Lord Krishna empowers pure-hearted representatives to
deliver essential spiritual knowledge to human society.
By Suvarna Radha Devi Dasi
THE VEDIC TEXTS assert that all souls residing in this material world are afflicted by illness. This is not physical illness, but rather a spiritual one. The word nescience (ignorance) is used to describe it. Despite our intellectual achievements in the modern age, ignorance of our true self still exists within each of us and takes the form of rage, greed, pride, and other negative emotions. Knowledge of our true self cannot be gained through psychological selfanalysis; rather it must be obtained from a spiritual master aware of the Absolute Truth. To receive a formal education, we must enroll in a school or university. Similarly, to approach the path to immortality and the Absolute Truth, we require a spiritual master who will place us in our role as Krishna eternal servant. The process to attain the Absolute Truth is to receive knowledge from the disciplic succession, an unbroken chain of transcendentalists who receive the message of the Lord and teach it to their disciples, who then teach their disciples, and so on. Lord is the supreme authority for the disciplic succession because He is the perfect knower of everything.
Some people believe that one can be Krishna conscious without a spiritual master. But being Krishna conscious means following Lord Krishna’s instructions. And since Krishna has said that we must accept a spiritual master, we cannot be Krishna conscious unless we follow this instruction.
Lord Krishna teaches by His own example that to learn the spiritual science one must approach a bona fide spiritual master in disciplic succession. When Krishna descended in Dvaparayuga, the sage Gargacarya played the role of His priest, a type of guru, in His childhood. Later Krishna moved to the ashram of Sandipani Muni with His brother, Balarama, and learned all the Vedic scriptures in sixtyfour days. Five hundred years ago, when the Lord came as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He accepted Sri Isvara Puri as His spiritual master.
Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita (4.34) that one must approach a bona fide spiritual master, without whom one cannot achieve perfection. Krishna does not recommend that one approach Him directly. Lord Caitanya, in His conversation with Ramananda Raya, quoted the following verse from the Adi Purana: “[Lord Krishna told Arjuna:] Those who are My direct devotees are actually not My devotees, but those who are the devotees of My servant are factually My devotees.”
This means that if one considers himself to be Krishna’s devotee but not a devotee of the devotees of Krishna, then he is not actually Krishna’s devotee.
There is no difference between the Lord and His instructions. Similarly, there is no difference between the Lord and His pure devotees who can deliver the message of the Lord intact. One who cannot understand the spiritual nature distinguishes between a devotee and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But Srila Prabhupada states that the bona fide representative of the Lord and the Lord are the same.
The knowledge seeker must approach a bona fide guru, but sometimes a guru approaches a disciple. This happens by the causeless mercy of the Lord, who sends His representative. For example, Narada Muni approached Dhruva Maharaja when Dhruva went to the forest to seek God, and Narada approached Prahlada Maharaja while Prahlada was in the womb of his mother, Kayadhu.
Resolving Apparent Contradictions
Sometimes we may find contradictions in the scripture. Actually there is no contradiction, but because we cannot understand something we might think there is a contradiction. For instance, Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (4.8), “To re-establish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium,” whereas in Gita 18.66 He says, “Abandon all varieties of religion (dharma) and just surrender unto Me.” At this point in the Gita, Krishna has spoken extensively about religion, but now He says, “Abandon all varieties of religion.” At first glance we would think this is a contradiction, but it is not.
,m,.m“Abandon all varieties of religion” means that we must not focus on ordinary religious duties at the cost of devotional service to the Lord.
Lord Krishna’s instruction in Gita 4.8 is especially for people in general. His instruction in Gita
18.66 is for an intimate friend, a devotee, because He wants Arjuna to benefit immediately. This instruction is at the highest level – it is the conclusion of the Bhagavad-gita. People who are fortunate can come to this highest conclusion through the mercy of a spiritual master.
Therefore, to understand the scriptures we need to approach a spiritual master. A bona fide spiritual master knows the will of Lord Krishna. Krishna is jagad-guru – the spiritual master of the world – and He speaks through the bona fide spiritual master.
Traveling Representatives
Most people are not interested in devotional service to the Lord. To shower the Lord’s mercy upon them, devotees of the Lord travel from place to place to impart spiritual knowledge to all unfortunate souls. Even if we don’t have any inclination for Krishna consciousness, the glance of a bona fide spiritual master or pure devotee is so powerful that it immediately plants the seed of bhakti in our heart. Because of the pure devotees’ sincere surrender to Krishna, they carry Krishna in their heart, and the Lord manifests through their words and mercy. The power of Krishna’s mercy that manifests through a spiritual master or pure devotee is inconceivable to mundane intelligence. SrimadBhagavatam (3.5.3) says, “O my lord, great philanthropic souls travel on the earth on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to show compassion to the fallen souls who are averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord.”
