PURPORT
PURPORT
The Mayavadi sannyasis, appreciating Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, inquired from Him why He did not discuss Vedanta philosophy. Actually, however, the entire system of Vaisnava activities is based on Vedanta philosophy. Vaisnavas do not neglect Vedanta, but they do not care to understand Vedanta on the basis of the Sariraka-bhasya commentary. Therefore, to clarify the situation, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, with the permission of the Mayavadi sannyasis, wanted to speak regarding Vedanta philosophy. The Vaisnavas are by far the greatest philosophers in the world, and the greatest among them was Srila Jiva Gosvami Prabhu, whose philosophy was again presented less than four hundred years later by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Maharaja. Therefore one must know very well that Vaisnava philosophers are not sentimentalists or cheap devotees like the sahajiyas. All the Vaisnava acaryas were vastly learned scholars who understood Vedanta philosophy fully, for unless one knows Vedanta philosophy he cannot be an acarya. To be accepted as an acarya among Indian transcendentalists who follow the Vedic principles, one must become a vastly learned scholar in Vedanta philosophy, either by studying it or hearing it.
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tac chraddadhana munayo
jnana-vairagya-yuktaya pasyanty atmani catmanam bhaktya sruta-grhitaya sruti-smrti-puranadi-
pancaratra-vidhim vina aikantiki harer bhaktir utpatayaiva kalpate "Devotional service performed without reference to the Vedas, Puranas, Pancaratras, etc., must be considered sentimentalism, and it causes nothing but disturbance to society." There are different grades of Vaisnavas (kanistha-adhikari, madhyama-adhikari, uttama-adhikari), but to be a madhyama-adhikari preacher one must be a learned scholar in Vedanta-sutra and other Vedic literature because when bhakti-yoga develops on the basis of Vedanta philosophy it is factual and steady. In this connection we may quote the translation and purport of the verse mentioned above (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.2.12):
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