Sri Rama Ekadasi—Maintain the Connection with the Guru

Giriraj Swami: So today is a very auspicious day in the month of Kartika, Sri Rama-ekādaśī. The same day in 1974, Sri Rama-ekādaśī, we went up to Srila Prabhupada’s apartment in Juhu to accompany him on his morning walk as usual and the door was locked and Srila Prabhupada’s secretary answered the door and he was very excited and he said that last night Srila Prabhupada had completed Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta and he had written the most wonderful glorification of his Guru Maharaja and Srila Prabhupada’s secretary also mentioned that Srila Prabhupada had said that we should have a feast to celebrate. So I will read from Srila Prabhupada’s concluding words to Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. I don’t know if we will be able to finish today but if not we can try to finish next time. 

CONCLUDING WORDS

Today, Sunday, November 10, 1974-corresponding to the 10th of Kārtikka, Caitanya Era 488, the eleventh day of the dark fortnight, the Rāma-ekādaśī-we have now finished the English translation of Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta in accordance with the authorised order of His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākur Gosvāmī Mahārāja, my beloved eternal spiritual master, guide and friend. Although according to material vision His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda passed away from this material world on the last day of December, 1936, I still consider His Divine Grace to be always present with me by his vāṇī, his words. There are two ways of association-by vāṇī and by vapu. Vāṇī means words, and vapu means physical presence. Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not, but vāṇī continues to exist eternally. Therefore we must take advantage of the vāṇī, not the physical presence. Bhagavad-gītā, for example, is the vāṇī of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Although Kṛṣṇa was personally present five thousand years ago and is no longer physically present from the materialistic point of view, Bhagavad-gītā continues.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada has often remarked that the secret of success in spiritual life is to follow the instructions of the spiritual master and here in the concluding words to Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Srila Prabhupada will describe the history of his relationship with the instructions of his spiritual master and he begins by explaining that the instructions of the spiritual master are more important than the physical presence because as we know the physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not as Srila Prabhupada says but the vāṇī or the words or the instructions continue to exist always and therefore the relationship with the spiritual master continues to exist eternally through service to the instructions. Here Srila Prabhupada was writing of his spiritual master in 1974 and his spiritual master passed away from mortal vision in 1936. So almost forty years had passed but still the connection or the relationship between Srila Prabhupada and his spiritual master was very much alive through service to the instructions.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

In this connection we may call to memory the time when I was fortunate enough to meet His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda, sometime in the year 1922. Śrīla Prabhupāda had come from Calcutta to Śrīdhama Māyāpur to start the missionary activities of the Gauḍīya Maṭha. He was sitting in a house at Ulta Danga when through the inducement of an intimate friend, the late Śrīman Narendranātha Mallika, I had the opportunity to meet His Divine Grace for the first time. I do not remember the actual date of the meeting, but at that time I was one of the managers of Dr. Bose’s laboratory in Calcutta. I was a newly married young man, addicted to Gandhi’s movement and dressed in khadi. Fortunately, even at our first meeting, His Divine Grace advised me to preach the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in English in the Western countries. Because at that time I was a complete nationalist, a follower of Mahātma Gandhi’s, I submitted to His Divine Grace that unless our country were freed from foreign subjugation, no one would hear the message of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu seriously. Of course, we had some argument on this subject, but at last I was defeated and convinced that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s message is the only panacea for suffering humanity. I was also convinced that the message of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was then in the hands of a very expert devotee and that surely the message of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would spread all over the world. I could not, however, immediately take up his instructions to preach, but I took his words very seriously and was always thinking of how to execute his order, although I was quite unfit to do so.

COMMENT

So Srila Prabhupada continues the discussion of the history of his relationship with the instructions of his spiritual master and he traces the instruction to his first meeting with his spiritual master in 1922. Srila Prabhupada was the leader among his friends at the time and they wanted him to meet Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Srila Prabhupada explained that his friend wanted his approval or certification of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura because Srila Prabhupada, Abhay Caran was their leader. So as we know Srila Prabhupada did meet with His Divine Grace and Srila Prabhupada put forth the argument that so many nations have achieved political independence, even less civilized nations like China and Japan but India is still subjugated by foreign rule so who will take the message of India seriously under the circumstances. But Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura replied that conditions such as political independence or dependence are relative whereas the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is absolute and it can be received regardless of temporary political situations. So Srila Prabhupada admitted that he had been defeated by his Guru Maharaja and he said that actually he was happy to have been defeated by him. So at the first meeting Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura instructed Srila Prabhupada to preach the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the English language and therefore Srila Prabhupada’s translation of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta into English was just a continuation of the same effort to follow the same instruction of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to preach in English. Srila Prabhupada also mentions that he was not able to take up the instruction immediately but he always thought of the instruction and waited for the time that he would be able to execute it. Srila Prabhupada has commented that the instructions of the spiritual master are the pride of the disciple and again even if he is not able to execute it immediately he should always keep it within his heart and wait and pray for the time when he will be able to execute it.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