According to Srila Prabhupada, “A person with a bona fide spiritual master is supposed to know everything.” (Gita 2.7, Purport) Knowing everything means to know Krishna in truth. The essence of knowing everything is to know the answers to these questions:
Who am I and what is my relationship with Krishna?
What is the process to establish that relationship?
What is the result and purpose of that relationship?
When, through the guru, we know these three things in truth by realization, then we are eligible to go back home, back to Godhead. This is the purpose of the guru: to break the cycle of saàsara (repeated birth and death), to qualify us to go to Krishna in Goloka Vrindavan, and most importantly, to help us achieve Krishna -prema, pure love for Krishna.
One should approach a spiritual master, humbly submit to him, and then inquire about how to progress in spiritual life. Just as a seed planted in fertile land can germinate, a bona fide guru can enlighten the heart of a receptive disciple with transcendental knowledge. After the disciple accepts a bona fide spiritual master and serves him by assisting him in his mission, without false prestige, the Lord dwelling in the disciple’s heart will destroy the material perplexities with the shining lamp of knowledge.
Humble Inquiry
Out of humility, a disciple always presents himself as a fool or completely unable to make any progress in life without the mercy of his spiritual master. Even Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu observed this etiquette, although He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the supreme authority on all spiritual knowledge.
Srila Prabhupada wrote in regard to his spiritual master: “It is to be admitted that whatever translation work I have done is through the inspiration of my spiritual master, because personally I am most insignificant and incompetent to do this materially impossible work. I do not think myself a very learned scholar, but I have full faith in the service of my spiritual master, His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. If there is any credit to my activities of translating, it is all due to His Divine Grace.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, “Concluding Words”)
It should be noted, however, that the bona fide disciple is never a fool, although he may regard himself as one. To submit oneself in all humility to the lotus feet of the spiritual master means that the student is obedient to the order of the Lord and therefore has perfect intelligence. The real fool s someone who does not take advantage of the order of the Supreme Lord by submission to the spiritual master.
Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to Bhagavad-gita 4.34, “In this verse, both blind following and absurd inquiries are condemned.” We surrender with intelligence; we don’t surrender our intelligence. You can present yourself as a fool before your spiritual master, but that doesn’t mean you should be a fool.
Absurd inquiry has little to no value even in material endeavors, and this is truer spiritually as well, because in spiritual life we are trying to contact Krishna through a guru. When we do so by asking ridiculous questions, the guru is not pleased. We always have to remember that all our efforts, questions, service, sadhana, etc., are directed toward establishing a connection with Krishna, who resides within our heart. Hence the degree of our seriousness is revealed by how carefully we approach the guru to submit inquiries and get our uncertainties cleared up.
Blind acceptance and blind rejection are equally bad. Blind faith eventually results in failure. Human life is meant for reasonableness, not for blind faith. The best way to move forward is with a degree of faith, which one verifies through sadhu, Sastra, and guru. Bhagavad-gita philosophy gives intelligent faith through analysis and realization.
How to Inquire from a Spiritual Master
Arjuna set an example by asking Krishna (Gita 4.4) how it was possible that, as He had just stated, He had explained the science of bhakti to Vivasvan, who seemingly was born much earlier than Krishna. Although Arjuna was highly learned, for the welfare of humanity he inquired from the Lord as if he were ignorant, so that Krishna might deliver truth from His own lotus mouth.
Determining what is more pleasing to guru and Krishna is not based on the specific type of devotional activity we perform but on the intensity of our devotional attitude. For example, if someone washes a pot in the temple kitchen with more devotion to the Lord than someone who gives a Bhagavad-gita lecture to a large crowd, the pot washer is pleasing guru and KRI Krishna more than the lecturer is.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura writes in Sri Sri Gurvastaka (Verse 8), yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto’pi: “By the mercy of the spiritual master one receives the benediction of Krishna. Without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement.”
If we take shelter of Krishna through a bona fide spiritual master, we receive Krishna’s extraordinary mercy even though we are unqualified. Krishna is so kind that He transforms our lives by allowing us to engage in His devotional service – an extraordinary blessing. Krishna is all-in-all. We are His, and we can feel that He is ours as well. His mercy is everything.
The spiritual master is always prepared to impart knowledge to the disciple, especially when the disciple is sincerely inquisitive. The desire to learn from the spiritual master is greatly necessary for the disciple’s progress. As Srila Prabhupada would say, if one is not very inquisitive about self-realization, one need not approach a spiritual master simply to make a show of discipleship.
If one is serious about being Krishna’s devotee, then one must seek guidance from a bona fide spiritual master and take complete shelter of him. Serving the instructions of the spiritual master in all humility awakens one’s love for Krishna. This is the ultimate perfection of human life.
Suvarna Radha Devi Dasi, PhD, and her husband, Brajanath Das, PhD, both disciples of His Holiness Radhanath Swami, live in Longmont, Colorado, with their two daughters. They are active in book distribution and in serving Sri Sri Radha-Govinda at ISKCON Denver.