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Bhakti, Saìkértana and Gauòéya Vaiñëavism: India to Australia-

Foucaultian Analysis

Chapter Ten
Ethics and Dispositif

10. 0.0 Prologue

What constitutes bhakti and saìkértana in the Foucaultian meta-history named
Bhakti, Saìkértana and Gauòéya Vaiñëavism: India to Australia?

To answer this research question Foucault’s methods of Archaeology and Genealogy

were utilised in chapters Three to Nine. Consequently a meta-history has emerged
in narrative form. However no study would be complete without some account of
the relative ethical positions of the archival data disclosed. This chapter provides an
account of the relative ethical positions and is divided into two main sections. The
first section reviews the bhakti and saìkértana themes that have been uncovered.
Additionally the centres of power and knowledges that dominate in different bhakti
archetypes are examined in terms of Foucaultian Ethics. Using Foucault’s critical
technique named Dispositif and his structure for deconstructing systems of ethics,
section two identifies the thresholds, discontinuities and transformations that make
up the meta-history Bhakti, Saìkértana and Gauòéya Vaiñëavism: India to Australia.

10.1.0 Review Focus

To review the archival data revealed in the meta-narrative, Bhakti, Saìkértana and
Gauòéya Vaiñëavism: India to Australia, this first section makes use of: (1) the
Foucaultian analytical strands in the Techniques for Exploration and Identification
table presented in Chapter Two and represented in Table 1 below; and (2) the
evaluative strands: Tactile Productivity and Strategic Integration (see Table 2 below)
that address the effects connaissances and savoir have on the development of power
and the systems of knowledge manifest in different bhakti and saìkértana models.
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Table 1. Techniques for Exploration and Identification1

Focus Referent
Immanence • The conditions and the justifications that allow the bhakti
archetype and saìkértana praxes to take place.
Continual • The flexible (or proactive) and fixed forces that dominate within
Variations a given discourse.
Double • The formal and informal elements of the operative bhakti
Conditioning archetype and saìkértana praxes.
• Discursive elements that reinforce the relationships between
formal and informal discourses.
Tactical • The effects the bhakti archetype and saìkértana praxes have on
Polyvalence of people and society.
Discourses • The contexts in which discourses are conceived.

Table 2. Evaluative Strands2

Tactile • The effects the various discourses have on power and on
Productivity knowledge in society.
Strategic • The force relations i.e., the effects of power.
Integration

A prominent articulation in Foucaultian thinking is that power, the operative

discursive fields, and the effects of power, produce the subject. Furthermore since
the subject is an ethically constructed entity it is possible to deconstruct and
(re)construct social entities and identity. Examination of the operative knowledges
or systems of ethics is necessary to deconstruct social entities and identity. In the
Foucaultian view analysis of ethics has four nodes of reference. These nodes are
“ethical substance”, “mode of subjection”, “systems of change” and “telos”. The four
nodes of ethics and the related quests are recapitulated in Table 3.3

Table 3. Foucaultian Ethics: Self and Social

‘Nodes of Ethical Reference’
Ethical Substance refers to judgment in terms
of self-reflexive human behaviour and/or unified
behaviour grounded in the existing discourses
or institutionalised epistemic structure.
Mode of Subjection refers to moral obligation
determined by:
• Law;
• Reason;
• Conviction; and,
• Desire for Salvation.
Systems of Change (Self Forming Activity)
applies to the self as an ethical subject with
existential or aesthetic capacity.
Telos refers to self-fulfilment in terms of goal
orientation as well as procedures and practices.
The ‘Quest’ is to:
• Identify the knowledge production and
power relations for individuals and
society; and,
• Confirm the material of moral conduct.
• Distinguish moral codes from the
individual; and,
• Determine the influence moral codes
have on people as social entities.
• Identify the self-forming activity; and,
• Uncover the will to power.
• Identify the ideal intent; and,
• Ascertain the moral goal.
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Foucaultian Ethics also focus on the construction of a moral entity in social

flux set within the process named panopticonism. Panopticonism is a
disciplinary method of social coercion that uses the idea and apparatus of
constant surveillance to coerce subjects into self-regulation. Panopticonism
affects not only what individuals or social entities do, but also how they see
themselves.4 Moreover, because the subjects believe they are continuously
observed, in most cases they act as they are morally required to act. This
raises questions about power, oppression and conflict. Moral thinking,
power and identity are the central themes of Foucaultian panopticonism.
Through a review of the meta-narrative it appears the agency of
panopticonism operates differently in the different bhakti milieus uncovered
and serves as an integral part in the formation and regulation of ethics in the
different bhakti archetypes.

The aforesaid Foucaultian concepts are employed in this section to explore

the ethical structures that form the meta-narrative. However, before
embarking into these discourses, the different bhakti models and saìkértana
praxes uncovered are briefly explained. These are outlined in sections
10.1.0a and 10.1.0b below.

10. 1.0a Bhakti Models

The bhakti models that emerged are: räga-bhakti, rägänugä-bhakti and vaidhé
bhakti. Räga-bhakti is a self-generated, spontaneous phenomenon that arises from
the natural inclination of the individual and is directed towards an object of
worship. Rägänugä-bhakti and vaidhé-bhakti are different kinds of process bhakti
that use external force relation in their application. Each bhakti model is based on
a different set of values consisting of distinctive operative forms of power and
knowledges.

10. 1.0b Saìkértana

In Sanskrit the prefix “saì” generally means “completely” or “in company
with”. Kértana is translated as devotional chanting and has its root in the word
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kért (to worship). Through a review of Indian literature it seems the earliest
reference to “saìkértana” is in the Mahäbhärata (100 BCE-100 CE). Therein
the term “näma-saìkértana” is used, and it refers to the speaking about or
singing the names of Viñëu.5 This is the definition of saìkértana used in
modern literature and by academics.

This study however reveals the more complete understanding of saìkértana

presented in medieval Gauòéya Vaiñëava literature, that until now has gone
unnoticed in modern literature and academia. A review of the 16th century
Caitanya-Caritämåta of Kåñëa-däsa Kaviräja shows that saìkértana is addressed
under a number of headings and covers five key categories. The tenets of these
discourses have been dealt with in the archive of knowledge that forms the
main body of this study. The discourses are summarised as:
• Prema-saìkértana – spontaneous conscious, semi-conscious or
unconscious emotional association with Vraja-Kåñëa-lélä;
• Çré Kåñëa-saìkértana – loud public chanting about Çré Kåñëa (this
includes Hari-saìkértana and näma-saìkértana);
• Mahä-saìkértana – loud chanting at large public or temple festivals;
• Beòä-saìkértana – is a sub-division of mahä-saìkértana where the
performance encircles a person, icon or sacred object and includes a
mystic experience; and,
• Saìkhyä-saìkértana – japa or softly chanting mantras with rosary
beads.
In the development of the 20th century ISKCON mission the term saìkértana
moved beyond the abovementioned categories and two more expressions of
saìkértana emerged:
• Book-saìkértana – publishing, selling and distribution of religious
literature; and,
• Paraphernalia-saìkértana – selling of crafted goods so as to fund the
distribution of religious literature.
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The operative systems of power and knowledges that form the different
bhakti models and saìkértana praxes in the Foucaultian meta-narrative:
Bhakti, Saìkértana and Gauòéya Vaiñëavism: India to Australia are explained in
sections 10.1.1 to 10.1.3 (et seq.).