In this way I passed my life as a householder until 1950, when I retired from family life as a vānaprastha. With no companion, I loitered here and there until 1959, when I took sannyāsa. Then I was completely ready to discharge the order of my spiritual master. Previously, in 1936, just before His Divine Grace passed away at Jagannātha Purī, I wrote him a letter asking what I could do to serve him. In reply, he wrote me a letter, dated 13 December 1936, ordering me, in the same way, to preach in English the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as I had heard it from him.

COMMENT

Just two weeks before Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura passed away he repeated in writing the same instruction that he had given to Srila Prabhupada earlier to preach the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in English. Of course Srila Prabhupada says that he took vanaprastha in 1950 and then loitered here and there until he took sannyasa in 1958. Of course Srila Prabhupada was all along trying to execute the order of his spiritual master. He went to Jhansi and found a property where he began the league of devotees but because of some political intrigue he was not able to keep the property. He began Back to Godhead magazine in English and personally would try to distribute it. Coming back to the league of devotees, even in the charter of the league of devotees, which was formed so many years before Srila Prabhupada finally did come to the West, he mentioned that eventually the league of devotees will have branches throughout the world and it would inculcate Krishna consciousness to people all over the world. So really we do have Srila Prabhupada attempting to follow his spiritual master’s order even then and then in 1958 Srila Prabhupada took sannyasa not really for any material reason of course, not for prestige certainly and not even to progress in the different stages of varnashrama but really to be properly situated to execute the order of his spiritual master and therefore Srila Prabhupada writes: “—then I was completely ready to discharge the order of my spiritual master.”

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

After he passed away, I started the fortnightly magazine Back to Godhead sometime in 1944 and tried to spread the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu through this magazine. After I took sannyāsa, a well-wishing friend suggested that I write books instead of magazines. Magazines, he said, might be thrown away, but books remain perpetually. Then I attempted to write Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Before that, when I was a householder, I had written on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā and had completed about eleven hundred pages, but somehow or other the manuscript was stolen. In any case, when I had published Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto, in three volumes in India, I thought of going to the U.S.A. By the mercy of His Divine Grace, I was able to come to New York on September 17, 1965. Since then, I have translated many books, including Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Teachings of Lord Caitanya (a summary) and many others.

COMMENT

So Srila Prabhupada took the instruction of his spiritual master to preach the cult of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in English in the Western world in two aspects: One he wanted to publish literature in English which he began with Back to Godhead in 1944 and he wanted personally to go to the West to preach but he didn’t feel prepared to go to the West until he had some books and when he had translated and printed the first three volumes of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the First Canto, then he felt that he was armed with sufficient ammunition to proceed to the West. So when we receive an instruction from the spiritual master we should think of all of the implications of the instruction and all the ways in which we can fulfill it and of course as events evolve we see how Srila Prabhupada thought of newer and newer ways to spread Krishna consciousness. But from the very beginning he had two ideas, one to publish literatures in English and two to go in person to the West. Sometimes we have a tendency when we receive an instruction to do the minimum we can to fulfill that like officially we can say, “Well I did it.” but Srila Prabhupada was thinking the other way, how he can do the most to execute the order.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

In the meantime, I was induced to translate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta and publish it in an elaborate version. In his leisure time in later life, His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhakura would simply read Caitanya-caritāmṛta. It was his favorite book. He used to say that there would be a time when the foreigners would learn the Bengali language to read Caitanya-caritāmṛta. The work on this translation began about eighteen months ago. Now, by the grace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and his Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhakura, it is finished. In this connection I have to thank my American disciples, especially Śrīman Pradyumna dāsa Adhikārī, Śrīman Nitāi dāsa Adhikārī, Śrīman Jayādvaita dāsa Brahmacārī and many other boys and girls who are sincerely helping me in writing, editing and publishing all these literatures.

