Who is Prabhupada? - The First Comprehensive Delineation on Guru-Tattva As one of the last initiated disciples of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the author, born as Ricardo Antonio Palleres, received the spiritual name Ravanari Das.
Despite the misunderstanding of many of his god brothers, but following the teachings of Srila Prabhupada, he officially accepted Srila Bhaktirakshak Sridhar Maharaj as his siksha-guru in 1985. After accepting the renounced order of life in October of 1985, he became known as Swami Bhaktiraghava Sadhu. In 1993, Swami B.R. Sadhu began a deep and friendly relationship with Dr. O.B.L. Kapoor (Adikeshava Das), a stalwart disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur and a good friend of Srila Prabhupada.
This went against the sectarian expectations of his peers and closest god brothers. In 1994, after he had resigned from the sannyas or- der, Srila Adikeshava Das kindly revealed his new name as Radharaman. In this volume, the author also lays the groundwork for his next book, on Rasa-Tattva.
PREFACE____________________________________________
A n exasperating question that often arises is: "What really causes devoted persons to turn away from their chosen religious paths, and even lose faith in God?" An extremely exasperating answer, which regularly comes from most of these persons is: "The cause of my turning away is that I became greatly disappointed with God's representatives, thus coming to disbelieve His teachings also." The terrible sense of void, which feels like our chest becoming somehow emptied of our heart is almost indescribable. It can be safely said that everyone needs to know about God, but it's also inconceivable that somehow He would allow us to become exposed to the extremely cruel and vicious reality of being let down by His so- called representatives.
Spiritual insight is constantly being handed down to humanity through empowered beings, who according to time, place and circumstances, make it available to the masses. The spiritual teachings of the Great Masters were compiled for the benefit of all mankind without any sectarian inclinations what- soever. However, different interpretations of those sacred texts have opened the path to various religious traditions.
All bona fide sacred texts, i.e., all the ancient scriptures which are mankind's greatest assets in historic times, convey a common message of love for Godhead. And to love Godhead implicitly involves loving His creation also. When the various scriptures are deeply analysed, nowhere will any discrepancies be found among them. All refer to two basic goals: first, to con- vey the message that one should not consider this world one's normal habitat since it is temporary, and second, to love Godhead above everything else.
This simple message leads to the gradual understanding that everything belongs to God, the Creator, and everything has to be specially administered due to its spiritual nature. However, the spiritual insight which all scriptures contain, is a message which can be read out of con- text by the many religions which divide the world, since each one of them always claim to have the exclusive representation of Godhead.
