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18ßR GURU AND HIS GRACEunderstand the eternal truth of the sublime teaching ofLord Chaitanya.Personally, I have no hope for any direct service ofthe coming crores of births in the sojourn of my life, butI am confident that some day or other I shall be delivered from this mire of delusion in which I am at presentso deeply sunk. Therefore let me with all my earnestnesspray at the lotus feet of my divine master to allow meto suffer the lot for which I am destined due to my pastmisdoings, but to let me have this power of recollection:that I am nothing but a tiny servant of the AlmightyAbsolute Godhead, realized through the unflinchingmercy of my divine master. Let me therefore bow downat his lotus feet with all the humility at my command.Abhay Charan DasFor Members, ßrÈ GauÎÈya MaÊhBombay—This lecture was originally published in The Harmonistin 1936, on the advent day of His Divine Grace O Vi›ˆupÅda ßrÈla BhaktisiddhÅnta SaraswatiÈ †hÅkur.

IntroductionBy His Divine Graceßrila Bhakti Rak›ak ßrÈdhar Dev-GoswÅmÈMahÅrÅjFounder-åchÅrya of ßrÈ Chaitanya SÅraswat MaÊhTo err is human. Toerr is inevitable forall, being not perfect.Still, no one wants toremain imperfect. Thereis an element within allthat is animate that tendstowards perfection. If itwere not so, we would feelno want at all. Our tendency towards perfection is certainly very weak andlimited; otherwise we could attain the goal at once.Our limited capacity and tendency for perfection makesroom for the guide or guru.The imperfect is not so if it is not in need of help, andthat also from beyond itself. The perfect is not perfect ifHe cannot assert Himself or help others, and that too, ofHis own accord. So the guidance to perfection orAbsoluteTruth is necessarily a function of the absoluteHimself, and the divine agent through whom this function manifests is ßrÈ Guru or the divine guide.19

20ßR GURU AND HIS GRACEFor a seeker of the Absolute Truth, submission tothe guru is unavoidable. A class of thinkers believe,however, that when scientific research is possible, whycannot higher spiritual knowledge also be evolved fromwithin? Such people are ignorant of the most essentialnature of absolute knowledge, that He alone is theAbsolute Subject and all else including ourselves constitutionally stand only as an object to His omniscientvision. It is impossible for the eye to see the mind; it canhave some connection with the mind only when thelatter cares to mind it. In a similar way, our connectionwith absolute knowledge depends mainly on His sweetwill. We must solely depend on His agent, or the spiritual master, through whom He likes to distribute Himself.Our human society with its finest culture forms butan infinitesimal part of the dynamic absolute. How,except by the direct and positive method of revelation, dare we hope to comprehend or evolve any conception of the supernatural knowledge of the unconditioned infinite? All intellectual giants provethemselves but pygmies before the absolute omniscientomnipotence who reserves the right to give Himselfaway through His own agents alone.To our best knowledge and sincerity, however, weshould see not to submit to a false agent. Here of course,we can’t help ourselves very much; because in our present state we are mainly guided by our previous sa skara

INTRODUCTION21or acquired nature. “Birds of the same feather flocktogether.” Yet, although we are generally overpoweredby habit, there is still the possibility of free choice to acertain extent, especially in the human species, otherwise correction becomes impossible, and punishmentmere vengeance. Reality can assert itself. Light doesnot require darkness for its positive proof. The sun byitself can establish its supremacy over all other lights.Before an open and unbiased eye, the sad guru (realguide) shines above all professors of phenomenon.ßrÈ Guru manifest himself mainly in a twofold way—as the director from within and the preceptor fromwithout. Both functions of the absolute help an individual soul—a disciple—to reach the absolute goal. Inour fallen state we cannot catch the proper direction tothe inner guide, so the merciful manifestation of thepreceptor without is our sole help and hope. But atthe same time it is only by the grace of the guru within that we can recognize the real preceptor withoutand submit to his holy feet.A bona fide disciple must always remain fully awaketo the fact that his highest spiritual fortune is but agracious grant from the Absolute Lord, and not a matter of right to be demanded or fought out.Constitutionally, we are equipped only to be properrecipients of God’s favor. In this connection it should beclearly understood that an individual soul can never

