Sri Vyasa-Puja Homage

by His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

In ten short years, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada inundated the world with Krsna Consciousness. In the following excerpt from one of his essays, he smashes the sectarian misconception that the spiritual master is limited to a particular person, form, or institution, and establishes the universal conception of guru.

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 Math, 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 is the President-acarya of Sri Sri Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha-I mean my eternal divine master, Om Visnupada Paramaharnsa Parivrajakacarya, Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami 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 discrirninating 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.

In the Mundaka Upanisad (1.2.12) it is said:

tad-vijnartham sa gurum evabhigacchet 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 Tmth.''

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 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, or 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 (11.17.27) it is said:

acaryam mam vijaniyan
navamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyasuyeta
sarva-deva mayoguruh

"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 demigods." That is, the acarya has been identified with God Himself. He has nothing to do with the affairs of this mundane world. He appears before us to reveal the light of the Vedas and to bestow upon us the blessing 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, 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 Goswami, 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 .

We cannot know anything of the transcendental region by our limited, perverted method of okservation 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 Sn Vyasadeva for the elimination of all our differences bred by our unsubmissive attitude. It is accordingly said in the Bhagavad-gita (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 Aksolute Truth."

To receive 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 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, although it is imperfectly that we have been enabled, by his grace, to understand the sublime messages of our acaryadeva, 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.

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 Caitanva 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 and 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 keen 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 usual kindness, saved us from this horrible type of degradation, and therefore we bow down at his lotus feet with all humility.

We are happy that we have been relieved of this horrible type of malady by the mercy of His Divine Grace. 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 Transcendence, still, 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.

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.

Personally, I have no hope for any direct service of the coming crores of births in 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 [early name of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada]
For Members, Sri Gaudiya Math
Bombay

-This lecture was originally published in The Harmonist in 1936, on the advent day of His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.

Selected Nectarian Advice

Selected Nectarean Advice
of Sri Srimad Bhakti Srirupa
Siddhanta Goswami Maharaja

(1) Obtaining the shelter of the lotus feet of a genuine guru is, without a doubt, a matter of both great fortune and great dilemma for the baddha-jiva. If, however, a fortunate soul has a sincere longing and ardency to attain a true guru, he does so by the mercy of Sri Krishna.

(2) The baddha-jiva is extremely insignificant; it is impossible for him to realise the magnitude of Sri Guru.

(3) One who, birth after birth has accumulated bhaktiunmukhi-sukriti, or spiritual merits leading to bhakti, will, in one birth, come face to face with the devotee of Sri Krishna, Sri Guru, by Sri Krishna's mercy. By the mercy of that krishna-bhakta (Sri Gurudeva) one hears krishna-katha from his mouth and gradually experiences the appearance of devotion in one's heart. By the light of the sun, one sees the sun. Similarly, in the light of the sadhu's mercy one can comprehend the sadhu's svarupa (eternal nature), and an acute hankering awakens to engage in hari-bhajana in the shelter of his lotus feet.

(4) The sadhu mercifully gives mantra initiation (diksha) and instructions (siksha) in the path of hari-bhajana to that sincere and surrendered person.

(5) As a result of accepting the shelter of a sadhu's lotus feet, a person performs hari-bhajana, and as he gradually becomes free from anarthas, he becomes cognizant of the nature of the transcendental reality.

(6) Only a sadhu who knows the imports of all sastras, who is devoted to Bhagavan and who is intent on bhajana, is a genuine guru. Those who speak in order to appease the fancies of the baddha-jiva's mind and thus try to attract it are not worthy of the title guru; rather they are the jiva's enemies. Never associate with them no matter how fond of their charming words you may be.

(7) Know that the entirety of instructions given by the karmis, jnanis, yogis and pseudo bhaktas to the jiva so he can obtain his own pleasure contain no message of eternal, supreme auspiciousness. The association of such persons is always to be rejected, no matter how enjoyable it is.

(8) One cannot understand that the association of nondevotees brings utter inauspiciousness until, as a matter of fortune one achieves the pure devotee's mercy, which results from Sri Krishna's grace.

(9) The words of pure devotees are contrary to our sense gratification. No matter how pitiless and harsh their words may seem if we can sincerely submit to them with our body, mind and words, our eternal welfare is assured.