10.1.1 Räga-bhakti and Saìkértana

The categories of knowledge and power indicative of the räga-bhakti
archetype are narrated in chapters Three, Four and Five of this study. The
mode of subjection in this bhakti model comprises a self-constructed space
where the devotional mystic (rägätmikä-bhakta) embraces his/her own
cognitive reality (or lélä) divorced from public opinion. It is, as Foucault
would say, a parrhesia, the care of the self, 6 the telling of the truth through
unbound expression that is quickened and nourished by spontaneous inborn
emotional power (rägätmikä-bhäva). The force relationships (i.e. strategic
integration and tactile productivity) that dominate are articulated in the
discourses of the bhakti-svarüpa. The bhakti-svarüpa is established through
the mystic identifying as an aprakaöa devotional character. It is the
identification of the self as a devotional self in the realm of subterranean
myth, artistry and self-creativity. The bhakti-svarüpa has its own reality with
the respective knowledges, power and ethics built into it.

The correlated saìkértana praxes are self-understood and expressed by the

rägätmikä-bhakta for the pleasure of his/her perceived object of worship. The
primary saìkértana praxis manifest is prema-saìkértana. Çré Kåñëa-saìkértana,
mahä-saìkértana, beòä-saìkértana and saìkhyä-saìkértana are also engaged as
prema-saìkértana when they are consistent with the discourse of the bhakti-
svarüpa. Essentially, the drivers of saìkértana in this bhakti archetype spring
from emotions and feelings of the individual, and therefore the various
saìkértana expressions and content differ from person to person.
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The dominant exemplars of the räga-bhakti model are Caitanya and

Nityänanda.

In the saìkértana of Caitanya all five forms of saìkértana mentioned above

may manifest as different saìkértana praxes. The former is a private matter
fixed in the affective domain (aprakaöa), and can manifest in conscious, semi-
conscious and unconscious states. In the semi-conscious and unconscious
states, social and physical relationships with regard to the everyday world are
unnoticed. The latter four saìkértana praxes are expressed publicly and
involve the chanting of the names of the object of worship in the mood of the
bhakti-svarüpa. The saìkértana of Nityänanda differs from that of Caitanya,
in that Nityänanda’s saìkértana allows for the mixing of prema-saìkértana, Çré
Kåñëa-saìkértana, mahä-saìkértana and beòä-saìkértana. These are expressed
publicly and are often manifest without restraint or confidentiality. These
issues have been uncovered in chapters Four and Five of this study. It is
with this regard that Gauòéya Vaiñëavas describe Nityänanda as avadhüta.
Essentially the saìkértana of Nityänanda moves beyond the parrhesia of
Caitanya, so that the subject not only occupies the self in the care of the self,
but also, the subject occupies the other as an extension of the self.
Accordingly the subject encompasses the self and the other in a relationship
of both oneness and difference. Examples of these discursive practices are
Nityänanda’s discourse with Mälini and his ‘unconventional antics’ as
O’Connell named them. These have been researched and recounted as
narrative in chapters Four and Five of this study.

10.1.1a Räga-bhakti: Ethics and the Bhakti-Svarüpa

Ethics in the räga-bhakti paradigm are metaphysically contextualised and are
developed in the spirit of the bhakti-svarüpa. The codes of ethics developed
and the character of the bhakti-svarüpa are inseparable. Therefore all actions,
attitudes and justifications are considered bona fide or ‘right’ when they are
consistent with the discourse of the aprakaöa bhakti-svarüpa. Furthermore
they are sanctioned because they are believed to be expressions in divine lélä.
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10.1.1b Räga-bhakti: Ethics and Analysis

The discourse appears to be firmly fixed in the belief that (1) all living things
(regardless of the body form) are essentially divine beings; (2) all living things
are mediums of bhakti; and, (3) to serve as the ideal channel of divinity is the
highest ethic. For the rägätmikä-bhakta the ethics of the wider social context
(i.e. the everyday world) and related religious moral codes are not the foremost
systems of ethics. By and large, adherence to such ethics is regarded as an
obstacle to the engagement of the discourse of the aprakaöa bhakti-svarüpa. In
the case of some bhaktas, wider social ethics and discourses related to the
external physical self (yathävasthita-deha) are totally negated and pubic opinion
is not an issue. At the extreme there is no regard for external logic or reason and
therefore rägätmikä-bhaktas are often referred to as erratic, incoherent, self-
absorbed, nomadic sädhus or avadhütas. As mentioned above, in Gauòéya
Vaiñëava discourse, Nityänanda’s ‘unconventional antics’ are examples of such
ethics.

In this devotional milieu the discourse of the rägätmikä-bhakta is not tied to a

formal body of connaissance.7 Connaissance is replaced with personal inspiration
coupled with elements of savoir. Savoir is comprised of impressions taken from
popular discourses or personally chosen themes from popular bhakti lyrics,
dramas, poetics and mythology. The character of the rägätmikä-bhakta is a self-
fashioning one that is formed with informal reference to a devotional lélä and
without formal reference to the ordinary world. From a contemporary social
psychological standpoint the discourse of the rägätmikä-bhakta amounts to dis-
socialisation or, when viewed from a more positive perspective, the bhakta is
making his/her life a work of a living drama that gives individuality and meaning
to his/her own existence. It is the deconstruction of the social-self and the
(re)construction of identity with knowledge of the self-made by the self about
the self. In the Foucaultian view this may be analysed as the struggle for “care of
self” fixed in the maxim “know thyself” as the primary and necessary ethical
practice.8
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10.1.1c Räga-bhakti: Ethics and Panopticonism

Even though emotional devotion (bhäva) is exalted over all wider social
behaviour it may also be argued that, to some extent, external codes of morality
(those required by the wider society) are not totally denied. In principle the
Caitanya hagiographies show that there is a universally accepted view that
rägätmikä-bhaktas are virtuous people. They are free from all vices and they
serve the whole creation through their natural purity and their humbleness. It is
through this dynamic that the struggle for truth and identity control, to some
degree, the activities of the bhakta. It acts as a panopticonism, an instrument of
self-regulation, which in this bhakti model controls the activities of the bhakta.
Such control is not secured through personal contact or by requiring the
individual to conform to specific ritualistic activities, but through universally
attributing the principle of virtue to the reputation of the bhakta. The struggle
about issues relating to personal calibre, universal probity and reputation are
dominant in the devotionalism of Caitanya and are of minor concern in the
devotionalism of Nityänanda. These devotional matters have been dealt with in
narrative form in chapters Four and Five of this study.

