Chapter 16 of Prabhup\u0101da Vijaya, '\u1e5atvik Defeated!' thor\u00adoughly exposes with stunning clarity, the defects in the \u1e5atvik conceptions of guru-tattva. Backed by substantial scriptural references this counters the ideology that \u015ar\u012bla Bhakti Pramoda Pur\u012b Gosv\u0101m\u012b, referred to as the \u201cdeath of the samprad\u0101ya.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>
When I accepted sanny\u0101sa <\/em>in 1976, \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da said in the class, \u201cYou become guru.\u201d He said it five times during this lecture.* <\/strong>Some people will say, \u201cThat means \u015bik\u1e63\u0101<\/em>–guru<\/em>.\u201d However, in \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s essay, In Search of the Ultimate Goal of Life, <\/em>he writes that there are some people who say that \u2018become guru\u2019 means only becoming \u015bik\u1e63\u0101-guru, <\/em>and he says that such persons are foolish and do not understand the parampar\u0101<\/em>:<\/p>\n* See Appendix: Become Guru! Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s lecture given in M\u0101y\u0101pura, on March 16th, 1976<\/p>\n
\u201cSome foolish students have accepted the statements of Lord Cai\u00adtanya conditionally. According to them, the spiritual master who is fully conversant with the science of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, yet not born in a br\u0101hma\u1e47a family, can be an instructing spiritual master, but not an initiating spiritual master. They do not know that there is hardly any difference between the two classes of spiritual masters. According to them, a caste initiator or caste Gosv\u0101m\u012b, by dint of his hereditary blood lineage, becomes the real spiritual master, while a person knowing all about \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a can only become an instructor. They foolishly think that the position of the initiating spiritual master is greater than that of the instructing spiritual master. However, the matter is very clearly and conclusively discussed in the Caitanya-carit\u0101m\u1e5bta <\/em>(\u0100di-l\u012bl\u0101 <\/em>1.47):<\/p>\n\u015bik\u1e63\u0101-guruke ta\u2019 j\u0101ni k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47era svar\u016bpa
\n<\/em>antary\u0101m\u012b, bhakta-\u1e63re\u1e63\u1e6dha \u2013 ei dui r\u016bpa <\/em><\/p>\n\u201cOne should know the instructing spiritual master to be the Personality of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a manifests Himself as the Supersoul and as the greatest devotee of the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prabhup\u0101da says, \u201cYou become guru\u201d not only in my sanny\u0101sa <\/em>initiation lecture, but hundreds of times in other places \u2013 but there is no reference anywhere of \u1e5atvik. <\/em>In the Nectar of Devotion<\/em>, \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da says that sanny\u0101s\u012bs <\/em>can accept disciples:<\/p>\n\u201cTherefore, in the line of Lord Caitanya, even the sanny\u0101s\u012bs can speak about K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness everywhere, and if someone is seriously inclined to become a disciple, the sanny\u0101s\u012b always accepts him.\u201d <\/em>(Nectar of Devotion <\/em>Ch.7)<\/p>\nIn the Caitanya-carit\u0101m\u1e5bta<\/em>, where guru-tattva <\/em>is described, Prabhup\u0101da says that without being initiated by a bona-fide spiritual master, one cannot go back to Godhead:<\/p>\n\u201cOne should always remember that a person who is reluctant to accept a spiritual master and be initiated is sure to be baffled in his endeavour to go back to Godhead. One who is not prop\u00aderly initiated may present himself as a great devotee, but in fact he is sure to encounter many stumbling blocks on his path of progress toward spiritual realisation, with the result that he must continue his term of material existence without relief.\u201d (Cc \u0100di-l\u012bl\u0101 <\/em>1.35)<\/p>\nHe doesn\u2019t say, \u201cWithout being initiated by a bona-fide spiritual master (although he\u2019s left the world) through \u1e5atvik initiation, one cannot go back to Godhead.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is no example of \u1e5atvik initiation anywhere, except some\u00adtimes during the living presence of the spiritual master. The \u1e5btvik <\/em>acts as a priest because the guru cannot be physically present. That\u2019s quite common. There are different functions of the \u1e5btvik <\/em>at different times, in different places.