Sri Guru: The Backbone of Bhakti, Expl. of ‘labdhva su-durlabham’

Topics

• Importance of human birth.
• Explanation of SB 11.09.29 ‘labdhva su-durlabham’.
• How Krsna is the supreme personality of Godhead and how to achieve his bhakti.
• Importance of guru and how to serve him.
• How the Ritvik initiation system is faulty and improper.
• Importance of bhagavata-parampara and examples from scriptures about the importance of the guru.
• Explanation of verse 'yasya deve para bhakti'.
• Diksa-guru and siksa-guru comparison by various examples.
• Discussion about Bhagavata-parampara and pancaratrik-parampara.
• Beware of Babaji sampradaya.
• Explanation of 'guru krsna rupa hana sastrera pramana'.
• Explanation of SB 11.17.27 ‘acaryam mam vijaniyan’ (Padmanabha Maharaja).

Transcript

[This lecture was spoken by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja on February 12, 2003 in Brazil. This transcript was first published by the Harikatha team, headed by Syamarani didi. We have edited it to bring it closer to verbatim and included additional text in square brackets to facilitate the flow of content. Please see Endnote 5 for more details.  If you are inspired to participate in the transcription sevā, please register at https://www.audioseva.com/register.]

Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: You should hear very carefully and attentively. This is not a place for sleeping. We have come from very far away, from India, and you have also come from very far, far away to hear something. So, for one hour, you should give your attention and your ears to me. We human beings should try to fix an aim and object of our life. Otherwise, if there is no aim and object of life, then we are like animals. After millions and millions of births in various species, we have a human form.

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śukadeva Gosvāmī has told:

labdhvā su-durlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte
mānuṣyam artha-dam anityam apīha dhīraḥ
tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anu-mṛtyu yāvan
niḥśreyasāya viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.9.29)

[This human birth is very rare, because it is only attained after many lifetimes. Although temporary, it can give the highest benefit [the service of Śrīmatī Rādhikā]. After all, sense gratification is available in all species [whereas spiritual perfection is possible only for human beings]. Therefore, an intelligent person should immediately, without wasting a single moment, begin to endeavor [with one-pointed dedication] to achieve the ultimate good fortune, before death comes.] GVP

‘labdhvā su-durlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte’ - Kṛṣṇa is very merciful. It is by His mercy that without any reason, He has given us this human body, which is rare to attain even after taking birth in millions of lifetimes in other species. He has bestowed His mercy because He is our most beloved and He loves us.

[mānuṣyam artha-dam anityam apīha dhīraḥ] - But this human life is very short. We don’t know when we will die, whether at once [right now] or after many years or after a hundred years, no one knows. But we will have to die, giving up everything of this world; even this body, senses and everything.

So, that is why you will have to go to any pure devotee, who is very expert and realized in all tattvas, that is, māyā-tattva, jīva-tattva, kṛṣṇa-tattva, prema-tattva, bhakti-tattva. We should try to go to [take shelter of] such a devotee who knows everything.

‘tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anu-mṛtyu yāvan’- I told you that this life is very short. So, tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated - before you die, you should try to know what is the aim and object of our life? Don’t try to taste sense gratification, lust and other things. This can be done in other species of life, even as donkeys, monkeys, hogs and so many others, you can taste all of this.

[niḥśreyasāya viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt] - In this life, you can have one husband, one wife, at most two, three, four, five, not so many. But in the species of hogs, pigs, others, how many can you have? There is no limit on the number of husbands and wives. They have thousands and thousands and give birth to so many children - sixteen, fourteen, or more at a time.

So, don’t waste this human form that you have received and try to know what is the aim and object of our life. Otherwise you are like animals.

So, what is the aim and object of our life? We should try to know. First of all, you should know that we are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. But how is He? We should know first. He is the Supreme God, the God of gods. What is the meaning?

G-O-D: G-generator, He is the creator of all the universes; O-operator, He operates all the universes. By His arrangements we have come, and likewise all the species, like trees, creepers, and everyone has come. And D-destructor [destroyer]. What is the meaning of destroyer? Our material bodies are like corns. They grow on a plant and when the corn is fully mature, then we cut and burn the stems and other residual parts and retain only the fruits [the grains]. [Similarly, after this human body attains its maturity in the form of death, it is burnt or buried but the pious and/or devotional credits as well as sins are carried forward.] This is also the mercy of God.