(10) Maha-bhagavata Vaishnavas are the eternal, dear associates of Gaura-Krishna. If a jiva has not accumulated an unlimited amount of bhaktiunmukhi-sukriti, the darsana and shelter of such Vaishnavas does not come within the scope of his fortune.

(11) Merely maintaining the arrogance that one has received the mercy of suddha-bhaktas does not actually award that mercy or the position of being their disciple.

(12) A genuine disciple is just as rare as a genuine guru.

(13) Sri Bhagavan, as antaryami, resides in the hearts of all. Since pure devotees are the antaryami of even Bhagavan, they can serve Him according to His internal desires and thus please Him. Thus they are known as bhagavat-preshtha. Even after becoming the genuine disciple of such a person, one must understand the inner desire of Sri Gurudeva and serve him accordingly.

(14) One cannot charm Sri Gurudeva with a display of external emotions, gestures and formalities. If one becomes a disciple without sincerely surrendering oneself at Sri Gurudeva's lotus feet, it is like trying to cheat a blacksmith regarding iron and one is bound to be cheated of his own welfare. (A blacksmith's primary occupation is working with iron.)

(15) Only at the time of Sri Gurudeva's disappearance can one recognise the actual identity of his disciples. One can then understand who has approached Sri Guru with what intention.

(16) Even after taking shelter of a sad-guru's lotus feet, some disciples secretly strive to occupy the seat of Sri Gurudeva at the time of his disappearance. Their acceptance of the shelter of Sri Guru's feet was merely deceit. They are, in fact, hostile and inimical to guru.

(17) Moreover, some disciples try to misappropriate the opulence and paraphernalia intended for the service of Sri Guru-Gauranga. This is not understood while Sri Gurudeva is still present, but after he has disappeared from this world, it assumes a terrible form. Know these disciples to be hypocrites, enjoyers and offenders.

(18) Even at the time of Sri Gurudeva's manifest presence, some try to control their godbrothers instead of regarding them as worshipable. Thus they become severe offenders of the Vaishnavas.

(19) Those who have been appointed to the position of temple-manager, but who do not serve in mutual cooperation with others and are reluctant to give due respect to their godbrothers, are sense enjoyers, that is, enjoyers of the matha. Instead of serving Bhagavan they are greedy to enjoy His property. They are a disgrace to the title "disciple".

(20) Many, who are disciples in name only, even try to destroy the institution when Sri Gurudeva disappears because the honour they receive decreases at that time. These people are most inimical to guru and most certainly condemned to hell.

(21) Those disciples who deviate and engage in numerous acts of malice against Sri Guru when he disappears were undoubtedly hidden deceivers at the time of his manifest presence.

(22) Those in the stage of sadhana, who are not careful about obeying Sri Guru and avoiding offences to Vaishnavas, fall down even though they may have reached an elevated level.

(23) Those who take shelter at the lotus feet of a sadguru with a desire to do hari-bhajana should simple-heartedly follow Sri Gurudeva's instructions with their body, mind and words. If they fail to drive extraneous desires from their hearts, the prohibited endeavours for karma and jnana will present numerous deterrents to remaining on the path of suddha-bhakti.

(24) If the disciple's heart is not clean, Sri Guru's heart does not reflect in it. Only out of immense fortune does the moon of bhakti that exists in the heart of Sri Gurudeva, maha-bhagavat, manifest within the heart of the disciple.

(25) A simple-hearted disciple, who desires his true benefit, practically never meets a bad end.

(26) A disciple surrendered at the lotus feet of a sad-guru should always keep in mind the teachings from "Sri Rupa-siksha" in Sri Caitanya-caritamrita. In this way he should serve Sri Guru without duplicity, and with utmost caution he should cultivate the limbs of sravana and kirtana of sri hari-katha.

(27) If the sadhaka's life lacks simplicity and caution, he will achieve the opposite of his cherished ideal.

(28) Among all the jivas who are wandering throughout the universe, one who has accrued spiritual merit over many lifetimes obtains the seed of the creeper of bhakti, or sraddha. This takes place when the jiva, by Krishna's mercy, is favoured by His dear associates. Endowed with that sraddha, the disciple as a gardener, plants that seed in his heart. He waters it by hearing and chanting the instructions flowing from the mouth of SriGurudeva. Thus by these activities, the creeper sprouts and gradually climbs to the lotus feet of Sri Krishna.

