SB 10 – Initiation

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. We welcome you on the most auspicious occasion of Sri Balarama Rasa-yatra, which we discussed yesterday, because today we have another special program, the initiation ceremony of Sri Bhanu Nanduri who has been part of the ISKCON Silicon Valley or ISKCON Saṅkīrtana Village community for many years, and has been nurtured by all of you in his spiritual development. And now, he, or we, have come to the stage where he will be initiated into Srila Prabhupada’s line, the Brahmā-Madhva-Gauḍīya- Vaiṣṇava-sampradāya. Of course, one of his main inspirations and guides has been Vaisesika Prabhu. And so, I requested him to be present for the ceremony and to speak.

There are many elements to the initiation. One is the acceptance by a spiritual master in the disciplic succession, and another is the chanting of the holy names. So, as Vaisesika Prabhu and I have divided the topics, I will be speaking a little about the spiritual master, and he will be speaking about the holy names and the ten offenses to be avoided in chanting. I thought to begin by reading a verse and purport from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Chapter Nineteen, “Lord Caitanya’s Instructions to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī,” also known as Rupa-śikṣā. The verse I have selected, Text One Fifty-two, follows a verse that Srila Prabhupada paraphrased in his initiation letter to me. I was initiated by mail. They say that actually, I was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in his room in New Dvaraka; he chanted on my beads and gave me my name and dictated my initiation letter. And then, the letter and the beads were sent by mail. But people say initiated by mail. [laughter] And a major paragraph of the letter paraphrased this verse, that the living entities are wandering throughout the universes and different planetary systems, and one who is fortunate will get the seed of devotional service by the mercy of guru and Krishna. So, that is Text One-fifty-one, I will read the Bengali and translation.

TEXT 151

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva

guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

TRANSLATION

“According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.”

COMMENT

Today, we will read the verse and purport and discuss the next verse.

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda

jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda (3)

TEXT 152

mālī hañā kare sei bīja āropaṇa

śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana

TRANSLATION

“When a person receives the seed of devotional service, he should take care of it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. If he waters the seed gradually by the process of śravaṇa and kīrtana [hearing and chanting], the seed will begin to sprout.”

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

To live with devotees or to live in a temple means to associate with the śravaṇa-kīrtana process. Sometimes neophyte devotees think that they can continue the śravaṇa-kīrtana process without worshiping the Deity, but the execution of such śravaṇa-kīrtana is meant for highly developed devotees like Haridāsa Ṭhākura, who engaged in the śravaṇa-kīrtana process without worshiping the Deity. However, one should not falsely imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura and abandon Deity worship just to try to engage in śravaṇa-kīrtana. This is not possible for neophyte devotees.

The word guru-prasāda indicates that the spiritual master is very merciful in bestowing the boon of devotional service upon the disciple. That is the best possible gift the spiritual master has to offer. Those with a background of pious life are eligible to receive life’s supreme benefit, and to bestow this benefit, the Supreme Personality of Godhead sends His representative to impart His mercy. Endowed with the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master distributes the mercy to those who are elevated and pious. Thus the spiritual master trains his disciples to render devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called guru-kṛpā. It is kṛṣṇa-prasāda, Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, that He sends a bona fide spiritual master to the deserving disciple. By the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, one meets the bona fide spiritual master, and by the mercy of the spiritual master, the disciple is fully trained in the devotional service of the Lord.

Bhakti-latā-bīja means “the seed of devotional service.” Everything has an original cause, or seed. For any idea, program, plan or device, there is first of all the contemplation of the plan, and that is called the bīja, or seed. The methods, rules and regulations by which one is perfectly trained in devotional service constitute the bhakti-latā-bīja, or seed of devotional service. This bhakti-latā-bīja is received from the spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. Other seeds, called anyābhilāṣa-bīja, include karma-bīja and jñāna-bīja. If one is not fortunate enough to receive the bhakti-latā-bīja from the spiritual master, he instead cultivates such seeds as karma-bīja, jñāna-bīja, or political, social, or philanthropic bījas. However, the bhakti-latā-bīja is different from these other bījas. The bhakti-latā-bīja can be received only through the mercy of the spiritual master. Therefore one has to satisfy the spiritual master to get the bhakti-latā-bīja (yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ). The bhakti-latā-bīja is the origin of devotional service. Unless one satisfies the spiritual master, he gets the bīja, or root cause, of karma, jñāna, and yoga without the benefit of devotional service. But one who is faithful to his spiritual master gets the bhakti-latā-bīja. This bhakti-latā-bīja is received when one is initiated by the bona fide spiritual master. After receiving the spiritual master’s mercy, one must repeat his instructions, and this is called śravaṇa-kīrtana — hearing and chanting. One who has not properly heard from the spiritual master or who does not follow the regulative principles is not fit for chanting (kīrtana). This is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.41): vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana. One who has not listened carefully to the instructions of the spiritual master is unfit for chanting or for preaching the cult of devotional service. One has to water the bhakti-latā-bīja after receiving instructions from the spiritual master.

COMMENT

So, this is a very profound verse and purport with deep implications that could be discussed for many hours and lifetimes. Krishna, who is in the heart of every living entity, knows the sincerity of everyone, and if He sees that a person is sincere to understand God or find God or realize God, He sends a spiritual master to guide the person. One vivid example from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is Dhruva Maharaja. When Dhruva Maharaja was a young boy playing on the lap of his father who was the king, his stepmother chastised him saying, “You cannot sit on the throne, you are not born of my womb.” And the boy’s father was so attached to his wife, Dhruva’s stepmother, that against ordinary human feelings that a father would have for a son, he rejected Dhruva, he put him away. So, Dhruva was very sorry and angry, and he went to his own mother and told her what happened and what his stepmother said, and his mother said, “What can I say? Your father favors your stepmother, and I cannot do anything.”

