-
The Universal Teacher -
saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair
/ uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih
kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya / vande guroh sri-caranaravindam
"In
the revealed scriptures it is declared that the spiritual
master should be worshiped like the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, and this injunction is obeyed by pure devotees
of the Lord. The spiritual master is the most confidential
servant of the Lord. Thus let us offer our respectful
obeisances unto the lotus feet of our spiritual master."
Gentlemen,
on behalf of the members of the Bombay branch of the Gaudiya
Matha, let me welcome you all because you have so
kindly joined us tonight in our congregational offerings
of homage to the lotus feet of the world teacher, Acaryadeva,
who is the founder of this Gaudiya Mission and the president-acarya
of Sri Sri Visva-vaisnava Raja-sabha—
I mean my eternal divine master, Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya
Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja.
Sixty-two
years ago, on this auspicious day, the Acaryadeva made
his appearance by the call of Thakura Bhaktivinoda at
Sri-ksetra, Jagannatha-dhama at Puri.
Gentlemen,
the offering of such an homage as has been arranged this
evening to the Acaryadeva is not a sectarian concern,
for when we speak of the fundamental principle of gurudeva,
or acaryadeva, we speak of something that is of
universal application. There does not arise any question
of discriminating my guru from yours or anyone
else's. There is only one guru, who appears in
an infinity of forms to teach you, me and all others.
The guru,
or acaryadeva, as we learn from the bona fide scriptures,
delivers the message of the absolute world, the transcendental
abode of the Absolute Personality, where everything nondifferentially
serves the Absolute Truth. We have heard so many times:
mahajano yena gatah sa panthah ("Traverse the trail
which your previous acarya has passed"), but we
have hardly tried to understand the real purport of this
sloka. If we scrutinizingly study this proposition,
we can understand that the mahajana is one, and
the royal road to the transcendental world is also one.
In the Mundaka Upanisad [1.2.12] it is said:
tad-vijnanartham
sa gurum evabhigaccet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham
"In
order to learn the transcendental science, one must approach
the bona fide spiritual master in disciplic succession,
who is fixed in the Absolute Truth."
Thus it has
been enjoined herewith that in order to receive that transcendental
knowledge, one must approach the guru. Therefore,
if the Absolute Truth is one, about which we think there
is no difference of opinion, the guru also cannot
be two. The Acaryadeva to whom we have assembled tonight
to offer our humble homage is not the guru of a
sectarian institution or one out of many differing exponents
of the truth. On the contrary, he is the Jagad-guru, the
guru of all of us; the only difference is that
some obey him wholeheartedly, while others do not obey
him directly.
In the Bhagavatam
[SB 11.17.27] it is said:
acaryam
mam vijaniyan navamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyasuyeta sarva-deva-mayo guruh
"One should
understand the spiritual master to be as good as I am,"
said the Blessed Lord. "Nobody should be jealous of the
spiritual master or think of him as an ordinary man, because
the spiritual master is the sum total of all the demigods."
That is, the acarya has been identified with God
Himself. He has nothing to do with the affairs of this
mundane world. He does not descend here to meddle with
the affairs of temporary necessities, but to deliver the
fallen, conditioned souls—the souls, or entities, who
have come here to the material world with a motive of
enjoyment by the mind and the five organs of sense perception.
He appears before us to reveal the light of the Vedas
and to bestow upon us the blessings of full-fledged freedom,
after which we should hanker at every step of our life's
journey.
The transcendental
knowledge of the Vedas was first uttered by God
to Brahma, the creator of this particular universe. From
Brahma the knowledge descended to Narada, from Narada
to Vyasadeva, and from Vyasadeva to Madhva, and in this
process of disciplic succession the transcendental knowledge
was transmitted by one disciple to another till it reached
Lord Gauranga, Sri Krsna Caitanya, who posed as the disciple
and successor of Sri Isvara Puri. The present Acaryadeva
is the tenth disciplic representative from Sri Rupa Gosvami,
the original representative of Lord Caitanya who preached
this transcendental tradition in its fullness. The knowledge
that we receive from our Gurudeva is not different from
that imparted by God Himself and the succession of the
acaryas in the preceptorial line of Brahma. We
adore this auspicious day as Sri Vyasa-puja-tithi because
the acarya is the living representative of Vyasadeva,
the divine compiler of the Vedas, Puranas, Bhagavad-gita,
Mahabharata, and Srimad-Bhagavatam.