Nonetheless, in this overall bhakti milieu, the highest ethic is that the bhakta must
be true to his/her own self regardless of social constriction or the condition of the
physical body (yathävasthita-deha). In this metaphysical context the real self is the
aprakaöa bhakti-svarüpa. Here the bhakta is not dependent on connaissances such
as çästra, reason, logic or argument for personal preservation.9

10.1.2 Rägänugä-bhakti
The struggle for truth, morality and identity in the immediate post-Caitanya and
Nityänanda era led to the development of formal social and religious relations. By
the mid 16th century the movement was known as the Caitanya Tree of Devotion
(Caitanya bhakti våkña)10 and the followers of Caitanya were referred to as
Gauòéyas.11 Among the branches of this tree a number of bhaktas came to
prominence for their part in developing sacred sites in the geographical Vraja12 and
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were named the Goswämés of Våndävana. Of these, Gopäla Bhaööa (1503-1578),

Raghunätha-däsa (1506-1582) Rüpa (1493-1581) and Sanätana (1488-1558) are
the leading authors of the movement’s discursive creed and the essence of their
teachings are attributed to Caitanya.13 These discourses were first written as diary
entries, memories, poetry, dramas, lyrics, and philosophical discourses. These
writings became reference material for the development of ethical codes and
formal bodies of knowleges (connaissance) emerged. During this period Rüpa
Goswämé’s Bhaktirasämåta-sindhu inferences recommend rägänugä-bhakti for those
devotees who aspire for räga-bhakti but who: (1) are not driven by natural intense
personal desire for it; and, (2) are still accustomed to identifying with the body of
this world (yathävasthita-deha).14 These were combined with his maïjaré theory of
rasa and a specific Gauòéya Vaiñëava practice of rägänugä-sädhana emerged. Later
the siddha-praëälé and the añöakäléya lélä-smaraëa were added. Jéva Goswämé
(1516-1618) became the chief adviser on doctrinal issues after the death of Rüpa
Goswämé. Jéva Goswämé played a major role in leading the movement in the next
generation. He reproduced and distributed the teachings of the abovementioned
Goswämés as well as his own.

While the Våndävana Goswämés wrote a number of authoritative works presenting

Gauòéya Vaiñëava ethical principles, the Bengali assembly made no such works.
By and large their moral rules were inculcated through guru-disciple relations.
However Jähnavä Devé (wife of Nityänanda) accepted the teachings of the
Våndävana Goswämés as standard practice for her lineage. Chapter Five of this
study narrates the abovementioned developments and the development of
rägänugä-bhakti.

10.1.2a Rägänugä-bhakti and Saìkértana

The rägänugä-bhakti model essentially demonstrates a shift away from the aesthetics
of personal and spontaneous experience characteristic of the räga-bhakti archetype
of the rägätmikä-bhakta. While the rägänugä-bhakti model leaves room for the
bhakta to generate a self-engaged space that promotes expressions of personal or
localised power and knowledge, the overall discourse supports the development of a
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formally constructed cognitive reality. This reality is gained through the bhakta
imitating the devotional state of the rägätmikä-bhakta. In this model the rägätmikä
character to be imitated is generally identified from devotional puräëic literature,
popular bhakti lyrics, myths, poetry, dramas or is a living rägätmikä devotee. The
selecting of the rägätmikä character to be imitated (siddha-deha) is called siddha-
praëälé. Although the process of selection can vary from one Gauòéya Vaiñëava sect
to another, every group requires commitment to rägänugä-sädhana, a guru-disciple
relationship and formal initiation.

The associated saìkértana praxes are expressed in terms of the rägänugä añöakäléya
lélä-smaraëa (eightfold meditation on Vraja-Kåñëa-lélä) discussed in Chapter Five
(see Section 5.2.4). The overt saìkértana praxes are: Çré Kåñëa-saìkértana, saìkhyä-
saìkértana and the imitation of the prema-saìkértana of the rägätmikä devotee. Since
saìkértana in this bhakti model employs the añöakäléya lélä-smaraëa, mahä-saìkértana
as a social contact is generally avoided. Where mahä-saìkértana is engaged it occurs
because the praxis is related to the siddha-praëälé and the añöakäléya-lélä medication.
Hence if beòä-saìkértana occurs amid mahä-saìkértana the experience is interpreted
by the sädhaka in relation to the objective of the siddha-praëälé.

The drivers in this saìkértana model are the devotee’s commitment to the guru and
his/her personal desire and longing for association with the main object of worship.
The object of worship is determined by the identity given in the siddha-praëälé.
Therefore in rägänugä-bhakti both the expressions and the content of saìkértana
praxes will differ from person to person. Essentially saìkértana is a private matter that
is primarily fixed in the affective domain. While the functional goal is parrhesia the
essential goal is to know the self in relation to the internalised object of devotion.

10.1.2b Rägänugä-bhakti: Ethics

In the broad rägänugä-bhakti framework different Gauòéya Vaiñëava sects are
organised around different forces of knowledge and power. This is especially
pertinent with respect to the right to the position of guru. As revealed in Chapter
Five (see section 5.3.1) the descendents of the Païca-tattva householder members,
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viz: those of Nityänanda and Advaita, were, and still are, the vaàçadharas - the
initiating gurus (nämäcärya and dékñä-guru) of their respective lineages.15 A bhakta’s
initiation into the group does not automatically enable him/her to rise to the
position of a guru. In the discourse of the Våndävana School, as presented by Kåñëa-
däsa in his Caitanya-caritämåta, ascent to the position of guru is the inherent right
for all devotees who promote Kåñëa-tattva.16 The right to the position of guru is
tremendously instrumental in determining:
• the proactive or coercive nature of the group,
• the types of conflicts that emerge, and
• the way power is constituted and manifest.

Access to the position of guru is a crucial component of Gauòéya Vaiñëava discourse

as it represents the chief position of power within the sect or the right to legitimately
form a sub-sect. It provides the means to:
• establish what truth may or may not be,
• establish identity,
• determine how ethical substance is to be interpreted; and,
• regulate the overall mode of subjection.

