Origin of English words from Sanskrit

Sanskrit                                                                       English

tanutā                                                                           thinness

hikkā                                                                            hiccups
vīrya                                                                             virility
koṇa                                                                             corner
daśama-lava                                                                 decimal
paśucara                                                                       pasture
antar                                                                             under (included)
sveda                                                                            sweat
ahaṁ                                                                            I am
vidhavā                                                                        widow
ṛta (rita)                                                                       right
sūpa                                                                             soup
pracāra                                                                         preaching
ābandhana                                                                    abounding
abindhana                                                                     abandoning
bandha                                                                          bond, bondage
parokṣe                                                                         proxy
sevā                                                                               service
pratiṣṭhā                                                                         prestige
svasṛ                                                                              sister
jāṅgala                                                                           jungle
yoga                                                                             yoke
mānava, manuṣya                                                          mankind

martya                                                                          mortal

pūta                                                                              putrid

kri                                                                                create

tri                                                                                 three

ghās                                                                              grass

sūnu                                                                              son

Muṣikā                                                                          mouse

Barbar                                                                           barbarian

Mana                                                                             mind

Nava                                                                              new or nine

Yauvana                                                                         juvenile, youth

Vaman                                                                           vomit

Vāca                                                                              voice

Stha                                                                               stay

Śarkara                                                                          sugar

ṣaḍ                                                                                 six

Sapta                                                                             seven

Aṣṭa                                                                               eight

Nākta                                                                             nocturnal

Loka                                                                              locale

Nāsa                                                                              nose

Lākṣā                                                                             lac

Krūra                                                                             cruel

Nava                                                                              navy

Patha                                                                              path

Akṣa                                                                              axis

Dvāra                                                                             door

Nāma                                                                             name

Madhyam                                                                       medium

Gyamitiya                                                                       geometry

Trikonmiti                                                                       trigonometry

Anāmika                                                                         anonymous

Mātā, mātṛ                                                                     mother

Pitṛ                                                                                 father

Bhrātaḥ                                                                          brother

Duhitra                                                                           daughter

Sama                                                                             same

Dānta                                                                             dental

Ritam                                                                             Rhythm

Sant                                                                               saint

Na                                                                                 no

Sarpa                                                                             serpent

Divya                                                                             divine

Tat                                                                                 that

Mam                                                                              me

Hrid                                                                               heart
smita                                                                             smile
nagna                                                                            naked
sthiti                                                                              status, station
Lakṣmī                                                                          luck[y]
dva                                                                                two
prajā                                                                              progeny
antar                                                                              inter
maśaka                                                                          mosquito

ADOPTED WORDS, now incorporated in the English dictionary -

Juggernaut, mantra, Guru, avatar, jungle and yoga.


MY TRANSLATION OF ANANTADAS BABAJI'S COMMENTARY ON RAGHUNĀTHA DĀSA GOSVĀMĪ'S 'VRAJA VILĀSA STAVA NOW PUBLISHED.

http://madangopal.com/2014-june.pdf

http://www.gopi.de/collected-prayers-pt-2/

Pariveśanādhikāra - adhikāra for serving prasāda

Senior devotees often refuse to serve prasāda as they consider this a menial service. However, it is an honour and privilege meant for the topmost devotees only.

In 1982, when I had lived in Sādhu Bābā’s ashram for just 1-2 days there was a small feast and some devotees from the Prāchin Māyāpur Bazar pushed a spoon into my hand and asked me to serve. They were very saral, simple - they never saw a foreigner before. Bābā was sweet and gentle as always. Though Indian sadhus usually teach sadācāra by yelling and screaming he gently told me – “Advaitadas, why don’t you put the spoon down and sit down to take Prasād?”

There is much evidence in Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s pastimes that only the seniormost devotees served prasāda -

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Antya 11.84:

svarūpa, jagadānanda, kāśīśvara, śaṅkara; cāri-jana pariveśana kare nirantara

“Svarūpa Dāmodara, Jagadānanda Paṇḍit, Kāśīśvara Paṇḍit, Śaṅkara Pandit – these four devotees always served prasāda.”