One who interprets
the divine sound, or sabda-brahma, by his imperfect
sense perception cannot be a real spiritual guru,
because in the absence of proper disciplinary training
under the bona fide acarya, the interpreter is
sure to differ from Vyasadeva (as the Mayavadis do). Srila
Vyasadeva is the prime authority of Vedic revelation,
and therefore such an irrelevant interpreter cannot be
accepted as the guru or acarya, howsoever
equipped he may be with all the acquirements of material
knowledge. As it is said in the Padma Purana, sampradaya-vihina
ye mantras te nisphala matah: "Unless you are initiated
by a bona fide spiritual master in the disciplic succession,
the mantra that you might have received is without
any effect."
On the other
hand, one who has received the transcendental knowledge
by aural reception from the bona fide preceptor in the
disciplic chain, and who has sincere regard for the real
acarya, must needs be enlightened with the revealed
knowledge of the Vedas. But this knowledge is permanently
sealed to the cognitive approach of the empiricists. As
it is said in Svetasvatara Upanisad [6.23]:
yasya
deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyaite kathita hy arthah prakasante mahatmanah
"Only
unto those great souls who simultaneously have implicit
faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all
the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed."
Gentlemen,
our knowledge is so poor, our senses are so imperfect,
and our sources are so limited that it is not possible
for us to have even the slightest knowledge of the absolute
region without surrendering ourselves at the louts feet
of Sri Vyasadeva or his bona fide representative. Every
moment we are being deceived by the knowledge of our direct
perception. It is all the creation or concoction of the
mind, which is always deceiving, changing, and flickering.
We cannot know anything of the transcendental region by
our limited, perverted method of observation and experiment.
But all of us can lend our eager ears for the aural reception
of the transcendental sound transmitted from that region
to this through the unadulterated medium of Sri Gurudeva
or Sri Vyasadeva. Therefore, gentlemen, we should surrender
ourselves today at the feet of the representative of Sri
Vyasadeva for the elimination of all our differences bred
by our unsubmissive attitude. It is accordingly said in
Sri Gita [Bg. 4.34]:
tad
viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam jnaninas tattva-darsinah
"Just
approach the wise and bona fide spiritual master. Surrender
unto him first and try to understand him by inquiries
and service. Such a wise spiritual master will enlighten
you with transcendental knowledge, for he has already
known the Absolute Truth."
To receive
the transcendental knowledge we must completely surrender
ourselves to the real acarya in a spirit of ardent
inquiry and service. Actual performance of service to
the Absolute under the guidance of the acarya is
the only vehicle by which we can assimilate the transcendental
knowledge. Today's meeting for offering our humble services
and homage to the feet of the Acaryadeva will enable us
to be favored with the capacity of assimilating the transcendental
knowledge so kindly transmitted by him to all persons
without distinction.
Gentlemen,
we are all more or less proud of our past Indian civilization,
but we actually do not know the real nature of that civilization.
We cannot be proud of our past material civilization,
which is now a thousand times greater than in days gone
by. It is said that we are passing through the age of
darkness, the Kali-yuga. What is this darkness? The darkness
cannot be due to backwardness in material knowledge, because
we now have more of it than formerly. If not we ourselves,
our neighbors at any rate have plenty of it. Therefore,
we must conclude that the darkness of the present age
is not due to a lack of material advancement, but that
we have lost the clue to our spiritual advancement, which
is the prime necessity of human life and the criterion
of the highest type of human civilization. Throwing of
bombs from airplanes is no advancement of civilization
from the primitive, uncivilized practice of dropping big
stones on the heads of enemies from the tops of hills.
Improvement in the art of killing our neighbors by means
of machine guns and poisonous gases is certainly no advancement
from primitive barbarism, which prided itself on its art
of killing by bows and arrows. Nor does the development
of a sense of pampered selfishness prove anything more
than intellectual animalism. True human civilization is
very different from all these states, and therefore in
the Katha Upanisad [1.3.14] there is the emphatic
call:
uttisthata
jagrata prapya varan nibodhata
ksurasya dhara nisita duratyaya
durgam pathas tat kavayo vadanti
"Please
wake up and try to understand the boon which you now have
in this human form of life. The path of spiritual realization
is very difficult; it is sharp like a razor's edge. That
is the opinion of learned, transcendental scholars."