<\/p>\nI was also a \u1e5btvik. <\/em>At the Hyderabad farm in 1976 there were three people taking first initiation and right in front of the devo\u00adtees, \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da asked me to chant on the beads because he was tired. Then he gave them the beads and the names. So many times Prabhup\u0101da wrote to the sanny\u0101s\u012bs <\/em>and temple presidents, \u201cYou can chant on their beads and these are their names \u2013\u201d. That is the \u1e5btvik <\/em>function. When \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da was ill, he set up a system that in different areas senior men would initiate on his behalf, yet he didn\u2019t say that they would be anything but \u1e5btviks<\/em>! So according to some devotees, because there is no proof that this was ever changed, the \u1e5btvik <\/em>system must continue until \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da returns and indicates otherwise! But the otherwise <\/em>had already been indicated during his 12 years of preaching. There is no example of a \u1e5atvik \u0101c\u0101rya <\/em>in any bona-fide samprad\u0101ya <\/em>in the whole history of this universe, and there are hundreds of stories in the \u015ar\u012bmad Bh\u0101gavatam<\/em>, the Pur\u0101\u1e47as <\/em>and the Caitanya-carit\u0101m\u1e5bta <\/em>about gurus and disciples. There was never any \u1e5atvik initiation during the Vedic period, what to speak of during the time of Cai\u00adtanya Mah\u0101prabhu or when \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da was present. There is only the example of the parampar\u0101. <\/em><\/p>\nWe are members of a living samprad\u0101ya<\/em>. We are not Sikhs. That is the conception started by Guru Gobind Singh. Guru Nanak was the founder of the Sikh dharma <\/em>and Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth guru. The ninth guru was killed and his son, Guru Gobind Singh ascended the seat of his father. He wasn\u2019t much of a preacher \u2013 he wanted to make an army, but nonetheless, he was the guru. So he used his post as guru to make an army in the Punjab to fight the Moghuls. Before he died, he declared that there would be no more gurus after him. The Sikhs are very strict about this. Some years ago, when I was preaching in Chandigarh, there was a Sikh in Delhi claiming to be the next guru. An assas\u00adsin stood up during a programme and blew him away right in front of 10,000 people.* <\/strong>Guru Gobind Singh also stated that the eleventh guru would be the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred book of the Sikhs, and that one could reach God just by reading that. It\u2019s similar to how some devotees say, \u201cAll we need are Prabhu\u00adp\u0101da\u2019s books!\u201d<\/p>\n* The name of the Sikh leader was Gurbachan Singh who was assassinated on April 24th, 1980.<\/p>\n
Ours is a living conception. Once, one sanny\u0101s\u012b <\/em>told \u015ar\u012bla Bhakti Pramoda Pur\u012b Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, \u201cThere are those who say that one should not accept disciples and they favour the \u1e5atvik con\u00adception.\u201d \u015ar\u012bla Pur\u012b Mah\u0101r\u0101ja said two things \u2013 first, that the \u1e5atvik idea was very dangerous, and also that it is the death of the parampar\u0101 <\/em>\u2013 a dead man\u2019s philosophy! Then \u015ar\u012bla Pur\u012b Mah\u0101r\u0101ja said, \u201cWhatever you have received, you try to give that with all your sincerity, with all your earnestness, to the best of your ability and try to march forward.\u201d That is the standard of the parampar\u0101<\/em>.<\/p>\nThe \u1e5atvik idea is a dead conception. Where is the life? Life means I must become pure, I must surrender, I must embrace a life of unalloyed devotion and I must preach. But the \u1e5atviks are pointing to the so-called disqualifications of others and claiming that no one is qualified to hold the post of guru. They see only disqualifications in everyone. They are like Duryodhana.<\/p>\n
There is a story in the Mah\u0101bh\u0101rata* <\/strong><\/em>that once, Dro\u1e47\u0101c\u0101rya called for Duryodhana and Yudhi\u1e63\u1e6dhira. He asked Duryodhana to go out into the kingdom and bring back a person more quali\u00adfied than himself. Then Dro\u1e47a requested Yudhi\u1e63\u1e6dhira to go out and find a person less qualified than himself. After some time both men returned alone. Dro\u1e47a then inquired from each why they had returned empty handed. Duryodhana said, \u201cI could not find anyone more qualified than myself\u201d and Yudhi\u1e63\u1e6dhira said, \u201cI could not find anyone less qualified than myself.\u201d<\/p>\n* Mah\u0101bh\u0101rtata, \u0100di-parva Ch.8.<\/p>\n
