Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura describes in his writings 13 apasampradayas or non-bonafide Vaishnava schools. These groups include factions such as the Smarta Brahmanas, the Caste Goswamis, Ativadis, Saki-Bekis, and so on.
These different apasampradayas are not just historical descriptions of groups that existed in India more than a century ago but represent different tendencies that we, as conditioned souls, carry in our hearts. This explains how deviations such as the hereditary transmission of posts, impersonalism, cultivation of spiritual life as a way to attain fame and power, and so on tend to reappear at different times and in different groups, even when such groups are not directly connected.
There is however another reason understanding these apasampradayas is relevant for us, and it may be a little shocking.
The point is that most of us, who are now struggling to practice Krsna Consciousness, may actually be souls who were part of these different groups in our past lives. Because we started the path of devotional service in one way or another, we got the opportunity to continue our practice, and this time we got lucky, finding genuine representatives of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. At the same time, however, we need to be careful to not repeat the same mistakes again, since we are still carrying the same tendencies inside our hearts. Just as the Yamadutas declared to the Vishnudutas in the pastime of Ajamila: “O best of the demigods, we can see three different varieties of life, which are due to the contamination of the three modes of nature. The living entities are thus known as peaceful, restless, and foolish; as happy, unhappy, or in-between; or as religious, irreligious, and semireligious. We can deduce that in the next life these three kinds of material nature will similarly act. Just as springtime in the present indicates the nature of springtimes in the past and future, so this life of happiness, distress, or a mixture of both gives evidence concerning the religious and irreligious activities of one’s past and future lives.”
Srila Prabhupada used to say that spiritual life is just like a straight, narrow road. Just like one can get out of a road by going to any of the two sides, one can get out of this narrow road of spiritual progress by deviating in two ways. Prabhupada defined these two as Sahajiya and Mayavada. We can see that he speaks a lot about both in his books.
One may think that Sahajiyas and Mayavadis are just two sects in India, but actually, they illustrate two tendencies of every conditioned soul, two tendencies we must surpass in order to attain pure devotional service. Apart from these two, there are other tendencies that are derived from the “original sin”, our desire to become a separate enjoyer and eventually replace or become one with God.
If you are interested in understanding these different traps we may find in our spiritual progress, I’m publishing a new e-book on this point. It’s free to download and you can share it with other devotees who may be interested. It can mean the difference between going back to Godhead in this life or another material birth!
The book is available here: https://thepathofbhakti.com/apasampradayas/