Many participants onboard share a history as members of ISKCON or Gaudiya Matha, and therefore may need to discuss related issues. Please do not use this section as a battleground, there are other forums for that purpose.
Saffron vesh: Where did it come from? - Saffron vesha and Saraswata Goswami
Rasesh - Wed, 19 Nov 2003 21:45:23 +0530
Sometimes Saraswati Goswami is criticized for "introducing" saffron vesha and tri-danda sannyasa into the "Gaudiya tradition". However, is not the Gaudiya sampradaya better known as the Brahma-Madhva Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya. Is not the saffron cloth and tri-danda a traditional style of the Brahma-Madhva sampradaya? Is not the Gaudiya sampradaya actually the Madhva sampradaya that deviated from the "tradition" of the Madhva sampradya, it's saffron cloth, tilak etc. etc.?
Did Saraswati Goswami "deviate" from the tradition? Or, did the Goswamis "deviate" from the tradition by rejecting traditional Madhva sampradaya vesha and tilak? Is the Gaudiya sampradaya really in the Madhva tradition or is it a new cult that cropped up with it's own style of dress and tilak?
Is it really wrong for an acharya to draw on the Madhva tradition if it serves his preaching purposes better than the babaji cult of the Goswamis?
Or, is the Gaudiya sampradaya just a self-styled sampradaya with no actual connection in the Brahma-Madhva sampradaya? Pretenders or follower? Where is the actual deviation in the "sampradaya"? Is it the babaji cult of Caitanyites or the followers of the Brahma-Madhva Gaudiya sampradaya who keep the full-fledged tradition of sannyasa, tri-danda and saffron cloth?
TarunGovindadas - Thu, 20 Nov 2003 00:10:32 +0530
Radhe!
Madhavaji already made a nice presentation of that one.
http://www.ragadesign.com/at/gaudiya-and-sannyasa.pdfTarunji
Madhava - Thu, 20 Nov 2003 01:42:24 +0530
The Madhvites are ekadandis, and their "saffron" is closer to red. Bhaktisiddhanta got the basic form for his style of sannyasa from Sri Vaishnavas.
Gaurasundara - Thu, 20 Nov 2003 06:57:31 +0530
Moreover, there are those people who purport to claim that the "red" referred to by Sanatana Gosvami et al is not referring to the "saffron" of the Sarasvata Vaishnavas. It is referring to the "red" worn by Saktas.
A person who makes this argument, I believe, has not even bothered to research the original incident in Caitanya-caritamrta. They wouldn't make such an inconsequential argument otherwise.
Mina - Thu, 20 Nov 2003 08:54:43 +0530
I say shut down this topic now. It has already been discussed over and over again.
Everybody already knows the reasons Gaudiya Math and ISKCON give for the practice.
Madhava - Thu, 20 Nov 2003 09:45:09 +0530
Chewing the chewed indeed.
The saffron cloth was originally woven from the ruby silk bushes of Vraja, and the tridandas are all brothers and sisters of the bamboo flute, so the whole show is actually saturated with Vraja-rasa through and through.
Case closed.