The \u1e5atviks have the mentality of Duryodhana \u2013 they cannot see the good qualities of others. What they are trying to say is that they alone are qualified, at least to judge the qualifications of other. This kind of thinking is avai\u1e63\u1e47ava <\/em>and it is against the devotional line. The \u1e5atviks say that no one is qualified, but they have not seen everyone, so how do they know for sure? A man says that he has not met anyone who has seen God, therefore he concludes that no one has. But how does he know? He has not met everyone. Even if he did meet someone who has seen God, would he believe him? Probably not.<\/p>\nWe must give respect to the post of guru. Of course, the guru should have the necessary qualifications of guru-ni\u1e63\u1e6dh\u0101<\/em> and ni\u1e63ki\u00f1\u00adcana-bhakti \u2013 <\/em>firm faith in the order of the spiritual master and freedom from the desire for power, profit, adoration and dis\u00adtinction. One should have these qualifications before accepting the post of guru and accepting disciples. But it will be very dif\u00adficult to say from an objective point of view who is or who isn\u2019t a paramaha\u1e41sa. <\/em>Someone says the guru must be paramaha\u1e41sa, <\/em>but actually the post is paramaha\u1e41sa. <\/em><\/p>\nHow do you know for sure if a god-brother is a qualified paramaha\u1e41sa<\/em> or not? First you must surrender \u2013 become a pure devotee of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and your spiritual master, then you will know who is who. It takes one to know one. If I ask my god-brothers, \u201cWas \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da a pure devotee?\u201d obviously they will all say yes. But what is your proof that he was a pure devotee? They may say, \u201cWell, \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da came to America alone, spread the movement, preached to the public and published many books on the topic of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness.\u201d Yes, \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da did that and much, much more \u2013 but that is all external! Do you mean to say that if an old man simply comes to America and publishes some books on K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a then we should consider him a parama\u00adha\u1e41sa<\/em>?* <\/strong>No. So what is the actual proof? A god-brother may then say, \u201cI have my faith \u2013 I know it in my heart that \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da is a pure devotee.\u201d Yes! That is your only proof! Your faith is your proof. Faith allows us to understand and to measure the standard. That is our only real proof. \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da also said that. Once he asked the devotees, \u201cHow do you know K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a is God?\u201d First they were giving evidence from \u015b\u0101stra<\/em>, but Prabhup\u0101da said, \u201cThe Bible says something else, Koran says something else. How do you know?\u201d Then they quoted the \u0101c\u0101ryas<\/em> and Prabhup\u0101da said, \u201cThe Christians are also saying.\u201d He was playing the devil\u2019s advocate. Finally, one devotee said, \u201cWell, I know in my heart\u201d Prabhup\u0101da said, \u201cYes! That is your proof!\u201d<\/p>\n* An example of this is the Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava monk, B\u0101b\u0101 Prem\u0101nanda Bh\u0101rat\u012b, who came t o A merica i n 1902 a nd e stablished a c entre in New York City (the Krishna Samaj). While there, he wrote a book called Shri Krishna: The Lord of Love, a retelling of the \u015ar\u012bmad Bh\u0101gavatam. He travelled around the United States giving lectures in St. Louis, Boston and Los Angeles. He returned to India in 1911 and passed away in 1913. Despite having stayed nine years in America, Prem\u0101nanda Bh\u0101rat\u012b didn\u2019t make any spiritual impact there.<\/p>\n
You can seek help from the \u015b\u0101stras <\/em>to understand some of the necessary qualifications of guru, but ultimately we must hear from our heart. It is a subjective experience. The \u1e5atviks don\u2019t even have a conception of objective and subjective planes of con\u00adsciousness. It is a matter of knowing from the inner f low of the heart. Knowledge of the position of the guru descends from above \u2013 K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Himself reveals the guru to a prospective candidate. K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a chooses who will be guru and for whom. It is not a matter of voting a man to the post of guru, nor is the position of guru understandable by those who have no faith. The qualification to understand the position of guru depends upon \u015braddh\u0101, <\/em>our faith.<\/p>\nyasya deve par\u0101 bhaktir yath\u0101-deve tath\u0101 gurau
