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Commentaries of chapter 7, verse 14 of the Srimad Bhagavad-Gita.
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<CENTER>Translation:
This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it. </CENTER>


<TABLE cellSpacing=16><TBODY><TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width2="25%">Rudra Vaisnava Sampradaya:
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Visnuswami
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><CENTER>Sridhara Swami's Commentary</CENTER>





The question may arise as to who are those who are able to know Lord Krishna. To answer this the word daivi meaning divine is used. This divine, supernatural and wonderfully marvellous illusion of the Supreme Lord constituted of the power of Lord Krishna, consisting of the products of the gunas being the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance is extremely difficult to surmount. This is a well known fact and is proven by the fact that only a very minuscule portion of humanity surmount this maya or illusory impressions superimposed upon the mind in every generation. Yet it is also a fact that those who take exclusive shelter of Lord Krishna with loving affection in unwavering devotion are the only ones to cross over this insurmountable illusion that is otherwise impossible to navigate and by accepting His shelter they come to learn Him as He is. This is the purport.



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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width2="25%">Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya:
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Madhvacarya
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><CENTER>Madhvacarya's Commentary</CENTER>





Why has the delusion of maya or illusory impressions superimposed upon the mind been unable to be overcome since time immemorial? Lord Krishna reveals that it is because it is daivi meaning divine is this illusion. This is the purport. Illusion is that which beguiles and bewilders people. Maya by her activity of permeating creation deludes all people by her potent power of allusion which causes all people to follow desire and sense gratification. Therefore definitions of daivi yields such explanations as: lustrous, sport or play, desire to conquer, splendour, adoration, pleasure, imagination, brilliance and movement. But why is this maya divine? It is because it is under the control of the Supreme Lord and He alone is its controller. The Vyasa Yoga states that: Sri the Goddess of Fortune Laxsmi, Bhu the Goddess of the Earth and Durga the external material energy are the distinct forms of this grand illusion. Regarding Sri Laxsmi, she does not partake of the endless energies of the Supreme Lord as she has taken complete shelter in Him. Because of such propensity Brahma, Rudra and all the demigods do not possess even a minor portion of her manifestation. Having received the grace of the Supreme Lord by taking complete refuge within Him nothing can ever overcome her power. But yet the question will still persist of how can this maya be overcome? To answer this Lord Krishna replies with the words: mam eva ye prapadyante meaning only those who surrender unto Him. Those who renounce all else and take exclusive shelter of Him alone can surmount this maya. Those who humbly serve and devoutly worship the spiritual master in adoration, such worship surely reaches unto the Supreme Lord because they have realised that their holy preceptors greatness is due to the fact that the Supreme Lord has manifested within His heart. The Narada Purana states: The madhya or intermediate humans duly propitiate the holy preceptor due to the Supreme Lord manifesting within him. The uttama or topmost human beings propitiate all beings as they recognise the Supreme Lord in all beings. In the Bhagavat Purana it states: That the Supreme Lord through the form of consciousness which pervades the mind of the spiritual master teaches the humble aspirant true wisdom about Himself.



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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width2="25%">Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya:
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Ramanuja
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><CENTER>Ramanuja's Commentary</CENTER>

Those evolved beings who by chance or determination surrender themselves to the Supreme Lord Krishna exclusively as their sole refuge and protector, He who is the most merciful. He who is the most magnanimous, He who is the only one to be depended on, He who is the shelter of all creation; only those so fully surrendered will be able to navigate the tempestuous oceans of maya or illusory impressions superimposed upon the mind. In concise language such surrendered souls circumvent maya by exclusively devoting themselves to the Supreme Lord Krishna.