But you should know that God has some transcendental form, because God created us men after His own image. So His form is a transcendental human form. He is very attractive, very beautiful, very sweet, and also very merciful. He is our worshipable, and the aim and object of our life should be only to serve Him. If you are not serving Him and you have no desire to serve Him, then you are like animals.

You are all very fortunate to have come and to have the desire to serve the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa. But the question is that, where will we take darśana of Kṛṣṇa so that we can serve Him? It is a very deep question. Where is He? And where can we take His darśana? It is a big problem!

But śāstras and realized Vaiṣṇavas have told that, “Oh, it is very easy, very easy, like this [within the snap of a finger].” The only thing is that you should be sincere, very sincere. Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. There is no place, no atom even, no trees, creepers, no human, or anything in this world where Kṛṣṇa is not present. Kṛṣṇa is everywhere, like fire is everywhere. Fire is in our body, in the air, in all atoms, trees, creepers, everywhere fire is present. But we will have to do something to see the fire. How to see the fire? Oh, take a match stick and do like this [strike it]. At once it will show. So, you will have to go to a realized soul and serve him, obey him:

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

(Bhagavad-gītā 4.34)

["Understand this transcendental knowledge by offering your prostrated obeisances to the spiritual master, who imparts such knowledge, by asking him relevant questions and by rendering service to him. Those who have direct perception of the Supreme Absolute Truth and who are well-versed in the imports of the scriptures can enlighten you by instructing you on this science."] GVP

First of all, you’ll have to go to a realized soul. But this is a very big problem - How can you know if he is realized or not? The scriptures are like mother and father, they have described some symptoms, so that you can realize:

tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta
jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam
śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ
brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.3.21)

["How can a person who is desirous of knowing what is duty and what is not duty obtain the topmost benefit? In order to understand this, one must approach the lotus feet of a sad-guru. One who is expert in understanding all the conclusions of the revealed scriptures such as the Vedas, who has direct experience and realization of Bhagavān, and who is not influenced by any kind of material agitation is known as a sad-guru."] GVP

You should go to a realized soul, a guru. Tasmād. What is the meaning of tasmād? [Tasmād means ‘for this reason.’ For what reason? When one understands the temporary nature of this material world, then one accepts that there is no happiness here. Any little happiness we see in this world is also temporary. When one completely understands this, then he desires to know the topmost auspiciousness, śreya uttamam.]

In this world, you want to be happy. You are wealthy, very beautiful, intelligent, you have all kinds of paraphernalia to be happy - very good houses, equipped with all kinds of facilities. But you have seen, whatever you do, in a moment you can die and will have to give up everything. So, these are all material things, and they cannot give you happiness.

So, you should know what are the symptoms [of a bona fide guru]. There are some external symptoms and there are some internal symptoms of ‘guru’.

[śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ] - He should be expert in [‘śābde’, i.e. śabda-brahmaṇ] all the siddhānta (established conclusions) of the Vedas, Vedānta, Upaniṣadas and epics. He must know. He should be able to remove all the doubts of all persons.

And most important is that he should be realized [in ‘pare’, Parabrahma, Kṛṣṇa] who is Kṛṣṇa. ‘Pare’ means transcendental, topmost tattva [the absolute truth] and Kṛṣṇa is that. How sweet, how beautiful, attractive and merciful He is and how is His human transcendental form, the guru has realized something. And he must be detached from worldly things.

If any guru has some false ego that he is guru, but really, he wants money, wealth, reputation, some position and running after them to be happy, then he is not guru. He may know so many śāstric quotations, but really he is not a guru. We should offer obeisances to such ‘gurus’ from very far away.

If anyone may think, “What is the use of these gurus? Everything has been written in the epics and śāstras and we know that maha-mantra is: Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare | Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. We will chant, and we will worship, so there is no need of a guru at all.” Then, this person is bogus, certainly bogus. [That person thinks, harinama is enough and there is] no need for dīkṣā at all. [Such people also conclude that] the scriptures have declared, no dīkṣā, no puraścaryā, and other things are needed if anyone is chanting, remembering, worshiping this siddha-kṛṣṇa-nāma. This transcendental name of Kṛṣṇa is pure. It is siddha-nāma, perfect, so why to take dīkṣā?

So many are of this opinion, that there is no real need of taking dīkṣā, no need of guru; śāstra is our guru. We should read the books of our gurudeva, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Everything is there, nothing is left. So there is no need to accept any guru. Prabhupāda was guru, and Prabhupāda is guru and in future also, he will be; so no need of any guru. Oh, ritvik is the best way.” This is the most bogus idea.

