Guru Tattva Prakāśikā – Questions and Answers on the Guru Principle

What is ‘Guru-Tattva’?

Question: Can you explain what guru-tattva means?

Answer: The word ‘guru’ means teacher, and ‘tattva’ means a truth. Guru-tattva means the eternal truth about the guru. Tattva also means a conception. A tattva isn’t something that changes. My Guru Mahārāja, Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda, gave a speech in Bombay in 1936 which was published and called ‘The Universal Teacher’. There he said:

“There does not arise any question of discriminating my guru from yours or anyone else’s. There is only one guru, who appears in an infinity of forms to teach you, me and all others.”

Prabhupāda gave this background of guru-tattva. It is a divine principle emanating from the Supreme Lord.

Who Needs a Guru?

Question: Is a guru necessary for everyone?

Answer: One time Śrīla Prabhupāda asked some of his disciples, “Who needs a guru?” And they answered, “Everyone.” Prabhupāda replied, “No, not everyone. Only those who are very serious about Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”

Everyone can chant the Holy Name, but if you want to learn proper philosophy, if you want to worship the Deity, if you want to offer bhoga to Kṛṣṇa, if you want to cook for Kṛṣṇa, and do so many other things which are the aṅgas of devotional service, then you need a guru. Otherwise everyone can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. However, if you don’t get proper training in how to chant from a guru, you’ll never get out of the stage of nāmābhāsa and you’ll probably slip into nāma-aparādha. It’s a slippery slope.

To understand the process of bhakti properly, we first have to understand the necessity of guru. The guru is called the āśraya-vigraha – āśraya means shelter and vigraha means form.

Accepting a guru is not a fashion. You don’t keep a guru like you keep a dog! You don’t keep a photo of your guru like somebody keeps a photo of a movie star or a famous sportsman, just to fit into society. “See? I have my guru!” To such people, the guru becomes like a good-luck charm. They think it’s auspicious. Do such people actually have a guru? In most cases, they don’t!

How to Find a Guru

Question: Is finding a spiritual master a descending process, or is it affected by our own personal endeavours?

Answer: Actually, what the ācāryas tell us is that the living entity cannot ‘find’ a guru, but rather, the acceptance of guru is a descending process. We cannot ascend to the plane of the guru, but it is by his mercy that we may have contact with him. We may conduct our search, and that is how we exhibit our sincerity. Our search is there, but one can never find guru independently; he is revealed.

Once in Bombay, Śrīla Prabhupāda was talking to one Indian gentleman who said, “Swamiji, guru is always there!” and Prabhupāda replied, “Yes, guru is always there, but the problem is we can’t find him!” That is because it is not an objective search. The search for guru and Kṛṣṇa is not successful when it is only executed from our side. Some little endeavour may be there from us, but it is an objective search. We only hanker, like a child who cries for the attention of the mother and hearing that sound, the mother comes. We have to cultivate an eagerness to give up this life of ignorance and understand what is the Supreme, then the guru will come down. Everything of value comes down to us, including the connection with guru.

The need to have a bona fide guru is very important, without which, Kṛṣṇa consciousness remains a mental speculation. How will you find a real guru? First try to focus on the śikṣā that is bona fide and then find a living personality that represents and lives up to the previous ācāryas. When you have done that, then you will have found a bona fide guru.

Śrī Guru is found by the ear, not by the eye. You don’t know what he looks like, you don’t know how he should behave – if people actually knew that, they wouldn’t follow so many fake ‘gurus’ in society today that cheat them, take their money and abuse them in different ways. As I have said, from a higher vision, it is actually not possible to find a guru – Kṛṣṇa will send a guru. Guru comes to us. It is a descending process and it also corresponds with your desire – you get what you deserve, nothing more, nothing less. If we have an earnest desire to know the truth, we will not be left wandering in this world without proper guidance. Kṛṣṇa fulfills the desires of the wandering living entities, and those desires have led us to wherever we are.