\ntasyaite kathit\u0101 hy arth\u0101\u1e25 prak\u0101\u015bante mah\u0101tmanah <\/em><\/p>\n\u201cOnly unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master is the import of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.\u201d (\u015avet\u0101\u015bvatara Upani\u1e63ad <\/em>6.38)<\/p>\nIf we have proper faith then the truth is revealed in our heart, and there is no greater proof than that. We may judge the position of so many persons in this world by their various qualifications and disqualifications, but if we try to understand guru-tattva <\/em>in the same way, we will be baffled.<\/p>\nThe \u1e5atviks claim that the self-effulgent \u0101c\u0101rya <\/em>manifests \u2013 but who will say that he has manifested? Is it the disciple who recognises him? Is it the god-brother that recognises him? Is it the non-devotee in the street that recognises him? Who recog\u00adnises him? Who recognised \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da? First we would say that we did! Yes, first he appears to the disciple \u2013 who else? Some would say, \u201cWell, Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s god-brothers didn\u2019t rec\u00adognise him!\u201d That is not true. \u015ar\u012bla \u015ar\u012bdhara Mah\u0101r\u0101ja fully recognised him, and so did Bhakti Vic\u0101ra Y\u0101y\u0101vara Mah\u0101r\u0101ja.* <\/strong>Actually, before \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da passed away, \u015ar\u012bla Bhakti Pra\u00admoda Pur\u012b Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, Bhakti Dayita M\u0101dhava Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, Bhakti H\u1e5bdaya Vana Mah\u0101r\u0101ja and other god-brothers recognised him and his work. So is the self-effulgent \u0101c\u0101rya <\/em>only recognised by the disciples that he comes to deliver, or by other senior Vai\u1e63\u1e47avas also? What the \u1e5atviks are saying is that, \u201cWe <\/em>will recognise the self-effulgent \u0101c\u0101rya <\/em>when he comes!\u201d But they can\u2019t recognise a self-effulgent \u0101c\u0101rya <\/em>because they\u2019re not even looking! What is their idea of self-effulgent? I heard \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da say that once, in reference to how one can recognise a pure devotee. He said, \u201cIt takes one to know one\u201d or it takes some good fortune.<\/p>\n* \u201cI consider him to be \u015bakty\u0101ve\u015ba-avat\u0101ra<\/em>, and it is confirmed by his journey on the ship through the Atlantic and how he landed there and the nature of the beginning of his movement. What was his intense degree of dedication to K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a? How much he made himself empty to call down K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a to help him? It is corroborated that K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a worked on his behalf. He was completely dedicated to that purpose and a divine force came down to help him. Nity\u0101nanda Prabhu is in charge of preaching Mah\u0101prabhu\u2019s glories, so I took it that Nity\u0101nanda Prabhu must have some special dedication in him in his last days which helped him to inundate the whole world in such an inconceivable magnitude.\u201d (\u015ar\u012bla \u015ar\u012bdhara Mah\u0101r\u0101ja \u2013 August 8th, 1980)<\/p>\nThe \u1e5atviks will state that the guru must be pure and per\u00adfect. Yes, but what is your conception of purity or perfection? In which way shall we consider that he is perfect or not? How shall we understand his purity? By Vedic standards the gop\u012bs <\/em>are impure \u2013 they are unchaste from the material point of view, but what is their standard of spiritual purity? They are actually the purest of the pure because they simply want to satisfy K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. They have no separate desire other than to please K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. Why is it that the wives of the yaj\u00f1ika-br\u0101hma\u1e47as <\/em>in k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a<\/em>–l\u012bl\u0101 <\/em>were purer than their husbands? Because they simply tried to satisfy K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and His friends.<\/p>\nR\u0101m\u0101nanda R\u0101ya was a \u015b\u016bdra, <\/em>a government servant, therefore he was impure by Vedic standards and thus a sanny\u0101s\u012b <\/em>should never touch such a person. But Caitanya Mah\u0101prabhu rejected such measures of purity and embraced him. Not only that, He also accepted R\u0101m\u0101nanda R\u0101ya as His rasa-guru. <\/em><\/p>\nWe cannot understand what spiritual purity is when we meas\u00adure it by material standards. One may follow perfectly the four regulative principles for many, many lifetimes but remain impure. On the other hand, one may not fully observe the regulative principles, yet he may be a pure devotee of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. Now someone might say, \u201cWhat? That\u2019s impossible! \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da taught us to strictly follow the regulative principles otherwise we cannot go back to Godhead.