22ßR GURU AND HIS GRACEbe substantially the same as the Absolute Person. Noteven in his liberated or fully realized condition can anindividual soul be one with Godhead. The misconception of oneness has been introduced from the slothfulnondiscrimination of the Absolute Personality fromthe luminous orb around His eternal, spiritual, andblissful home. In fact, an individual soul constitutesonly a part of a particular power of intermediate valueof the Supreme Lord, and as such he is capable of beingconverted from both sides. He differs from the AbsoluteEntity both in quantity and quality, and is merely adependent entity on the Absolute. In other words, theAbsolute Lord Krishna is the master, and an individualjÈva soul is His constitutional subordinate or servant.Such a relationship is constant and really wholesome for the jÈva. The apprehension of slavery doesnot arise because of his free choice and immense positive gain. The freedom and individuality of the jÈvaare not only unharmed by surrender to the AbsoluteGood, but they really thrive in Him alone. Individualfreedom and interest are the part and parcel of thosewho are of the absolute, and so they are quite at homethere, as a fish is at home in water or an animal in ahealthy atmosphere. But the freedom as well as all other qualities of the Supreme Personality are unlimitedand transcendental, and so only by their partial functions they harmonize all relative entities.

INTRODUCTION23ßrÈ guru is not exclusively the same as the SupremeLord Himself, but he fully represents the essence of thewhole normal potency and embodies the most comprehensive and excellent service and favor of the Lord.As he is the fittest servitor of the Lord, he is empoweredby the Lord to reinstate all misguided souls to their bestinterest. So guru is the divine messenger of immortalhope and joy in this mortal and miserable world. Hisadvent is the most auspicious and happy event to thesuffering animation, and can be compared to the risingof the morning star that can guide the traveller lost inthe desert. A gentle touch of ÍrÈ guru’s merciful hand canwipe away the incessant tears from all weeping eyes. Apatriot or philanthropist makes the problem only worsein his frantic and futile attempt to alleviate the deeprooted pain of a suffering soul, as an ignorant doctordoes in eagerly handling an unfortunate patient. Ohthe day when this poor soul realizes the causeless graceof ÍrÈ gurudeva.SwÅmÈ B.R. ßrÈdhar—this essay was originally published in 1934, in TheHarmonist.

Surrenderto - GuruSriEven great scholars are perplexed in understandingwhat is good and what is bad, what to accept, andwhat to dismiss (ki karma ki akarmeti kavayo’py atramohitÅÓ). Even great scholars fail to understand their realnecessity. This material world is a jungle of perplexities,where the soul has accepted so many different kinds ofbodies in different types of consciousness. In the Lawsof Manu, it is written:jalajÅ nava-lak›ÅnisthÅvarÅ lak›a-vimÍatikÂmayo rudra-sa khyakÅÓpak›iˆÅ daÍa lak›aˆamtri ÍÅl-lak›Åˆi paÍavaÓcatur-lak›Åˆi mÅnu›aÓThere are 900,000 kinds of aquatics, 2,000,000 kindsof trees and plants, 1,100,000 kinds of insects and reptiles, 1,000,000 kinds of birds, 3,000,000 kinds of fourlegged beasts, and 400,000 kinds of human species.Manu says that the trees are in such a hopeless position25

26ßR GURU AND HIS GRACEas a result of their own karma. Their feelings of pain andpleasure are similar to ours; their souls are not of a lower standard. Still, they are in such a deplorable positionas a result of their own karma. They have no one toblame but themselves. This is the state of affairs in thisexternal world.We are living in an environment which is afflictedwith serious misconception, misunderstanding, misguidance, and misbehavior. How are we to ascertainwhat is good and what is bad, what we should aspire afterand what we should reject? Innumerable alternativeshave thronged in a crowd, coming to influence us. Andwhen this area, covered by illusion and influenced bymisunderstanding, is filled with such diversity, how canwe hope to know the infinite spiritual world ofVaikuˆÊha? With what attitude should we approachthat realm which is transcendental, beyond the realm ofthe senses and mind, adhok›aja.THE GENUINE GURUWe must accept any way and any alliance that willhelp us gain entrance into that realm. We shall try tohave even the slightest connection with that perfectgoal of our innate aspiration. We are helpless; we arehopeless in the midst of disappointment. We are inextreme danger. We rely on our free will, our capacityof selection for our own good, but it is too minute and