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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width2="25%">Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya:
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Nimbaditya
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><CENTER>Kesava Kasmiri's Commentary</CENTER>

It is stated in the Vedic scriptures that the flowing of the qualities of Lord Krishna's divine potency known as maya or illusory impressions superimposed upon the mind is without a beginning or an end. In the Svestasvatara Upanisad IV.V it states that by the agency of maya unlimited beings are produced possessing like qualities. So it is not possible for those embodied beings deluded and controlled by maya and to ever receive divine benedictions and such being the case they will never be eligible to overcome the delusory effects of maya. Lord Krishna speaks thus to address this point of overcoming the potent effects of maya So marvellous is this wondrous illusion which is perceived in prakriti or the material substratum evolving through the three gunas or the modes of goodness, passion and nescience into physical forms which are all totally controlled by the Self- Effulgent, Supreme Lord full of eternity, knowledge and bliss, who although omnipresent is never touched or influenced by the gunas or prakriti or anything animate or inanimate. There is also nothing which a has a similar nature to maya as its function is one of a kind. In the Svetasvatara Upanisad IV.X it states: One should know that maya's nature is illusory and that the omniscient and omnipotent Supreme Lord is its source filtered into material existence through the three gunas and unable to be surmounted by hundreds of processes and thousands of techniques unless and until the grace of the Supreme Lord is attained. According to the Katha Upanisad V.XIII: He who is the constant within the inconstant, the intelligence among the intelligent, the one within the many and who grants all desires. In the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad I.IV.X it states: Whoever among the demigods becomes awakened to this indeed becomes it, this applies likewise to elevated beings and also to advanced humans. The atma or eternal soul within embodied beings is without limitations but among embodied beings only those who are able to disconnect themselves from all ego sense of I- ness and my-ness and external desires and renouncing all other goals accept the Supreme Lord Krishna as the exclusive goal of their life endeavour and spiritual practices. Thus worshipping Him wholeheartedly as omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient controller of maya, taking total refuge in Him solely and faithfully following the six activities favourable for spiritual advancement such as enthusiasm, endeavouring with confidence, patience, following the Vedic injunctions, abandoning the association of those not devoted to the Vedic culture and accepting and following the instructions of the authorised guru from the bonafide disciplic succession as revealed within the Vedic scriptures; one is with devotion and unshakeable perseverance able to overcome this insurmountable maya. The word eva or only is used in the sense of decisiveness as in exclusively. In the Vamana Purana the child saint Prahlad says: Those highly evolved persons who have taken refuge in the Supreme Lord, infinite, immutable, without a second, the foremost of all lords, the God of Gods, the auspicious bestower of liberation, the Lord of Laxsmi, the goddess of fortune and the master of Garuda, His carrier never have to be subjected to chastisement by Yamaraj the demigod in charge of punishment in diverse hells.


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</TD></TR></TR></TBODY></TABLE><CENTER>Thus ends commentaries of chapter 7, verse 14 of the Srimad Bhagavad-Gita.</CENTER>

[IMG][/IMG] [/quote]
What is rarely mentioned is not only were there originally 11 men mentioned by Prabhupada who could become guru after he left, but the GBC, consisting of 13 representatives, could add more. Yes it got to where the gurus had more power than the GBC. But the GBC should actually be in charge of the gurus. This is Prabhupada's will and desire. He said more could be added. He implimented the GBC saying that his guru wanted it but his guru's disciples didn't follow. So Prabhupada started it himself. These men, the GBC's must be more powerful in determining who shall become or remain guru, not because they are more powerful than a genuine, bona-fide spiritual master, but because someone has to set the standard for gurus and do something about the ones who fall down. We have seen gurus who fall that are so attached to their positions that they take their disciples with them, and the disciples follow the guru because he tells them the GBC are in maya.
No, there is nothing wrong with the GBC controlling the gurus. The problem is they are too laksidaisical about it. Begging Dhanurdhara swami's forgiveness when he was kicked out for child abuse, begging Satsvarupa's forgiveness that they dared to criticize the uttama adhikari, instead they should let him control all of his disciples and use their money to print books and he gets the profits. And never go to temples or preach except to say to his own followers how much maya the rest of the society is in.
The GBC is afraid because every time a guru falls he takes his disciples with him so that is why they are afraid to announce when a guru falls, but then the guru takes his disciples with him anyway. They have no gumption.

