Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
In their attempts to propagate the ritvik misconception, the ritvik proponents, have not been able to provide a proper siddhantic explanation of this issue. Their engagement in mundane grammatical and logical debates reveals a lack of spiritual acquisitioAn–realization seen through the eye of divine service. There is not a single example in our sampradaya nor by any of our acaryas, nor any other bonafide sampradaya where devotees take initiation from a guru by proxy after he has left this world.
The ritvik proponents continuously try to shun their burden of proof and instead state that there is "no scriptural reference indicating this ritvik practice is a deviation from siddhanta." When such a novel and unprecedented idea is introduced (initiation by a non-manifest personality) the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition dictates that sastric references be provided to validate its authenticity. This has not been done.
In Srila Prabhupada's own words, such statements (even of the guru) which cannot be verified by sastra must be rejected along with the guru. (C.c. Madhya-lila 20.352, purp.). Thus if we follow the dry ritvik logic one step further, we arrive at a most unpleasant and unpalatable conclusion.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura has mentioned thirteen apasampradayas that deviate from the strict line of Sri Caitanya. The ritvik conception is ideologically closest to the Kartabhaja apasampradaya; one of these thirteen:
In Bangladesh, a new version of the Kartabhaja sect was founded by one Anukul Chandra. Posing himself as a Supreme Lord, Anukul Chandra has been worshipped by his followers as such. Specific features of his worship were his "Visvarupa darsanas," which centered on a very degraded practice. He is now dead, but his followers propagate that he can initiate latter-day devotees through preachers known as ritviks. New initiates must agree to follow the principles—be vegetarian once a week and worship no deity other than Anukul Chandra's picture.
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