Pancharatras

Atmattatva das

pancharatrasya kritsnasya vakta to bhagavan svayam

The Pancharatra system is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead (just like the Bhagavad-gita); there are 108 Pancharatra books in which the system of worship of the Lord in His Deity form is explained to and through the great authorities of devotional service, viz., Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Goddess Lakshmi etc., Padma Pancharatra, Narada Pancharatra, Hayasirsa Pancharatra, Laksmi-tantra, and Mahesa Pancharatra are some of the most important books of Pancharatra.

Under the Vedic vidhi (rules) a student is required to be a bonafide son of a brahmana or twice born, but a sudra can be elevated to a brahmanas position by Pancaratrika vidhi.

As human society becomes degraded by the influence of the age of Kali, people become unfit for the vedic system. So the Pancharatra system of making one qualified by initiating him into the process of devotional service by which he is engaged fully in the service of the Deity form of the Lord is the only practical method for deliverance in this age of Kali.

Pancharatra books contain elaborate descriptions on the subject matter of the expansions and incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, especially the Deity incarnations, detailed information on day to day worship of the Deity forms, methods of purification of the worshipper and process of practical meditation, process of installing temple and Deities, and instructions on how to conduct different festivals in glorification of the pastimes of the Lord.

In the four authorized sampradayas, the acharyas have compiled Deity worship manuals based on these Pancharatra books. Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu instructed Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami in the subject matter of Pancharatra and advised them to write books on this subject.

Srila Sanatana Goswami compiled Hari bhakti vilas, giving elaborate descriptions of vaishnava regulative principles and practice. Srila Rupa Goswami made his treatise on the subject, viz., Bhakti rasamrta sindhu with profound knowledge of revealed scriptures and authoritative references from various Vedic literatures, especially Narada Pancharatra.

Srila Prabhupada gave a summary study in prose on Bhakti rasamrta sindhu, in his book Nectar of Devotion. Thus the codes of conduct book for the Krishna conscious devotees, the Nectar of Devotion, is the Pancharatra book for the Krishna consciousness movement.