Ramanuja Vedanta swamy, namaskaram.

I beg to differ, please. 

I have heard from our Velukkudi swamy that we need to accord due respect to the followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavam because they have effectively taken the message of Vaishnavism to every nook and corner of the World.

Today the whole world has a better understanding of and more respect for ‘Hinduism’ (Sanatana dharma); a significant credit for this belongs to members of this organisation.

The core philosophy of Gaudiya Vaishnavas and Sri Vaishnavas are the same; there are some small differences in the details. But, to the best of my understanding, the mutual differences are not  mutually offensive. 

One very simple reason I am amazed about followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavam is 

I respect theists.

Among them, I respect faiths which believe in a God who is a person (and not limit God to an abstract “Energy” kind of description).

Among them, I respect for Sanatana dharma adherents

Among them I respect Vaishnavas

Among them I respect those who have taken exclusive shelter (saranagathas) of our Lord 

Of these, I personally subscribe to Ramanuja sampradaya.

I draw my significant line of distinction at at the level of Vaishnavas. That is the example set by our acharyas too.

Our sampradaya acharyas have great respect for Caitanya Mahaprabhu as an acharya; whether Caitanya Mahaprabhu is an avatar of Krishna or not, our acharyas don’t engage in arguments about that. One time, when one of the followers made a condescending comment about Gaudiya Vaishnavas in front of one of our Srivaishnava Acharaya, the Acharya immediately corrected the person saying “no, no! their philosophy comes from Nimai’s time”. Thus he expressed his personal admiration for Caitanya Mahaprabhu! (Nimai is another address for Caitanya Mahaprabhu).  

Personally for me, I have great respect for the followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavam for one fundamental reason: even at beginners level they are very strict in following what they call “regulative principles”: they do not eat non-prasadam; they do not consume even coffee, tea, etc. Despite our Velukkudi Swamy mentioning about the bad effects of coffee and tea, many SriVaishnavas (even some of the saranagathas) are unable to give up such habits. Even when they go for for yatras with our Swamy, they continue their tea-coffee habit. In light of this, it is a great amazement that the followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavam are able to give up such habits even at the beginning level, simply based on the strength of their daily routine of chanting a fixed number of rounds of our Lord’s name everyday.

If we keeping focusing on small differences ignoring the common factor holding us together and helping us practise our respective faiths, we will end of offending a large number of individuals and thus end up displeasing our Perumal. For that matter, there are differences between Vadakalais and Thenkalais also! Even within the two kalais there are further differences.

There may be some examples of improper (notorious) activities by some individuals in that organisation; but such examples exist in our sampradaya followers too. So, it is better to see that as mistake of those individuals and not as a fault of the sampradaya itself.

It may be surprising! but many sincere and ardent followers of this forum have actually taken to serious practise of SriVaishnavism after a brief exposure to Gaudiya Vaishnavism. So, the credit of returning SriVaishnavam born people back to sincere practise of our faith goes to Gaudiya Vaishnavas!

In many places, when I walk with our Sri Vaishnava Thiruman kappu, the Gaudiya Vaishnavas offer very special respect. They have great regard for Ramanuja Sampradayam.

ஒன்று பட்டால் உண்டு வாழ்வு.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki Jai

adiyen Ramanuja dasan.

correction: Please ignore this one sentence from the above passage: “One very simple reason I am amazed about followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavam is “. It got inserted out of place

adiyen.

I am visiting this forum for Ramanuja-SiddhantaFrom RamanujaVedanta

Ramanuja Vedanta swamy, I fully agree to this; yes, we all are here to discuss and improve our understanding of our existence based on the philosophy presented by our Bhasyakaarar. There is no doubt about it. I didn’t even try hearing the video link posted here.

However, I do beg to differ with the negative perception about fellow Vaishnavas. My whole reply above is focused on this aspect.

adiyen dasan.