Śrīpāda Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī was a Māyāvādī sannyāsī, and his characteristics have been described in Caitanya-bhāgavata (Madhya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Three):
- ‘hasta’, ‘pada’, ‘mukha’ mora nāhika ‘locana’
- veda more ei-mata kare viḍambana
- kāśīte paḍāya veṭā ‘prakāśa-ānanda’
- sei veṭā kare mora aṅga khaṇḍa-khaṇḍa
- vākhānaye veda, mora vigraha nā māne
- sarvāṅge ha-ila kuṣṭha, tabu nāhi jāne
- sarva-yajñamaya mora ye-aṅga—pavitra
- ‘aja’, ‘bhava’ ādi gāya yāṅhāra caritra
- ‘puṇya’ pavitratā pāya ye-aṅga-paraśe
- tāhā ‘mithyā’ bale veṭā kemana sāhase
In the Madhya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Twenty, it is said:
- sannyāsī ‘prakāśānanda’ vasaye kāśīte
- more khaṇḍa-khaṇḍa veṭā kare bhāla-mate
- paḍāya ‘vedānta’, mora ‘vigraha’ nā māne
- kuṣṭha karāiluṅ aṅge, tabu nāhi jāne
- ‘satya’ mora ‘līlā-karma’, ‘satya’ mora ‘sthāna'
- ihā ‘mithyā’ bale, more kare khān-khān
Being an impersonalist, Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī used to explain the Absolute Truth as being without hands, legs, mouths or eyes. In this way he used to cheat the people by denying the personal form of the Lord. Such a foolish person was Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, whose only business was to sever the limbs of the Lord by proving the Lord impersonal. Although the Lord has form, Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī attempted to cut off the hands and legs of the Lord. This is the business of demons. The Vedas state that people who do not accept the Lord’s form are rascals. The form of the Lord is factual, for Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā (BG 15.15), vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. When Kṛṣṇa says aham, He says “I am,” which means “I,” the person. He adds the word eva, which is used for conclusive verification. Thus by studying Vedānta philosophy one must come to know the Supreme Person. Whoever describes Vedic knowledge as impersonal is a demon. One becomes successful in life by worshiping the form of the Lord. The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs deny the form of the Lord, which delivers all fallen souls. Indeed, the Māyāvādī demons try to cut this form to pieces.