SURRENDER TO ßR GURU27helpless to guide us. What danger we are in! All aroundus are witnesses to this danger. How important is a realguru who can guide us to our real welfare.We are in the midst of different forces that are drawing us, attracting us towards different directions, soproper guidance is the most valuable and the mostimportant thing for all of us. If we accept direction fromanywhere and everywhere, we will be misguided.Therefore, we must be careful to get proper direction.That direction has been given by Krishna in theBhagavad-gÈtÅ (4.34):tad viddhi praˆipÅtenaparipraÍnena sevayÅupadek›yanti te jñÅna jñÅninas tattva-darÍinaÓ“To understand transcendental knowledge, you mustapproach a self-realized soul, accept him as your spiritual master, and take initiation from him. Inquire submissively and render service unto him. Self-realizedsouls can impart knowledge unto you, for they haveseen the truth.”QUALIFICATIONS OF A DISCIPLEHere, Krishna has given us the standard by which wecan understand what is what from a bona fide source.The standard to measure truth or untruth must come

28ßR GURU AND HIS GRACEnot from a vitiated, vulnerable plane, but from a realplane. And to realize that, we must have these threequalifications: praˆipÅt, paripraÍna, and seva. PraˆipÅtmeans we must surrender to this knowledge, for it is notan ordinary class of knowledge, which as a subject wecan make our object; it is supersubjective. We may bethe subjects in this mundane world, but we will have tobecome objects to be handled by the superknowledge ofthat plane.PraˆipÅt means that one approaches a spiritual master, saying, “I am finished with the experience of thisexternal world; I have no charm for anything in thisplane, where I have already traveled. Now I am offering myself exclusively at your altar. I want to haveyour grace.” In this mood we should approach thathigher knowledge.ParipraÍna means honest, sincere inquiry. We mustinquire not with the tendency of discussion or in themood of argument, but all our efforts should be concentrated in a positive line to understand the truth,without the spirit of doubt and suspicion. With fullattention we should try to understand that truth,because it is coming from a higher plane of reality thatwe have never known.Finally, there is sevayÅ, or service. This is the mostimportant thing. We are trying to gain this knowledgenot so we can get the help of that plane, not so we

SURRENDER TO ßR GURU29can utilize that experience for living here; rather wemust give our pledge to serve that plane. Only withthis attitude may we approach that plane of knowledge. We shall serve that higher knowledge; we won’ttry to make it serve us. Otherwise, we won’t be allowedto enter into that domain. Absolute knowledge won’tcome to serve this lower plane. We must offer ourselves to be used by Him, not that we shall try to useHim in our own selfish way, to satisfy our lower purpose.With the mood of service we shall dedicate ourselvesto Him; not that He will dedicate Himself to satisfy ourlower animal purpose. So, with this attitude we shallseek the plane of real knowledge and receive the standardunderstanding. And then we can know what is what, andhave a proper estimation of our environment.This is Vedic culture. Absolute knowledge has alwaysbeen imparted by this process alone, and never by theintellectual approach. ßrÈla PrabhupÅda BhaktisiddhÅntaused to give the analogy of the bee: honey is in a bottle,the cork is in place, and the bee has taken his seat onthe glass. He tries to taste the honey by licking thebottle. But, just as the bee cannot taste the honey bylicking the outside of the glass bottle, the intellect cannot approach the world of spirit. We may think that wehave attained it, but that is not possible: a barrier isthere, like the glass. Intellectual achievement is notreal achievement of higher knowledge. Only through

30ßR GURU AND HIS GRACEfaith, sincerity, and dedication can we approach thathigher realm and become a member. We can enter thathigher plane only if they grant us a visa and admit us.Then we can enter that land of divine living.So, a candidate must have these three qualifications before he can approach the truth which is on thehigher plane of Absolute Reality. He can approach theAbsolute Truth only with an attitude of humility, sincerity, and dedication. There are similar statements inthe ßrÈmad-BhÅgavatam and the Vedas. In the Upani›adsit is said:tad vijñÅnartha sa gurum evÅbhigacchetsamit paniÓ Írotriya brahma-ni›Êham“Approach a spiritual master. Do not go to him hesitatingly or haphazardly, but with a clear and earnest heart.”SPIRITUAL LIFE—A ONE WAY TICKETOne should not approach the spiritual master “cutting a return ticket.” ßrÈla BhaktisiddhÅnta PrabhupÅdaused to always say, “You have come here cutting areturn ticket.” We must not approach the spiritual master with that attitude. Rather, we should think thatwe have seen everything, that we have full experienceof this mortal world, and that we have nothing to aspireafter here. With this clear consciousness, we should