I think that His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura is always seeing my activities and guiding me within my heart by his words. As it is said in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye. Spiritual inspiration comes from within the heart, wherein the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His Paramātmā feature, is always sitting with all His devotees and associates.

COMMENT

So what Srila Prabhupada writes here is very significant. Although his spiritual master passed away on the last day of 1936 but Srila Prabhupada considered him to be present with him within his heart. 

Many years ago, may be around 1983, which would have been about seven years after Srila Prabhupada left, one evening I came into the temple in Mulders drift which is sort of part of Greater Johannesburg in South Africa and somehow that evening I perceived the deity of Srila Prabhupada just like the deity here to be conscious. Srila Prabhupada was actually there. And even by then so many things had happened in the movement since Srila Prabhupada had left. There had been many great victories and achievements. There had also been some setbacks and disappointments but I felt that Srila Prabhupada was sitting there and he was receiving the news of all the activities in the movement and he was feeling very deeply satisfaction over the nice service and distress over the difficulties. At the time I thought of one story that Srila Prabhupada told about the author of a book called Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan was the father of the great Mogul tyrant, Aurangzeb and Aurangzeb actually imprisoned his own father so that he could assume power, become the emperor and so the book Shah Jahan detailed all the exploits of Aurangzeb. So Srila Prabhupada tells that there was a party in Calcutta where the author of the book was also present and one of the people in the party asked him that the whole book is about the exploits of Aurangzeb but still you have kept the title Shah Jahan, why did you keep the title Shah Jahan when Aurangzeb was the hero of the book? And the author replied that although the book is about the activities of Aurangzeb but his father Shah Jahan was sitting in his prison cell and he was getting the news that Aurangzeb is doing this, Aurangzeb is doing that and that was beating on his heart. So I felt in the same way that although Srila Prabhupada was sitting in one place, that is how I envisioned him because of the deity, but he was getting the news of all the activities of the movement and it was beating in his heart and he was the real hero. He was actually feeling it more than any of us. 

So from when I joined the temple in Boston I had a very respectful relationship with Satsvarupa Maharaja who was the temple president then and especially because our service was to Srila Prabhupada in his physical presence in the early days in Boston and then later Satsvarupa Maharaja wrote Srila Prabhupada’s biography, Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta. So somehow I thought to write him about my realization about the deity of Srila Prabhupada and Satsvarupa Maharaja wrote back a reply that, I mean, I was like—I mean my heart was beating, I was trembling when I read the reply because I felt that it like cut at the root of my conviction. What he wrote back was and maybe I even said something like Prabhupada being in our hearts but what he wrote back was that, you know, you have written this and that, that Prabhupada is receiving the news of the movement and his heart is beating but as far as we know, when the spiritual master leaves either he goes to Krishnaloka to join the pastimes of Krishna or he goes somewhere else in the material world to continue to preach. So on what basis can we say that Srila Prabhupada is receiving news of the movement and so on, and then he also said that according to scripture, Krishna is in the heart of every living entity, but on what basis can we say that Srila Prabhupada is in our hearts. So Satsvarupa Maharaja’s words were really a challenge and because of my nature of wanting to be submissive or yeah, wanting to be submissive, wanting to submit to my authorities and please my authorities, so my first impulse was to agree but actually within my heart I couldn’t agree—I didn’t agree but at the same time he was asking on what basis I am making my statements. So I couldn’t just write back on the basis of my own sentiment. So after the initial shock of the letter I thought well I have to take some time and think about this and do some research into the books and see if there is any evidence to what I wrote. 

Well I found something, not very explicit but there was something. There was one comment in a purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam where Srila Prabhupada said that Lord Brahma was able to get messages sort of like by spiritual television but then later I found this statement, I shall read again: ‘Spiritual inspiration comes within the heart wherein the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His Paramātmā feature is always sitting with all His devotees and associates.’ So Srila Prabhupada said that Krishna is never alone but then again there is the Absolute Truth is realized in three features, brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. So yes we know Bhagavān, Sri Krishna is never alone. He is always in the company of His associates and servants but Paramātmā we never really thought of Paramātmā having associates. But then again Srila Prabhupada said that if one is a devotee of Krishna then he realizes Krishna in the heart and Krishna is accompanied by His associates and here Srila Prabhupada is saying not only the Paramātmā in the heart with His associates but Srila Prabhupada is saying that the inspiration that he got to write Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta although in one sense we can say it is coming from the Supersoul but specifically he is saying that the inspiration is coming from his spiritual master who is in his heart with Paramātmā. Therefore Srila Prabhupada wrote that, ‘I think that His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura is always seeing my activities and guiding me within my heart by his words as it said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye, tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye, spiritual inspiration comes from within the heart wherein the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His Paramātmā feature is always sitting with all His devotees and associates.’ 

