(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 11 May 2015, Brisbane, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.42)
Srila Prabhupada was such a loving personality whose love for Krsna was so deep but his love would also come down to all living beings. After Prabhupada departed, things became a bit more mechanical, “Sankirtan, sankirtan, sankirtan! Preach, preach, preach! We have got to flood the entire world with love of God, so distribute books and sankirtan! Distribute books and sankirtan…” That was the spirit and sometimes the spirit became a little militaristic. And then, Bhakti Tirtha Maharaj put so much emphasis on love; it was refreshing. He became very popular. All the devotees were just listening to what he had to say, “Yes, we need more loving relationships.” That is really how it is meant to be and that is how it was in the early days and that is how it is in the spiritual world!
So different spiritual masters may sometimes emphasize a different point according to kala desa, patra; that is: time, place and circumstance; and yet they teach the same philosophy. In this way, this is the mystery of the parampara. The same knowledge is passed on from generation to generation unaltered but each acharya; according to his realizations and according to the time, place and circumstances; may add a particular emphasis of his own which enriches the sampradaya more and more. Each of the acharyas has enriched the sampradaya – the commentaries and songs of Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura and Narottama Dasa Thakura; Sanatana Goswami with the Brhad Bhagavatamrta, how can we live without the Brhad Bhagavatamrta… our life is not complete! In this way, we can appreciate how each of the acharyas adds another flavour, another aspect of the great mystery of the unalloyed pure loving devotional service of the spiritual world, and that makes a part of the sankirtan movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