Śrī Swarūp Dāmodara was probably Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s closest associate and was His secretary as well.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Antya 7.68:

svarūpa, jagadānanda, kāśīśvara, śaṅkara; pariveśana kare, āra rāghava, dāmodara

“Svarūpa Dāmodara, Jagadānanda Paṇḍit, Kāśīśvara Paṇḍit, Śaṅkara Pandit, as well as Rāghava Pandit and Dāmodar Pandit served prasāda.”

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya 12.163-4:

svarūpa-gosāi, jagadānanda, dāmodara; kāśīśvara, gopīnātha, vāṇīnātha, śaṅkara

pariveśana kare tāhāṅ ei sāta-jana; madhye madhye hari-dhvani kare bhakta-gaṇa

“Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, Jagadānanda Pandit, Dāmodar Paṇḍita, Kāśīśvara, Gopīnātha, Vāṇīnātha and Śańkara distributed prasāda, and inbetween the devotees chanted the holy names of Hari.”

Śrīman Mahāprabhu Himself served the viraha-feast for Haridās Thākur (Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya 11.199) -

sabāre bosāilā prabhu yogya krama kari'; śrī-haste pariveśana koilo gaurahari

“One after the other, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu made all the devotees sit in their proper places. He then began to distribute prasāda with His own divine hand.” 

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya 3.67 -

prabhu bole — boso tine koriye bhojana; ācārya kohe — āmi koribo pariveśana

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Let Us sit down in these three places, and We shall take prasāda." Advaita Ācārya said, "I will serve prasāda."

Who donates money for the prasāda – it matters

Who cooks the prasāda – it matters big time 

(see the ācāryas’ explanations of the word prayatātmanā in Bhagavad Gītā 9.26).

Who offers the prasāda – it matters

Who serves the prasāda – it matters

Even on what type of fire the food is cooked – it matters.

In what clothes one cooks the food – it matters.

Whether one eats with the fingers or with knife, spoon and fork – it matters.

Whether one sits on the floor to eat or at a table – it matters.

Serving prasāda is not ‘mercy of devotional service bestowed upon the fallen souls’ so that hippies are allowed to serve prasāda on the Sunday Feast. It will be the distribution of these hippies’ manovṛtti (mentality) to all guests instead – sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll is infused in the prasāda. One should not think that ‘prasāda can never be contaminated’- Raghunātha Dāsa Goswāmī invited Śrīman Mahāprabhu with mahāprasāda from Lord Jagannātha, bought with the money from his father, who was called ‘vaiṣṇava prāya’, almost a Vaiṣṇava, by Mahāprabhu, and thus Mahāprabhu proclaimed –

viṣayīra anna khāile molin hoy mana; Molin mana hoilo nahe kṛṣṇera smaraṇa

(Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Antya 6.278)

“When one eats grains from a sensual person, the mind is polluted, and when the mind is polluted one cannot remember Kṛṣṇa.”

And that was only a matter of the money with which the prasāda was purchased, let alone the cooking or the serving!

On the other hand, when Śrīmatī Rādhikā served prasāda to Kṛṣṇa, Raghunātha Dās Goswāmī said ‘rasa sancayaṁ kramāt’ – She infused rasa into the food, prema rasa. (Vilāpa Kusumānjali – 63)

The Rādhe Rādhe Resolution

The Rādhe Rādhe Resolution

A sermon delivered in Amsterdam, April 25, 2014

The governing body commission of ISKCON has, during their annual conference in Mayapur, passed the following resolution  -

315: Chanting of the Holy Names of Srimati Radharani

[Guideline]

Whereas many devotees have expressed concern that the standard upheld during Srila Prabhupada’s presence in regards to the chanting of Srimati Radharani’s holy names and related mantras appears to be diminishing;

Whereas there have been conflicts amongst our devotees arising as a result of not having a definitive policy on this topic.

Whereas although it is neither mandatory nor necessary to do so because all personalities are automatically glorified within the maha-mantra, it is understandable that some devotees may want to emphasize the name of Srimati Radharani on Radhastami; 

Whereas it is well known that no one could come before Srila Prabhupada and chant “Radhe Radhe” repetitively as he would not allow it. He always told us to chant the Hare Krishna mantra.  Srila Prabhupada himself was never heard chanting “Radhe Radhe”.  There is no evidence to show that Srila Prabhupada chanted or encouraged others to chant Srimati Radharani's names in isolation at any time, including Radhastami. Whenever Srila Prabhupada was greeted with “Jaya Radhe” he always replied by saying “Hare Krishna”, even in Vrndavana.

