Because Who Will Teach You?

[suchandra 1]

Somehow the concept that vedic knowledge is beyond dispute seems to be not really accepted. What is missing? "Then you’ll be able to preach and make disciples all over the world. This is the injunction. That is called gosvāmī. Don’t be cheap preacher, cheap guru. No, that is not good. It is not possible." (Māyāpur, March 6, 1976)

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: "So we have to approach a pure Vaishnava as spiritual master, follow his instruction. And what is his instruction? His instruction is as he was instructed by his spiritual master. He does not invent instruction. This is instruction. The pure Vaishnava, he does not invent anything new. Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa upadeśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128] Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that “You all, every one of you become guru, everyone.” Āmāra ājñāya guru haña tāra ei deśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. Wherever you are living, it doesn’t require that you have to travel all over the world. If you have no such capacity, it doesn’t matter. You remain wherever you are, but you become a guru. “How I become a guru?” Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa upadeśa: [Cc. Madhya 7.128] “Very simple thing. You instruct only what is instructed by Krishna. That’s all.” Don’t invent. Don’t become overintelligent. Remain a poor fool. Guru more mūrkha dekhi śāsana, korilā śāsana. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also presenting Himself as a great fool because He says, “My Guru Mahārāja found Me a great fool.” He was a fool? He was Krishna Himself. But one should remain always a fool before Guru Mahārāja. That is progress. If he thinks, “I know more than my Guru Mahārāja,” then he’s fallen. Yasyāprasādād na gatiḥ kuto ’pi. Then he is finished. So we should always remain a fool before the spiritual master, even though one is incarnation, not that “I am incarnation; therefore I have become God.” No. Even if you are incarnation, you should remain a humble servant. That is that, tava bhṛtya-sevām. Prahlāda Mahārāja is… Daityānāṁ prahlādo ’smi. The Supreme Personality of Godhead incarnates in different societies, different platforms, and He says, “Amongst the Daityas…” Amongst the Daityas, there are also devotees. So prahlādo ’smi. Prahlāda Mahārāja is saktyāveṣāvatāra, but still, he says that kathāṁ nu visṛje tava bhṛtya-sevām: “How can I give up this service?” Prahlāda Mahārāja does not say, “My Lord, Nrsimhadeva, I am now so competent. Give me Your service directly.” No. Tava bhṛtya-sevām: “First of all give me the opportunity to serve Your servant.” This is Vaishnavism. So why it is required to serve Vaishnava? If you want to get relief from this conditional life, then you have to serve Vaishnavas. Chādiyā vaiṣṇava sevā, nistāra payeche keba. This is the… “Who has got,” I mean to say, “liberty from this entanglement of material existence”—chādiyā vaiṣṇava sevā—“if you do not serve a pure Vaishnava?” Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ [SB 5.5.2]. This is everywhere. If you want liberation from this material entanglement, then you must take to mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ [SB 5.5.2]. You must. There is no alternative. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam [sB 11.3.21]. “If you are actually interested to inquire about the transcendental subject matter, you must accept a guru.” Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta.

tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti tad jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinam [Bg. 4.34]

So these are the ways. You cannot understand by your erudite scholarship what is Krishna. It is not possible. Then Krishna would have instructed Bhagavad-gītā to…, finding out a very great Vedantist. No. Krishna found Arjuna. What was Arjuna? Arjuna was a gṛhastha. Arjuna was a kṣatriya, and although a soldier… A soldier is not expected to become a Vedantist. We recruit soldiers not from the Vedantists’ group. One who can fight, one who has got strength—we recruit soldier. So Arjuna was not very qualified in that way to understand Bhagavad-gītā or instruction, but Krishna said, “Yes, I will speak, speak to you. This Bhagavad-gītā, the paramparā is lost, so I shall again speak the old thing to you.”

 

 

 

From, "Serpents And Servants", His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda --------- Māyāpur, March 6, 1976

[Murali_Mohan_das 0]

Wow!! Srila Prabhupada was empowered indeed!

 

Even the Lord's *direct* incarnations display utter reverence to Sri Guru!

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: "So we have to approach a pure Vaishnava as spiritual master, follow his instruction. And what is his instruction? His instruction is as he was instructed by his spiritual master. He does not invent instruction. This is instruction. The pure Vaishnava, he does not invent anything new. Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa upadeśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128] Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that “You all, every one of you become guru, everyone.” Āmāra ājñāya guru haña tāra ei deśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. Wherever you are living, it doesn’t require that you have to travel all over the world. If you have no such capacity, it doesn’t matter. You remain wherever you are, but you become a guru. “How I become a guru?” Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa upadeśa: [Cc. Madhya 7.128] “Very simple thing. You instruct only what is instructed by Krishna. That’s all.” Don’t invent. Don’t become overintelligent. Remain a poor fool. Guru more mūrkha dekhi śāsana, korilā śāsana. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also presenting Himself as a great fool because He says, “My Guru Mahārāja found Me a great fool.” He was a fool? He was Krishna Himself. But one should remain always a fool before Guru Mahārāja. That is progress. If he thinks, “I know more than my Guru Mahārāja,” then he’s fallen. Yasyāprasādād na gatiḥ kuto ’pi. Then he is finished. So we should always remain a fool before the spiritual master, even though one is incarnation, not that “I am incarnation; therefore I have become God.” No. Even if you are incarnation, you should remain a humble servant. That is that, tava bhṛtya-sevām. Prahlāda Mahārāja is… Daityānāṁ prahlādo ’smi. The Supreme Personality of Godhead incarnates in different societies, different platforms, and He says, “Amongst the Daityas…” Amongst the Daityas, there are also devotees. So prahlādo ’smi. Prahlāda Mahārāja is saktyāveṣāvatāra, but still, he says that kathāṁ nu visṛje tava bhṛtya-sevām: “How can I give up this service?” Prahlāda Mahārāja does not say, “My Lord, Nrsimhadeva, I am now so competent. Give me Your service directly.” No. Tava bhṛtya-sevām: “First of all give me the opportunity to serve Your servant.” This is Vaishnavism. So why it is required to serve Vaishnava? If you want to get relief from this conditional life, then you have to serve Vaishnavas. Chādiyā vaiṣṇava sevā, nistāra payeche keba. This is the… “Who has got,” I mean to say, “liberty from this entanglement of material existence”—chādiyā vaiṣṇava sevā—“if you do not serve a pure Vaishnava?” Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ [SB 5.5.2]. This is everywhere. If you want liberation from this material entanglement, then you must take to mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ [SB 5.5.2]. You must. There is no alternative. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam [sB 11.3.21]. “If you are actually interested to inquire about the transcendental subject matter, you must accept a guru.” Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta.

tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti tad jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinam [Bg. 4.34]

So these are the ways. You cannot understand by your erudite scholarship what is Krishna. It is not possible. Then Krishna would have instructed Bhagavad-gītā to…, finding out a very great Vedantist. No. Krishna found Arjuna. What was Arjuna? Arjuna was a gṛhastha. Arjuna was a kṣatriya, and although a soldier… A soldier is not expected to become a Vedantist. We recruit soldiers not from the Vedantists’ group. One who can fight, one who has got strength—we recruit soldier. So Arjuna was not very qualified in that way to understand Bhagavad-gītā or instruction, but Krishna said, “Yes, I will speak, speak to you. This Bhagavad-gītā, the paramparā is lost, so I shall again speak the old thing to you.”

 

 

 

From, "Serpents And Servants", His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda --------- Māyāpur, March 6, 1976