Universal accessibility to the position of guru provides the possibility for greater
flexibility in selecting, interpreting and giving meaning to bhakti discourse and at
the same time retain command of public opinion. It allows for the promotion of the
self as an ethical subject with respect to both the position of one’s yathvästhita-deha
(social and physical form) and siddha-deha. It provides individuals with greater
creative scope to (1) transform and cultivate the self, and (2) determine the goals
and the ideal of the self and retain such as spiritual, religious or divine discourse in
the wider society.

Since the Våndävana School’s matrix of power and knowledge indicate universal
accessibility for the Kåñëa-bhakta to rise to the position of guru, the discursive
framework also supports (1) greater expressions of personal and social worth, and
(2) a system of ethics that promotes personal assertion of knowledges that allow
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both individual and religio-social forces of resistance (or power) to emerge

without much conflict when compared to the ethical position of jäti-Goswämé
discourse. It is a venue for implicit attributes (viz: personal aesthetics, feelings
and devotional desires) to emerge as a legitimate force that not only seeks to care
for the self, but allows for ‘care of the self’ as a self in a wider social setting.

10.1.2c Rägänugä-bhakti: Ethics, Parrhesia and Panopticonism

For the rägänugä-bhakta the essential goal is to attain the bhäva of the rägätmikä role
model. However, since the struggle for truth and identity is achieved through the
cultivation and transformation of the self by the self, combined with the application
of externally constructed religious standards and practices named rägänugä-sädhana,
the struggle is repositioned when compared to the bhakti dynamics of the rägätmikä
bhakta. The ideals that drive the functional goal (viz: parrhesia) are replaced with a
self-regulated process form of bhakti that requires the bhakta to: (1) engage in, or
meditate on, specific ritualistic activities at every moment of the day, and (2) retain
purity in spirit and freedom from vice. The tenets of rägänugä-bhakti sädhana have
been detailed in narrative form in Chapter Five of this study. Like the ethics of the
rägätmikä devotee, the highest ethic for the rägänugä-bhakta is to be true to his/her
own self and to cultivate the bhakti-svarüpa as the self. However the forces of
resistance enlisted by the bhakta in the search for truth, morality and identity,
ultimately serve as a panopticonism that employs a technology of self-regulation
influenced by the bhakta’s optimism of will and his/her need to succeed.17

10.1.2d Bhaktivinoda: Ethics

In the late 19th century Bhaktivinoda struggled with his search for truth, morality
and identity against the restrictive forces of power that dominated the Bengali jäti-
Goswämé Gauòéya Vaiñëava lineage. He questioned the leadership skills of the
vaàçadharas and their initiation policies. He pioneered an apostolic role that
promoted mentorship independent of their lineage tradition. Bhaktivinoda
transcended the restrictions that disallowed him to assume the position of a guru
(manträcärya). He embraced discourses found in Kåñëa-däsa’s Caitanya-caritämåta
that encourage all Kåñëa bhaktas to become guru and, in adopting the role of
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manträcärya, he initiated his family members into Gauòéya Vaiñëava mantras. In

1908 he initiated a following on a wider social scale and founded his own Gauòéya
Vaiñëava lineage that promoted the expansion of the tradition beyond the shores
of India. This has been addressed in Chapter Six.

After the death of Bhaktivinoda, his son Vimala-prasäda Datta (1874-1936)

(Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté) developed a Gauòéya Vaiñëava evangelistic organization
that led to the establishment of Gauòéya Vaiñëavism in the West through the ISKCON
mission. The devotional model applied in Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté’s strand of
Gauòéya Vaiñëavism is vaidhé-bhakti. In 1920 his organization was officially named
Gauòéya Maöha (i.e. “Gauòéya Mission”). His resistance to existing Gauòéya Vaiñëava
discursive practices developed out of an intense ethical struggle and resulted in the
application of a new form of Gauòéya Vaiñëava discourse.

10.1.3 Vaidhé-bhakti and Saìkértana: Bhaktisiddhänta

The construction of Bhaktisiddhänta’s Gauòéya Vaiñëava evangelistic religious
organization was influenced by:
• the 19th century Christian, British and European ideas that, to some degree,
had altered the concept of religion in Indian society;
• Bhaktivinoda’s and his own objections to the constricting nature of Bengali
jäti-Goswämé Gauòéya Vaiñëava discursive practices; and,
• his personal struggles and conflict with the ethical dynamics of the bhakti
models that played little attention to the socially recognised ethical standards
of the everyday world and the social status of the human body (yathävasthita-
deha).
The nature and force of Bhaktisiddhänta’s oppositions and struggles are evident in:
(1) his harsh criticism of rägänugä practitioners, in that he identified:
• existing Gauòéya Vaiñëava discursive practices in both Våndävana and Bengal
as corrupt, fraudulent and as influenced by sahajiyä; and,
• Vaiñëava avadhütas and rägänugä practitioners in the geographical Vraj as
belonging, not in the realm of divine inspiration, but to Näraka-kuëòa, (the
“pond of Hell”); and,
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(2) his relentless insistence that his disciples abide by a high standard of brahminical
conduct, as well as his promotion of rigid sense control and päïcarätrika discipline.

By and large, the ethical tenets of Bhaktisiddhänta’s doctrine, more particularly his
mode of subjection, (i.e. the rules, laws, reasoning, conviction and desire for
happiness) emphasised a vedäntic oriented articulation of Gauòéya Vaiñëava bhakti
influenced by the religious, social and political dynamics of his family environment
and of British India.

On the whole, the milieus of knowledge and power in Bhaktisiddhänta’s early 20th
century modernist vaidhé devotional model greatly contrasts with the discourses of the
räga-bhakta and the rägänugä-bhakti model. In the vaidhé-bhakti model overt
expressions of emotional bhakti are avoided and personal revelation with reference to
the bhakti-svarüpa is deemed confidential and are therefore silenced. The bhakti-
svarüpa is not attained through the bhakta overtly imitating an aprakaöa devotional
role model as found in rägänugä-discourse. The bhakti-svarüpa spiritual perfection is
acquired by the bhakta first of all developing brahminical qualifications through social
and religious elevation of the yathävasthita-deha. Therefore emphasis is placed on
raising the human self to the highest socially ethical positions. For ‘vedäntists’ in early
20th century India, this meant elevation to the position of a brähmaëa.