Thus, while
others were yet in the womb of historical oblivion, the
sages of India had developed a different kind of civilization,
which enabled them to know themselves. They had discovered
that we are not at all material entities, but that we
are all spiritual, permanent, and indestructible servants
of the Absolute. But because we have, against our better
judgment, chosen to completely identify ourselves with
this present material existence, our sufferings have multiplied
according to the inexorable law of birth and death, with
its consequent diseases and anxieties. These sufferings
cannot be really mitigated by any provision of material
happiness, because matter and spirit are completely different
elements. It is just as if you took an aquatic animal
out of water and put it on the land, supplying all manner
of happiness possible on land. The deadly sufferings of
the animal are not capable of being relieved at all until
it is taken out of its foreign environment. Spirit and
matter are completely contradictory things. All of us
are spiritual entities. We cannot have perfect happiness,
which is our birthright, however much we may meddle with
the affairs of the mundane things. Perfect happiness can
by ours only when we are restored to our natural state
of spiritual existence. This is the distinctive message
of our ancient Indian civilization, this is the message
of the Gita, this is the message of the Vedas
and the Puranas, and this is the message of all
the real acaryas, including our present Acaryadeva,
in the line of Lord Caitanya.
Gentlemen,
although it is imperfectly that we have been enabled,
by his grace, to understand the sublime messages of our
Acaryadeva, Om Visnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya
Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja,
we must admit that we have realized definitely that the
divine message from his holy lips is the congenial thing
for suffering humanity. All of us should hear him patiently.
If we listen to the transcendental sound without unnecessary
opposition, he will surely have mercy upon us. The acarya's
message is to take us back to our original home, back
to God. Let me repeat, therefore, that we should hear
him patiently, follow him in the measure of our conviction
and bow down at his lotus feet for releasing us from our
present causeless unwillingness for serving the Absolute
and all souls.
From the
Gita we learn that even after the destruction of
the body, the atma, or the soul, is not destroyed;
he is always the same, always new and fresh. Fire cannot
burn him, water cannot dissolve him, the air cannot dry
him up, and the sword cannot kill him. He is everlasting
and eternal, and this is also confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam
[SB 10.84.13]:
yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke
sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma ijya-dhih
yat-tirtha-buddhih salile na karhicij
janesv abhijnesu sa eva go-kharah
"Anyone
who accepts this bodily bag of three elements [bile, mucus,
and air] as his self, who has an affinity for an intimate
relationship with his wife and children, who considers
his land as worshipable, who takes bath in the waters
of the holy places of pilgrimage but never takes advantage
of those persons who are in actual knowledge—he is no
better than an ass or a cow."
Unfortunately,
in these days we have all been turned foolish by neglecting
our real comfort and identifying the material cage with
ourselves. We have concentrated all our energies for the
meaningless upkeep of the material cage for its own sake,
completely neglecting the captive soul within. The cage
is meant for the undoing of the bird; the bird is not
meant for the welfare of the cage. Let us, therefore,
deeply ponder this. All our activities are now turned
toward the upkeep of the cage, and the most we do is try
to give some food to the mind by art and literature. But
we do not know that this mind is also material in a more
subtle form. This is stated in the Gita [Bg. 7.4]:
bhumir
apo 'nalo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me bhinna prakrtir astadha
"Earth,
water, fire, air, sky, intelligence, mind, and ego are
all My separated energies."
We have scarcely
tried to give any food to the soul, which is distinct
from the body and mind; therefore we are all committing
suicide in the proper sense of the term. The message of
the Acaryadeva is to give us a warning to halt such wrong
activities. Let us therefore bow down at his lotus feet
for the unalloyed mercy and kindness he has bestowed upon
us.
