Sometimes “Prabhupadanugas” or “Ritviks” are blamed that they are stopping the parampara or that they are not in the parampara. But after looking at Srila Prabhupada’s quotes on the subject, we can find startling understanding of parampara and the meaning of “continuing the parampara”.
Srila Prabhupada has taught us the real meaning of disciplic succession as: …Disciplic succession does not always mean that one has to be initiated officially.
Disciplic succession means to accept the disciplic conclusion.
(Letter to: Dinesh, Tittenhurst, 31 October, 1969) This shows the tremendous importance given to retaining the conclusions (or spirit) of shastras as they are. The spirit of the knowledge is given a paramount importance as confirmed in the following quote of Srila Prabhupada: “Lord Krishna affirmed that the system of knowledge as explained in the Bhagavad-gita was explained to the sun-god, and the knowledge descended by disciplic succession from the sun- god to his son Manu, and from Manu to King Iksvaku (the forefather of Lord Ramacandra), and thus the system of knowledge was explained down the line of great sages, one after another.
But in due course of time the authorized succession was broken, and therefore, just to re- establish the true spirit of the knowledge, the Lord again explained the same knowledge to Arjuna, who was a bona fide candidate for understanding due to his being a pure devotee of the Lord." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.2.27) If the spirit of the knowledge is deviated, then it is understood that the disciplic succession is broken as mentioned below: “Suppose I, if I hand over some knowledge unto you and you hand over to some other, in succession, there is possibility that the exact knowledge which I delivered at the beginning,
there may be some deviation. That is called breakage of the parampara system.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.1, lecture on April 9, 1969) This breakage is further explained as follows: “Therefore if we understand Bhagavad-gita as it was understood by Arjuna, then we get the real knowledge. That is the way of understanding parampara. Although we are not present before Krishna, but if the message of Krishna is received through the parampara system as it was understood by Arjuna, then we get directly the message from Krishna. This is the system. But if I interpret in my own way, then the parampara system is broken.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.1, lecture on April 9, 1969) It is important to notice that the parampara is not broken by the disappearance of an acharya (physically) but gets broken by "some deviation" or “I interpret in my own way”.
The key factor which breaks the parampara is some deviations or "interpretations” to the system of knowledge thus disturbing the spirit of the knowledge. Once spirit of knowledge is lost, again parampara needs to be set right.
If the spirit of the knowledge is most important in a disciplic succession, the question is whether that requires the physical presence of an acharya to keep the spirit intact.
Traditionally the spirit of the knowledge was kept intact and the succession was continued by a series of liberated personalities called acharyas who are beyond human mistakes.
By their exalted position and commitment to Lord, they have ensured that the knowledge of Godhead is passed on to next generations without any change in the spirit.
In the days of bygone ages when the populace was not exploitative and depended on God and His creation, there was hardly any "advancement" of technology and no organization tools were available in the society. This means that the way the knowledge is received, propagated and handed down is limited to certain options offered by the time, place and circumstances of those days.
What if the technology, social tools of organization like society, trust etc. are available which propagate the knowledge beyond physical presence of an acharya? What if the tools & technology allow the true spirit of knowledge to be passed on to next generations?
What if an acharya takes advantage of all the latest tools to leave a system behind which will ensure the true spirit of knowledge percolates in the society?
Is it permissible for an acharya to leave a system as per time, place and circumstances? Of course, yes! See the quotes below: Bhaktivinode Thakura writes: "Devotees of the Supreme Lord are not controlled by the scriptures since their activities are congenial to Divine Wisdom. When self-realized devotees ordain any new arrangement, this should be accepted as religious code, even if such new arrangements are not found in the scriptural dictums of the previous sages." (Sri Tattva-Sutra) “Every acarya has a specific means of propagating his spiritual movement with the aim of bringing men to Krishna consciousness. Therefore, the method of one acarya may be different from that of another, but the ultimate goal is never neglected.”