Srila Prabhupada said that a spiritual master cannot be subjected to the advice of non-disciples or ANYONE!!!!!

The idea of having a committee in charge of the acharyas is nothing less than demoniac.

Even Ravana never proposed such a ludicrous idea.
He was more Vedic than that.

What did Srila Prabhupada say about the successor "gurus" of the Gaudiya Matha?
I don't think he ever had any idea that gurus would be under the thumb of a GBC.

In his books he teaches that the guru cannot be subjected to the advice or discipline of others.

So, it is a big lie that Srila Prabhupada wanted gurus in ISKCON under the control of the GBC.

It is a lie..... that is all.................... a LIE.

ummm to be honest, there is nothing "traditional" in an American being a "guru" or vedic anything. lol. everything is conventional except the teachings.

Mahaprabhu didn't allow these differentiations between American, European and Indian Vaishnava.
So, we shouldn't adopt such an artificial classification of Vaishnavas.

There is no such thing as American Vaishnava or European Vaishnava or Indian Vaishnava.
Vaishnava is Vaishnava.
We can't divide Vaishnava by some false bodily conception of life.

But, when it comes to guru-tattva a guru is a guru and cannot be subjugated by some corperate committee.

The zonal gurus were GBC. They constituted the greater portion of the GBC in any case. So where was the control? Once most of them fell down , who was left as GBC? Hardly anybody. So a new GBC mysteriously emerged and perpetuated the acarya fiasco by appointing dozens and dozens of gurus.(uttama adhikari? I don't think so).
We are to believe that gurus can be created by committee? Show me a single quote by Prabhupada that justifies such nonsense.

Prabhupada said "You can add more men in the future" (gurus) when he gave a list of eleven men to start with. He left it up to the GBC. There is where the ambiguity comes in. There is no quote stating exactly how a guru should be recognized because Prabhupada left it up to the GBC, plain and simple.

What about Satsvarupa's other one to two hundred he is selling at his website that is fully stocked? Are all these books Bhagavatam? Written by the person Bhagavatam so they are fully authorized without question by the GBC? Satsvarupa started deviating at least twenty years ago if not more with his adventures of Mustika the mouse or something like that is it not? Why aren't the rest of his books banned and burned? The only good ones there are tell something about Srila Prabhupada in my opinion. If he is using the "f word" now, why are the old books any better? Was he more advanced then but fell down? Or was he always fallen?

I need a reference for your quote. What letter, tape or conversation does this little fragment come from?

First of all this is a lie and a distortion of the facts.
Srila Prabhupada never said they would be gurus after he left.
That is a lie.

So, before we can establish a conclusion we have to eliminate the lies and the distortions that some anonymous fool posted here to intentionally confuse the truth about what Srila Prabhupada gave for ISKCON.

(1) Srila Prabhupada never appointed or named any gurus and never said the ritviks would then be gurus after his departure.

that is an intentional lie...............

According to the IRM, this quote came from TKG when he was at Topanga canyon in 1980. He was about to ask Prabhupada to sign the letter for the original 11 temporary helpers to help initiate in Srila Prabhupada's behalf, or else maybe this was understood that later these disciples would become gurus I don't know. But TKG asked Srila Prabhupada if he should add any more to the list, and Srila Prabhupada said, "More can be added as needed".

Weak

I was from Ritvik with them for 4 years left them and now i have joined iskcon....Prabhupada did not or never intended a ritvik system. It is a new creation by Krsnakant. The Vedic Principles is when a Guru moves on his disciples , some may act as Guru and initiate their own disciples. This is the Vedic Truth.