(29) That creeper of bhakti passes beyond this universe, and beyond the Viraja River, Brahma-loka and Paravyoma, the spiritual sky, and goes to Goloka Vrindavana where it climbs the kalpa-vriksha (wishfulfilling tree) of Sri Krishna's lotus feet. The gardener, still in this world, continues to irrigate the creeper with the water of sravana and kirtana and thus welcomes the fortune of tasting the fruit of prema.

(30) If, in the stage of sadhana, innumerable weeds, such as the desire for enjoyment, liberation, material gain, worship and fame grow, as well as the tendency to engage in prohibited behaviour cheating, violence, and so forth - then the main plant cannot grow. At the time of watering it, the sadhaka will first cautiously cut the weeds so that they don't grow.

(31) One fault can arise that is most detrimental to the bhakti-sadhaka. It is known as vaishnava-aparadha and it can either uproot or cut the creeper of devotion like a mad elephant uproots a plant. As a result, the creeper of devotion immediately dries up. Therefore, the sadhaka is to remain diligent to ensure this does not happen. If gurva-avajna (disobeying guru) and vaishnava-aparadha occur, all one's sadhana-bhajana is destroyed.

(32) I have instructed those who have taken shelter of me to always remain cautious in this regard.I have tried to the best of my ability to repeat the instructions of Sri Sri Mahaprabhu, His associates and our Sri Guru-varga. Nevertheless, those who remain inattentive and consequently not cautious about committing offences to great personalities or about uprooting the weeds cannot be helped. After I leave this body, none of you [my followers] should commit offences and thus act to cause even slight damage to the institution. If all of you cannot cooperate to perform hari-bhajana together according to my instructions, it is better that you either enter household life or move to a place of pilgrimage and perform hari-bhajana.

[Translated from the Upadesamrita of
Sri Srimad Bhakti Srirupa Siddhanti Gosvami Maharaja
published by Sri Saraswata Gaudiya Asana and Mission]

The Rays of The Harmonist
No. 16 Karttika 2006

Chanting a Lakh Names

by Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Goswami Maharaja

We attempt to speak about Krishna, but what can we really say? We memorise a few verses and recite them like a parrot, and that is the extent of our glorification of the Lord. Where is our inner feeling? Everyone goes around talking about raga-bhakti, but where is that spontaneous feeling that is the meaning of raga? Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu told us to follow some simple rules, the rules of vidhi-bhakti. He said to chant the Holy Name, to chant a lakh every day.

This happened in Puri when all the brahmanas there started to invite Him to accept dinner at their homes. So Mahaprabhu answered that He only ate at the houses of millionaires, which in Bengali is lakha-pati. All the brahmanas were disappointed to hear Mahaprabhu say this, because they were all very poor. Then Mahaprabhu laughed and said, “You know what I mean by a lakha-pati? I mean someone who chants a hundred thousand Holy Names every day.” The brahmanas were immediately relieved and said, “Is there anyone more merciful to us than You? You devise strategies like this to get us to chant the Holy Name. Of course we will chant a lakh every day, but please accept our invitation!”

Srila Prabhupada also told us to chant a lakh every day. Many of our godbrothers went to him and said, “But Prabhupada, we have to do so much service. How can we chant a lakh every day?” Prabhupada never said, “Just chant as much as you can. That is enough.” He said, “Make the time. Somehow or another, find the time.” I heard him say this myself. But we don’t. We can’t find the time to chant. This is the extent of our capacity to do bhajana. And yet we still think that we can talk about raga-bhakti. All these Western devotees who come here hear about something called raga-bhakti and immediately think that they understand everything there is to know about it. But they really know nothing about the qualifications that are needed to attain raga-bhakti. They don’t understand. This is why I have spoken about all these matters from the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

At the beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the following statements were made:

srinvatam sva-kathah krishnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hridy antahstho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrit satam

“Hearing and speaking about Lord Krishna is a most pure activity, for as you engage in such activities, the Lord Himself enters your heart and destroys all the causes of inauspiciousness that are obstacles to your spiritual life. This is how Krishna acts as a friend to the pious.”

