Preface

Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition stipulates that spiritual presentations be verified by śāstrika quotations; for śāstra, the divine descent of the Absolute Truth, is after all the non-differentiated representation of the divine will.

However, these revealed scriptures are only pointing the way, for the essential truths are hidden in the hearts of the self-realised, pure-hearted saints – dharmasya-tattvaṁ nihitam guhāyāṁ. Knowledge itself (jñāna) may be acquired, but śāstra in and of itself is a representation of the divine descent in a passive form; different conceptions will be extracted from it according to one’s spiritual merit and purity. Vijñāna (realised knowledge) is therefore infinitely more valuable, for it is the spiritual reality seen with the eye of divine service, reflected in the pure heart of the practitioner. The active principle of spiritual realisation is hearing from the tattva-darśī – the saint who is continuously in connection with spiritual reality by virtue of his substantial faith and realisation.

The essence of initiation into our Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sampradāya is the infusion of divya-jñāna, the imparting of transcendental knowledge by the guru. The current predominant Vaiṣṇava worldview is that, “We are simply servants of Śrī Guru, we do not have our own opinion.” Certainly we do not wish to generate opinions filtered by our own idiosyncrasies and impure desires, but realisations we must have, for realisations are the expression of the degree to which we have actually embraced the Absolute Truth. They are the substantiation of our divine connection, of our spiritual standing, or adhikāra. If we do not have realisations, then we have not embraced spiritual reality according to the Lord’s intentions; we have failed in our spiritual quest.

The present socio-religious climate amongst Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas is somewhat lacking in spiritual dimension, due to the rise of relative considerations over the absolute in the last few decades. Such considerations may well hinder the natural development of śraddhā (faith) in the Vaiṣṇavas’ hearts. If the healthy progression of śraddhā is hindered, there is no question of substantial spiritual development, for śraddhā is an essential element in our attempt to join the confidential serving group.

In the Caitanya-caritāmrta it is related that the associates of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu responded to Mahāprabhu’s attempt to conceal His divinity with the statement, “It is as if the sun upon rising, is attempting to conceal itself.” Similarly, essential divine revelations stand self-illumined by their own obvious merit, but can only be accessed properly through faith. We would like to humbly submit that one may judge the adhikāra of Vaiṣṇavas according to their capacity to capture and reveal essential spiritual truths. In this spirit, we present Śrī Gāyatrī Mantrārtha Dīpikā, for we feel that it is an irrefutable expression of this principle of divine revelation.

Swāmī B.B. Viṣṇu
Śrī Narasiṅgha Caitanya Maṭha
13th January, 1999
Ṣaṭ-ṭilā Ekādaśī, Gaurābda 513