Ritvik system creates a bunch of devotess who are envious and lack humbleness. They can rebel against their senior devotess because they are not gurus. Without a Guru telling them what is right or a wrong , a ritvik man can go on speculating and says ""Oh because Prabhupada says so"

Pls read and understand the Vedic System of Guru and disciple. Or read prabhupada's quotes on Gurus.

Did Prahupada's Guru appointed Prabhupada as Guru ?? Go and find this proof first.

Indian man: When did you become the spiritual leader of Krsna consciousness?

Prabhupada: What is that?

Brahmananda: He’s asking when did you become the spiritual leader of Krsna consciousness?

Prabhupada: WHEN MY GURU MAHARAJA ORDERED ME. This is the guru-parampara.

Indian: Did it...

Prabhupada: Try to understand. Don’t go very speedily. A GURU CAN BECOME GURU WHEN HE’S ORDERED BY HIS GURU. THAT’S ALL. OTHERWISE NOBODY CAN BECOME GURU.

Indian man: When did he tell you to...?

Prabhupada: WHAT IS THE BUSINESS, WHEN DID HE TELL ME? AND WHY SHALL I DISCLOSE TO YOU? IT IS SO VERY INSIGNIFICANT THING THAT I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO YOU?

Indian man: No, I am just curious when...

Prabhupada: YOU SHOULD BE CURIOUS WITHIN YOUR LIMIT. YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT ONE CAN BECOME GURU WHEN HE IS ORDERED BY HIS GURU, THIS MUCH.

(October 28, 1975)

I do not see the name "Krsnakant" mentioned here. Do you?


MAY 28, 1977 CONVERSATION

Satsvarupa: Then our next question concerns initiations in the future, particularly at that time when you are no longer with us. We want to know how first and second initiation(s) would be conducted.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. I shall recommend some of you. After this is settled up I shall recommend some of you to act as officiating acarya(s).

Tamal Krsna: Is that called ritvik acarya?

Srila Prabhupada: RITVIK. YES.


JULY 9, 1977 LETTER – Signed by Srila Prabhupada

“Recently when all of the GBC members were with His Divine Grace in Vrndavana, Srila Prabhupada indicated that soon He would appoint some of His senior disciples to act as "RITTIK"-representative of the acarya, for the purpose of performing initiations, both first initiation and second initiation.”

“After considering the recommendation, these representatives may accept the devotee as an initiated disciple of Srila Prabhupada”

“The newly initiated devotees are disciples of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad”


JULY 11, 1977 LETTER

“A letter has been sent to all the Temple Presidents and GBC which you should be receiving soon describing the process for initiation to be followed in the future. Srila Prabhupada has appointed thus far eleven representatives who will initiate new devotees on His behalf.”

JULY 19, 1977 CONVERSATION

Srila Prabhupada: “And nobody is going to disturb you there. Make your own field and CONTINUE TO BECOME RITVIK and act on my charge.”

JULY 21, 1977 LETTER

“Srila Prabhupada's initial list of disciples appointed to perform initiations for His Divine Grace. This initial list is also being sent to all centers.”

JULY 31, 1977 LETTER

“His Divine Grace immediately replied […]’Now you have a very good field. Now organize it and it will be a great credit. No one will disturb you there. Make your own field and CONTINUE TO BECOME RITVIK AND ACT ON MY BEHALF.'”

OCTOBER 22, 1977 CONVERSATION

Srila Prabhupada: So I have deputied some of you to initiate? […] THIS INITIATION I HAVE DEPUTED MY DISCIPLES, IS THAT CLEAR OR NOT?

Tamala Krsna: IT IS CLEAR.

Looks like Bhakta Tom's posting is clear.

Rtvik is gradually wining in ISKCON circles. Rtvik is a type of guru. One of a slightly lesser status who connects one to the principle acarya.

Srila Sridhar Maharaja once said that the ritvik is the vartma-pradarshaka guru.

That is the guru who shows one the proper path.

http://www.gosai.com/chaitanya/gbc/78_ssm_gbc.html