The Apasampradayas : Deviant Vaisnava Sects

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The sastras say that being initiated in such a sampradaya is a useless waste of time, for it will never enable one to understand the real religious principles." (SB 6.3.21, purp) Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura identifies thirteen apasampradayas that split away from the Brahma- Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya after Lord Caitanya's disappearance: aula, baula, Kartabhaja, neda, daravesa, sani, sahajiya, Sakhi-Bekhi, smarta, jata-gosani, ativadi, cudadhari and gauranga-nagari. These apasampradayas ("apa" means "deviated") are like parasitical growths upon the great tree of the sankirtana movement. Because they exhibit all the defects of material conditioning, they are spiritually useless. The "rasa" relished by such groups is termed Prakrta-rasa by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. Their missionary activities are condemned as cheating.

In a standard Sanskrit dictionary, the word sampradaya is defined as "genuine instruction that has been received through guru-parampara or disciplic succession" (guru-paramparagatu sad upadesasya). The prefix "sam" indicates connection, while the stem is a cognate of "pradhana", "source". In the fourth chapter of Bhagavad gita, Lord Krsna declares Himself to be the original source of the transcendental science of bhakti-yoga, and He confirms that one is connected to this knowledge only through guru parampara.

In the vocabulary of Western religious traditions, sampradaya really has no exact equivalent. One might be tempted to employ "orthodoxy", but as a noted German Sanskritist has pointed out, this word really applies to matters of doctrine, not practice. Admission into a sampradaya does not only depend upon a theoretically correct grasp of Krsna's teachings. The candidate must practically demonstrate his learning through strict adherence to the purified lifestyle (acara) set down by great saintly teachers (acaryas).

One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every endeavor is devoid of desire for sense gratification. He is said by the sages to be a worker for whom the reactions of karma have been burned up by the fire of perfect knowledge.

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