Bhaktisiddhänta’s process for spiritual advancement replaces dedication and

commitment to the development of the aprakaöa siddha-deha (i.e. the persona given
through the siddha-praëälé process for the imitation of the rägätmikä role model) with
dedication and commitment to the guru. Therefore, from the standpoint of the
disciple the guru’s yathävasthita-deha (and this includes the extended bodies of the
guru, viz: the devotional mission, doctrine, literature etc.) is the highest example of
human and spiritual development manifest in this world (prakaöa). In this religious
milieu the body, mind and soul of the guru (although materially manifest) are believed
to be fully spiritual and therefore the guru is to be treated as good as God (but not as
God). Moreover, the guru is more than a formality and takes an active role in the
devotional life of the disciple. Accordingly, a strong emphasis is placed on faith,
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devotion, attachment and loyalty to the guru (guru-niñöha) and the extended bodies of
the guru. Through such dedication it is believed that salvation, samadhi and liberation
are achieved. In this devotional dynamic the guru pervades all aspects of the bhakta’s
devotional life. Essentially and functionally, the combination of the above bhakti
dynamics culminates in the formation of a totalist system of knowledge and power.

The saìkértana praxes that manifest in Bhaktisiddhänta’s vaidhé-bhakti model are Çré
Kåñëa-saìkértana, saìkhyä-saìkértana, mahä-saìkértana and beòä-saìkértana.
Traditional expressions of prema-saìkértana are silenced and therefore they not a
matter for public dialogue. However the prema aspect of saìkértana emerges as the
disciples’ overt dedication to the guru and support for his mission. The drivers are
the bhaktas’ intense desires to please, worship and serve the guru and his mission
with love and devotion. Therefore saìkértana appears to be more homogeneously
expressed when compared to saìkértana in the rägänugä-bhakti model and the
saìkértana of the rägätmikä bhakta. Success in saìkértana is a public matter fixed in
the active domain. Love, devotion and dedication are measured by:
• the disciple’s guru-niñöhä;
• the degree to which the disciple explicitly follows the instructions and
teachings of the guru; and,
• the explicit promotion of the guru’s mission.
These combined with the discursive practices mentioned in the previous two
paragraphs become even more compelling when the notion that the guru is the
external manifestation of the caittya-guru (i.e. the omniscient paramätmä who resides
in the hearts of all living things). Essentially the guru is believed to pervade every
facet of the bhakta’s life including his/her innermost thoughts. These devotional
dynamics culminate in the construction of a panopticonism that reaches beyond the
limits of the Foucaultian model. There is the potential for the bhakta to feel his/her
actions and behaviours are not only being observed or surveyed by an external other
but, also, at deeper psychological levels, attitudes and emotions are observed by an
external other from within. Thus, in the discursive bhakti model of Bhaktisiddhänta’s
Gauòéya Maöha and its sub-branches, self-regulation and self-discipline are fixed
firmly in a complexity of cohesive facets that use minimal visible control to engage
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devotees in the promotion of the mission. It is through the internalisation of such

religious beliefs that totalitarian socialisation emerges, and is externalised as absolute
control over devotees lives. This externalisation occurred in ISKCON and was
especially manifest during the immediate post Bhaktivedänta Swämé period and
continued until the late 1980s. These and similar issues have been researched and
dealt with in Chapter Nine.

10.1.4 Vaidhé-bhakti and Saìkértana: ISKCON

The notion that the guru can see into the heart of the disciple was promoted in the
ISKCON mission.18 In Australia this view continued to develop until the
mid1980s. At that time it became evident that a number of ISKCON gurus were
corrupt and this led to devotees dramatically struggling with their religious
indoctrination. They questioned their understanding of the spiritual and material
positions of the guru. Although, to a certain extent, some devotees continue to
promote the view that the guru can literally see into the hearts of the devotees, by
and large there is strong support for a less literal interpretation. In the overall
view, the current mood is that the guru should not have absolute control the
spiritual or material lives of disciples, but rather the guru should assist disciples.19

In developing his ISKCON mission, Bhaktivedänta Swämé supported

Bhaktisiddhänta’s application of saìkértana praxes, including the silencing of
traditional prema-saìkértana. However he differed from Bhaktisiddhänta in that
the bhakta’s love and support for the guru and his mission, as aspects of prema-
saìkértana, are more developed. Moreover, his doctrine promoted a new form of
saìkértana named book-saìkértana, and this emerged as the greatest form of
saìkértana. Book-saìkértana is an economic based saìkértana fixed in the
transformation of the bhakta into a source of labour that culminated in the mass
distribution of Bhaktivedänta Swämé’s literature and corollary financial activity. A
detailed discourse on these issues has been uncovered and presented in narrative
form in Chapter Eight of this dissertation.
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In the late 1960s and during the 1970’s, the relationship of power, knowledge and
identity in the ISKCON movement involved the construction of a cognitive space
where the devotional status of the bhakta was gained through the promotion of
economic based book-saìkértana. Essentially, the quality of the bhakta’s saìkértana
was determined by the number of books he/she distributed and how much money
he/she contributed to the Bhaktivedänta Book Trust (BBT). To increase funds, and
to meet the book sale’s quotas that ISKCON management imposed on devotees,
some devotees applied larrikinism, illegal and unconventional antics. This is an
example of the devotee’s spiritual and material identity being developed in relation
to the goals of the guru and his mission.

In this discursive model devotees who made a lot of money for BBT were identified
as divinely empowered. For devotees who were unable to make money, self-
purification could ultimately be achieved through hard work and the mercy of the
guru (guru-kåpa). In the 1980s the raising of funds through the sale of crafted goods
to fund public distribution of BBT literature and to fund BBT objectives was named
paraphernalia-saìkértana. To ensure devotees remained committed to BBT the guru-
niñöhä custom was reinforced and the supporting ideologies named lakñmé-mukti and
yukta-vairägya were promoted on a daily basis. These practices, the power-
knowledge relations and the effects of power have been researched and are provided
in narrative form in chapters Eight and Nine of this study.

10.1.5 ISKCON: Morals and Ethics

For fully committed devotees in the 1970s and 1980s the goals of the ISKCON
movement were, to varying degrees, more important than those of the wider society.
The highest categorical imperative of morality was service to the guru and his
mission. Therefore some devotees did not regard it immoral to use illegal or
deceptive means while engaged in saìkértana fund raising. Such behaviour becomes
immoral only when the activities damage the good name of the mission. It is for
these reasons that, beginning in 1977, ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission
(GBC) banned all illegal saìkértana practices. Nevertheless some devotees
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continued (and still continue) to use questionable fund raising methods and these
activities are usually justified by their belief that:
• devotees are engaged in a higher set of goals; and,
• the good name of the movement will not be sullied if the activities go
unknown to others.
These behaviours have been detailed in chapters Eight and Nine of this study.