Gentlemen,
do not for a moment think that my Gurudeva wants to put
a complete brake on the modern civilization—an impossible
feat. But let us learn from him the art of making the
best use of a bad bargain, and let us understand the importance
of this human life, which is fit for the highest development
of true consciousness. The best use of this rare human
life should not be neglected. As it is said in Srimad-Bhagavatam
[SB 11.9.29]:
labdhva
sudurlabham idam bahu-sambhavante
manusyam arthadam anityam apiha dhirah
turnam yateta na pated anumrtyu yavan
nihsreyasaya visayah khalu sarvatah syat
"This
human life is obtained after many, many births, and although
it is not permanent, it can offer the highest benefits.
Therefore a sober and intelligent man should immediately
try to fulfill his mission and attain the highest profit
in life before another death occurs. He should avoid sense
gratification, which is available in all circumstances."
Let us not
misuse this human life in the vain pursuit of material
enjoyment, or, in other words, for the sake of only eating,
sleeping, fearing, and sensuous activities. The Acaryadeva's
message is conveyed by the words of Sri Rupa Gosvami:
anasaktasya
visayan yatharham upayunjatah
nirbandhah krsna-sambandhe yuktam vairagyam ucyate
prapancikataya
buddhya hari-sambandhi-vastunah
mumuksubhih parityago vairagyam phalgu kathyate
"One
is said to be situated in the fully renounced order of
life if he lives in accordance with Krsna consciousness.
He should be without attachment for sense gratification
and should accept only what is necessary for the upkeep
of the body. On the other hand, one who renounces things
which could be used in the service of Krsna, under the
pretext that such things are material, does not practice
complete renunciation."
The purport
of these slokas can only be realized by fully developing
the rational portion of our life, not the animal portion.
Sitting at the feet of the Acaryadeva, let us try to understand
from this transcendental source of knowledge what we are,
what is this universe, what is God, and what is our relationship
with Him. The message of Lord Caitanya is the message
for the living entities and the message of the living
world. Lord Caitanya did not bother Himself for the upliftment
of this dead world, which is suitably named Martyaloka,
the world where everything is destined to die. He appeared
before us four hundred fifty years ago to tell us something
of the transcendental universe, where everything is permanent
and everything is for the service of the Absolute. But
recently Lord Caitanya has been misrepresented by some
unscrupulous persons, and the highest philosophy of the
Lord has been misinterpreted to be the cult of the lowest
type of society. We are glad to announce tonight that
our Acaryadeva, with his unusual kindness, saved us from
this horrible type of degradation, and therefore we bow
down at his lotus feet with all humility.
Gentlemen,
it has been a mania of the cultured (or uncultured) society
of the present day to accredit the Personality of Godhead
with merely impersonal features and to stultify Him by
claiming that He has no senses, no form, no activity,
no head, no legs, and no enjoyment. This has also been
the pleasure of the modern scholars due to their sheer
lack of proper guidance and true introspection in the
spiritual realm. All these empiricists think alike: all
the enjoyable things should be monopolized by the human
society, or by a particular class only, and the impersonal
God should be a mere order supplier for their whimsical
feats. We are happy that we have been relieved of this
horrible type of malady by the mercy of His Divine Grace
Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Gosvami Maharaja. He is our eye-opener, our eternal father,
our eternal preceptor and our eternal guide. Let us therefore
bow down at his lotus feet on this auspicious day.
Gentlemen,
although we are like ignorant children in the knowledge
of the Transcendence, still His Divine Grace, my Gurudeva,
has kindled a small fire within us to dissipate the invincible
darkness of empirical knowledge. We are now so much on
the safe side that no amount of philosophical argument
by the empiric schools of thought can deviate us an inch
from the position of our eternal dependence on the lotus
feet of His Divine Grace. Furthermore, we are prepared
to challenge the most erudite scholars of the Mayavada
school and prove that the personality of Godhead and His
transcendental sports in Goloka alone constitute the sublime
information of the Vedas. There are explicit indications
of this in the Chandogya Upanisad [8.13.1]: syamac
chavalam prapadye savalac chyamam prapadye. "For receiving
the mercy of Krsna, I surrender unto His energy [Radha],
and for receiving the mercy of His energy, I surrender
unto Krsna." Also, in the Rg Veda [1.2.22.20]:
tad
visnoh paramam padam
sada pasyanti surayah
diviva caksur atatam
visnor yat paramam padam
"The lotus
feet of Lord Visnu are the supreme objective of all the
demigods. These lotus feet of the Lord are as enlightening
as the sun in the sky."
