Page 53 - History of Tirupathi Balaji and comparison of Sri Vaishnava
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Tamala Krishna: What about those who are coming in these other sampradayas, like
Ramanuja sampradaya...
Prabhupada: They are bona fi de if they are actually following.
Tamala Krishna: I was referring to them; that they are not preaching very widely.
Prabhupada: Then they are useless.
Tamala Krishna: Yeah. Because if they wanted to, Krishna would have facilitated it.
Prabhupada: Ramanuja preached. All the acaryas preached.
On another occasion Srila Prabhupada was asked the same question.
Morning Walk -- April 20, 1974, Hyderabad
Mahamsa: (break) ...Ramanuja sampradaya, do they have a chain of disciplic
succession, bona fi de chain, to this present day?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Mahamsa: And the other sampradayas also?
Prabhupada: Yes. Chain must be there. Now, whether strictly following the..., that is
another thing.
Although the Sri sampradaya and the Madhava-Gaudiya sampradaya are
different lineages, Srila Prabhupada affi rms that the Sri Vaisnavas are bona fi de
if they strictly follow; and the same is true for the Madhava-Gaudiya followers.
Ramanujacarya stressed “prapatti” which means complete surrender to
Sriman Narayana. He preached the utmost importance of “Bhakti marga” or
devotional service which he described as a steady fl ow of loving meditation
directed to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He taught his followers to
recite the “Charmasloka,”which is the famous Bhagavad-gita verse spoken by
Lord Krishna. Sarva dharman parityajya man ekam saranam vraja - Abandon all
varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions.
Do not fear. (Bg 18.66)
In the purport to CC Madhya 25.56, Srila Prabhupada writes: The ultimate
goal of studying all Vedic literature is the acceptance of Krishna as the Supreme Personality
of Godhead. The Krishna consciousness movement is propagating the philosophical
conclusion of Srila Vyasadeva and following other great acaryas like Ramanujacarya,
Madhvacarya, Vishnu Swami, Nimbarka and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself.
Ramanujacarya, Yamunacarya, and King Kulasekhara were often quoted
by Srila Prabhupada in his purports. In the CC Adi 7.121 Ramanujacarya’s
“Vaisistya” philosophy establishes that merging into the material or spiritual
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