\u201d Yes, we may strictly follow the regulative principles, but without surrender to guru and K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a where is our purity? Without surrender it will remain as material purity. There are many br\u0101hma\u1e47as <\/em>and sanny\u0101s\u012bs <\/em>in India who strictly follow the four regulative principles, yet they are great oppressors and offenders of \u015ar\u012b Caitanya Mah\u0101prabhu\u2019s mission. Similarly, there are examples of many devotees who were not so strict about the regulative principles, yet they were pure devotees nonetheless.<\/p>\nEveryone knows that \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da dedicated his K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Book <\/em>to his father, Gaura-mohana De \u2013 \u201ca pure devotee of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a.\u201d Do the \u1e5atviks accept that \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s father was a pure devotee? If so, then let them explain why Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s father gave hashish and marijuana to the s\u0101dhus <\/em>that came to his house. He also had a hookah in his house that he would offer to his guests. If you did such things nowadays, your god-brothers would drive you away with a stick. You would be an outcast in the modern Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava society. What is the criterion that makes Gaura-mohana pure devotee? By what criterion do the \u1e5atviks know he was a pure devotee? I don\u2019t think they can answer that question. By their esti\u00admation, Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s father was not fit because he didn\u2019t strictly follow the principles. So in which way was he a pure devotee? His purity was that he simply desired that his son would become a pure devotee of \u015ar\u012bmat\u012b R\u0101dh\u0101r\u0101\u1e47\u012b and he prayed to all the saintly persons whom he entertained to please give this blessing. That was his purity.<\/p>\nWe have to judge purity from the inner plane, not from external circumstances. There is also the example of Pu\u1e47\u1e0dar\u012bka Vidy\u0101nidhi in Caitanya-carit\u0101m\u1e5bta<\/em>. When he came to Navadv\u012bpa, he was sitting in his luxurious house smoking a hookah, wearing costly clothing and perfume. From his external appearance and habits he looked like a materialist, but then he heard a verse from the Bh\u0101gavatam<\/em> recited by Mukunda Datta:<\/p>\naho baki ya\u1e41 stana-k\u0101la-k\u016b\u1e6da\u1e41 jigh\u0101\u1e41say\u0101p\u0101yayad apy as\u0101dhv\u012b<\/em>
\nlebhe gati\u1e41 dh\u0101try-ucit\u0101\u1e41 tato \u2018nyam ka\u1e41 v\u0101 day\u0101lu\u1e41 \u015bara\u1e47a\u1e41 vrajema<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cO how amazing it is! The sister of Bak\u0101sura (P\u016btan\u0101) desiring to kill \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, smeared poison on her breasts and forced K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a to drink her milk. Even so, Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a accepted her as His nursemaid and thus she reached the destination suitable for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s mother, Of whom should I take shelter but the most merciful K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a?\u201d (Bh\u0101g. <\/em>3.2.23)<\/p>\nWhen Pu\u1e47\u1e0dar\u012bka Vidy\u0101nidhi heard this verse he became mad with love of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. He began shivering, shedding tears, and roll\u00ading on the f loor in ecstasy and crying, \u201cOf whom should I take shelter but the most magnanimous Lord? Where should I take refuge without such a Lord?\u201d Internally Pu\u1e47\u1e0dar\u012bka Vidy\u0101nidhi had great devotion for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, but outwardly he appeared to be an ordinary materialist.<\/p>\n
The \u1e5atviks think a pure devotee means somebody who is mate\u00adrially pure. No one is materially pure \u2013 everyone is more or less materially contaminated. They don\u2019t know what spiritual purity is. They have some idea of what material purity is, but even on that level many of them fail. They fail on both accounts and because they are unqualified, they conclude that no one else is qualified.<\/p>\n