The plain
truth so vividly explained in the Gita, which is
the central lesson of the Vedas, is not understood
or even suspected by the most powerful scholars of the
empiric schools. Herein lies the secret of Sri Vyasa-puja.
When we meditate on the transcendental pastimes of the
Absolute Godhead, we are proud to feel that we are His
eternal servitors, and we become jubilant and dance with
joy. All glory to my divine master, for it is he who has
out of his unceasing flow of mercy stirred up within us
such a movement of eternal existence. Let us bow down
at his louts feet.
Gentlemen,
had he not appeared before us to deliver us from the thralldom
of this gross worldly delusion, surely we should have
remained for lives and ages in the darkness of helpless
captivity. Had he not appeared before us, we would not
have been able to understand the eternal truth of the
sublime teaching of Lord Caitanya. Had he not appeared
before us, we could not have been able to know the significance
of the first sloka of Brahma-samhita:
isvarah
paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam
[Bs. 5.1]
"Krsna,
who is know as Govinda, is the Supreme Godhead. He has
an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin
of all, He has no other origin, and He is the prime cause
of all causes."
Personally,
I have no hope for any direct service for the coming crores
of births of the sojourn of my life, but I am confident
that some day or other I shall be delivered from this
mire of delusion in which I am at present so deeply sunk.
Therefore let me with all my earnestness pray at the lotus
feet of my divine master to allow me to suffer the lot
for which I am destined due to my past misdoings, but
to let me have this power of recollection: that I am nothing
but a tiny servant of the Almighty Absolute Godhead, realized
through the unflinching mercy of my divine master. Let
me therefore bow down at his lotus feet with all the humility
at my command.
Abhay Charan Das
For Members,
Sri Gaudiya Matha, Bombay
What
is a Guru?
A
lecture given by
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
on Vyasa-puja day, 1973, at Bhaktivedanta Manor, England
om
ajnana-timirandhasya / jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena / tasmai sri-gurave namah
"I was born
in the darkest ignorance, and my guru, my spiritual master,
opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my
respectful obeisances unto him."
The word
ajnana means ignorance or darkness. If all the
lights in this room immediately went out, we would not
be able to tell where we or others are sitting. Everything
would become confused. Similarly, we are all in darkness
in this material world, which is a world of tamas.
Tamas or timira means darkness. This material
world is dark, and therefore it needs sunlight or moonlight
for illumination. However, there is another world, a spiritual
world, that is beyond this darkness. That world is described
by Sri Krsna in Bhagavad-gita:
na
tad bhasayate suryo / na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante / tad dhama paramam mama
"That abode
of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity.
One who reaches it never returns to this material world."
(Bg. 15.6)
From
Darkness to Light
The
guru's business is to bring his disciples from
darkness to light. At present everyone is suffering due
to ignorance, just as one contacts a disease out of ignorance.
If one does not know hygienic principles, he will not
know what will contaminate him. Therefore due to ignorance
there is infection, and we suffer from disease. A criminal
may say, "I did not know the law," but he will not be
excused if he commits a crime. Ignorance is no excuse.
Similarly, a child, not knowing that fire will burn, will
touch the fire. The fire does not think, "This is a child,
and he does not know I will burn." No, there is no excuse.
Just as there are state laws, there are also stringent
laws of nature, and these laws will act despite our ignorance
of them. If we do something wrong out of ignorance, we
must suffer. This is the law. Whether the law is a state
law or a law of nature, we risk suffering if we break
it.
The guru's
business is to see that no human being suffers in this
material world. No one can claim that he is not suffering.
That is not possible. In this material world, there are
three kinds of suffering: adhyatmika, adhibhautika
and adhidaivika. These are miseries arising from
the material body and mind, from other living entities
and from the forces of nature. We may suffer mental anguish,
or we may suffer from other living entities—from ants
or mosquitoes or flies—or we may suffer due to some superior
power. There may be no rain or there may be flood. There
may be excessive heat or excessive cold. So many types
of suffering are imposed by nature. Thus there are three
types of miseries within the material world, and everyone
is suffering from one, two or three of them. No one can
say that he is completely free from suffering.
