Q/A: disagreeing with one’s guru and agreeing with traditional acharyas

Question: Is there a place for me to disagree with a traditional acharya of a sampradaya (like Shri Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Jiva goswami etc..) while being a part of that sampradaya? According to me , I can certainly disagree with my guru or other non-traditional acharya in my sampradaya, but not with traditional acharyas.

Answer: Your guru is not supposed to disagree with Śrī Jīva Goswami. And you are not supposed to disagree with your guru. There is no such division as a ‘traditional’ ācārya and ‘non-traditional’ ācārya. The very purpose of the guru is to faithfully transmit the teachings of the sampradāya.

Question: But we find the following statement in Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāram:

yukti-yuktaṁ vaco grāhyaṁ bālād api śukād api
ayuktam api na grāhyaṁ sākṣād api bṛhaspateḥ

Answer: A qualified guru will not teach something ayukta.

Question: Also this verse says , don’t accept an ayukta statement even from the mouth of Brihaspati. But that doesn’t mean Brihaspati is not guru.

Answer: You have to understand how to interpret Sanskrit statements. There are hundreds of statements instructing us never to disobey the guru. What will you do with those? The simple criterion for a guru in Gauḍīya sampradāya is whether he or she follows Śrī Jiva Goswami. If not, the person is not qualified to be a guru.

One has to understand the intended meaning of the verse, and not misuse it to suit one’s purposes. If a guru is not a śāstrīya guru, then he or she can say something ayukta. Then one is faced with a difficult choice – to give up śāstra or to give up the guru. Śrī Jīva Goswami recommends giving up the guru (see this post and this one).

Question: My point is, I have to follow all the instructions of my guru, otherwise it’s guru aparadha. But I am not bound to accept all the philosophy spoken by him if it’s against sampradāyic teachings.

Answer: If some teachers are against sampradāyic teachings, then even if they claim to represent the sampradaya, they are not qualified to be a guru. The very purpose of the guru is to faithfully transmit sampradayic teachings.

Question: They surely agree with the pūrva-ācāryas. But they have misinterpreted them. They have never said “we disagree with Jiva gosain.

Answer: Then they don’t agree with him.