nashta-prayeshv abhadreshu
nityam bhagavata-sevaya
bhagavaty uttama-sloke
bhaktir bhavati naishthiki

“When all causes of inauspiciousness or anarthas are almost completely destroyed through regular service to the devotees and hearing the Srimad-Bhagavatam, then one comes to the stage of steadfast devotion to the Supreme Lord, Who is glorified in the best of poetry.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.17-18)

You have to hear the Srimad-Bhagavatam under the guidance of advanced devotees, who are also known as Bhagavatas. As one does so, one will gradually attain “steadfast devotion to the Supreme Lord, who is glorified in the best of poetry.” What is the nature of such steadfast devotion? That is explained in the commentary to the Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu with the words avikshepena satatyam: “constancy without distraction.” It is not enough to carry beads in your hand and to finger them from time to time. You have to achieve constancy in chanting without allowing your mind to be distracted. Bhaktivinoda Öhakura writes in his Hari-nama-cintamani:

laksha nama haile purna sankhya mala gani
hridaye nahila rasa bindu guna mani

“One may complete chanting a lakh of Names on his japa-mala, O Lord, but still not get a drop of the Holy Name’s ecstatic taste.”
(12.14)

The reason is that while chanting, the mind is wandering all over the place, thinking of so many different things. What is the point of chanting the Holy Name a million times if you still don’t experience krishna-prema? Is this raga-bhakti? Is this what raga-bhakti looks like? Will a raga-bhakta have no taste for chanting the Holy Name? Where is the attachment to chanting the Holy Name? You can’t catch a worm and yet you think you can go cobra hunting?

You talk to these people about developing affection for the Holy Name and they treat it as though it were irrelevant. They are attracted to the stories of girls, but they don’t realise who these girls are. Radharani is Krishna’s personal potency, and the gopis are all Her expansions, extensions of Herself. Therefore it is said that Krishna is not engaged in dalliances with anyone but Himself. He is the self-sufficient Supreme Lord, and all these gopis are not separate from His essence. There is no falldown, no question of material lust. The Bhagavata (10.33.25) uses the term avaruddha-saurata to indicate that no gross sexual activity is involved in the rasa-lila. Therefore, Sridhara Svami concludes that the rasa-lila is Krishna’s lust-conquering pastime. There is not the slightest trace of material lust in the activities shared by Krishna and the gopis, not the slightest tendency to selfishly seek the gratification of their own senses. We will not be able to understand this. Therefore, we must listen carefully from our spiritual masters in order to understand what qualifications are needed to enter into the Lord’s joyful world of play.

Mahaprabhu Himself relished such matters in private in the Gambhira with His intimate associates Svarupa Damodara and Ramananda Raya. There were no worldly-minded people present when these discussions went on. But what are these people doing? They say this is Radha-kunda, Radharani’s realm, but how many of us can really live in Radha-kunda? How many of us are even able to take the dust of Radha-kunda on our heads? We have to take these things into account. Do we dip our hands in the holy water of Radha-kunda only to shake it off again?

Srila Prabhupada used to tell a funny story about an opium smoker. The sun was setting and this addict felt the need to satisfy his addiction, but he was on one side of the river, while the village where there was fire to light his pipe was on the other. Our situation is something like this. We want to be united with Krishna, the Lord of Goloka, but we are separated by a raging river of disqualifications. We have to bear all this in mind. We can dive into Radha-kunda as often as we like, drink the water, submerge ourselves in it, but that does not mean that we have really bathed in Radha-kunda. What we really have to do is plunge into the waters of Radharani’s mood of spontaneous devotion, and to do that we must first develop enthusiasm for Krishna’s Name. Without such enthusiasm, nothing further will be gained. This is the teaching of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

When the sun of prema rises, then all the darkness of sin and suffering dissipates. This means lust and all it entails. This is how Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura awards eligibility for entering the rasa-lila, but that does not take place until one has attained raga-bhakti. Muslims are also listening to the rasa-lila while puffing on a bidi or some other weed. Such people are heard to applaud and ask the speaker for an encore, “Keep on speaking. Keep on speaking.” What is going on here? It is their material lusts that are being awakened, not any real mood of devotion.

One cannot steal one’s way into the highest stages of spiritual life. We must earn the right to enter the realm of Divine Love."