Whereas there is risk of deviation if we do not follow Srila Prabhupada and the acaryas. Srila Prabhupada disapproved of the introduction of mantras which were not given by the previous acaryas or were not found in shastra

RESOLVED:

The following should be avoided in all temple and public programs, as well as in recorded media:

(1) Chanting of the holy name of Srimati Radharani without the holy name of Sri Krishna, i.e.  Radhe, Radhe, Radhe, Radhe, Radhe. . . .

(2) Chanting of the holy name of Srimati Radharani within mantras that were not introduced by Srila Prabhupada, previous Gaudiya Vaisnava Acaryas, or in sastra, including but not limited to:

(a)  Jaya Radhe, Jaya Radhe. Jaya Radhe Jaya Radhe

(b)  Radhe Radhe, Radhe Radhe

(c)  Jaya Radhe Jaya Radhe Radhe, Jaya Radhe Jaya Sri Radhe

(d)  Radhe Radhe Radhe Radhe Radhe Govinda

(e)  Radharani ki jai, Maharani ki jai

(f)   Radhe Shyam, Radhe Shyam, Shyam Shyam, Radhe Radhe

On Radhastami, devotees may chant Srimati Radharani’s holy name in isolation of Sri Krishna’s name to a limited degree, not more than two or three minutes.

If ISKCON devotees want to give some special emphasis or attention to the glorification of Srimati Radharani, beyond chanting of the maha-mantra, they should do so by chanting mantras or bhajans which are authorized by Srila Prabhupada and our disciplic line.  An example of this is the chanting of Sri Radhika-stava from the Stava-mala of Srila Rupa Goswami.

Advaitadas -

It should be understood that there is no tradition in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Sampradāya of extensive Rādhe Rādhe kīrtan. There is a lot of glorification of the holy name of Śrī Rādhā in the bhakti śāstra, especially in the Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi, but practically we have never seen, nor do we see now, in the current age, any Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava group, be it ISKCON, Gauḍīya Maṭha, bābājīs, or Goswāmīs, doing any daily lengthy kīrtana with just Rādhā-nāma. An exception is the all-night Rādhe Rādhe kīrtana in Barsānā on the eve of Rādhāṣṭamī at the Śrījī Mandir. The ban will therefore not practically contradict existing traditions. One may wonder why no Rādhā kīrtan is being done since Rādhā-dāsya is the prayojana or the goal of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sampradāya, much more so than Kṛṣṇa-dāsya is. A very popular chant in Braja is rādhe rādhe shyām milā de, which means ‘Rādhe! Help me meet Śyāma!’ The rasa of this conception is, however, inferior to the opposite attitude, that of the Gauḍīya Sampradāya, ‘Śyāma! Help me meet Rādhā!’ - this explains why there is no extensive Rādhā-kīrtan in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Sampradāya. Sādhu Bābā taught me the following verse from Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi (259) –

DHYĀYAṀS TAṀ ŚIKHI PINCHA MAULIM ANIŚAṀ TAN NĀMA SAṄKĪRTAYAN

NITYAṀ TAC CARAṆĀMBUJAṀ PARICARAṀS TAN MANTRA VARYAṀ JAPAN

ŚRĪ RĀDHĀ PADA DĀSYAM EVA PARAMĀBHĪṢṬAṀ HṚDĀ DHĀRAYAN

KARHI SYĀṀ TAD ANUGRAHEṆA PARAMODBHUTĀNURĀGOTSAVAḤ

            “I always meditate on Kṛṣṇa, who wears a crown of peacock feathers, I always sing His name in saṅkīrtana, I always serve His lotus-feet (the deity) and repeat His best of mantras (gopāla mantra and kāma gāyatrī), holding the desire for the supremely cherished service of Śrī Rādhā's lotus-feet in my heart.  When will that great festival of prema arise in my heart by His grace?”

