Impersonalists Avoided

Lord Caitanya knew that He would stay at Benares for four or five days, and He did not want to accept invitations from the Mayavadi sannyasis. Benares is full of Mayavadi sannyasis-there is not a single Vaisnava sannyasi. Not just Benares, anywhere. In the United States, when I first came, I was perhaps the only Vaisnava sannyasi. There were so many svamis who came, but they were all Mayavadis. Vaisnava sannyasis are very rare, but Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not accept any invitation to dine with the Mayavadi sannyasis. Generally we also follow that course. Because the Mayavadis do not believe in God, we call them atheists, although they are very learned scholars. Therefore we almost never accept an invitation from a Mayavadi sannyasi. Lord Caitanya made it a point to reside at Candrasekhara's house, and He accepted the proposal that He take His meals at Tapana Misra's. Another friend, a brahmana, also learned that Caitanya Mahaprabhu had returned to Benares, so he also came and offered his respects. There were many admirers and devotees, respectable ksatriyas and brahmanas, and they began to come to see Caitanya Mahaprabhu. These events are described in Caitanya-caritamrta by Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami. In closing the chapter describing the talks between Rūpa Gosvami and Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he offers his blessings to us and affirms that anyone who hears this dialogue with faith and devotion will surely develop in spiritual life. He offers loving affection and obeisances to the feet of the gosvamis, especially Rūpa Gosvami.

In describing the activities of Lord Caitanya, Krsnadasa Kaviraja writes that His activities delivered even the mlecchas, or those who don't follow the Vedas. Just as those who don't follow the Christian Bible are called heathens, those who don't follow the Vedas are called mlecchas, and even those people Caitanya Mahaprabhu delivered from nescience. But He could not deliver the Mayavadis. Therefore they are less than mlecchas. The word Mayavadi is composed of two elements-maya, matter, and vadi, one who sticks to this principle. Matter extends to the point of intelligence. The grossest materialist is the sense gratifier, and above him is the mental speculator. And the attempt to reach spiritual perfection by physical exercise, by making the proper physical adjustments to concentrate the mind, is also material. Therefore neither the process of karma, whereby the karmi works hard for sense gratification, nor the process of jnana, whereby the philosopher seeks a solution by speculation, nor yoga, whereby perfection is sought by exercise, is on the spiritual platform. The spiritualist is he who knows that he is constitutionally spiritual and acts that way. Devotees know that they are part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit and that to engage in service is spiritualism. Both the Sahkarites and the Buddhists are Mayavadis. Formerly there was no animosity between the Buddhists and the Hindus. Lord Buddha started meditation near Gaya, which is near Benares. The Buddhists were Hindus, but since Buddhism was driven out of India it has been considered a different sect.