We may then
ask why the living entity is suffering. The answer
is: out of ignorance. He does not think, "I am committing
mistakes and am leading a sinful life; that is why I am
suffering." Therefore the guru's first business
is to rescue his disciple from this ignorance. We send
our children to school to save them from suffering. If
our children do not receive an education, we fear that
they will suffer in the future. The guru sees that
suffering is due to ignorance, which is compared to darkness.
How can one in darkness be saved? By light. The guru
takes the torchlight of knowledge and presents it before
the living entity enveloped in darkness. That knowledge
relieves him from the sufferings of the darkness of ignorance.
Guru
is One
One may ask
whether the guru is absolutely necessary. The Vedas
inform us that he is:
tad-vijnanartham
sa gurum evabhigacchet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham
(Mundaka Up. 1.2.12)
The Vedas
enjoin us to seek out a guru; actually, they say
to seek out the guru, not just a guru. The
guru is one because he comes in disciplic succession.
What Vyasadeva and Krsna taught 5,000 years ago is also
being taught now. There is no difference between the two
instructions. Although hundreds and thousands of acaryas
have come and gone, the message is one. The real guru
cannot be two because the real guru does not speak
differently from his predecessors. Some spiritual teachers
say, "In my opinion you should do this," but this is not
a guru. Such so-called gurus are simply
rascals. The genuine guru has only one opinion,
and that is the opinion expressed by Krsna, Vyasadeva,
Narada, Arjuna, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the Gosvamis.
Five thousand years ago Lord Sri Krsna spoke Bhagavad-gita,
and Vyasadeva recorded it. Srila Vyasadeva did not
say, "This is my opinion." Rather, he wrote, sri
bhagavan uvaca, that is, "The Supreme Personality
of Godhead says." Whatever Vyasadeva wrote was originally
spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srila Vyasadeva
did not give his own opinion.
Consequently,
Srila Vyasadeva is a guru. He does not misinterpret
the words of Krsna but transmits them exactly as they
were spoken. If we send a telegram, the person who delivers
the telegram does not have to correct it, edit it or add
to it. He simply presents it. That is the guru's
business. The guru may be this person or that,
but the message is the same; therefore it is said that
guru is one.
In the disciplic
succession we simply find repetition of the same subject.
In Bhagavad-gita Sri Krsna says:
man-mana
bhava mad-bhakto / mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi yuktvaivam / atmanam mat-parayanah
"Engage your
mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer
obeisances and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in
Me, surely you will come to Me." (Bg. 9.34) These very
instructions were reiterated by all the acaryas—Ramanujacarya,
Madhvacarya and Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The six Gosvamis
also transmitted the same message, and we are simply following
in their footsteps. There is no difference. We do not
interpret the words of Krsna by saying, "In my opinion,
the Battlefield of Kuruksetra represents the human body."
Such interpretations are set forth by rascals. In the
world there are many rascal gurus who give their
own opinion, but we can challenge any rascal. A rascal
guru may say, "I am God," or, "We are all God."
That is all right, but we should find out from the dictionary
what the meaning of God is. Generally, a dictionary will
tell us that the word God indicates the Supreme Being.
Thus we may ask such a guru, "Are you the Supreme
Being?" If he cannot understand this, then we should give
the meaning of supreme. Any dictionary will inform us
that supreme means "the greatest authority." We may then
ask, "Are you the greatest authority?" Such a rascal guru,
even though proclaiming himself to be God, cannot answer
such a question. God is the Supreme Being and the highest
authority. No one is equal to Him or greater than Him.
Yet there are many guru Gods, many rascals who
claim to be the Supreme. Such rascals cannot help us escape
the darkness of material existence. They cannot illumine
our darkness with the torchlight of spiritual knowledge.
The bona
fide guru will simply present what the supreme
guru, God, says in bona fide scripture. A guru
cannot change the message of the disciplic succession.