\u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da had at least five thousand disciples, and many of them are still carrying on K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness even to this day. The \u1e5atviks claim that nobody amongst them is quali\u00adfied to be guru. If that is true, then why would anyone want to become Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s disciple? If, after following his teachings for 25-30 years, not one person is qualified, then why should I follow Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s teachings? What is the advantage? It must mean that his teachings have no potency, and that is what the \u1e5atviks are actually saying \u2013 that Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s teachings have no potency. They don\u2019t know what it means to become qualified. The spiritual master can qualify somebody, even though they may have a defect in their habits or in their practice. \u1e5atvik is a sinful philosophy because it is offensive to those devotees who actually do <\/em>follow their guru.<\/p>\nIf we want to learn karate and go to a school and inquire, \u201cIn the national competition, how many students of this karate teacher took first or second place?\u201d If we hear, \u201cOh, no, no \u2013 they get beaten every year\u201d \u2013 then why would you want to become his student? But on the other hand, if someone tells us, \u201cThere\u2019s another teacher \u2013 his students win every time,\u201d then immediately we will want to enrol in that school where the students are suc\u00adcessful \u2013 not where the students are all failures! You don\u2019t want a teacher whose students fail. If you look for a teacher, you will seek out someone whose students pass the exams with f lying colours. Similarly, if you look for a guru, you seek spiritual master who has qualified disciples. The \u1e5atviks discredit \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da by saying that no one is qualified. They are actually condemning him. Why? Because their glorification of him is mundane \u2013 it is not really transcendental. When it is put under the magnifying glass, it is no glorification of him at all. It is a vilification! \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da used to say that one knows a spiritual master by the position of his disciples. So that is what we can understand about \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da according to them \u2013 that there is no use in fol\u00adlowing his teachings because they don\u2019t work!<\/p>\n
They may say that nobody is qualified, but for the dignity of \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da I would say, \u201cI don\u2019t have the same opinion. I see others who are <\/em>qualified, who have <\/em>the mercy, who know <\/em>the philosophy and who know <\/em>the practice.\u201d I can\u2019t agree with the \u1e5atviks. Just like \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da once said, \u201cYou say you haven\u2019t seen God but I say I have, so sit down and be quiet.\u201d Ultimately, I have to take the same stand. It is an embarrassment for them to keep saying that no one who has been following \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da for so many years is qualified. I would have to say, \u201cI am<\/em>, I can<\/em>, I will<\/em>, I do <\/em>\u2013 and all by the grace of \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da \u2013 nothing by my own endeavour.\u201d But they say just the opposite \u2013 they say that his grace may come to me, but it amounts to nothing. That is their ideology. \u201cWe can continue glorifying \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da throughout the world and continue his lineage without becoming pure to do it. We can continue to be screw-ups for the rest of our lives!\u201d No! You will be a failure! You can only continue to glorify the spiritual master by becoming pure yourself.<\/p>\nIt is a poor excuse to say that, \u201cNo one is qualified, therefore I don\u2019t have to become qualified either \u2013 we will just initiate everyone as Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s disciple.\u201d Again and again we heard from \u015ar\u012bla \u015ar\u012bdhara Mah\u0101r\u0101ja about this \u2013 he gave no credence to the \u1e5atviks. When the gurus started to fall down, he said, \u201cMy guru has left \u2013 now I will become a Prabhup\u0101da disciple! This is foolishness!\u201d It was unacceptable. That\u2019s how this \u1e5atvik ideol\u00adogy began. The \u1e5atvik philosophy is a philosophy of frustration stemming from the inability to follow the teachings of the guru, as well as not properly studying and understanding the siddh\u0101nta<\/em>.<\/p>\nThere is also another point \u2013 a new person doesn\u2019t come to K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness and decide that they want to become Prabhu\u00adp\u0101da\u2019s disciple. It is mainly our \u1e5atvik god-brothers who decide that for them. According to the association we accept, our faith develops. If a new person meets a \u1e5atvik, he is told, \u201cNobody is qualified to be guru. You just do this and that \u2013 we will initi\u00adate you and you will become a disciple of \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da.