Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta and Rāgānugā-sādhana-bhakti

Abstract

This article reexamines the controversial claim that Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī minimized or modified rāgānugā-bhakti (spontaneous devotion). Dhanurdhara Swami defends Bhaktisiddhānta's approach as strategic rather than revisionist, aimed at maintaining purity and seriousness amid modernity’s distractions. The piece argues that Bhaktisiddhānta preserved the core of Gauḍīya bhakti by emphasizing nāma-bhajana and guru-paramparā while deferring esoteric practices until proper eligibility is attained.