Śyāmārānī, you should explain some reasons that I gave in other classes, and perhaps you remember. But in brief, explain what is the necessity [to accept a living guru].

[Śyāmārānī dāsī starts speaking at 26.54]

Śyāmārānī dāsī: Śrīla Gurudeva has ordered me to reply to this question or challenge in brief. That is - what is the need for dīkṣā? Everything is in Śrīla Prabhupāda's books and Kṛṣṇa Himself is the pure holy name.

It is true that we find everything in Śrīla Prabhupāda's books. So let us consider what Śrīla Prabhupāda's books are saying. After all, Śrīla Prabhupāda is only quoting from his guru-varga, like Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī and others. And Śrīla Prabhupāda's books are full of the histories of great personalities and how they achieved perfection, great personalities from time immemorial. At the beginning of history, there is the first living being and that is Lord Brahmā. He accepted dīkṣā initiation from Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa played His flute and the sound of His flute was the kāma-gāyatrī mantra and he received gopāla-mantra also from Sarasvatī, from Kṛṣṇa.

So, we only have examples from Prabhupāda, of the great personalities who achieved perfection by accepting dīkṣā. Kṛṣṇa Himself accepted dīkṣā. We already know how Kṛṣṇa accepted instructions from His teacher Sāndīpani Muni. But he was a teacher, he wasn’t Kṛṣṇa's dīkṣā guru. Once the gopīs teased Kṛṣṇa and said, “Oh, You have not accepted a guru?” And Kṛṣṇa replied to them, “What do you mean I haven’t accepted a guru? My guru is Bhāguri Muni and Bhāguri Muni gave Me mantra, he gave Me Rādhā-mantra, which I always chant.”

And Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also accepted dīkṣā initiation. His initiating spiritual master is Śrī Īśvara Purīpāda. Śrī Īśvara Purīpāda gave Him the Hare-Kṛṣṇa nāma, and also gopāla-mantra. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is explaining that He received not only nāma, but mantra from His guru. He explained to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī and thousands of his disciples. Because Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī asked Him, “Why aren’t You like the rest of us Māyāvādī sannyāsīs? Why don’t You study Vedānta? Why are You acting like some sentimentalist, and always chanting and rolling on the ground and weeping?”

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “This is the mercy of my dīkṣā guru, Śrī Īśvara Purīpāda. After he gave Me the Hare-Kṛṣṇa mantra and the gopāla-mantra, I began chanting them for a while and then I returned to him and I asked, “japite japite mantra [Endnote 1], by chanting and doing japa of this nāma and this mantra that you have given Me, I have become like a madman! What is it that you have given Me? I’m chanting nāma, I’m chanting mantra, and all of the sudden, what happened? The nāma and the mantra turned into a blue boy with a peacock feather in His hair and He was playing His flute so enchantingly. As I walked towards Him, He walked backwards, very attractively. And then when I went to embrace Him, He disappeared, and I began rolling on the ground and weeping ‘Oh Kṛṣṇa, where are You? Where are You?’” Mahāprabhu was saying, “This is the result of receiving dīkṣā and following the instructions of my spiritual master.”

In the fifth chapter of the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we find a very interesting history by Śrīla Prabhupāda in his translation. Śrīla Prabhupāda is translating the work of Śrīla Vyāsadeva and the commentaries by the previous ācāryas. Vyāsadeva is the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa Himself, and he had already authored some of the Vedas and compiled and expressed not only by intelligence but also by realization - the Vedas, the Mahābhārata, so many books. But still, he was lamenting, still his heart was not satisfied. So, his bona fide gurudeva, Śrī Nārada Muni, appeared to him and told him, “You won’t be fully satisfied until you write Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Now, write Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It is the svarūpa of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa Themselves. You should go into trance.” Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is samādhi-bhāsya, a scripture written in trance language. “You should go into trance and meditate upon the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana.”

The guru knows how to ‘twist the ear’ of the disciple and give him good guidance. So Nārada said, “Have you written how mother Yaśodā chastises Kṛṣṇa for stealing butter and yogurt and binds Him to a mortar?” Vyāsadeva said, “No, I have not.” His Gurudeva said, “Then what have you written? You haven’t written anything! Have you written how after the rāsa-dance, when the gopīs are perspiring, Kṛṣṇa says to them, ‘Oh, may I massage your feet? You are tired. May I wipe the perspiration from your forehead with my yellow cloth?’”

