Science Of Self Realization, Chapter 3: “Sankaracarya’s mission was special; he appeared to reestablish the Vedic influence after the influence of Buddhism. Because Buddhism was patronized by Emperor Asoka, twenty-six hundred years ago the Buddhist religion practically pervaded all of India. According to the Vedic literature, Buddha was an incarnation of Krsna who had a special power and who appeared for a special purpose. His system of thought, or faith, was accepted widely, but Buddha rejected the authority of the Vedas. While Buddhism was spreading, the Vedic culture was stopped both in India and in other places. Therefore, since Sankaracarya’s only aim was to drive away Buddha’s system of philosophy, he introduced a system called Mayavada.
Strictly speaking, Mayavada philosophy is atheism, for it is a process in which one imagines that there is God. This Mayavada system of philosophy has been existing since time immemorial.
The present Indian system of religion or culture is based on the Mayavada philosophy of Sankaracarya, which is a compromise with Buddhist philosophy. According to Mayavada philosophy there actually is no God, or if God exists, He is impersonal and all-pervading and can therefore be imagined in any form. This conclusion is not in accord with the Vedic literature. That literature names many demigods, who are worshiped for different purposes, but in every case the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, Visnu, is accepted as the supreme controller. That is real Vedic culture.”
Present Indian System of Religion or Culture is based on the Mayavada Philosophy of Sankaracarya
14. January 2016 by 1 Comment
There is a very big sannyāsī in India, his name is Karpatri. Karpatrijī. So he is very learned scholar. When he speaks about Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he’s such a learned scholar, thousands of people will come to hear him. Actually, he’s a very great scholar. But he was very much respectable and he had many disciples, very, I mean to say, a man of position, a sannyāsī. Unfortunately, he has taken now politics.
Swami Karpatri (1907–1982), born as Har Narayan Ojha, was a Hindu saint and revivalist who founded the Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Karpatri
He’s after to take back Pakistan and join it with India. That has become his mission. So he is going to jail even—because political movement. So everything he’s doing; now his sannyāsa is finished. Now no more Brahman; now again India and Pakistan. That’s all.
So this is sure. Vivekananda came here to preach Hindu religion. Before that, he had no idea of philanthropic work. And when he came back to India, “Oh, this is your religion. Oh, so many Indians they are suffering. So many Indians they have no shelter. Oh, give them shelter. Give them hospital.” Now he became… And collected fund. Vivekananda started new religion, daridra-nārāyaṇa.
Daridra-nārāyaṇa means the poor, poverty-stricken Bowery men, they should be served, not Kṛṣṇa. That is their mission. The Ramakrishna Mission means to serve daridra-nārāyaṇa.”Nārāyaṇa has become daridra.” He has invented some words, “Nārāyaṇa has become daridra.” You see Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa, so opulent. According to Vivekananda, He has become poor now.
So these things are going on. These things are nothing. They are symptoms of falling down, nothing more. They are symptoms of falling down. They cannot do a bit of benefit to the humanity. The laws of nature is so strict that if you have to suffer, nobody can check you. That is realized of Prahlāda Mahārāja. There are so many evidences. Bālasya neha pitarau śaraṇam [SB 7.9.19].
https://prabhupadavani.org/transcriptions/670121ccsf/
This lecture is from San Francisco, Jan. 21, 1967 and Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks in the present tense, because this gentleman was still very much alive and present, a contemporary of Śrīla Prabhupāda, 6 years younger.