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

By the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa, some fortunate jīvas wandering in the universe attain the seed of the creeper of bhakti. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 19.151)

By the grace of Kṛṣṇa, one attains guru, and by the grace of guru, one attains Kṛṣṇa. The ability to find guru is based upon desire – but even if a person initially has no desire, a devotee can give that desire simply by their association. Kṛṣṇa and His devotees are so merciful that they do not simply wait for the living entity to desire it.

For example, when we used to go door to door distributing Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, I remember meeting one Hindu gentleman and I requested him to buy a Bhagavad-gītā. He said, “Yes, I will certainly buy one when Kṛṣṇa wants me to.”

I replied, “Yes, that’s why I’m knocking on your door.”

What Kṛṣṇa desires is carried out by His devotees. Actually, that gentleman didn’t really want a Bhagavad-gītā. He was just using word jugglery and he had his own way of thinking. He was saying, “I will buy Bhagavad-gītā when Kṛṣṇa wants” and I was saying, “Yes, Kṛṣṇa wants you to buy a Bhagavad-gītā – He wanted it all along. That’s why He sent the devotees to you.” By the association of the Lord’s devotees, the desire to discover the highest fulfilment of life, to understand the nature of the Supreme, and the desire to know who we are, may also manifest.

What to Look for in a Guru?

Question: What should I look for in a genuine guru?

Answer: What do people look for in a guru? Some years ago, one devotee that I know came to us in Vṛndāvana. He was an older person who was burned out – he had gone through three Iskcon gurus and each one of them had blooped. I told him that I was going to a festival that morning at the maṭha of Śrīpāda Bhakti Sundara Govinda Mahārāja and asked him if he wanted to come with me. He came and I introduced him to a few people there at the maṭha and after an hour, I returned back to our āśrama. About a week later, I met him in the market and asked him, “So how did it go? Did you meet Govinda Mahārāja?”
He said, “Oh yes. I got to meet Govinda Mahārāja and it was really great. He’s the perfect guru! He’s old, he’s Bengali, and he hardly speaks any English!” He literally said that!

If you are going out to find gold, there are some characteristics that you should be looking for, and in order that you don’t speculate about the vision of guru, śāstra says, “This is how you should see him.” It’s not just because someone is rubber-stamped as a guru you can say, “Oh yes, they are the representative of Rādhārāṇī, they are non-different from Kṛṣṇa, they are a parama​haṁsa.” It doesn’t work like that. It’s like somebody saying, “Śrīla Prabhupāda is a paramahaṁsa!” But how do you know? What’s your proof? Someone might say, “He wrote many books”, but so did many other people. Someone else might say, “He went to America!” So did Swami Vivekananda. It’s like asking Christians why they think Jesus is God. Some of them will say, “Because he walked on water.” Well, so did so many other personalities in the old world. Or, “He was born of a virgin.” So was Horus, Romulus and Remus, and so many other ancient gods. These are not proof that he is divine. There is objective and subjective truth.

Once on a morning walk, Śrīla Prabhupāda asked, “How do you know that Kṛṣṇa is God?”

A devotee replied, “It says so in the scripture.”

Prabhupāda said, “There are many scriptures that say different things.”

“You told us, Prabhupāda!”

“What if I lied?”

Then one devotee said, “I know it in my heart.”

Prabhupāda said, “Yes, that is the answer.”

It’s an internal thing that you know. Everything external is simply pointing the way to help you know. Remember, this is the path of self-realisation. It’s realisation – not just dogma. It’s not just “because it says so.” That’s why you shouldn’t read many scriptures – because when there are contradicting statements, you may not be able to figure out how to balance them all. So much direction is there in the scripture. There’s a lower vision of guru and a higher vision of guru, but in all situations, the guru must represent Kṛṣṇa.

The Main Types of Gurus

Question: How many types of gurus are there?