“No Gurudeva, I haven’t written this, I don’t know about it, so how can I write it?” His Gurudeva said, “Then you haven’t touched the glories of the Supreme Lord.” Under the guidance of Śrī Nāradaji, Śrī Vyāsadeva went into trance of bhakti-yoga and manifested Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from his heart. So, all these histories, of Dhruva Mahārāja and all the great saints like Prahlāda Mahārāja, confirm that all accepted dīkṣā initiation from a bona fide guru.

In the fifteenth chapter of Madhya-līlā of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Śrīla Prabhupāda translated that yes - this verse that Śrīla Gurudeva quoted - that dīkṣā is not necessary, because chanting of the pure nāma is complete in itself [Endnote 2]. But in his purport of this verse, Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī who say that this is true for those who chant śuddha-nāma, but is not true for conditioned souls, who are chanting nāma-aparādha or nāma-ābhāsa. He quotes Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī that, unless one accepts brāhminical initiation, his nāma will never become śuddha or pure [Endnote 3]. And he quotes Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī that as bell metal is turned to gold by an alchemical process of mixing it with mercury [Endnote 4]. So, by accepting dīkṣā initiation - receiving gāyatrī-mantras from a bona fide guru - one’s harināma becomes pure. One cannot have a relationship with nāma without dīkṣā.

In conclusion, it is true that everything is in the pure holy name, and it is true that everything is in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. We can see from all these examples that unless one accepts bona fide initiation, brāhminical initiation and harināma initiation, one can never become perfect.

Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Thank you. Very good.

This is the most prominent question - Whether the devotee who is asking all these questions was initiated by his gurudeva or not? Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja, your Prabhupāda, has he been initiated? Has he accepted any guru or not? And why Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja initiated thousands and thousands of devotees? And why did all the disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda like parama-pūjyapāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja, Bhāratī Mahārāja, Purī Mahārāja and so many others, make so many disciples?

To accept a guru is very essential. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura or Jīva Gosvāmī have stated, “Those who think that there is no need of taking dīkṣā are offensive, very offensive.” Even if they are chanting and remembering since thousands and thousands of births, no fruit will come. So we should certainly accept sad-guru. If not now, then very soon we must accept! Because we don’t know when we will die. So before death, we should accept any high-class guru and our life will be successful.

[Śrīla Gurudeva instructs Kṛṣṇa dāsa to sing ‘gurudeva-kṛpā karke’. Singing from 43.23 to 50.27]

In the Vedas, Upaniṣadas, it has been written:

yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

(Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23)

[“All the hidden meanings of the Śrutis are revealed only in the heart of that great soul who has the highest transcendental devotion towards Śrī Bhagavān and also His representative, śrī gurudeva.”] GVP

’yasya deve parā bhaktir’ - Devotees who want to enter in the realm of bhakti [should know that] those who have prema-bhakti in the lotus feet of Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, in the same way should worship the lotus feet of Gurudeva also. If anyone is worshiping Kṛṣṇa but not Gurudeva, then the result will be zero.

But you should know that all realized souls are very high class bhāgavatas, they are all gurus. It has been stated that guru is of two kinds: dīkṣā-guru and śikṣā-guru. They may be of the same rank. Sometimes it may be that śikṣā-guru is more superior than dīkṣā-guru and sometimes dīkṣā-guru may be superior. And that is why, sometimes, some devotees like Narottama Ṭhākura, Śyāmānanda Prabhu and Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, accepted śikṣā-guru as Jīva Gosvāmī, even though their gurus were very high-class devotees, but even then, by their dīkṣā-gurus’ order, they went to Jīva Gosvāmī for śikṣā.

So don’t think that śikṣā-guru is less than dīkṣā-guru. Sometimes he is more superior. Especially in the case when we accept Kṛṣṇa like śikṣā-guru. Mahāprabhu had a śikṣā-guru, Nityānanda Prabhu had a śikṣā-guru, so many śikṣā-gurus. We see that in Caitanya-caritāmṛta Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has first paid respect and vandanā [invocation] to his śikṣā-guru, not dīkṣā-guru.

[A devotee asks if Srila Gurudeva can explain the difference between Bhāgavata-paramparā and pāñcarātrika, he said that he is going to do so soon.]

Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: I told that all the writers of any transcendental books, like Vyāsadeva, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, even Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, have offered obeisances to their gurudeva, and then they began.

So Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī is saying:

śrī-rūpa, sanātana, bhaṭṭa-raghunātha
śrī-jīva, gopāla-bhaṭṭa, dāsa-raghunātha
ei chaya guru - śikṣā-guru ye āmāra
tāṅ’-sabāra pāda-padme koṭi namaskāra

(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi līlā, 1.36-37)

“My śikṣā-gurus are Śrī Rūpa, Śrī Sanātana, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, [Raghunātha] dāsa Gosvāmī, and I’m praying at their lotus feet that this book should be finished without any disturbance.” He is not taking the name of his dīkṣā-guru. Why only śikṣā guru?

All [our ācāryas from] top to bottom, first prayed to their guru. Here, who was guru of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī? Can anyone tell? Can they discover it? Very hard. Do you know who was the dīkṣā guru of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī? They accepted Caitanya Mahāprabhu as their śikṣā-guru and they never wrote the name of their dīkṣā-guru. So, there is somewhat more prominence here of śikṣā-guru.

To accept śikṣā-guru is bhāgavata-paramparā. Śrīla Prabhupāda has accepted this and our guru-varga has accepted [this lineage]: Brahmā, then Nārada, then Śukadeva Gosvāmī, Madhvācārya in line, Isvara Purīpāda, Mādhavendra Purīpāda, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Pañca-tattva and then Svarūpa Dāmodara, Rāya Rāmānanda, and, in this, Rūpa, Sanātana, then Narottama Ṭhākura and then Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura and after that Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja and Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, and Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī and after that our gurudeva, Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, so many of his god-brothers and also his god-brother, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāja. This is proper bhāgavata-paramparā. If we [only] accept the dīkṣā-guru line [pāñcarātrika-paramparā], it may be that any of the gurus are not perfect - they may not be qualified gurus, but in śikṣā-paramparā, also known as bhāgavata-paramparā, all are perfect. So, this bhāgavata-paramparā is most important.

Within bhāgavata-paramparā, dīkṣā paramparā - pañcarātrika dīkṣā paramparā - is automatically included, nothing is left. Someone can ask, “Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, in bhāgavata-paramparā, has accepted Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja as his guru, but really he was initiated in pañcarātrika dīkṣā by Vipin Bihārī Gosvāmī - he has written this somewhere, but he gave no prominence to that. He always gave prominence to Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja. So, Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī, Śrīla Prabhupāda are all in bhāgavata-paramparā. It is alright.

Sahajiyas may raise so many questions about this, but they don’t know all these things. They know nothing. Don’t follow them.

I remember, when I came for the first time to Sao Paulo, four or five devotees were very eager to take initiation from me. They were initiated and I told them, “Be careful about the Bābājīs, otherwise you will be ruined.” They always tried to serve Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa conjugal as goopīs [pseudo-gopīs], and have siddha-praṇālī, thinking that ‘I am a gopī, very beautiful, and I can even attract Kṛṣṇa.’ They were very attracted to this and I told them, “First try to give up all your nonsense things, all anarthas. Chant and remember and follow your gurudeva, and automatically your transcendental form will come, and you will be successful. But even then, you are not following. You are jumping, galloping, not going to the root [of the tree], but jumping [directly to] the top of the tree. Then you will fall down.”

But they were not satisfied. They left Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāja, they left me, they went to Rādhā-kuṇḍa and they collected some very beautiful widows and they left for relishing parakīya-rasa, even in this life. And what became of them? In the end, they gave up all devotional practices. And with widows, they gave up the line of chanting, remembering and everything, and they are ruined, their life is ruined. So, I request you all, be careful. Don’t try to jump. We should begin from the very beginning.

We should know the process:

guru kṛṣṇa-rūpa hana śāstrera pramāṇe
guru-rūpe kṛṣṇa kṛpā karena bhakta-gaṇe

(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi līlā, 1.45)

["According to śāstra, the guru (dīkṣā-guru) is the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇa-rūpa), because it is in the form of guru, that Kṛṣṇa bestows mercy on the devotees."] GVP

[Śrīla Gurudeva instructs Padmanābha Mahārāja to explain. Śrīpad Padmanābha Mahārāja starts speaking from 1.10.47]

Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Do you have Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta? From tomorrow you should bring Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. I want that the purports of Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja should be explained.