Essentially, for some devotees morality is a self-interested exaltation where all things
are seen to belong to the supreme object of worship, viz: Çré Kåñëa, and therefore all
things should be returned to him, one way or another. In this view it may also be
reasoned that since the guru is metaphysically accepted as the bona fide representative
of Çré Kåñëa, service to the guru and his mission can also be made synonymous with
service to Çré Kåñëa. Therefore all saìkértana behaviours are purified and free from
karmic reactions when used to develop the movement. The underlying logic and
reasoning is not meant to fit into a wider social ethical frame, but is concerned with
distinct sets of devotional rules, reality and identity and therefore appear illogical and
inconsistent when viewed outside the metaphysical context. Perhaps this
understanding can, at least in part, shed some light on concerns about the religious
makeup of bhakti discourses relating particularly to devotional identity and devotees’
apparent disinterest in normative social standards and/or their desire to change the
dynamics of contemporary socialisation. These concerns have been raised in the
literature of academic sociologists and psychologists that surfaced in the literature
review and the archive of narrative sections of this study.

10.1.6 ISKCON: Change

In the mid 1980s some Australian ISKCON managers misused the funds raised by the
saìkértana devotees (by using them for their own interests and self-gratification), and
thus exploited their labour and, therefore, their devotional life. During this period
revelations surfaced about a number of ISKCON gurus’ personal corrupt behaviours.
This caused devotees to search for: (1) new conditions under which they could engage
in bhakti and saìkértana; and, (2) more traditional forms of saìkértana to engage with.
On the larger sociological scale this led to a struggle that culminated in the
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development of the Çré Caitanya Saraswata Maöha (a sub-branch of Bhaktisiddhänta’s

Gauòéya Maöha) in Australia. This establishment opened the door for devotees to take
more control over their devotional lives and remain within the overall Gauòéya
Vaiñëava discursive framework. Later, in the 1990s, another Gauòéya Maöha sub-
branch, led by Bhaktivedänta Näräyaëa Mahäräja, was established in Australia. This
sub-branch created even greater flexibility for devotees to engage with bhakti and
saìkértana discourses. The membership majority of these two Gauòéya Vaiñëava
groups are former ISKCON devotees.

Saìkértana in the Çré Caitanya Saraswata Maöha (currently led by Bhaktisundara

Govinda Mahäräja) is conservatively manifest in that the group places greater
emphasis on inward fulfilment and secondary emphasis is placed on public
demonstration. For the Giriräja Govardhana Gauòéya Maöha (led by Bhaktivedänta
Näräyaëa Mahäräja) the greatest saìkértana a person in this world can perform is soul-
to-soul saìkértana. This is the glorification of mädhurya-rasa and maïjaré-bhäva in
discourses about Rädhä-Kåñëa lélä and is performed in the association of other
bhaktas. Thus, while the group encourages the reading of books about Rädhä-Kåñëa
lélä, greater emphasis is placed on hearing bhakti discourses from spiritually realised
devotees. To some degree it may be argued that the discourse of Bhaktivedänta
Näräyaëa resists Bhaktisiddhänta’s silencing of rasika discourse. Nonetheless
Bhaktivedänta Näräyaëa promotes the vaidhé-bhakti model as the overall framework
for saìkértana and bhakti engagement. Discussion of this is presented in narrative
form in Chapter Nine.

During the late 1990s and up to the mid 2000s, ISKCON continued to lose long-time
Australian membership when issues relating to corruption, such as child abuse,
mishandling of monies and struggles for power and lack of honest communication
emerged as major social problems within ISKCON. However, amidst these struggles
ISKCON has also grown in diverse and more positive ways. In Australia the
leadership has focused on the recruitment of Indian migrants from the Republic of
South Africa, Fiji and India as instrumental in funding temple programs and
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developing a greater cultural dimension for the movement. In England and the USA a
trend in devotees engaging in academic scholasticism has emerged.

The promotion of scholasticism began in 1992 when Garuda-däsa (Professor Graham

Schweig), the then ISKCON Minister of Vaiñëava Studies, pledged to develop an
ISKCON organised university that would offer a “professorship of Vaiñëava Studies”
in Bhaktivedänta Swämé’s name.20 Unable to fund a fully independent university, in
1997 in England, ISKCON devotees founded the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
(OCHS)21 as ISKCON’s highest level of study.22 In 2006, Oxford University granted the
status of “recognised independent centre” to OCHS. 23 The chancellor of Oxford
University, Lord Patten of Barnes, acknowledged the centre as an important resource
on Indian culture and Indian religious traditions for Oxford University, and considers
that it fits in well with the university’s “goal to attract more Indian students to come
and study at Oxford”. 24 From the ISKCON stand point, the establishment of the
OCHS at Oxford University functions to open up a venue for Gauòéya Vaiñëava
scholasticism and hermeneutics. The aim is to encourage the use of human reason to
authenticate theological discourse. The definitive idea is to integrate Gauòéya
Vaiñëava theology into a Western academic framework.25

Another major ISKCON project is the Mäyäpura project where ISKCON intends to
develop the region established by Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura as the natal place of Caitanya
into a spiritual retreat with cultural and economic advantages.26 The objectives of the
Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies combined with the Mäyäpura project reflect the
values adopted in of the development of the 16th century geographical Vraja and its
literary tradition. Perhaps it is through a combination of these developments that
distinct strands of bhakti and saìkértana, currently unknown, will emerge. But what is
known is that the discourse named bhakti, and therefore saìkértana and its varied
expressions, like power, has multiple endings.

10.2.0 Episteme, Discourse and Dispositif

From Foucault we learn that discourse both diffuses and adds to power. Power may
be reinforced or made fragile27 and it is this yielding nature of human power that
quickens life’s games. Power is all around us. It is in us, it is of us, it is immanent in
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all social relations.28 It is flexible, differential; it is both implicit and explicit with
continual variance. There is no single ‘will to power’; there are multiple discourses
and discursive elements.29 Power is people’s relationships with what is known.30 In
its natural state power is individual, subjective and in constant flux, yet it may
manifest as tactical and collective human force.31 So too is bhakti.

10.2.1 Bhakti Episteme

Gauòéya Vaiñëavas generally describe three specific bhakti models. These are räga-
bhakti, rägänuga-bhakti and vaidhé-bhakti. The tenets of these discourses have been
uncovered in this dissertation. However, in applying Foucaultian methods of
deconstruction the three models of bhakti appear to me to be comprehended by
two distinct epistemic types. These two epistemes are: (1) internal spontaneous
räga-bhakti of the rägätmikä-bhakta; and, (2) the process adjusted disciplined
forms of bhakti (rägänuga-bhakti and vaidhé-bhakti). The dichotomous facets of
the two bhakti episteme types are dealt with in the paragraphs below; they are
deconstructed and analysed in relation to Gauòéya Vaiñëava ontological discourses
and Foucaultian analysis of knowledge, power and dispositif.