It is said here – tan nāma sankīrtayan – I do sankīrtana of the name of Kṛṣṇa –

Hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare

Hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

The holy name of The Lord comes in three ways here – Hari, Kṛṣṇa and Rāma, but both Jīva Goswāmī and Gopālguru Goswāmī have explained the vocative name ‘Hare’ to mean both Hari and Harā, Harā meaning Rādhā. So Rādhārāṇī’s holy name is already included in the Mahāmantra. In this way the ban cannot have any impact on those who aspire for rādhā dāsya. In my ISKCON-days kīrtans were often ended with a few rounds of jaya rādhe jaya rādhe jaya rādhe. I do not know if this is now also banned because to my knowledge this was also the custom during the manifest pastimes of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.

In Sādhu bābā’s ashram we follow the consensus program of Gaura-, Rādhā- and Kṛṣṇa evening ārati and, though all of Navadvīpa uses the greeting Jai Nitāi, we always say Rādhe Rādhe.

On the other hand, the greeting Rādhe Rādhe is universal and is a consensus in the Vraja-region – not only Rādhā-bhaktas, but also Kṛṣṇa-bhaktas, Rām-bhaktas, yogis, gyānīs, karmīs, shopkeepers, hotel managers (even in Delhi!) and Rikshawallas use it. I suppose they are all wrong?

This was quoted fully in the GBC resolution -

(a)  Jaya Radhe, Jaya Radhe. Jaya Radhe Jaya Radhe

(b)  Radhe Radhe, Radhe Radhe

(c)  Jaya Radhe Jaya Radhe Radhe, Jaya Radhe Jaya Sri Radhe

(d)  Radhe Radhe Radhe Radhe Radhe Govinda

(e)  Radharani ki jai, Maharani ki jai

(f)   Radhe Shyam, Radhe Shyam, Shyam Shyam, Radhe Radhe

It must have been an exceptionally blissful GBC meeting with so much Radhe Radhe Namabhasa!

The ban will of course have no effect on individual devotees greeting each other with rādhe rādhe in private. The aspiration (paramābhīṣṭa) for rādhā-dāsya can of course never be banned from the heart. The Six Gosvāmīs chanted he rādhe braja devike ca lalite he nanda sūno kuta – “O Rādhe! Goddess of Vraja! O Lalita!”, but this is a very advanced stage of viraha bhakti. This was almost certainly not organized mass kīrtan chanting, but the expression of their private feelings. Understandably a grass roots mass preaching movement will not allow such chanting to go on.

*

Now, that gender-based kirtans are also banned is a very good thing – not that it matters to me since I left ISKCON 32 years ago, but I hate the idea that I’d be deprived of half a kirtan because I have to wait till the matajis have finished their round of responding to the kirtan. This is crazy and completely concocted. In my long devotional life I have never seen this type of kirtan performed anywhere at all. Hopefully this ban will be rigidly enforced.

The end of desire, peanuts, the process of Vedic learning, self-promotion and Tulsī leaves.

Once the Muslim emperor Akhbar asked his Hindu minister Birbal – ‘At what age does a man become free from sex desire? “ Birbal replied: “Never.” Akhbar could not believe this, so Birbal said: “Come with me to the hospital and take your 18-year old granddaughter with you.” In the hospital a 99-year old man lay on his deathbed, his wife by his side. The herald announced:  “Rise! The Emperor has come!”, but the dying man just lay there with closed eyes saying “Pranams Maharaja!” When, however, he smelled the young girl’s perfume, he opened his eyes and when he beheld the girl’s beauty he stared at her with wide open eyes. Birbal said – “You see Maharaja, there is no end to this.” Sādhu Bābā taught us this verse from Śaṅkarācārya -

aṅgaṁ galitaṁ palitaṁ muṇḍaṁ danta vihīna jātaṁ tuṇḍaṁ

vṛddho yāti gṛhitvā daṇḍam tad api na muncatyāśā piṇḍam

“In old age the body deteriorates, the head is covered with grey hair, the mouth becomes toothless, and one clutches a staff to keep straight – yet still one cannot give up material desires.” Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-Gītā (3.39) - jñānino nitya vairina – “lust is the eternal enemy of the wise”. In his commentary to Śrīmad Bhāgavata 3.31.39, Śrīla Jīva Goswāmī writes – pramadāsu svīyāsvapi, one should not only give up one’s attachment to women in general, but even to one’s own wife.”

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Some sādhus are of the opinion that peanuts should not be eaten on Ekādaśī, as it is named mung-phali in Hindi, mung referring to pulse. I phoned my Guru-bhāi Śrī Tapan-kumār Adhikāry, who told me that peanuts can be taken as they are not a śim-viśeṣa, a type of bean. In the Padma Purāṇa narration of the pāpa puruṣa it is mentioned that sin is present only in grains.