Once there was a gentleman named Vallabhacarya, who was
very devoted to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Vallabhacarya wrote
a commentary on Srimad-Bhagavatam, and he presented
it to Caitanya Mahaprabhu, saying, "Lord Caitanya, please
hear my commentary on Srimad-Bhagavatam. You will
find that it is far better than Sridhara Svami's." Sridhara
Svami was a very ancient commentator Caitanya Mahaprabhu
immediately rejected Vallabhacarya, saying, "Oh, are you
claiming that you have written something better than Sridhara
Svami?" Caitanya Mahaprabhu then chastised Vallabhacarya,
saying, svamike yini na manena, tini vesya. Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu sarcastically used the word svami,
which also means husband. He said, "I think that one who
does not recognize the svami [husband] is a prostitute."
In other words, "If you do not recognize Sridhara Svami,
then you are a prostitute. How can I hear from a prostitute?"
No
Research Necessary
We must understand
that we cannot carry out research to find the Absolute
Truth. Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself said, "My Guru Maharaja
considered me a great fool." He who remains a great fool
before his guru is a guru himself.
However, if one says, "I am so advanced that I can speak
better than my guru," he is simply a rascal. In
Bhagavad-gita Sri Krsna says:
evam
parampara-praptam / imam rajarsayo viduh
sa kaleneha mahata / yogo nastah parantapa
"This supreme
science was thus received through the chain of disciplic
succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that
way. But in course of time the succession was broken,
and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost."
(Bg. 4.2)
Taking on
a guru is not simply a fashion. One who
is serious about understanding spiritual life requires
a guru. A guru is a question of necessity,
for one must be very serious to understand spiritual life,
God, proper action and one's relationship with God. When
we are very serious about understanding these subjects,
we need a guru. We shouldn't go to a guru simply
because a guru may be fashionable at the moment.
Surrender must be there, for without surrender we cannot
learn anything. If we go to a guru simply to challenge
him, we will learn nothing. But we must accept the guru
just as Arjuna accepted his guru, Sri Krsna
Himself:
karpanya-dosopahata
svabhavah / prcchami tvam dharma-sammudha-cetah
yac chreyah syan niscitam bruhi tan me / sisyas te 'ham
sadhi mam tvam prapannam
"Now I am
confused about my duty and have lost all composure because
of weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell
me clearly what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple
and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me."
(Bg. 2.7)
From
"God" to Dog
This is the
process for accepting a guru. The guru is
Krsna's representative, the former acaryas' representative.
Krsna says that all acaryas are His representatives;
therefore the guru should be offered the same respect
one would offer to God. As Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura
says in his prayers to the spiritual master: yasya
prasadad bhagavat-prasadah. "By the mercy of the spiritual
master, one receives the benediction of Krsna." Thus,
if we surrender to the bona fide guru, we surrender
to God. God accepts our surrender to the guru.
In Bhagavad-gita,
Krsna instructs:
sarva-dharman
parityajya / mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo / moksayisyami ma sucah
"Abandon
all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me.
I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear."
(Bg. 18.66) Someone may argue, "Where is Krsna? I shall
surrender to Him." But no, the process is that we first
surrender to Krsna's representative; then we surrender
to Krsna. Therefore it is said, saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastraih:
the guru is as good as God. When we
offer respects to the guru, we are offering respects
to God. Because we are trying to be God conscious, it
is required that we learn how to offer respects to God
through God's representative. In all the sastras, the
guru is described to be as good as God,
but the guru never says, "I am God." The disciple's
duty is to offer respect to the guru just as he
offers respect to God, but the guru never thinks,
"My disciples are offering me the same respect they offer
to God; therefore I have become God." As soon as he thinks
like this, he becomes a dog instead of God. Therefore
Visvanatha Cakravarti says, kintu prabhor yah priya
eva tasya. Because he is the most confidential servitor
of God, the guru is offered the same respect
that we offer God. God is always God, guru is
always guru. As a matter of etiquette, God
is the worshipable God, and guru is the,
worshiper God (seva-bhagavan). Therefore the guru
is addressed as prabhupada. The word
prabhu means "lord," and pada means "position."
Thus prabhupada means "he who has taken the position
of the Lord." This is the same as saksad-dharitvena
samasta-sastraih.
Only if we
are very serious about understanding the science of God
is a guru required. We should not try to keep a
guru as a matter of fashion. One who has accepted
a guru speaks intelligently. He never speaks nonsense.
That is the sign of having accepted a bona fide guru.