Answer: This undivided guru-tattva manifests in various forms – the vartma-pradarśaka-guru (the guru who introduces us to the path of bhakti), the dīkṣā-guru (initiating guru) the śikṣā-guru (instructing guru), the śāstra-guru (the guru who teaches the scriptures), the sannyāsa-guru (the guru who initiates one into the renounced order), the dhāma-guru (the guru who reveals the glories of the holy places) and caitya-guru (the Lord within the heart).

Caitya-Guru

Question: Can you explain the position of caitya-guru?

Answer: The first guru and the Supreme Guru is called caitya-​guru, or Paramātmā. This guru is situated in everyone’s heart. There is no jīva who doesn’t have the presence of the caitya-guru within. For as long as one has been in this world, the caitya-guru has been accompanying us. The Upaniṣads give an example of two birds sitting in the tree, the ātmā and the Paramātmā. One bird is looking away from the other bird. This represents the conditioned souls of this world, who are looking everywhere, but are not giving any attention to the Lord in their heart. We are wandering in saṁsāra, the cycle of birth and death, endlessly. Only when we tire of this cycle do we look towards the caitya-​guru. After hundreds of millions of lifetimes, we may turn towards the Paramātmā, and when we look towards that guru within, then the eternal guru appears in front of us as the dīkṣā-guru and śikṣā-guru.

The Vartma-Pradarśaka-Guru

Question: What is the Vārtma-pradarśaka-guru?

Answer: The vartma-pradarśaka-guru is that person who initially brings us into the company of the devotees, or brings us directly to someone who may become our guru in future. Sometimes the vartma-pradarśaka-guru may be more than one person.

The Dīkṣā-Guru

Question: What is the function of the dīkṣā-guru?

Answer: Both the dīkṣā-guru and the śikṣā-guru are the external manifestations of the Lord within the heart. Ultimately there is no difference between the dīkṣā-guru and the śikṣā–guru provided they are genuine gurus. The dīkṣā and śikṣā–gurus may exist individually as Vaiṣṇavas, but in purpose they are one – they are equal manifestations of Kṛṣṇa. This is mentioned by Śrīla Prabhupāda in his purport to Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.34:

“…the guru who first initiates one with the mahā-mantra is to be known as the initiator, and the saints who give instructions for progressive advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are called instructing spiritual masters. The initiating and instructing spiritual masters are equal and identical manifestations of Kṛṣṇa, although they have different dealings. Their function is to guide the conditioned souls back home, back to Godhead.”

Also in the purport to Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.47, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes:

“There is no difference between the shelter-giving Supreme Lord and the initiating and instructing spiritual masters. If one foolishly discriminates between them, he commits an offence in the discharge of devotional service.”

The dīkṣā-guru is the one who gives initiation which means you are accepted into the family of Kṛṣṇa. The family of Kṛṣṇa means our eternal family which includes all of Kṛṣṇa’s eternal associates – an infinite number of devotees. Dīkṣā is divided into two parts – hari-nāma initiation and mantra-dīkṣā. Sometimes both parts are conducted by a single guru, and sometimes, depending on circumstances, they may be performed by two different gurus. There is only one dīkṣā-guru, but śikṣā-gurus may be many.

The Śikṣā-Guru

Question: What is the role of the śikṣā-guru?

Answer: The Śikṣā-guru is the one who gives instruction (śikṣā). You don’t take hari-nāma and dīkṣā-mantras multiple times. There is only one dīkṣā-guru, but śikṣā-gurus may be many. The dīkṣā-guru may also give śikṣā – that’s pretty natural. But those who give you instruction and guidance throughout your Kṛṣṇa conscious career may be known to you as śikṣā-​gurus. If one’s dīkṣā-guru departs and one did not receive much instruction from the dīkṣā-guru, then a śikṣā-guru is necessary to help one advance on the path. I have godbrothers that were fourteen years old when Prabhupāda left the world and now they are in their fifties. Do you mean to tell me that between the age of fourteen and fifty they didn’t need any help? Maybe, if they’re Śukadeva Gosvāmī! Although Prabhupāda was their dīkṣā-guru, they would probably be doing a lot better if they had accepted a śikṣā–guru. It’s very sensitive. A certain section says, “You are very fortunate, you are initiated by Prabhupāda, that’s all you need.” Yes, but life has shown us decades later that they could have used some more help. They should have been encouraged in that way. Kṛṣṇa may send someone to help and guide you further. After all, although you came in touch with a pure devotee, how much could he deposit in you? How much were you able to receive? Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not just a black and white situation.

