Page 39 - Sri Ramanujacharya Sahasrabdhi - 1000th year anniversary of Ramanujacarya
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devotees  avoid  quarrelling  and  making  ar ficial  boundaries  based on

       incomplete knowledge of the esoteric truths of spiritual life. Let us all
     glorify Ramanujacarya, one of the greatest spiritual teachers of all  me.
     We should learn from him that all caste differences are irrelevant for
     spiritual advancement as long as one listens to and follows the instruc-
      ons  of  bona  fide  representa ves  of  Lord  Krishna.  Nammalvar  was
     bornnin a low caste family. Yet, he is considered the most prominent
     Alvar saint. Ramanujacarya accepted two gurus who were born in low
     caste families. We must stay glued to the instruc ons of the great acar-
     yas  who  are  sincere  and  honest  representa ves  of  Lord  Krishna,  the
     original guru and teacher who spoke the Bhagavad-gita over 500 years
     ago. The Gita is the best. This is confirmed by Srila Prabhupada who
     writes:

     “But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures
     do not a ain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doub ng soul
     there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next.”

     Commentary:
     “Out of many standard and authorita ve revealed scriptures, the Bha-
     gavad-gītā  is  the  best.  Persons  who  are  almost  like  animals  have  no
     faith in, or knowledge of, the standard revealed scriptures; and some,
     even  though  they  have  knowledge  of,  or  can cite  passages  from,  the
     revealed  scriptures,  have  actually  no  faith  in  these  words.  And even
     though others may have faith in scriptures like Bhagavad-gītā, they do
     not believe in or worship the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Such
     persons  cannot  have  any  standing  in  Kṛṣṇa  consciousness.  They  fall
     down. Out of all the above-men oned persons, those who have no faith
     and are always doub ul make no progress at all. Men without faith in
     God and His revealed word find no good in this world, nor in the next.
     For them there is no happiness whatsoever. One should therefore follow
     the principles of revealed scriptures with faith and thereby be raised to
     the pla orm of knowledge. Only this knowledge will help one become
     promoted to the transcendental pla orm of spiritual understanding. In
     other  words,  doub ul  persons  have  no  status  whatsoever  in  spiritual
     emancipa on.  One  should  therefore  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  great
     ācāryas  who  are  in  the  disciplic  succession  and  thereby  a ain  suc-
     cess.” (Bg 4.40)

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