10.2.1a Foucaultian Episteme and Gauòéya Vaiñëava Ontology

In the Gauòéya Vaiñëava ontological view, Çré Kåñëa is identified as the energetic
(çaktimän). Rädhä is the embodiment of çakti or svarüpa-çakti.32 Rädhä-Kåñëa
combined is the embodiment of eternity, knowledge and bliss (sat-cit-änanda).
Since bhakti generates specific kinds of knowledges, bhakti is related to the cit
(knowing) aspect of the divine couple, Rädhä-Kåñëa.33 Three types of energy
(power) attend to cit. These are antaraìga-çakti (internal power/energy) taöastha-
çakti (marginal-power/energy) and bahiraìgä çakti (external or mäyä-çakti, illusory
power/energy). 34 All three energy transformations may engage in prema-bhakti.35

In the circumstance of the discursive power named antaraìga-çakti (internal

power/energy), bhakti (as a way of knowing) manifests through the natural
spontaneous life-fulfilling force that is omnipresent and is the highest principle of
self-manifesting will of eternally liberated souls (nitya-siddha); 36 bhakti is also
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related to the pleasure giving potency named hlädiné-çakti (or the änanda aspect).
The original root of the hlädiné-çakti is identified as Rädhä.37 The bhakti (as the way
of knowing) of the liberated entities is named rägätmikä bhakti. Conversely, in the
context of the discursive power named bahiraìgä-çakti (external power/energy - or
mäyä-çakti), bhakti manifests as a power of knowing where something external to
the natural condition or immediate relationship is engaged with.38 In the discursive
power named taöastha-çakti (or marginal energy/power) bhakti is a type of knowing
where both the objectives and the conditions of the above mentioned internal and
external çaktis may be engaged with. In Gauòéya Vaiñëava ontology, the discursive
power named taöastha-çakti is also identified with the human person and/or jéva-
çakti. Put differently, the human person embodies elements of the former two çaktis
and therefore has the ability to similarly engage with the bhakti manifest in those
categories. Through the human self-manifesting will or ‘will to power’ a person may
engage in bhakti discourses reflecting the conditions and objectives of the antaraìga-
çakti; and as mentioned above, that bhakti discourse is that of the rägätmikä-bhakta.
On the other hand, the human person (or taöastha-çakti) may engage with bhakti
through external force relations named bahiraìgä or mäyä-çakti. In the meta-
narrative of this dissertation these external conditions emerge as the disciplines
named rägänuga-bhakti and vaidhé-bhakti where salvation is gained through the
application of discourses constructed by an external other; and are therefore process
adjusted forms of bhakti. Thus it is here comprehended that two distinct bhakti
epistemes make up the meta-narrative of this dissertation. These two bhakti
epistemes manifest under conditions where the tenets of the formal and informal
centres of power and knowledges that dominate, do so with complete diversity; each
bhakti episteme has its own course of action.

In Foucaultian thinking, when episteme discontinuity occurs, the conditions of the

nodes of ethics also undergo varying degrees of transformation. In some cases the
ethical substance remains constant in and between epochs. There are sharp
discontinuities in all four nodes of ethical reference between the räga-bhakti model
and the aforementioned process bhakti models. The laws, reasons convictions and
desired outcomes are distinct. The self-forming activities are distinct. The
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knowledge production and power relations are distinct. The practices with regard to
self-fulfilment are distinct.

What makes these two bhakti epistemes distinct? How are they constituted?

10.2.2 Bhakti and Foucaultian Dispositif

For the rägätmikä-bhakta, power is tied in with personal insight regulated in the
affective domain through personal feelings, personal resistances and self-negation.
Bhakti is the implicit uploading of self-born power. It is not forcefully taken, nor is it
made to appear or disappear. Truth for the rägätmikä-bhakta emerges from a personal
relation of the self with the self, engaged in self-discovery. That discovery is the
creative pastime named lélä. Lélä is prema-saìkértana. Truth is disclosed to the self in
the aprakaöa lélä or to all of the “this world” creation (prakaöa) as part of the aprakaöa
lélä. It is a mastery of the self and the whole of the prakaöa creation as a self-mastery.
Dominant elements of discourse characteristic of the rägätmikä-bhakta are presented
as unshaded pathways in Table 4. below.

Table 4. Matrices of Power and Knowledge (MPK) Grid

The dominant structures of knowledge and power of the rägätmikä-bhakta are
presented here as unshaded pathways. The lightly-shaded pathways are indicative
of dominant facets of power and knowledge characteristic of the process-adjusted
forms of bhakti named rägänuga-bhakti and vaidhé-bhakti
Foucaultian Categories Other Categories
Empowered: Feeling
Insight
Forces of Need
P Resistance Received
O Acquisition
Taken
W Dis-empowered: Self-negation
E Self denial
External Forces No-self worth
R of Control (Dis)appearance
T Social Exclusion
Devalued
R
K Localised Enjoy
U Innate
N Knowledge Commodity
T
O Forming Utility
H Acquired
W Traits Exploited
L Formal or Attraction
E Meta-cognition
Institutionalised Antagonism
D Tactics for
Operant Desire
G Forming
E Knowledges Conditioning Forced Behaviour
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Conversely, the process bhakti models named vaidhé-bhakti and rägänuga-bhakta

involve a complexity of external conditions. Bhakti is engaged in a relation of love
in loyalty to an external other, organised by the other. While it may be argued that
vaidhé-bhakti and rägänuga-bhakta are paths of self-discovery, both paths engage
disciplines where power is gained through commitment to external powers as
sources of power; and knowledge, is at best, acquired and used as a commodity to
gain salvation. Instinctive personalised knowledges (as in the case of the rägänuga-
bhakta) are regulated, or they are silenced (as in the cases of the groups that
promote the vaidhé-bhakti model). In the most negative expression knowledge may
be used to alienate, antagonise, exploit or coerce behaviour. Evidences of these
discourses have been dealt with in the later chapters of this dissertation.

While it may also be argued that the rägänuga-bhakta seeks a self-constructed space
where he/she ultimately embraces his/her own cognitive reality (or lélä - similar to
that of the rägätmikä-bhakta), the course of action is nevertheless designed by the
guru in the siddha-praëälé and therefore the bhakti model or the path of bhakti is the
construct of an external other. The tenets that dominate with respect to the three
bhakti models are outlined in Table 5. below.