(Caitanya-caritamrta purports, Adi 7.37) There is nothing unusual or surprising or non-traditional about it if the acharya decides to create an organization, a wealth of books, audios, videos etc. to keep the spirit of the knowledge or the conclusions of disciplic succession intact. This is perfect intelligence of perfect acharya! He can decide to remain as the ONLY acharya and keep the system of knowledge intact by using the latest tools like "organization", "videos", "books" etc. If the circumstances become unviable to sustain these tools, the parampara will eventually breaks. Srila Prabhupada says it will take 10,000 years for that. Till then, his system of knowledge built upon these tools will continue.
Currently we can see two systems of knowledge within ISKCON / worldwide Hare Krishna Movement. The group that promotes Srila Prabhupada as the ONLY diksha guru of ISKCON & you can call them "Prabhupadanugas" or “Officiating Acharya group” or loosely "Ritviks" and the other system is the one promoted by “Physical Guru Group” or "Traditional Guru Group.” Let us look at the system of knowledge promoted by “Physical Guru Group” or "Traditional Guru Group", you will find bizarre pieces of knowledge like: “Re-initiation, Guru can fall down, modifications to Gita & other books, changing initiation systems from Zonal Acharya to diminished guru system, fallen gurus giving diksha, disciple should not forgo faith on guru even if guru is fallen and unable to guide properly etc.“ Of course, these are more than "some deviation" or "I interpret in my own way". Cleary this group has broken the parampara given by Srila Prabhupada.
Why is it that this group cannot stick on to the spirit of what Srila Prabhupada gave?
“Guru cannot be self-made. No. There is no such single instance throughout the whole Vedic literature. And nowadays, so many rascals, they are becoming Guru without any authority. That is not Guru. You must be authorised. Evam parampara praptam imam ra… As soon as parampara is… kalena yogo nasta parantapa, immediately finished. The spiritual potency finished. You can dress like a Guru, you can talk big, big words, but it will never be effective." (Srila Prabhupada's Lecture, February 27th 1977, Mayapur, India) On the other hand, the system of knowledge that is practiced by “Officiating Acharya group” or “Prabhupadanugas” or loosely “Ritviks” has everything of Srila Prabhupada in its true spirit. His books as they were during his physical presence are read by all, worship of the Deities, distribution of prasadam, Harinam and books – the way it was done during the time he was physically manifest. In this group, Srila Prabhupada’s position is very clear, the position of senior Vaishnava siksha gurus is also clear. No concept or theory will be accepted unless such understanding is available in Srila Prabhupada's books, conversations, letters etc. There is no possibility of "some deviation" or "I interpret in my own way".
By looking at the two groups, even a layman can understand who is in the parampara or who is continuing the parampara!
Which system is considered to keep the spirit of the knowledge that Srila Prabhupada gave to this world?
Sometimes ignorant people criticize “Prabhupadanugas” or "Ritviks" as stopping parampara or promoting “no parampara”. But actually who is continuing the parampara?
We can know the answer by the result. If you get the spirit of Srila Prabhupada’s teachings, then you are in the real parampara.
Some mistaken people think that Srila Prabhupada didn’t give any proper system for continuing parampara or he made a mistake in giving the current guru system or he hasn’t made any pure devotee to continue the parampara. All these are mistaken concepts.
Actually Srila Prabhupada gave a foolproof system to continue the spirit of his teachings and hence parampara. He is the acharya of this age and he can make no mistakes.
One can see two systems easily: System (1): A foolproof system of continuing the spirit of knowledge given by Prabhupada as part of perfect parampara with Srila Prabhupada as the ONLY DIKSHA guru Or System (2): A mistaken, chaotic, “traditional” guru system that “interprets”, “manipulates”, “adds” or “subtracts” from the spirit of knowledge given by Srila Prabhupada.
Somebody who has a strong faith in Srila Prabhupada that he can do no mistake can easily see that he has given a wonderful system (1). But somebody who doesn’t believe in Srila Prabhupada thinks that he made a mistake and lives with system (2).
All glories to the ONLY guru of the world wide Hare Krishna Movement – Srila Prabhupada!