Kali Chelas in the Dress of Vaishnavas— “Do Not Become a Victim of Mayavada”
The following warnings about the dangers of hearing from Mayavadis is taken from a talk of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Shrimad-Bhagavatam lecture, 7 September 1976 in Vrindavana):
“So you should be very, very careful. Don't go to hear any Māyāvādī. There are many Māyāvādīs in the dress of Vaiṣṇavas.” –Shrila Prabhupada
Pradyumna: “The great sage Vyāsadeva, after compiling the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and revising it, taught it to his own son, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who was already engaged in self-realization.”
Shrila Prabhupāda: sa saṁhitāṁ bhāgavatīṁ kṛtvānukramya cātma-jam
śukam adhyāpayām āsa nivṛtti-nirataṁ muniḥ (SB 1.7.8)
So this saṁhitā ... Saṁhitā means Vedic literature. There are many rascals, they say that “Bhāgavata was not written by Vyāsadeva, it was written by some Bopadeva.” They say like that. Māyāvādīs, the Nirīśvaravādī. Because although Nirīśvaravādī, or Māyāvādī leader Śaṅkarācārya, he wrote comments on Bhagavad-gītā, but he could not touch Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, because in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the things are so nicely set up, kṛtvānukramya, that it is not possible by the Māyāvādīs to prove that God is impersonal. They cannot do it.
Nowadays they are doing, reading Bhāgavatam in their own way, but that does not appeal to any sane man. Sometimes I have seen a big Māyāvādī is explaining one verse from Shrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that “Because you are God, therefore if you are pleased, then God is pleased.” This is their philosophy. “You do not require to please God separately. So if you are pleased by drinking wine, then God is pleased.” This is their explanation.
Why does the sleeping GBC allow the poisonous infiltration of Mayavada to creep into ISKCON by their endorsement of Radhanatha Swami’s The Journey Home?
Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has condemned this Māyāvādī commentary. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said, māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa (Cc. Madhya 6.169). Māyāvādī kṛṣṇe aparādhī. He has plainly said, “No compromise.” The Māyāvādīs, they’re great offender to Krishna. Tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān (Bg. 16.19), Krishna also says. They're very, very envious to Krishna. Krishna is dvi-bhuja-muralīdhara, śyāmasundara, and the Māyāvādī explains that "Krishna has no hand, no leg. This is all imagination.” How much offensive it is they do not know. But to warn people like us, Caitanya Mahāprabhu has plainly warned that “Don't go to Māyāvādīs." Māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa. Māyāvādī haya kṛṣṇe aparādhī. This is the statement of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
So you should be very, very careful. Don't go to hear any Māyāvādī. There are many Māyāvādīs in the dress of Vaiṣṇavas. Shri Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has explained about them, that ei 'ta eka kali-celā nāke tilaka gale mālā, that “Here is a follower of Kali. Although he has got a tilaka on the nose and neck beads, but he’s a kali-chela.” If he's Māyāvādī, sahaja-bhajana kache mama saṅge laya pare bala. So these things are there. You have come to Vṛndāvana. Be careful, very careful. Māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile (Cc. Madhya 6.169). There are many Māyāvādīs here, many so-called tilaka-mālā, but you do not know what is there inside. But great ācāryas, they can find out.
śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi pañcarātra-vidhiṁ vinā
aikāntikī harer bhaktir utpātāyaiva kalpate
(Shri Bhakti-rasamrita Sindhu. 1.2.101)
They create disturbance only. Therefore we have to follow the Gosvāmīs, Gosvāmī literature, especially Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, which we have translated in The Nectar of Devotion, every one of you should very carefully read and make progress. Don't be victimized by the Māyāvādī so-called Vaiṣṇava. It is very dangerous.