It’s not that everyone who teaches us something should be considered to be our śikṣā-guru. When that person’s instruction touches the deepest part of our heart and clears up any remaining residue of doubt, and shows clearly what lies ahead, that is śikṣā-guru. And when that is there, then that’s called sad-guru (substantial guru).

Some people can’t understand the concept of śikṣā-guru, and the reason is because they don’t really understand guru-tattva. Guru-tattva is about substance, not form. It is about truth, not propaganda. Many devotees suffer from a philosophy that Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura called eka-guru-vāda, which means, ‘only one guru’. They say, “I only need one guru! I am only a disciple of so-and-so.”

If you study our guru-paramparā carefully you will see that many of our ācāryas such as Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, who offers respect to Rūpa and Raghunātha at the end of every chapter of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, had two or more gurus. Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī also had many gurus. He had nine gurus in his life and was able to balance them – in other words, he was able to keep the guru-principle harmonised.

I once heard Śrīla Prabhupāda say, “Guru is everywhere! One just has to open their eyes to see.” There’s a chapter in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam that explains how even the crow, the dog, and so many animals are also our gurus. They teach a particular thing. So what to speak of the world of the Vaiṣṇavas, brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs? We cannot receive anything from Kṛṣṇa through them? We can only receive something through our guru? This is a defect. It is not a plus mark. But some devotees carry this mentality with pride. This is not a symptom of someone in search of truth. It is a symptom of false ego.

Having Many Śikṣā-Gurus

Question: I have met devotees who have so many śikṣā-gurus from whom they take instruction. Is this proper?

Answer: Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja once said, “Not everyone can have two gurus. One who has two gurus but cannot harmonise them runs the risk of going to hell!” In other words, accepting a śikṣā-guru is a very serious thing that one is entering into. It is a fact that one who has too many gurus has no guru at all. One who hears from too many sources doesn’t actually hear what Kṛṣṇa is saying and he will ultimately be lost. One may have more than one śikṣā-guru, but they must all be in harmony with each other.

Having a śikṣā–guru is a deep commitment. When you accept dīkṣā, you have some vows, you get a name, you receive some beads, you do some yajña. Everybody sees that. But what about śikṣā? Some people are like, “So-and-so is my śikṣā–guru!” But tomorrow, they forget about him because in their mind, there are no actual vows or commitment. The term ‘śikṣā-guru’ is bandied around a lot.

There is a story. A King wanted a sycophant and he interviewed some men. If the King says, “We’ll go to war!” the sycophant should reply, “Yes! We’ll go to war!” If the king says, “Off with his head!” The sycophant should say, “Off with his head!” He will echo whatever the king says. When the king interviewed each man he told them, “I don’t think you can do the job.”

The first man replied, “Your majesty, I think I can do the job.”

He interviewed the second man and again said, “I don’t think you can do this job.”

“No, no, your majesty, I can do this job!”

Finally he came to the last man. At the end of the interview, the king told him, “No, I don’t think you have the qualifications for this job.”

The man replied, “You’re right. I don’t have the qualifications for this job.”

The king said, “No! I think you can do this job!”

“Yes I think I can!” replied the man.

Then the king told him, “You are hired.”

“Yes, I’m hired!” the man responded.

