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Music: “Gurudeva” by Gaurangi devi dasi
BY: AGRANI KRISHNA DASA
Jun 03, BANGALORE, INDIA (SUN) — Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says that yare dekho tare kaho krishna-upadesa. Whomever you meet, you simply talk about Krishna, what He has taught in the Bhagavad-gita. This is the sum and substance of our preaching to the world.
All the glorious Acaryas of our Sampradaya have been waiting for a day when this whole world will chant the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra. When will Gaura Nitai be worshipped in each and every house? This is the dream they have been waiting to be enlivened.
Srila Prabhupada descended into this material universe just to fulfill this dream of the acaryas. He was very much clear and focused only onto this. That is why Krishna unfolded the fortune which was needed for Srila Prabhupada to establish this preaching of Krishna Consciousness.
It was as though Krishna Himself was personally helping Srila Prabhupada to preach His glories all over this planet, by removing all the hurdles to push on this movement. It is because Srila Prabhupada had only one thing to meditate in his mind – “I need to execute the order of my spiritual master.”
After a decade of massive preaching, Srila Prabhupada left this planet leaving behind us a treasure of Vedic knowledge, his lectures, his letters, and conversations to guide us in his “absence”. It is often Srila Prabhupada mentioned that he will live through his teachings and we would utilize the same.
A spiritual master, who is as good as Hari, has the same potency like that of the Lord. Just like how Krishna can be perceived through His photos and archa-vigraha form, a bona fide spiritual master can also be approached through his Deity and the photos. In fact, there is no difference between Prabhupada and his teachings as well. There are thousands of devotees all over the world who can stand as a testimony to this fact.
Guru-parampara is not ordinary. It is very transcendental. The mercy of Krishna flows down through it. All the acaryas who carry forward this guru-parampara are not ordinary living souls. They are all nitya-siddhas, which means they are eternally liberated. A bona fide spiritual master being a representative of Nityananda Prabhu and Lord Balarama, and who comes into a bona fide guru-parampara never dies. He remains eternal.
The Vyasasana is the seat offered to one who is a representative of Vyasadeva, and who propagates the teachings of Vyasadeva without any adulteration. He must be an uttama-adhikara and must be authorized by his previous Acarya to become the spiritual master or a representative of Vyasadeva.
We don’t want any gurus who claim themselves to be the acaryas to sit on this elevated seat of respect and at the same time perform their own mundane, materialistic pastimes. Just think what happens to someone when one’s spiritual master is fallen from the grace. What is the fate of the disciple? The sakshad-hari is doing things which they are not supposed to do. They are actually supposed to deliver the disciples to the spiritual world but they themselves are going down the planets.
Srila Prabhupada is an epitome of all the qualities which scintillate into a pure devotee. He perfectly by his own example showed the world – how Krishna’s pure devotee can change the face of the whole world. He, by the dint of his devotion to Krishna and his Spiritual Master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, had a potency to convert this whole world into Vaikuntha. Such is the effulgence of a bona fide spiritual master. Wherever he goes, he converts that place into Vaikuntha. Just by associating even once with Prabhupada, one can be convinced that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His mere presence invokes the spiritual environment and would take devotees into ecstasy. Many people all over the world have realized this through his transcendental books.
Currently the so-called gurus have brought a calamity onto ISKCON. Child abuse cases, murder cases, and what not has become a talk of the town. Where are they all taking this movement? Every now and then the GBC resolves that so and so cannot initiate disciples any further. Has the position of guru become so cheap that he has to be controlled by a GBC whether to initiate or not? Don’t we all realize that this is something very silly? A bona fide acarya never falls down from his post.
Even after looking, some people are not able to realize this naked truth and they question the legacy of Srila Prabhupada. Are some so ignorant that they have come down to the level of questioning the very existence of Prabhupada? Meditating on his instructions is the actual association. Not the vapuh. Vani is more important than vapuh. Srila Prabhupada always felt the presence of his guru through his instructions.
It is a very simple thing. All we need to do is that we should close all the books which are not written by Srila Prabhupada, and sit and read the pre-1977 editions of Prabhupada’s books. We need to be very submissive and very humble. Chanting 16 rounds, following four regulative principles, preaching Krishna Consciousness, performing guru-puja to Srila Prabhupada and worshipping the Deity – I think they are enough to establish the link between the disciple and Srila Prabhupada.
One may now question that without being initiated one cannot be liberated. Srila Prabhupada has taught us that initiation is just like an admission to the school. The actual teaching and learning happens in the classrooms. It is just a formality. The day when one starts hearing Prabhupada and decides to follow his instructions, the actual initiation thus begins.
Over a period of time, this transcendental link had been covered by the gurus, who were interested only to take the disciples for themselves. However it is not very difficult to establish the same link back. It is as easy as reading A B C D… for an engineering student. When the link is established, one can feel his connection with Srila Prabhupada. And that should be the goal of everyone, going back home, back to Godhead, because it is only Prabhupada who can take us there. He has seen the way.
Imagine we shall be guided by the Spiritual Master who shall never fall down from his position and who has guaranteed us the way back home. What else does one need? The surety is there and the process is also there. Is that not enough?
Ys
Agrani Krishna dasa
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