The Spiritual Master and the Disciple

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In the months of apprehensive anticipation preceding His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda’s departure from this world, we, the disciples of His Divine Grace, were all forced to contemplate, more deeply than ever before, certain basic, essential questions: Who is Śrīla Prabhupāda? What is the position of the spiritual master? What does it mean to be a disciple of a spiritual master? What is the nature of my connection with Śrīla Prabhupāda? What is the nature of my relationship with him? And finally, What will be the nature of my relationship with my spiritual master after his physical departure? During this difficult period, and shortly following Śrīla Prabhupāda’s disappearance, I thought that it might be a worthwhile project to compile all of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions on the subject of spiritual master and disciple, so that all of the disciples of His Divine Grace could find shelter, solace and inspiration in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s own illuminating instructions.

Later, when the eleven new spiritual masters appointed by Śrīla Prabhupāda began to accept disciples, it occurred to me that such a compilation of the subject of guru and disciple would be helpful to the new spiritual masters in fulfilling their weighty responsibilities, as well as to their disciples by helping them to perfectly understand the meaning of discipleship. I approached Rāmeśvara Swami and volunteered to execute a comprehensive, systematic compilation of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions from all of his books, covering the subjects of spiritual master, disciple, disciplic succession, and initiation, and then the book could be published and distributed to all the devotees in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. He liked the idea and gave me all encouragement.

This book, The Spiritual Master and the Disciple, is the product of that encouragement. A glance through the table of contents will give one an idea of the volume and complexity of the subject. I have tried to organize this voluminous material from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books into precise, well-defined categories, so that his instructions can be easily and conveniently located. Any imperfections encountered in the reading of this text (e.g. neglected or misplaced references, inappropriate categorization, etc.) are the fault of this imperfect conditioned soul. But I have tried my best to please my spiritual master, His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda, by doing as thorough and careful a job as possible.

In Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Fourteenth Chapter, Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how, by placing His lotus feet on the head of Sanātana Gosvāmī, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu blessed Sanātana with the benediction that all of His transcendental instructions on the science of devotional service would become fully manifest within his heart:
“[Sanātana Gosvāmī prayed:] ‘By Your grace, I have appreciated the conclusions which You have taught me, but I am so low that I cannot even touch a drop of the ocean of Your instructions. Thus if You want me, who am nothing but a lame man, to dance, then please give me Your benediction by placing Your feet on my head.’

“Thus Sanātana Gosvāmī prayed for the Lord’s confirmation that His teachings would actually evolve in his heart by His grace…. Unless one is blessed by the spiritual master, or the ācārya, such teachings cannot become fully manifest. Therefore one should seek the mercy of the spiritual master so that the instructions of the spiritual master can develop within oneself. After receiving the prayers of Sanātana Gosvāmī, Lord Caitanya placed His feet on the head of Sanātana and gave him His benediction so that all His instructions would develop fully.”

With all the humility at my command, I offer this book at the divine lotus feet of my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. I pray that, by his causeless mercy, he will firmly implant within the hearts of all his disciples, grand-disciples2 and coming generations of disciples, the instructions contained within this volume, just as Lord Caitanya enlightened Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī by placing His feet on Sanātana’s head. Only by such transcendental blessings can these sublime instructions develop fully within our hearts, become practical realizations, and become communicated into practical action.

Śubhānanda dāsa brahmacārī