What many devotees are looking for in a śikṣā-guru is a sycophant. If we approach a sādhu for śikṣā we should not think that he is simply going to ditto that which we think we already know. If so, he is actually not a sādhu. A sādhu will see what it is that impedes our progress and will give proper understanding and instructions to set us on the right path. It is more important to first eliminate the negative than it is to give the positive. When the negative is eliminated, the positive will be illuminated automatically.

Chastity to the Dīkṣā-Guru

Question: I have heard it said that you should only have one guru, your initiating spiritual master, and if you see anyone else as guru, you are unchaste.

Answer: Anyone who says this has never studied the first chapter of the Ādi-līlā of Caitanya-caritāmṛta and has no understanding of the plurality of gurus and the akaṇḍa-guru-tattva (oneness of guru). Mahāprabhu’s philosophy is acintya-​bhedābheda, simultaneous oneness and difference. That also applies to Śrī Guru also. There is a oneness amongst all gurus because they are one tattva, yet there is difference also because they are all individuals who come to teach us various things at various times when there is a necessity.

Somehow or other, many devotees have a problem understanding this principle. For example, after Śrīla Prabhupāda, a number of his sannyāsī disciples went to Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja and superficially accepted him as their śikṣā-guru. They glorified him by saying things like, “Prabhupāda and Kṛṣṇa have sent you! We accept you as sad-guru! You are non-different from Śrīla Prabhupāda!” Then they became guru-tyāgīs because he would not ditto their nonsense, so they rejected him. The very same people suddenly accused us of rejecting Śrīla Prabhupāda! It’s like a guy who steals something, and as he’s running away, he points at some kids and shouts, “Thief!” and everybody chases after them as he gets away. We never rejected Śrīla Prabhupāda or any aspect of Prabhupāda, and we didn’t reject Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja either.

They claim that we left Prabhupāda because our acceptance of a śikṣā-guru crosses beyond their capacity and faith. They cannot accommodate anybody else’s love for Prabhupāda, they can only accept their own particular brand of faith. Such people will always struggle to advance. It is indeed ironic that some of our godbrothers think that they can worship and serve māyā, but also believe that they are remaining chaste to Śrīla Prabhupāda. On the other hand, they think that if a person worships another Vaiṣṇava, they are somehow or other being unchaste to Śrīla Prabhupāda. Actually, it is just the opposite. Those who take shelter of māyā after the disappearance of their guru are prostitutes because after accepting their ‘svāmī’ (husband or master) they again become entangled with māyā, neglecting to serve Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours a day as they vowed to do when they accepted initiation.

Śrīla Prabhupāda once gave the example of when he was distributing Back To Godhead magazines in Delhi before going to the west. A postman saw him and told him, “Swamiji, people will throw magazines away, but they will not throw books away. They will keep them.” When Prabhupāda heard that he said that it was actually his spiritual master speaking through that postman. Now if Prabhupāda could recognise his guru in the words of a Hindu postman from Delhi, why Śrī Guru cannot speak through another exalted Vaiṣṇava? Chastity to your guru doesn’t mean just sitting in front of his picture until death comes. The guru is not locked away in books or in a photo album. The whole principle of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is living. It’s not a dead thing. Chastity in spiritual life means to follow that. If Kṛṣṇa sends His representative, we cannot ignore him. When does the chastity of the disciple mean that he must reject Kṛṣṇa’s representative?

But some people think that if we worship our guru-varga, then all emphasis on our original guru will be lost. It is never lost. Our original guru always remains in our hearts and is never lost, but we may find his grace and guidance in many places. That is our supreme fortune. Many give a challenge that, “You are not chaste to your guru!” My response is, “No! You are not chaste! You are only looking at the form – not in the substance! Chastity to guru means chastity to the principle of guru – not simply to the form. Chastity to guru means strict adherence to the principle of Vaiṣṇavism, of guru-tattva – not to the shape or form of the guru!”

Must a Śikṣā-Guru Be From a Particular Institution?