So often Srila Prabhupada writes in such a way that his words can be taken in two ways both of which are valid. So when we talk about being guided by the words of the spiritual master from within the heart that also can be taken in two ways. One is that we receive the instruction from the spiritual master through written words or spoken words and we keep those instructions in our heart and the other is the spiritual master who is sitting in the heart with the Supersoul and other associates of the Lord is giving fresh instructions or repeating the same instructions from within the heart and certainly when a devotee is advanced enough he gets both. Of course often Srila Prabhupada would say and it is written in one purport in Bhagavad-gītā that when one has an idea for service it should be confirmed by the order of the spiritual master without and by the Supersoul within but here in his mood of complete surrender and dependence to and on his spiritual master Srila Prabhupada is giving a more precise explanation that the confirmation in a general sense comes from the Paramātmā within the heart but in a specific sense it comes from the spiritual master within the heart. So anyway you look at it and this is Srila Prabhupada’s mood of complete surrender. Anyway Srila Prabhupada would look at it, he saw that it was all because of the instruction and inspiration of his spiritual master that he was able to write Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. He received the order from his spiritual master to preach in English and then he got the inspiration to fulfill the order to preach in English specifically by presenting Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta and then the suggestion is that the actual active translation, word by word was inspired by his spiritual master from within his heart.

And in one wonderful lecture that Srila Prabhupada gave about the mood of a devotee, how the devotee always feels humble and incapable of achieving any success on his own and therefore he always prays to his superiors or his predecessor acharyas to guide him and inspire him. It is funny the verse that Prabhupada was speaking on was about the flag of Arjuna that it was decorated with the image of Hanuman and Srila Prabhupada explains like the inner mood of Arjuna like Arjuna was feeling himself very humble and incapable of executing the orders of Krishna under the circumstances to fight and therefore he kept the flag of Hanuman and he prayed to Hanuman that, “You fought for Lord Ramachandra, so I also have been asked to fight for Lord Krishna so kindly help me.” And Srila Prabhupada said that that is the mood of the devotee, that he always prays to the superior authorities and ask them to help him and then he talks about Krishna dasa Kaviraja Gosvami that he felt that he was incapable of writing Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta and therefore Prabhupada said at every step, every line, every word he is praying to Rupa Raghunatha:

śrī-rūpa-raghunātha-pade yāra āśa
caitanya-caritāmṛta kahe kṛṣṇadāsa

He is praying to Rupa Raghunatha that I am helpless, please help me. So I think we can assume that Srila Prabhupada was in the very same mood in relation to the translation of Caitanya-caritāmṛta. He is feeling helpless and praying to his spiritual master, kindly help me. So he writes:

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

It is to be admitted that whatever translation work I have done is through the inspiration of my spiritual master, because personally I am most insignificant and incompetent to do this materially impossible work. I do not think myself a very learned scholar, but I have full faith in the service of my spiritual master, His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. If there is any credit to my activities of translating, it is all due to His Divine Grace.

COMMENT

So, I mean, Srila Prabhupada is so exalted and the nature of exalted personalities is that they feel themselves very insignificant and incompetent. I mean it is like the higher you actually are, the lower you feel yourself to be. So anyway if he feels that all the credit to the work he did we would say to the work he did is due to his spiritual master.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

Certainly if His Divine Grace were personally present at this time, it would have been a great occasion for jubilation, but even though he is not physically present, I am confident that he is very pleased by this work of translation.

COMMENT

So we serve but what is the ultimate purpose of the service? The ultimate purpose of the service is to please Krishna or please the spiritual master. So the real success is not just that the translation was done but the real goal of the translation and everything that Srila Prabhupada did or everything that any devotee does is to please one’s spiritual master, you know, yasya prasādād bhagavat–prasādo, by pleasing the spiritual master one pleases Krishna and he is feeling, he is feeling his spiritual master’s pleasure and that is also part of the loving reciprocation between the disciple and the spiritual master even after the spiritual master’s departure and Srila Prabhupada is feeling that his spiritual master is pleased:

“Certainly if His Divine Grace were personally present at this time, it would have been a great occasion for jubilation, but even though he is not physically present, I am confident that he is very pleased by this work of translation. He was very fond of seeing many books published to spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Therefore our society, the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, has formed to execute the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhakura.”

