Ananda dd. (UK): ‘Who is Srila Prabhupada’s disciple?’

Srila Prabhupada, March 8, 1976, Mayapur: Discipline…Disciple means discipline.The word discipline comes from the word disciple, or disciple comes from discipline. So unless there is discipline, there is no question of disciple. This discipline…..that should be uniform. Otherwise sisya…sisya comes from the root, verb sas-dhatu. Sas means ruling. From this word, sasana, means government. Sastra means weapon, and sastra means scripture…These things have come from one root sas-dhatu which means ruling under discipline. There is another English word, that, “Obedience is the first rule of discipline” or something. They say, “Obedience is the first law of discipline”/ So am I right?” Obedience is…” That is the….
Disciple: Yes, thats more or less what it says.
Srila Prabhupada: No, what is the exact word, exact. There is an English word. “Obedience is the first law of discipline.” So unless there is obedience, there cannot be any discipline. And unless there is discipline there is no question of disciple. Disciple means one who follows the discipline.
Cc Adi Ch 1 Text 35 . “There is no difference between the spiritual masters instructions and the spiritual master himself.”
From a spiritual perspective a disciple is accepting the discipline of the spiritual master.
Each individual accepts the spiritual master either through diksa or shiksha. How? By following the discipline as laid down by the spiritual master.
If I accept Srila Prabhupada as my spiritual master either through the process of diksa or through His instructions, shiksha, as there is no difference between the spiritual master and His instructions then I become His disciple.
If i have accepted Srila Prabhupada as my spiritual master and he has initiated me then I am his initiate. If I stop following His discipline then I am no longer his disciple even though initiated by him.
In Cc Adi Ch 1 we find the perfect example of this direct and indirect disciple-ship simultaneously.
“A direct disciple of Srila Rupa Goswami was Srila Ragunath dasa Goswami.The author of the Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Srila Krishna dasa Kaviraja, stands as the direct disciple of Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Ragunath dasa Goswami….”
Srila Rupa Goswami appeared in 1489 AD and disappeared in 1564 AD.
Srila Ragunatha dasa Goswami appeared in 1495 AD and disappeared in 1571 AD.
Srila Jiva Goswami appeared in 1513 AD and disappeared in 1598 AD.
“After the disappearance of Srila Rupa and Sanatana Goswamis in Vrindavana, Srila Jiva Goswami became the prominent acharya of all the Vaisnavas in Bengal, Orissa and the rest of the world,and it is He who used to guide them in their devotional service.
When Srila Jiva Goswami was still present, Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja compiled his famous Chaitanya Charitamrita………”(Cc Adi-Lila Ch 10.)
In the disciplic succession Srila Krishna dasa Kaviraja comes after Srila Jiva Goswami and also after Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Ragunath dasa Goswami.Yet Srila Krishna dasa Kaviraja stands as a direct disciple of Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Ragunathdasa Goswami.
“The direct disciple of Krishna dasa Kaviraja was Srila Narottama das Thakur who accepted Vishvanath Cakravati Thakur as His servitor, whom accepted Srila Jagannath dasa Babaji…..”
Srila Krishna dasa Kaviraja approximate time frame was the latter part of 16th century, Srila Narottama dasa Thakur was late 16th century-early 17th century and Srila Vishvanath Cakravarti Thakur was latter part of 17th century and Srila Jagannath dasa Babaji was beginning of 19th century. Of course in between was Srila Baladeva Vidyabusana latter part of 17th century-early 18th century.
All being disciples one after the other as described by the English word disciplic (succession).
Some were “accepted” and some were “initiated”, to be a disciple, directly or indirectly is to do with accepting as exemplified by the previous acharyas for us.
To be Srila Prabhupadas direct disciple means to follow his discipline.
But the emphasis is on following as in the word “Prabhupadanugas”.
We can accept Srila Prabhupada as our diksa guru or/and as our shiksha guru, but to be his disciple we must follow.
In the Nectar of Instruction and consistently, cohesively and continually Srila Prabhupada defines the spiritual master that a disciple is advised to accept, an uttama-adhikari. The spiritual master is defined as diksa guru and shiksha guru and discriminating between the two is an offense in the discharge of devotional service. It is impossible for a spiritual master to fall down and devotees who have accepted diksa, initiation from a spiritual master who fell down must realise that they weren’t a spiritual master to start with.
For a spiritual master to be a diksa guru he would have attained the platform of uttama-adhikara and a disciple is advised ONLY to accept this uttama spiritual master. So, when devotees say their spiritual master fell down this is a false statement to make. The Vaisnava was not a spiritual master to start with and so there is no possibility of accepting the discipline to be his disciple. If he fell down then his discipline must be insufficient to deliver himself what to speak of delivering disciples and initiating them, with what?
Its important for devotees to undestand why there is discipline. Why there is initiation? A spiritual master delivers transcendental knowledge to his disciple through the process of diksa, initiation, by definition means uttama-adhikara. If the spiritual master is incapable of following the process himself then he was never qualified or authorised to start with and any spiritual master acting in the same way is also unauthorised and unqualifie, being a 2nd or 3rd class Vaisnava..
The best spiritual master to accept is and has always been, in Iskcon, Srila Prabhupada, either accept him as your diksa guru or/and your shiksha guru and follow His instructions, example and discipline. Srila Prabhupada is that spiritual master that will never let you down, why accept anyone less????
Just stop listening to all the pseudo propaganda that flies around Iskcon daily and read Srila Prabhupada’s original books, all the instructions are there to be a disciple.
We can witness that not one guru in Iskcon has been able to instruct a different discipline than the one Srila Prabhupada taught us all. I can do that and hand out names and threads but that does not make us diksa gurus and uttama-adhikaris.
Be Srila Prabhupadas disciple by following Srila Prabhupada, the uttama-adhikari spiritual master.