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When I used to study bhakti from my superiors I was often amazed how I got answers that were wholly unrelated to my questions, but they were actually upakāra [helpful and useful] – I thought it might have something to do with the abstract mind-frame of Indian people, but now that I am myself a bhakti-teacher my students also tell me they experience the same – I don’t answer their questions as they expect it. So it has nothing to do with western rationalism vs. abstract Indian thought – it is just the way Bhagavān teaches through His media and His messengers.

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Here is a striking verse about blatant self-promoters we so often see in our Vaisnava world -

ghaṭaṁ bhittvā paṭaṁ chittvā kuryād vā gārdhabhaḥ-svanam

yena kenāpy upāyena prasiddhaḥ-puruṣo bhava

“Either by breaking pots or tearing off one’s clothes, or braying like a donkey to get attention, one way or the other, a man wants to be famous.”

A devotee quoted this on Facebook. The source reference is unknown, but it’s a great verse.

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It is often said that it is offensive to chew on Tulsi-leaves, but that is not right. If that were so one should not chew Prasad either!

The holy dhāma, two separable paths, 6 Goswāmīs, jāta rati guru, maintaining sthāyibhāva, changing names.

Dāmodar Dās

“I remember that I wrote in a blog that living in the dhāma can be compared with strong medicine and if you are not living there without blessings and guidance, it can kill spiritual life. In the dhāma there are really advanced devotees so if you offend them, consequences can be severe. Like these widows. They could be bhāvika bhaktas.”

Advaita Dās

The dhāma has great powers. There is nāmāparādha, sevāparādha and vaiṣṇavāparādha, but not dhāmāparādha. There are many Vaiṣṇavas in the dhāma, especially in Rādhākuṇḍa, a small village where everyone knows everyone. Offending them may have caused all those spectacular dropouts by western Vaisnavas from there. You can commit vaiṣṇavāparādha on each street corner.”

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It is said in Jaiva-dharma that Dhyānacandra taught internal worship and Raghunāth dās Goswāmi taught external worship and some preachers now say they are two separable paths, of which one group of Vaiṣṇavas (so-called ‘goṣṭhyānandīs’) only practice the external and the other (so-called ‘bhajanānandīs’) only the internal side, but this not so. Both Dhyānacandra and Raghunāth dās Goswāmī practiced and preached both side by side. sevā sādhaka rūpeṇa siddha rūpena cātra hi (Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.295) – cātra indicates that both are practiced side by side. Rejecting the internal practice for mere external practice, as some have proposed, will never lead to svarūpa siddhi. Besides, if one group of Vaisnavas (so-called ‘bhajanānandīs’) is practicing only the internal side, then what are they doing with their external bodies? Are they not hearing, chanting, going on parikramā and cooking or so?

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The six Goswāmīs had a heart (kṛṣṇotkīrtana gāna nartana parau) and a brain (nānā śāstra vicāranaika nipuṇau). All of this is useless without humility, but they had that too – cātyanta dīnau ca yau.

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In his ṭīkā to Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.113 Mukunda Goswami, the disciple of Kṛṣṇadās Kaviraja, says that the qualification of a Guru must be that he is jāta rati, he has developed bhāva bhakti. Śiṣya karaṇaṁ tu jāta ratīnām eva vihitatvāc ca. I did not include this in my blog on sādhana bhakti-chapter of Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu because that blog was about Bhānu Swāmi’s edition of Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu which does not include the ṭīkā of Mukunda Gosvāmī. It is odd that the two main commentators on Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu, Jīva Gosvāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda, did not make this point.

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Sādhu Bābā told me that during times of intense sexual contemplation or when one is unable to observe celibacy one should temporarily suspend meditation on and study of Radha-Kṛṣṇa's rahaḥ līlā or intimate pastimes. This does not mean one should start thinking of oneself as a monkey in Hanumān's army or a servant of Lord Nārāyan. If this is done one does not really have mañjarī bhāva as sthāyi rati. It would be a mere mental concoction. Instead one can continue the aspiration for mañjarī svarūpa and the study of aṣṭakāliya līlā, skipping the intimate pastimes only. Meditating on how Svāminī sees Kṛṣṇa coming and going with his cows, how She cooks for him and how She suffers separation from him can just go on as normal. One should not throw away the baby with the bathing water. Once purity of thought and action are restored one can resume all meditations. A popular suggestion is also to temporarily shift one’s focus to Gaura- līlā. This is also all right, because it is non-erotic, attractive, magnanimous and most importantly, very instructive. Each story has a deep morale.