So here continuing on the same theme of following the order of the spiritual master for the pleasure of the spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada explains that ISKCON as an expansion of Srila Prabhupada’s desire to serve and please his spiritual master has been formed to execute the order of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and again with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu we have the general instruction,

yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa

—That wherever you go, whomever you meet, you repeat the message of Krishna and: 

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma

That in every town and village of the world Krishna consciousness would be spread and then the same instruction of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu but in a more specific form from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura that present the message in English. English is the international language and publish books and so the combination is, the result of the combination of preaching in English and publishing books is Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta in English. And that also fulfills the order and desire of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, yāre dekha, tare kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa /sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

It is my wish that devotees of Lord Caitanya all over the world enjoy this translation.

COMMENT

Like Prabhupada said it is not enough that we distribute the books, we should also read them. So, yes, he wrote the books to please his spiritual master but he also wrote the books for us. Prabhupada said he wrote his books for his sincere followers, for everyone but especially for his sincere disciples and therefore part of our reciprocation with Srila Prabhupada, for his efforts in translating the books is to read the books and distribute the knowledge also.

CONCLUDING WORDS (continued)

It is my wish that devotees of Lord Caitanya all over the world enjoy this translation, and I am glad to express my gratitude to the learned men in the Western countries who are so pleased with my work that they are ordering in advance all my books that will be published in the future. On this occasion therefore, I request my disciples who are determined to help me in this work to continue their cooperation fully, so that philosophers, scholars, religionists and people in general all over the world will benefit by reading our transcendental literatures such as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

COMMENT

So again, as Prabhupada often said, the same instruction is coming through paramparā, from Lord Chaitanya through disciplic succession to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta to Srila Prabhupada and then from Srila Prabhupada to all of us and our duty—it is very interesting the way Srila Prabhupada has written that, ‘I request my disciples who are determined to help me in this work to continue their cooperation fully so that people all over the world will benefit by reading our transcendental literatures such as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.’ So this is the goal that people should benefit, para-upakāra, not just that they get the book. Of course Srila Prabhupada said they benefit even if they touch it but really what Prabhupada is asking us to do is to distribute the books but in the same mood, not just doing the minimum but doing the maximum we want them to get the books, we want then to read the books, we want them to understand the book, we want them to follow the instructions in the books and get the full benefit of the book and therefore we have so much to do to inspire people to read the books and to continue to read them and to try to follow them and therefore everything we do, maintaining the temple, inviting people to the programs, having good classes in the temple and even the deity worship, the different methods that just purify the heart, even the distribution of prasāda, they all should help people to get the benefit of the book and that is what Srila Prabhupada is asking of us on this auspicious occasion when he completed his translation.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports to Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, dated November 10, 1974, at the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, Hare Krishna Land, Juhu, Bombay.

Hare Krishna!

Are there any questions or comments?

Question: I knew someone even before she met the devotees she had a dream of Srila Prabhupada’s murti. In a dream he said to her he said that she should associate with devotees and she had no idea whether this will take place and then she went to Hawaii and there she met with devotees and it was thanks giving and it was the first day and so she had so much faith in Srila Prabhupada at that point that she surrendered right there. Another incident concerning his murti, she said that when she was living away from Hawaii for some time she had a dream about the same murti in Hawaii temple and she was paying her obeisances in the temple and she saw (?) right in front of the deity she thought Oh this isn’t nice, I better go and clean it up, and went into the hallway and she saw the bird? and went back cleaned it up and then just a few months had passed and she forgot about the dream and she actually ended up on Hawaii, first thing she did go into the temple, paid obeisances to Prabhupada there was the same pile?. She goes out in the hallway, the same spot was the room and then she had that memory. I thought that was really very interesting how Srila Prabhupada is always, he is really there. He reciprocates. 

I also had a question regarding vāṇī and vapuḥ. So how would you advise someone whose spiritual master fell away from the movement?

Giriraj Swami: Well the question is in relation to vāṇī and vapuḥ and what advise would I give if someone whose spiritual master has fallen away from the movement. Well the scriptures have given recommendation and the recommendation is to continue the same process of devotional service that the spiritual master taught when he was properly situated, to pray for the spiritual master to come back and to keep in the association of devotees or take shelter of more advanced devotees that can help one to progress in the same path, in other words to take guidance from śikṣā-gurus and that is the instruction.

