Steven J Rosen - Gaudiya Vaishnavism and ISKCON

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Gaudiya Vaishnavism and ISKCON: An Anthology of Scholarly Perspectives

Editor: Steven J. Rosen

f VKT 1/ GAUDIYA VAISHNAVISM

Introduction! /

I lit' Meaning of Gaudiya Vaishnavism/ steven j. rosen 5

(laitanya's Ecstasies and the Theology of the Name/ norvin hein 20

I In- Descent of the Holy Name/ acyutAnanda dAsa 41

ki sna in the Bhagavad Gita/ HOWARD J. RESNICK (H. D. GOSWAMl) 49

From Purana-Veda to Karsna-Veda/ BARBARA HOLDREGE 77

Appropriation and Subordination of Vedic Authority 117

/ TRAVIS CHILCOTT

Divine Love in Gaudiya Vaisnavism and Catholic Mysticism 133

/ JUNE MCDANIEL

The Bhakti-Rasa Theory of Rupa Goswamin/ neal delmonico 153

The Para-Bhakti of the Gopis/ eric huberman 777

Kasa-lila Pancadhyaya/ graham m. schweig 207

Kadha, Krsna, Caitanya/ ravindra svarupa dAsa 251

Rupa's Radha/ donna m. wulff 273

Bhaktivinode Thakura and the Modernization of Gaudiya 295 Vaishnavism/ JASON D. fuller

PART II/ ISKCON

Introduction 315

Krishna and Culture/ tamal KRISHNA GOSWAMI & ravi M. GUPTA 319

ISKCON's Place in the Bengal Vaishnava Tradition 335

/ CHARLES R. BROOKS

Insider and Outsider Perceptions of ISKCON/ ktm knott 361 1965: It Was a Very Good Year/ bruce n. scharf & steven j. rosen 379

Tensions in Scriptural Transmission/ tamal Krishna goswami 395

Universal and Confidential Love of God/ graham m. schweig 407

Prabhupada as Spiritual Educator/ klaus k. klostermaier 447

The Devotional Music of Srila Prabhupada/ guy l. beck 459

"Vedic" in the Terminology of Prabhupada and His Followers 473

/ RAHUL PETER DAS

Baba Premananda BharatI: A Comparative Study 493

/ GERALD T. CARNEY

Has ISKCON Anything to Offer Christianity Theologically? 521

/ KENNETH ROSE

ISKCON's Link to Sadhana-Bhakti/ SHUKAVAK das 535

The Future of ISKCON/ e. burke rochford, jr. 559

PARTI

GAUDIYA VAISHNAVISM

INTRODUCTION

Iwas introduced to Gaudiya Vaishnavism in 1972. At that time I had been searching for religious "Truth" for several years and concluded that I was particularly interested in the East. All the major religions, I realized, came from that part of the world. Even the so-called Western religionsall originated east of my native Brooklyn, and then e. More, I wanted to know the source of religious ttuth. Islam, originating with Mohammed, was only 1,300 years old, and Christianity went back i inly to Christ. Judaism began around 4,500 years ago, with Abraham, and Buddhism is some 2,000 years after that, arising with the appearance of Si< U lhartha Gautama. But here's something that really intrigued me: Hin-duism's origins simply can't be traced to a particular point in time, nor does it have a "founder" in the sense that those other religions do.

I soon discovered that Hinduism is an umbrella term for numerous religious traditions, such as Shaktism, Shaivism, and, yes, Vaishnavism. Since I was introduced to this latter tradition by one of its most accomplished and pure adherents, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swa-mi Prabhupada, I became especially enamored with Vaishnavism and its teachings. This fascination increased when I realized that Vaishnavism was identified as Sanatana Dharma, or "the eternal function of the soul." This was exactly what I was looking for. I wasn't interested in one religion as opposed to another, or the sectarian form of belief that crepes one-upmanship and war. Rather, I was looking for the essential thread that ties all religion together, the mystical truth that fosters love, i onipassion, and understanding. What I wanted was the science of God consciousness.

As I started to practice and study, I found that the origins and philosophi-(;il underpinnings of the tradition were a lot more complex than I had initially thought, and so I became involved in the academic study of religion in general and that of Vaishnavism in particular. In due course, I published

PART I: GAUDIYA VAISHNAVISM

a book of conversations with leading scholars in the field, Vahnavism: Contemporary Scholars Discuss the Gaudiya Tradition (New York: FOLK Books, 1992; reprint, New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1994). This book led to the creation of a scholarly journal, The Journal ofVaishnava Studies (JVS), which is now the leading academic resource for scholars of Vaishnavism around the world. Its articles are used in Hindu-related courses at universities as prestigious as Yale, Harvard, Cambridge, and Oxford, and diey are cited by every major scholar in the field, both in their published works and as references for students to pursue higher studies.