Question: If I have a śikṣā-guru, does he have to come from a particular society or institution?

Answer: You can’t make a blanket statement that if you have a śikṣā-guru they have to belong to your particular mission. This is a problem. Śikṣā and guru have no limitation according to social barriers. There is no such rule. You can’t just make these things up as you go along.

The Necessity of Śikṣā-Guru

Question: Does everyone need a śikṣā-guru?

Answer: Why? If you have no necessity then you don’t need a śikṣā-guru. If you feel that you have a necessity then, yes. That is not a violation of your chastity to your guru. When you find a śikṣā-guru, you find your guru is living there in the śikṣā of that person. You will feel that coming into his connection is due to your guru’s arrangement. You don’t find it as something different.

Differences in the Dīkṣā and Śikṣā-Gurus

Question: Sometimes we see differences between our dīkṣā and śikṣā-gurus. How can we harmonise this?

Answer: Sometimes you may see differences. There may be differences in style and even differences in instruction. There are no two living entities made alike. All are individual. Everyone has a uniqueness in their character and a unique approach to their devotion. Everyone has a unique offering to make to Kṛṣṇa. All are individual. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Individual and we are all individuals. There is something about us which is very relishable to Kṛṣṇa in our service and our service connection – some specialty, some special trait in every living entity that He will draw out from us.

The Most Important Guru

Question: Who is the most important guru?

Answer: This question was once asked to Śrīla Śrīdhara Maharaja. His reply was, “The guru who helps us the most is the most important.”

Different Gurus – Different Moods

Question: Why are there so many different types of guru?

Answer: The reason is that our guru has a particular mood, he has a bhāva. He has particular instructions, he has a particular way of doing things, and disciples gather around that. Back in the 1980’s, Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja said, “Swami Mahārāja (Śrīla Prabhupāda) and myself are not one!” and this caused an uproar. “Just see! They’re different!” Well, of course they’re different! No two people are the same in this world! Each guru is individual and according to our particular necessity, we will be attracted to that sort of guru. The mood may be different between various gurus, but the siddhānta will be the same.

The problem arises when devotees want to compare their guru with another guru. They think that everybody’s guru should be like their guru, “Because my guru is the real guru!” This is a mistake because most of what any disciple sees is the external personality of their guru. One guru may be very intellectual, another may be more introvert, another may be more extrovert. But ultimately that is all external. Eventually we have to try and see past all that. Do not think that your guru belongs to a particular nationality, a particular country, or that he is a particular age, or even that he is a man or a woman. These are all external. We should try to see within and pray to Kṛṣṇa for a revelation, that some inspiration may come to us to actually see who is guru. We have to go beyond the physical manifestation, the cultural appearance, the skin-deep understanding of the spiritual master. We will have to transcend all the experiences of him in this world.

Guru is One

Question: I have heard some devotees say that ‘guru is one.’ How is this to be understood?

Answer: In Sanskrit this is called akhaṇḍa-guru-tattva (the undivided guru principle). Here is a crude example, but it is applicable. A radio programme originates from a central broadcasting unit and the receivers are many. Those receivers are in turn broadcasting. There is one message being spoken by one man with a microphone at broadcasting central, and that is going out to everybody who’s tuned into that frequency – it may be a thousand, ten-thousand, a hundred-thousand. It is not limited. So the guru is like that radio receiver at home, but the broadcasting unit is Kṛṣṇa.

The guru represents Vyāsa, who is the first one to bring the scripture to us in a written form. That’s why the appearance day of the guru in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism is called Vyāsa Pūjā. Vyāsa is the literary incarnation of the Lord, and the line (paramparā) goes back to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore when it says ‘guru is one’ the ‘one’ means Kṛṣṇa. But which aspect of Kṛṣṇa? His expansion as Baladeva is guru. Kṛṣṇa’s expansion as Nityānanda is guru. Kṛṣṇa as Gadādhara is guru. Kṛṣṇa as Nārada Muni is guru. Kṛṣṇa as Śrīvāsa is guru, and ultimately guru is Rādhārāṇī. So there is a plurality of gurus, and there are stages of guru also.