Śrīpad Padmanābha Mahārāja: Śrīla Gurudeva is speaking on the subject matter of guru-tattva. He has told one verse from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta which describes the identity of Śrī Guru. ‘guru kṛṣṇa-rūpa hana śāstrera pramāṇe’ - the form of guru, the personality who takes this form of guru is actually the rūpa, the form of Kṛṣṇa.

Actually, Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa manifests out of His causeless mercy to the conditioned souls in the form of Śrī Guru because all the souls of this world are eternal parts and parcels of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says “mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke, jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ (Bhagavad-gītā 15.7) - All the living beings within this material world are My eternal aṁśas, My eternal parts and parcels.” But now, ‘manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi, prakṛti-sthāni karṣati’- “Now, in this material conditioned life, they have forgotten their relationship with Me, and they are struggling against the senses and the mind.” So Kṛṣṇa, out of His mercy, wants to help all the souls in this world to again return to their relationship with Him.

So to give His causeless mercy to all the souls, He appears in the form of Śrī Guru. Actually, Kṛṣṇa is within everyone, all of us, Kṛṣṇa is within the heart of every conditioned soul. ‘īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ, hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati’ (BG 18.61) - I’m within the heart of everyone, and I’m directing the wanderings of all the conditioned souls in this world.

Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Also, ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān…

Śrīpad Padmanābha Mahārāja: I see that all the souls within this world are My eternal parts, but they cannot see Me. Although I am within their hearts, they are not able to perceive Me directly. Therefore, out of His causeless mercy, Kṛṣṇa appears in the form of guru and He takes the role of ācārya.

Ācārya means, one who is a great devotee and he teaches all his disciples by his own example in his life. So, the ācārya’s identity is told by Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In the eleventh canto, He is speaking to Uddhavajī and He says:

ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān
navamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta
sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ

(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.17.27)

["One should understand fully well the ācārya to be as good as Myself. He is My very svarūpa (My expansion). At no time should one, out of envy, neglect or disrespect the guru as an ordinary mortal, nor should he be considered to have any faults, because śrī guru has the potency of all the demigods."]

“You should know, Oh Uddhava, that I am the ācārya.” ‘navamanyeta karhicit’ - the guru is non-different from Kṛṣṇa and he should never be seen as an ordinary soul in this world. One should not have martya-buddhi, that means thinking that guru is an ordinary mortal, that he will die. He is actually the direct prakāśa, the direct manifestation of the Supreme Lord.

sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair
uktas tathā bhāvyata eva sadbhiḥ
kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya
vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam

(Śrī Gurvaṣṭakam 7)

[“All the scriptures proclaim śrī gurudeva to be sākṣāt-hari-tva, endowed with the potency of Śrī Hari, and he is also considered by all the great saints to be His direct representative. Indeed, śrī gurudeva is very dear to the Lord, being His confidential servitor (acintya-bhedābheda prakāśa-vigraha, the inconceivable different and non-different worshipable manifestation of the Lord). I offer prayers unto his lotus feet.”] GVP

In this prayer that we are all familiar with, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura is telling how one should view the identity of guru. Śrī Gurudeva has two aspects - he has his divine side in which he is sākṣād-hari, a direct manifestation of Kṛṣṇa, but also ‘kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya’ - he also has his devotee side, and in his devotee side, he is serving Kṛṣṇa in the most intimate relationship.

So, Bhagavān, the Supreme Lord, appears in these two ways, as directly the Supreme Lord, and also the Supreme Lord’s servitor. And in this form, He is teaching all the conditioned souls how to engage in their eternal serving mood at His lotus feet. This is the complete form of mercy, ‘kṛṣṇa-kṛpā śrī-mūrti’, Śrī Guru is the very embodiment of the mercy of God for all the conditioned souls. In this way, he delivers all the conditioned souls from the endless chain of repeated birth and death.

Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Thank you.

Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī is telling that:

śikṣā-guruke ta 'jāni kṛṣṇera svarūpa
antaryāmī, bhakta-śreṣṭha, - ei dui rūpa
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi līlā, 1.47)

["One should know the śikṣā-guru to be Kṛṣṇa Himself (kṛṣṇa-svarūpa). In the form of the guru in the heart (caitya-guru) Kṛṣṇa gives encouragement, and as the topmost devotee He gives association and instruction."] GVP

Śyāmārānī dāsī: Gurudeva, I have Srila Prabhupada’s purport if you want.

Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: You should read.

Śyāmārānī dāsī: Śrīla Prabhupāda translates and comments on this verse - “One should know the instructing spiritual master to be the Personality of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa manifests as the Supersoul and as the greatest devotee of the Lord.”

The purport is long so I will read a little bit of it. “Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī states that the instructing spiritual master is a bona fide representative of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself teaches us as the instructing  spiritual master from within and without. From within He teaches as Paramātmā, our constant companion, and from without He teaches us Bhagavad-gītā as the instructing spiritual master. There are two functions of the instructing spiritual master. He is a liberated person, fully absorbed in meditation in devotional service, and he invokes the disciple’s spiritual consciousness by means of relevant instructions.”

Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Thank you. So now time is over. We will finish class here. And tomorrow again, I think it is better if you are all punctual and come at the right time. I came here today but all were here and there, they were not in the class.

—----------------------------

Endnotes

Endnote 1:

pāgala ha-ilāṅ āmi, dhairya nāhi mane
eta cinti’ nivediluṅ gurura caraṇe
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi līlā 7.80)

“I saw that I had become mad by chanting the holy name, and I immediately submitted this at the lotus feet of my spiritual master.” BBT

kibā mantra dilā, gosāñi, kibā tāra bala
japite japite mantra karila pāgala
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi līlā 7.81)

“‘My dear lord, what kind of mantra have you given Me? I have become mad simply by chanting this mahā-mantra! BBT

Endnote 2:

ākṛṣṭiḥ kṛta-cetasāṁ sumahatām muccāṭanaṁ cāṁhasāṁ
ācaṇḍālam amūka-loka-sulabho vaśyaś ca mokṣa-śriyaḥ
no dīkṣāṁ na ca dakṣināṁ na ca puraścaryāṁ manāg īkṣate
mantro'yaṁ rasanā-spṛg eva phalati śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmātmakaḥ
Padyāvalī (29)

The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is an attractive feature for many saintly, liberal people. It is the annihilator of all sinful reactions and is so powerful that it can even save the dumb who cannot chant it; it is readily available to everyone, including the lowest type of man, the caṇḍāla. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is the controller of the opulence of liberation, and it is identical with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Simply by touching the holy name with one's tongue, immediate effects are produced. Chanting the holy name does not depend on initiation, pious activities, or the puraścaryā regulative principles generally observed before initiation. The holy name does not wait for all these activities. It is self-sufficient.

Endnote 3:

The Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (17.11–12), in discussing the puraścaryā process, quotes the following verses from the Agastya-saṁhitā:

pūjā traikālikī nityaṁ japas tarpaṇam eva ca
homo brāhmaṇa-bhuktiś ca puraścaraṇam ucyate
guror labdhasya mantrasya prasādena yathā-vidhi
pañcāṅgopāsanā-siddhyai puraś caitad vidhīyate

"In the morning, afternoon, and evening one should worship the Deity, chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, offer oblations, perform a fire sacrifice, and feed the brāhmaṇas. These five activities constitute puraścaryā. To attain full success when taking initiation from the spiritual master, one should first perform these puraścaryā processes."

Endnote 4:

The Bhakti-sandarbha (298) gives the following quotation from the Tattva-sāgara:

yathā kāñcanatāṁ yāti kāṁsyaṁ rasa-vidhānataḥ
tathā dīkṣā-vidhānena dvijatvaṁ jāyate nṛṇām

"By chemical manipulation, bell metal is turned into gold when touched by mercury; similarly, when a person is properly initiated, he can acquire the qualities of a brāhmaṇa."

Endnote 5:

This transcript was originally one among thousands of transcripts which were released by the harikatha team headed by Srimati Syamarani didi. We are extremely grateful for their arduous endeavors in doing so, alongside traveling with Srila Gurudeva on the world tours. These transcripts brought great happiness to the devotees, as in those days, there was no live telecast and limited social media and this was the only way for them to stay connected with Srila Gurudeva’s talks world-wide. Within a few hours of Srila Gurudeva’s katha, the transcript would be sent out. Thus, they often worked under pressure to release many of these transcripts and in some cases did not even have the complete audio files. Hence, we have now reworked on these transcripts, while hearing the restored audio files to bring them as close as possible to verbatim.

We have endeavoured to do this transcript to our best capacity, but surely we can make mistakes. So we welcome any feedback for further improvement.
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