Table 5. Nodes of Ethical Reference: Bhakti Models

Dominant Facets Dominant Facets Dominant Facets
Räga-bhakti Rägänuga-bhakti Vaidhé-bhakti
Ethical Substance • Self-reflexive • Self-reflexive and • Institutionalised
behaviour • Externally discursive
orchestrated behaviour
behaviour
Systems Of Change • Personal insight • Acquisition • Acquisition
• Feelings • Personal insight • Social exclusion
• Self-denial • Social exclusion • Devaluation
Mode Of Subjection • Self-determined • Savoirs • Connaissances
Telos • Self-understood • External desire • External desire
• To know the self • Salvation • Salvation

Essentially the paths of process-adjusted bhakti (vaidhé-bhakti and rägänuga-bhakti) are

not discoveries of the self, by the self and of the self. They do not entail full ‘care of the
self’. They are attempts to unquestionably find the self in relation to, and support for,
social disciplines that use the languages (i.e. the ideas, statements, practices and
struggles) or discourses of another. A prominent facet of such process-adjusted bhakti
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models is that the practices require collective agreement on the language and the limits
of what bhakti and saìkértana may or may not be. For räga-bhakti the only necessary
language is the language the rägätmikä-bhakta engages; this form of bhakti is especially
manifest in the prema-saìkértana of Nityänanda and Caitnaya.

In effect, it may also be argued that within the räga-bhakti model there are as many
bhakti and saìkértana discourses as there are bhaktas and each discourse has its
own inbuilt language. In the process bhakti models there are as many discourses as
can be developed in some kind of partnership. In both bhakti epistemes the
possibilities are indefinite. The rägänuga and vaidhé-bhakti models are examples of
two vastly different discourses that can emerge under different conditions yet
remain in the same episteme. The dominant tactic and traits that make up the
Foucaultian binary components of power and knowledges and the elements of
discourse identified as ‘Other Categories’ are set out in Table 4 and are indicative
of the foundational elements from which numerous possibilities emerge.

Essentially and functionally these are the abstract elements that constitute bhakti
and saìkértana in this meta-history named Bhakti, Saìkértana and Gauòéya
Vaiñëavism: India to Australia. The (re)constructed discourses have been unearthed
and presented in narrative form in chapters Three to Nine of this dissertation.

The research undertaken in this study indicates that the efficient answer to this
question is that in the narrative Bhakti, Saìkértana and Gauòéya Vaiñëavism: India
to Australia there are two epistemes. One is that which emerges from innate
personal spontaneity and is characteristic of the bhakti of Nityänanda and
Caitnaya. The other is a construct fixed in the language of social agreement and is
particular to the forms of process bhakti that emerged as part of the Gauòéya
Vaiñëava tradition post Caitanya and Nityänanda. The essential answer is that
potentially there are as many epistemes as there are bhaktas and each bhakta has an
ending and a new beginning. How bhakti and saìkértana will manifest in the
future can only be known in its own expression. Perhaps this study can serve as a
foundation for further research in this field.
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Notes: Chapter Ten

[1] Foucault 1976: 98-102.

[2] Ibid.
[3] Foucault 1978 (1986); Foucault 1985: 25-27.
[4] Foucault 1994: 50.
[5] Mbh. 3.84.75.
[6] Gutting 1994: 133.
For details see also, Foucault’s lecture of February 15, 1984, College de France.
[7] See Rüpa Goswämé BRS. 1541: 1.2.292;
Kåñëa-däsa Kaviräja. CC. 1582: 2.22.155.
[8] Foucault 1978 (1986): 64-67.
[9] Kåñëa-däsa Kaviräja. CC. 1582: 2.21.119.
[10] Kåñëa-däsa Kaviräja. CC. 1582: 1. Ch. 10.
[11] Kåñëa-däsa Kaviräja. CC. 1582: 1.1.19.
[12] Kennedy 1925: 67.
[13] Kåñëa-däsa Kaviräja. CC. 1582: 2. Chs.19 -24;
Kennedy 1925: 67, 135-140.
[14] Rüpa Goswämé BRS. 1541: 1.2.290-292.
[15] O’Connell 1970: 310-311.
[16] Kåñëa-däsa Kaviräja. CC. 1582: 2.8.128.
kibä vipra, kibä nyäsé, çüdra kene naya /yei kåñëa-tattva-vettä, sei ‘guru’ haya//
[17] Foucault 1978 (1995).
See also Gutting 1994: 293.
[18] Satsvarüpa-däsa BA-Vb. 2003: Prabhupäda Nectar: You must simply be ruled
by the spiritual master.
[19] See appendix One. Section H.3.
[20] Garuda-däsa, BA-Vb-1992: Çré Vyäsa-püjä.
[21] c/f ISKCON and Education: http://www.iskconbbsr.org/education.htm;
See also Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies: http://www.ochs.org.uk;
OCHS Wins Oxford Recognition: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=616;
OCHS and ISKCON: http://www.iskcon.com/education/projects/ochs.htm
Oxford Vaishnavas come together for Gaura-Purnima:
http://www.iskcon.org.uk/news/2004/apr/index.html
[22] c/f ISKCON and Education: http://www.iskconbbsr.org/education.htm
See also Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies: http://www.ochs.org.uk
[23] Oxford University Establishes formal links with Hindu Centre -
wwww.admin.ox.ac.uk/po/news/2005-06/jun/26.shtml
[24] Ibid.
[25] Satsvarüpa-däsa BA-Vb-2003: Reading Reform Ch.5. ‘Çréla Prabhupäda’s
Books Are Sufficient’.
[26] Ford in Bagal, Abhijit. 2004. Spiritual Disneyland in Communist West Bengal?
http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_040326.htm
[27] Foucault 1976 (1990): 94; Hoy 1981: 137.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Foucault 1976 (1990): 94. See also Best & Kellner 1991; Taner 2005: 39.
[31] Ibid.
[32] Bhaktivedänta Swämé, BA-Vb-75-03-02 Lecture.
[33] Kåñëa-däsa Kaviräja. CC. 1582: 1.Ch.2. See also, Bhaktivedänta Swämé, BA-
Vb-75-11-08: Conversation.
[34] Kåñëa-däsa Kaviräja. CC. 1582: 2.6.160.
antaraìgä - cic-chakti, taöasthä - jéva-çakti/ bahiraìgä - mäyä, - tine kare prema-bhakti//
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[35] Ibid.
[35] Viçvanätha Cakravarté (1626 –1754). Mädhurya Kaòambiné.
[36] Kåñëa-däsa Kaviräja. CC. 1582: 2.6.158-167.
[37] Ibid.
[38] Ibid.