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Advaitaji, who started changing names of his disciples? Traditionally, as I understand, this is usually done when people take veśa, sannyāsa, not for mantra dīkṣā. It is only a minor point, probably not to be labeled as deviation, but still interesting. I thought mostly westerners get a name change?

Advaitadās -

"Changing names is one item of 'panca rātrika dīkṣā', along with yajna, tāpa etc. - this is mentioned in Prameya Ratnavalī (8.2). Mahāprabhu also changed the Muslim names of Rūpa and Sanātan. It is a bit hard to think of Kṛṣṇa if your Guru lets you keep the name George. Ajāmila was liberated by accidentally saying Nārāyan instead of Pappoo. If a Guru does not change a disciple’s name at time of dīkṣā he is not at fault though, especially if the disciple already has a name of the Lord, gotten from parents or a previous Guru."

Jala-keli, nostalgia, sectareanism and devatās

The point of the pastime in Caitanya Caritāmṛta Antya līlā, chapter 18, in which Mahāprabhu saw the jala-keli (Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s watersports) standing on the shore of Yamunā, not participating, is not whether He was in sakhī bhāva or mañjarī bhāva - the point is that it showed the difference between the three stages of consciousness – antar (internal), bāhya (external) and ardha bāhya daśā (half-external). Surely there is no harm in seeing mañjarī bhāva in it, it is not an apasiddhānta, but I personally doubt if this was Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāja's intention.

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Devotees reminiscing the past, in which they personally associated with their now deceased Guru are not sentimental old men. To accuse them of living in the past is guror avajña, disregarding Guru, thinking the Guru is dead. All bhakti-activities and thoughts are eternal. To think otherwise is māyāvāda or materialism.

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Śrīla Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī’s Vraja Vilāsa Stava is the ultimate index of sambandhānugā (generic, non-amorous) bhakti, while his Vilāpa Kusumāñjali is the ultimate index of kāmānugā (purely amorous) bhakti. Both are essential reading.

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There is no condemnation of ‘sectarianism’ in bhakti śāstra – instead there is a glorification of niṣṭha, fixation. Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī speaks of ekāntīs, or focused ones, in Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu (1.2.58) –

 tatrāpyekāntināṁ śreṣṭha govinda hṛta mānasāḥ

yeṣāṁ śrīśa prasādo’pi mano hartuṁ na śaknuyāt

 “And again, of all those devotees of one-pointed loyalty, those whose minds have been stolen by Govinda are the best. Even the grace of Lord Viṣṇu cannot steal their minds.”

This focus is based on rasa, but it shows exclusivity nonetheless. Surely we must respect others’ practices but it is also not so that for a soul surrendered to Mahāprabhu and the 6 Goswāmīs that everything and everyone is right. Bhagavad Gītā makes these points:

 aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasyāsya parantapa

aprāpya māṁ nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani

 “O afflicter of enemies, those who have no faith in this dharma do not attain Me but return to the path of transmigration and death.” 9.3

and –

yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ

na sa siddhim avāpnoti na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim

“He who giving up the rules of scripture acts according to his own whim does not attain perfection, happiness, or the supreme goal.” 16.23

 These verses clearly say that deviants will not attain Krṣṇa – māyāvādī, karma niṣṭha (fruitive workers) kutārkika gana (sophists) ninduk (critics) pāṣaṇḍī (agnostics) and poruwa adham (fallen eggheads) are excluded by Mahāprabhu. C.C. Ādi 7.29

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Objections have been raised against the use of the English word 'demigods' for 'devatās', as ‘demigods’ is an English term for persons in Greek mythology who had half god-half human descent. In the Vedic context that would make the Pāṇḍavas demigods, but devatās 'gods' with a small ‘g’. either the word ‘gods’ can be used or the original term ‘devatā’ can be kept, because most readers of English translations of śāstra will know what that means, just like the word ‘guru’ needs no English translation.