\u201d However, you may find in due course that the candidate may say, \u201cI don\u2019t want to be Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s disciple, I want to be your <\/em>disciple. I don\u2019t know Prabhup\u0101da. I\u2019ve read his books, but I am inspired by what you <\/em>tell me.\u201d This actually happened during the time of \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da \u2013 some man wanted to be initi\u00adated by Brahm\u0101nanda. There is a letter wherein \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da said that in the living presence of the spiritual master, generally a certain etiquette is followed. * <\/strong>In the living presence of one\u2019s guru, all new candidates are transferred to him. After the dis\u00adappearance of the guru, the same \u1e5btvik <\/em>who initiated on behalf of his guru as a priest, can accept full charge of taking disciples back to Godhead. All he does is take them to his guru while he\u2019s living \u2013 after that, he has to take full responsibility. Back in 1975, somebody was clamouring that a certain sanny\u0101s\u012b <\/em>was qualified to be a guru. \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da wrote a letter to that devotee and gave some clarification. He said that during the living presence of one\u2019s spiritual master, generally one should not make disciples, but after the disappearance of the spiritual master, one can accept disciples without limitation.** <\/strong><\/p>\n* \u201cSo far as your taking initiation from Brahm\u0101nanda Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, I have no objection, but it is the etiquette that in the presence of one\u2019s Spiritual Master, one does not accept disciples. In this connection, Swami Brahm\u0101nanda may write me and I will instruct him.\u201d (Letter to John Milne, March 24th, 1971)<\/p>\n
** \u201cBut as a matter of etiquette it is the custom that during the lifetime of your spiritual master you bring the prospective disciples to him, and in his absence or dis\u00adappearance you can accept disciples without any limitation. This is the law of disciplic succession.\u201d (Letter to Tu\u1e63\u1e6da K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a D\u0101sa, February 12th, 1975)<\/p>\n
Is this just a custom that one shouldn\u2019t make disciples while the guru is living? If it\u2019s just a rule to stop the disciple from doing that, then Vai\u1e63\u1e47avism is not very deep. It must have some deeper meaning. The true disciple knows that the result of his preaching has the support of his guru. It is actually only his guru\u2019s potency that allows him to preach and draw people to K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a conscious\u00adness. So in his guru\u2019s living presence, it is a natural practice for the disciple to transfer those people he attracts and bring them to his guru. He wants everyone he enlists to be initiated by his own guru. The disciple is just a medium \u2013 he transfers their faith. But after the disappearance of the guru, the same principle is at work if he is surrendered to that.<\/p>\n
\u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da is a \u1e5btvik<\/em>, Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta is a \u1e5btvik<\/em>, R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b is also a \u1e5btvik <\/em>\u2013 a \u1e5btvik <\/em>means a representative. Didn\u2019t we learn at the beginning of our devotional journey that guru means representative of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and the parampar\u0101<\/em>? If you\u2019re not a \u1e5btvik<\/em>, you\u2019re not a guru. But the modern \u1e5atviks want to avoid the responsibility of being a guru \u2013 they are not real \u1e5btviks<\/em>.<\/p>\n(From a talk with god-brothers in Mysore, South India, on March 20th, 1995)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chapter 16 of Prabhup\u0101da Vijaya, ‘\u1e5atvik Defeated!’ thor\u00adoughly exposes with stunning clarity, the defects in the \u1e5atvik conceptions of guru-tattva. Backed by substantial scriptural references this counters the ideology that \u015ar\u012bla Bhakti Pramoda Pur\u012b Gosv\u0101m\u012b, referred to as the \u201cdeath of the samprad\u0101ya.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[207],"tags":[206,208],"krishna_talk_article":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5640"},{"taxonomy":"krishna_talk_article","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/krishna_talk_article?post=5640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}