We should certainly offer all respect to the spiritual
master, but we should also remember how to carry out his
orders. In Bhagavad-gita Sri Krsna Himself tells
us the method of seeking out and approaching the guru:
tad
viddhi pranipatena / pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam / jnaninas tattva-darsinah
"Just try
to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master.
Inquire from him submissively and render service unto
him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto
you because he has seen the truth." (Bg. 4.34) The first
process is that of surrender. We have to find an exalted
person and willingly surrender before him. The sastras
enjoin that before we take a guru we study
him carefully to find out whether we can surrender to
him. We should not accept a guru suddenly out of
fanaticism. That is very dangerous. The guru should
also study the person who wants to become a disciple to
see if he is fit. That is the way a relationship is established
between the guru and disciple. Everything is provided,
but we must take up the process seriously. Then we can
be trained to become a bona fide disciple. First we must
find a bona fide guru, establish our relationship
with him and act accordingly. Then our life will be successful,
for the guru can enlighten the sincere disciple
who is in darkness.
Perfecting
Our Life
Everyone
is born a rascal and a fool. If we are born learned, why
do we need to go to school? If we do not cultivate knowledge,
we are no better than animals. An animal may say that
there is no need of books and that he has become a guru,
but how can anyone obtain knowledge without the study
of authoritative books on science and philosophy? Rascal
gurus try to avoid these things. We must understand
that we are all born rascals and fools and that we have
to be enlightened. We have to receive knowledge to make
our lives perfect. If we do not perfect our lives, we
are defeated. What is this defeat? The struggle for existence.
We are trying to obtain a better life, to attain a superior
position, and for this we are struggling very hard. But
we do not know what a superior position actually is.
Whatever
position we have in this material world must be given
up. We may have a good position or a bad position; in
any case, we cannot remain here. We may earn millions
of dollars and think, "Now I am in a good position," but
a little dysentery or cholera will finish our position.
If the bank fails, our position is gone. So actually there
is no good position in this material world. It is a farce.
Those who try to attain a better position in the material
world are ultimately defeated because there is no better
position. Bhagavad-gita (14.26) says what the better
position is:
mam
ca yo 'vyabhicarena / bhakti-yogena sevate
sa gunan samatityaitan / brahma-bhuyaya kalpate
"One who
engages in full devotional service, who does not fall
down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes
of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman."
Is there
any science that gives us the knowledge by which we may
become immortal? Yes, we may become immortal, but not
in the material sense. We cannot receive this knowledge
in so-called universities. However, there is knowledge
contained in the Vedic scriptures by which we may become
immortal. That immortality is our better position. No
more birth, no more death, no more old age, no more disease.
Thus the guru takes on a very great responsibility.
He must guide his disciple and enable him to become an
eligible candidate for the perfect position, immortality.
The guru must be competent to lead his disciple
back home, back to Godhead. Thank you very much.
The universal conception of Sri Guru was explained in
a vyasa puja offering, which was presented by Srila Prabhupada
after the disappearance of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati
Thakur, in 1936.
Srila Prabhupada
got together with his godbrothers for the vyasa puja of
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, their spiritual
master. And so Prabhupada wanted to present this lecture,
this vyasa puja offering, which was an appeal to unity
to his godbrothers and sisters.
Srila Prabhupada
tried to present this higher conception of unifying, for
unifying different warring sections, disagreeing sections
among the disciples of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati
Thakur. Srila Prabhupada clarified with divine wisdom,
that the sectarian idea that the spiritual master is limited
to a particular person, form, or institution is a misconception
of the finite plane. And thereby Srila Prabhupada establishes
the universal conception of Guru.
Srila Prabhupada explained the principle of Guru. One
should not think that Guru is a particular person, or
belongs to a particular organization. The transcendental
truth, which is Absolute, is valid for all persons regardless
of whatever institution, whatever personality they may
be connected with.
CC. Adi
7.115 In this connection the Padma Purana states,
arcye visnau sila-dhir gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhih:
"One who considers the arca-murti, the worshipable Deity
of Lord Visnu, to be stone, THE SPIRITUAL MASTER TO BE
AN ORDINARY HUMAN BEING, and a Vaisnava to belong to a
particular caste or creed, is possessed of HELLISH INTELLIGENCE."
One who follows such conclusions is doomed.