Pancaratras

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.