How can we please Kṛṣṇa? We cannot please Kṛṣṇa directly – we must please Kṛṣṇa by pleasing His devotee. Which devotee? Ultimately his dearmost devotee. Who is that? That is Rādhārāṇī, and She is represented by Gurudeva. Our guru represents the serving energy. So according to the capacity of the disciple, he will see that guru represents Kṛṣṇa, or he represents Baladeva, Nityānanda, Gadādhara, or Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. The position of guru will depend upon the disciple’s capacity. To have an absolute vision of the guru means that there is only one way to see him, and that’s the end of it! The reality is that the guru is only absolute for the disciple, not for anybody else. That is why the position of the guru is actually relative – many people will view him differently. Regardless, the disciple isn’t concerned with the relativity of the guru; he is only concerned with the absolute position of the guru.

The Original Guru Principle

Question: It is said that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Nityānanda Prabhu are both the original gurus. Please can you explain the difference?

Answer: The position of the bona fide guru in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is realised by bona fide disciples in stages according to their subjective achievement. First the disciple may realise the guru to be the representative of Kṛṣṇa. The next higher stage is that the disciple realises that the guru is a manifestation of the ādi-guru, Baladeva Prabhu or Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. Baladeva-tattva is the energy of the Supreme Lord that manifests the pastimes or līlās of the Lord. Baladeva Prabhu manifests directly as Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu to canvas the conditioned living entities to become engaged in the Lord’s transcendental service. Canvassing on behalf of the Supreme Lord is the work of Śrī Gurudeva and therefore he is recognised as the manifestation of Baladeva Prabhu or Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu.

Baladeva Prabhu, or Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, is the ultimate guru principle (guru-tattva) for all devotees in dāsya, sakhya, and vātsalya-rasa in both kṛṣṇa-līlā and gaura-līlā. According to the disciple’s advancement in rasa–tattva, the disciple will realise that Śrī Gurudeva is a leader of a particular group of eternal servitors of the Supreme Lord.

The next higher realisation of the disciple is that the guru is the leader among the mādhurya-rasa section as one of the maidservants (either sakhī or mañjarī) of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the highest figure in the mādhurya-rasa section for She is the only one who knows how to satisfy the transcendental senses of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. When this understanding develops in the heart of a bona fide disciple, he soon realises that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī Herself has directly taken the position of Śrī Gurudeva. The highest concept of guru-tattva revealed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and similar eternal servants of Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu is that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the ultimate guru. Rādhārāṇī is the master of loving exchanges – even Śrī Kṛṣṇa is Her beloved student in such matters. Therefore, in the last stage of realisation in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the disciple realises Śrī Gurudeva to be a direct manifestation of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

That Śrī Gurudeva is the manifestation of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the purport of Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s verse, sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstraiḥ– “The spiritual master is the dearmost servant of Śrī Hari, being the non-different form of the Supreme Lord.”

The dearmost servant of Kṛṣṇa (Śrī Hari) is indeed Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and the non-different form of the Supreme Lord is also Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are the One Absolute Truth manifest as two for the purpose of enjoying transcendental pastimes.

rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmād
ekātmānāv api bhuvi purā deha-bhedaṁ gatau tau
caitanyākhyaṁ prakaṭam adhunā tad-dvayaṁ caikyam āptaṁ
rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ naumi kṛṣṇa-svarūpam

Rādhā is the manifestation of love for Kṛṣṇa and She is His hlādinī-śakti. Although They are inherently One in their identity, They previously manifested in two distinct forms in this world. Their two separate forms are now united as one in Śrī Caitanya. I offer obeisance unto He who is Kṛṣṇa Himself adorned with the heart and halo of Rādhā. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.1.5)

Following the above thought, Śrī Gurudeva may also be realised as gaura-tattva or non-different from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In this case, the disciple ultimately realises that Śrī Gurudeva is a direct manifestation of Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita who is the bhāva, or the manifest emotions of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

The above-mentioned points of guru-tattva are all relative realisations of the position of the guru according to the disciple’s advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the Gauḍīya siddhānta of the guru-tattva, as revealed by previous ācāryas in our paramparā.

