Translator's NoteAlthough obscure to many devotees today, Prākṛta-rasa Śata-dūṣaṇī was well known amongst the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava community during the time of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda. It was relished by the rūpānuga Vaiṣṇavas and despised by the sahajīya community for its condemnations of their mundane practices committed in the name of śuddha-bhakti (pure devotion).
Prākṛta-rasa Śata-dūṣaṇī was first written in 1917 by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī and published in the magazine Sajjana-Toṣaṇī (9th edition, 19th Volume). During his lifetime it was republished in the Gauḍīya magazine and in the book Vraja-maṇḍala Parikramā (1935).
We now live in a time when sahajīyaism is no longer confined to Bengal, Orissa and Vṛndāvana. The pollution of prākṛta-rasa has now crossed the borders of India and has found its way to foreign lands. Thus, Prākṛta-rasa Śata-dūṣaṇī is as relevant now as it ever was, if not more so.
As in the time of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta, the true followers of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī will appreciate the cautionary advice given in this book. Similarly, they will also value the contribution of Śrīla Bhakti Gaurava Narasiṅgha Mahārāja in the form of his Anuvṛṭti commentary.
Nonetheless, those pretenders that dupe themselves into thinking that they can make spiritual advancement by eliminating the scientific step-by-step process of bhakti, will reject the intelligent advice found in Prākṛta-rasa Śata-dūṣaṇī. In this regard, there is a famous Sanskrit maxim:
ajñāna-varasandena prasupto nara-gardabhaḥ
kaḥ samarthaḥ prabodham tam jñāna-bheri satairapi
Who is capable of waking, even with hundreds of drums of knowledge, that ass of a man who sleeps with the eunuch of ignorance?
This publication of Prākṛta-rasa Śata-dūṣaṇī will surely find favour with the predecessor ācāryas and the followers of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī.
Śrī Rūpānuga-dāsānudāsa –
Swami Bhakti Vijñāna Giri
Śrī Balarāma Rasa-yātrā
April 20th, 2008
Translator's Note