stones for cracking nuts" (i.e. as a means of income for sense
enjoyment). They give siddha-pranali initiation (in which they "reveal" the
disciple's rasa with Krsna) as a ritual means of garnering a follower's
lifetime financial support. They neglect their disciples' factual spiritual
advancement by not teaching them the regulative principles of sadhana-bhakti;
indeed, such "gosvamis" are worshiped by bidi-seva (ceremonial presentations
of cigarettes) and offerings of fish.

How do such deviations begin? Here are a few indications:

"Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explains that even though one may
become free from the desire for fruitive activity, sometimes the subtle desire
for fruitive activity comes into being within the heart. One often thinks of
conducting business to improve devotional activity. However, the contamination
is so strong that it may later develop into misunderstanding, described as
kuti-nati (faultfinding) and pratisthasa (the desire for name and fame and for
high position), jiva-himsa (envy of other living entities), nisiddhacara
(accepting things forbidden in the sastra), kama (desire for material gain)
and puja (hankering for popularity)." (C.C. Madhya 12.135, purport)

"If a person overly addicted to family life takes to Srimad-Bhagavatam or
Krsna consciousness to earn a livelihood, his activity is certainly offensive.
One should not become a caste guru and sell mantras for the benefit of mundane
customers, nor should one make disciples for a livelihood. All these
activities are offensive. One should not make a livelihood by forming a
professional band to carry out congregational chanting, nor should one perform
devotional service when one is attached to mundane society, friendship and
love. Nor should one be dependent on so-called social etiquette. All this is
mental speculation. None of these things can be compared to unalloyed
devotional service." (C.C. Madhya 8.83, purport)

"Everyone gets a mother and father at the time of birth, but the real father
and mother are they who can release their offspring from the clutches of
imminent death. This is possible only for parents advanced in Krsna
consciousness. Therefore any parents who cannot enlighten their offspring in
Krsna consciousness cannot be accepted as a real father and mother." (C.C.
Antya 13.113, purport)

"One should not proudly think that one can understand the transcendental
loving service of the Lord simply by reading books. One must become a servant
of a Vaisnava. As Narottama dasa Thakura has confirmed, chadiya vaisnava-seva
nistara payeche keba - one cannot be in a transcendental position unless one
very faithfully serves a pure Vaisnava. One must accept a Vaisnava guru (adau
gurv-asrayam), and then by questions and answers one should gradually learn
what pure devotional service to Krsna is. That is called the parampara
system." (C.C. Antya 7.53, purport)

"In purified consciousness, or Krsna consciousness, one sees the presence of
Krsna everywhere. If, therefore, one only engages in Deity worship in the
temple and does not consider other living entities, then he is in the lowest
grade of devotional service. One who worships the Deity in the temple and does
not show respect to others is a devotee on the material platform, in the
lowest stage of devotional service." (Bhag. 3.29.21, purport)

"A real brahmana is never envious of a Vaisnava. If he is, he is considered an
imperfect neophyte." (C.C. Madhya 15.277, purport)

"'My dear King, if one derides an exalted devotee, he loses the results of his
pious activities, his opulence, his reputation and his sons. Vaisnavas are all
great souls. Whoever blasphemes them falls down to the hell known as
Maharaurava. He is also accompanied by his forefathers. Whoever kills or
blasphemes a Vaisnava and whoever is envious of a Vaisnava or angry with him,
or whoever does not offer him obeisances or feel joy upon seeing a Vaisnava,
certainly falls into a hellish condition.'" (C.C. Madhya 15.261, purport)

"Although posing as great scholars, ascetics, householders and svamis, the
so-called followers of the Hindu religion are all useless, dried up branches
of the Vedic religion. They are impotent. They cannot do anything to spread
the Vedic culture for the benefit of human society. The essence of the Vedic
culture is the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Caitanya instructed:

yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadesa
amar ajnaya guru hana tara ei desa

(C.C. Madhya 7.128)

One should simply instruct everyone he meets regarding the principles of Krsna
katha, as expressed in Bhagavad Gita As It Is and Srimad Bhagavatam. One who
has no interest in Krsna katha or the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is like
dry, useless wood with no living force. The ISKCON branch, being directly
watered by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is becoming undoubtedly successful,
whereas the disconnected branches of the so-called Hindu religion that are
envious of ISKCON are drying up and dying." (C.C. Adi 12.73, purport)

And, as Srila Prabhupada explains in his purport to C.C. Adi 12.8, when the
inheritors of the spiritual master's assets fight bitterly over property
rights to land and temples and thus lay waste to the whole mission by their
endless litigation, they simply emulate the feuding spirit long seen among the
jatagosani. The congregations of such quarrelsome Kali-yuga Vaisnavas lose
faith and look elsewhere for spiritual guidance - perhaps, unfortunately, to
something far worse.

History shows that the questionable activities of the caste gosvamis drove
untold numbers of simple Bengali folk into the arms of charlatan avataras
espousing reform. In other words, the secret behind the charisma of many of
the other apampradayas lay in their independence from the jata-gosani's
ossified and uninspiring "establishment Vaisnavism." These bogus alternative
movements became prominent within two centuries of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's
departure and grew unchecked until Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura reestablished
the sankirtana mission with his Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha.

We should note in closing this chapter that the jata-gosani tradition was
originally bona fide: "According to the pancaratra injunction, only a
householder brahmana can initiate. Others cannot." (C.C. Madhya 4.111,
purport) But the caste pride, greed, jealousy and moral decadence of some
unworthy descendants of great Vaisnava-brahmana householders spoiled this
system. "Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave us His opinion in the verse kiba vipra
kiba nyasi, etc. This indicates that the Lord understood the weakness of
society in its maintaining that only a grhastha brahmana should be a spiritual
master." (ibid.)