SURRENDER TO ßR GURU31approach the guru. That is the only way for us to live.This world is mortal. There is no means, no possibilityof living here, and yet the will to live is an innate tendency everywhere.“I only want to live and to save myself. I am runningto the real shelter.” With this earnestness, the disciplewill bring his spiritual master the necessary materialsfor sacrifice. He won’t go to his spiritual master onlyto trouble the guru, but will approach him with his ownnecessities already supplied. He will go there with hisown bed and baggage. Not that he will show some kindness to the spiritual master and give him name andfame by becoming his disciple.And what will be the spiritual master’s position?He will be well versed in the revealed truth, not inordinary information. Revelation in many shades hasbeen spread in the world from the upper realm, butthe guru must have some spacious, graphic knowledge.He must have extensive knowledge about the revealedtruth. And he must always be practicing real spirituallife. His activities are all connected with spirit, notwith the mundane world. He is concerned withBrahman, the plane which can accomodate everything,the fundamental basis of everything (brahma-ni›Êham).Not that he is leading his life with any mortal, mundanereference. He always lives in the transcendental plane

32ßR GURU AND HIS GRACEand keeps himself in connection with that plane hiswhole life. Whatever he does, he will do only withthat consciousness. This is the version of the Upani›ads.And in the ßrÈmad-BhÅgavatam (11.3.21) it is said:tasmÅd guru prapadyetajijñÅsuÓ Íreya uttamamÍabde pare ca ni›ˆÅta brahmaˆy upaÍamÅÍrayamMÅyÅ means misconception. We are living in the midstof misconception. Our understanding of the environment is based on a completely misconceived set ofideas and thoughts. We have no proper conception ofanything in the absolute sense. Our ideas are all relative.Provincial selfishness has been imposed on the environment, and we are living under that misconception.When one comes to the conclusion that everythingaround him is mortal and that everything will vanish,then, with that mood, he will feel the necessity ofapproaching the guru, the divine guide and preceptor,with the purpose of inquiry. “What is the highest goodfor me?” With this inquiry, he will approach the spiritual master.And who will he approach? One who is not onlywell-versed in the precepts of the revealed scriptures,but who has also come in contact with the revealedtruth. One who is conversant with the very object of

SURRENDER TO ßR GURU33Fifty centuries ago, ßrÈla VyÅsadeva recorded the Vedic literaturesin the Sanskrit language in his aÍrama in the Himalayas. All bonafide spiritual masters are considered representatives of VyÅsadeva.

34ßR GURU AND HIS GRACEthe scriptures, and who has practical experience, whois established in pure consciousness, is a genuine guru.One should approach such a guide for his own relief, tounderstand what is the highest benefit in the worldand how to attain it. This is necessary. It is real. It is notimaginary. At the same time, it is difficult. TheAbsolute Truth must be sought out through a realprocess; otherwise we shall go the wrong way and thensay, “Oh, there is nothing here; it is not real.” So, onlyif we follow this real process of understanding the truthwill we experience the real nature of divinity.

Initiation IntoTranscendentalScienceDevotee: Can you explain the real meaning of dÈk›Å,initiation?ßrÈla ßrÈdhar MahÅrÅj: ßrÈla JÈva GoswÅmÈ hasexplained this in his Bhakti Sandarbha :divya jñÅna yato dadyÅ kuryÅt pÅpasya sa k›ayamtasmÅd dÈk›eti sÅ proktÅdeÍikais tattva-kovidaÓExperienced scholars have explained the meaningof dÈk›Å, or spiritual initiation, in this way: dÈk›Å is theprocess through which transcendental knowledge isimparted by the preceptor to the disciple. As a result, allthe disciple’s previous bad tendencies are crushed.Through dÈk›Å, all previous commitments are clearedand one gets the light of new life in relationship with thetranscendental Lord. DÈk›Å, or initiation, is a process bywhich we are given a noble connection with the absolute

By His Divine Grace A.C. BhaktivedÅnta SwÅmÈ PrabhupÅda Founder-åchÅrya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness In ten short years, BhaktivedÅnta SwÅmÈ PrabhupÅda inundated the world with Krishna Consciousness. In the following excerpt from