Devotee: Thank you.

Question: Srila Prabhupada talks about two gurus, that there is the caitya-guru and the guru outside. Internally the caitya-guru is giving guidance, instruction etc. and outwardly the guru manifests, the Lord manifests, the caitya-guru manifest as the spiritual master and gives instructions outwardly so that we get a whole round training and instruction, that way we make advancement. In that sense could we say that the caitya-guru and the external guru are not different and hence when the spiritual master may physically depart he is there as caitya-guru because he is the same as the caitya-guru. Is that correct?

Giriraj Swami: The question is that the Lord helps the devotee from within as the caitya-guru and from without as the spiritual master. So can we say that the two are the same? Well we can but at the same time because our philosophy is acintya-bheda bheda tattva, there is some difference. Now if we take caitya-guru to be Paramātmā which is the general explanation, he will help us to follow the instructions that we receive from the manifest form of the spiritual master but if one is very advanced, like Srila Prabhupada, if one is actually in touch with the Lord in the heart and the spiritual master sits with the Lord in the heart one can get further instruction but generally if we just take the spiritual master and the Lord in the heart, generally we would say that the spiritual master is more merciful because the Paramātmā in a general sense, the Paramātmā will fulfill the desires of the living entity whatever the desires are. So, mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca, if the living entity wants to remember Krishna and forget maya the Paramātmā will help him but if someone wants to forget Krishna and enjoy maya, Paramātmā will help him too because the Paramātmā is neutral whereas the spiritual master he will only help the disciple become Krishna conscious, he won’t help the disciple in ways that are opposed to Krishna consciousness. But as long as the disciple maintains the connection with the spiritual master the Paramātmā will help him and help the spiritual master to help the disciple to become Krishna conscious.

Question: Maharaja, how do we differentiate like an intuition that a devotee receives from the heart? If the spiritual master is present we can clarify and we can? And become more pure but sometimes may be the mind is saying, how can we differentiate if the spiritual master within the heart is speaking to you or it is my own mind.

Giriraj Swami: Good question. How do we know if some dictation is really coming from the spiritual master within the heart or whether it is coming from our own minds, from maya. Well, here we have the system, sadhu, shastra, guru, vākya cittete koriyā aikya, there is sadhu, shastra, and guru and all three will say the same thing. Like, I mean, frankly speaking, since Srila Prabhupada left there have been devotees who have concocted philosophies and theories, which they claim, are derived from Srila Prabhupada’s instructions but when we look we see that they are not confirmed by shastra and sadhu- shastra, guru, and vākya. Shastra is the central point. So they may sincerely believe that Srila Prabhupada wants what they are saying but if what they are saying is not supported by sadhu and shastra then we have to think that may be it is not coming from guru because they are not going to be disharmony between guru and sadhu and shastra and sadhu means our assembly of sincere devotees who follow strictly and it also means sadhus from generation in the past, Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, Jiva Gosvami. So we have that way of checking with sadhu and shastra and one instruction Srila Prabhupada gave also that will give us a sense of where we fit in devotional service or in spiritual progress; Srila Prabhupada said that there are three types of devotees.

The first class, he knows what the spiritual master wants even if the spiritual master does not tell him, that is first class. Second class he receives an instruction from the spiritual master and he executes it perfectly and the third class receives an instruction from the spiritual master and he argues or he forgets. So we have to be careful about imitating. In other words in general we should try to be in the second class that we receive the instruction and execute it perfectly and it is only after the stage of perfectly executing the explicit instructions that one will come to the stage of knowing within one’s self what the spiritual master would want even without the instruction of the spiritual master and then again we have the same things, sadhu, shastra, and guru. Of course guru now is the point of questions, so then we have sadhus, confirming with others, then we have shastra. But it is true the mind can be very tricky. Sometimes we can’t distinguish so easily. Caitanya-caritāmṛta also says that the weed that can grow alongside of the devotional creeper can resemble the creeper so closely that it is hard to distinguish between the weed and the creeper. So you need like an expert gardener or team of expert gardeners who can help distinguish between the weeds and the creeper. Alright! Thank you very much.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Sri Caitanya-caritāmṛta ki jaya!
Sri Rama-ekādaśī ki jaya!
Nitai-Gaura premānande! Hari Haribol!