Madhyama and Uttama Gurus

Question: Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja explains that there are three kinds of guru – one with both feet in the material world with eyes toward the spiritual world, the other with one foot here and one foot there, and the third with both feet in the spiritual world. Can you kindly explain this?

Answer: Both feet in the material world means ascending, but having some good intention and going forward. The second, with one foot here and one foot there, is a much more desirable option, and that is where progress is made. But here’s where things become a little confusing. Some people say, “Well, I want an uttama-adhikārī guru.” Well, you’re probably never going to find one. If he’s got both feet in the spiritual world, how will he become your guru? How will he reach us, and how will we reach him? He’s unreachable. Uttama-adhikārīs don’t really become gurus. The work of a guru is the work of a madhyama-adhikārī. Therefore he puts one foot back into this world. An uttama-adhikārī may come down to the level of a madhyama-adhikārī to become a guru. He’s a paramahaṁsa, but he’s paramahaṁsa parivrājakācārya (a paramahaṁsa who is travelling and preaching). An uttama-adhikārī thinks he is lower than you, so how will he become your guru? He is thinking, “I am more insignificant than you. I’m not even a Vaiṣṇava.” If an uttama-adhikārī is in paramahaṁsa-bhāva, he will ask for your blessings! Then what will you do? We used to go and have darśana of Śrīla Purī Mahārāja, and he would humbly ask the blessings of everyone who came into the room! I saw some people react rather oddly to that. They thought, “I was coming to get his blessing, but he’s asking me for my blessing?” He was at that time of his life in paramahaṁsa-bhāva. He felt that he was the most needy. When you see yourself as most needy, how will you help anybody? Therefore the work of the guru is done by a madhyama-adhikārī who makes discrimination. “That is māyā, this is Kṛṣṇa!” He is a preacher and that is where the guru is situated. A guru either comes up to the madhyama platform or comes down to the madhyama platform.

Some devotees will say, “But Prabhupāda was a paramahaṁsa.” That may be, but he was acting like a madhyama. During his final stage of life, Prabhupāda manifested full paramahaṁsa-bhāva. At that stage, when the guru manifests the paramahaṁsa level, then immediately everyone misunderstands.

The Position of a Kaniṣṭha-Adhikārī Guru

Question: We have to consider the guru as a pure devotee, but there are also kaniṣṭha gurus. How is it possible to consider a kaniṣṭha-guru to be a pure devotee?

Answer: Who said we should consider that? That is like considering a dog to be a cow – it won’t produce any milk. Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja has explained the different types of gurus – one guru is standing with both feet in the material world; one guru has one foot in the material world and one foot in the spiritual world and he’s extending a helping hand; then there is another guru who has two feet in the spiritual world and he is also extending a helping hand (by descending to the madhyama platform). This example is sometimes compared to the kaniṣṭha, the madhyama, and the paramahaṁsa, but actually without being a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa, no one can be guru. A kaniṣṭha should never become guru. If our guru is a kaniṣṭha, there will be a problem because a kaniṣṭha cannot make proper discrimination. How can he point the way when he doesn’t know it himself? What Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja has said about the guru with both feet in the material world is a very generous and general description, but in reality, we should try to avoid that.

It is not good to accept a kaniṣṭha-adhikārī as your guru, and if you know that you are a kaniṣṭha you should have enough dignity not to accept disciples. It’s not up to others to find out if you are a kaniṣṭha – it’s up to you to discover if you are a kaniṣṭha, and if you are a kaniṣṭha, you should not take that position because you cannot actually help anybody.