Now, although Dhruva was only five years old, he already had manifested the kshatriya spirit, and he told his mother, “I want my kingdom, I don’t want to be deprived of my kingdom. Who can help me?” And she said, “I don’t know who can help you, maybe God can help you. I think only God can help you.” Then he said, “Well, where can I find God?” She said, “I don’t know, but many sages and saintly persons go to the forest to find God, so maybe you can find Him there.” So, at the age of five, he was so determined, at the age of five, he left home and went to the forest to look for God; he was so determined. But because he was just a boy of five, he didn’t really know how to look for God. But he was looking in the forest, looking in the bushes, looking behind the trees, looking behind the logs. And God, who was in his heart, understood, “He is very sincere to find Me.” And so, the Lord, from within the heart of Narada Muni, inspired Narada Muni to come to the forest to instruct Dhruva. So, Narada went, and first he tested him because the spiritual master also tests the disciple. So, he tested him and said, “You are just a small child, only five years old, you should not take things so seriously, you should go home and play like other boys of your age, don’t take it so hard.” But Dhruva showed his determination and he said to the great sage Narada, “If you can help me to find God, that will be very good. But if you are going to tell me to go home, then you can go home.” [laughter] He was so staunch.

So, he passed the test, and Narada instructed him to chant the holy names and perform other practices, which Dhruva did very strictly, very diligently. And in the end, God came. The Lord came and fulfilled the desires of Dhruva. So, this exemplifies the process, guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja, that he had a sincere desire, and by the mercy of Krishna, he got the association of a bona fide spiritual master, and by the mercy of the spiritual master, he got the seed of devotional service. Or in other words, he was instructed in the methods and rules and regulations by which one can serve God and realize God. And Dhruva was successful.

This is a very good example because although Dhruva was very sincere to find God, but his motive for finding God was not pure in the beginning. In the beginning, he had a material motive, he wanted God to help him get the kingdom. But by the process of devotional service and the mercy of the Supreme Lord and the spiritual master, he became purified of his material desire, and he regretted that he had initially approached the Lord for some material boons. So, not all of us are so sincere in the beginning, but by the association of pure devotees and the chanting of the holy names and hearing about Krishna consciousness, one can become purified. And at the stage of initiation, one should, in principle, be ready to engage in pure devotional service, bhakti-latā-bīja.

Lord Chaitanya describes further on that other creepers may grow up alongside the bhakti creeper, such as creepers of material desires and principally bhukti, desires for material enjoyment, and mukti, liberation. But the devotee should be careful to identify these other creepers and keep them away from the bhakti-latā. Otherwise, these other creepers, they will they will drink up the water that is meant to nourish the bhakti creeper, and the bhakti creeper will become weak and these other creepers will become stronger. And if we are very inattentive or loose or lax, the other creepers can actually become stronger than the bhakti-latā. And then, these other desires for enjoyment, liberation, they become more prominent, and then, you could say, the devotee falls down. He falls from the platform of pure devotional service. And we have seen it, unfortunately. But the solution, as mentioned here in the purport, is the disciple should be very faithful to the spiritual master, and he should hear the instructions of the spiritual master very carefully. That is śravaṇam. Srila Prabhupada, always our best example in devotional service, he was always eager to hear his spiritual master even though his spiritual master spoke on a very elevated platform and in very complicated language. Srila Prabhupada admitted that even he could not understand much of what his spiritual master said in Bengali, and he was Bengali. But still, he would hear, whenever he had an opportunity, he would hear.

And when the other disciples recommended Abhay Charan, that was Srila Prabhupada’s name before initiation, when they recommended him for initiation, and they actually recommended that he get first and second initiation at the same time, which was not the common practice, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura agreed, and he said, “Yes, I will initiate him because he likes to hear.” And later, Srila Prabhupada commented that that was his qualification. In other words, he didn’t consider himself by any other standard than what his spiritual master considered to be his qualification. His spiritual master said, “Yes, he likes to hear, I will initiate him,” and Srila Prabhupada took it, “That is my qualification, I like to hear.” And he further commented that if one hears nicely, one will preach nicely. That because he heard his guru maharaja nicely, later he was able to preach nicely. And that is śravaṇa-kīrtana, to hear carefully what the spiritual master says, and then to repeat it. And that is preaching. But one must also follow the regulative principles, then one will have the power to chant or preach. And after describing these unwanted creepers, Lord Chaitanya mentions six, in particular, six kinds of behavior that is considered inappropriate for a Vaishnava. And one of them is not to follow the regulative principles. So, we must follow the regulative principles and hear properly and repeat properly, and that is śravaṇa-kīrtana.

So, in the progress of devotional services, as delineated by Srila Rupa Gosvami in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, ādau śraddhā, first is faith, one must have some preliminary faith and attraction. Like all of you, I would imagine, have some sraddha, some faith and attraction, and that is why you are here. Then, after sraddha comes sādhu-saṅga. Of course, one develops sraddha by hearing from devotees, there is some preliminary sādhu-saṅga, but when one begins to develop faith, then one systematically associates with devotees, one will come regularly, every Sunday, or every Sunday and every Saturday. One will systematically associate with devotees, and when one becomes inspired by the instructions of the devotees and the example of the devotees, he will think, I also want to commit myself to the practice of bhakti-yoga, I also want to be initiated.

And that stage of initiation is identified by Srila Prabhupada with bhajana-kriyā. But in that process of bhajana-kriyā, one has to be attentive. And if one does hear and chant with attention, without offense, the effect will be anartha-nivṛtti, that anarthas, unwanted habits, unwanted desires, unwanted behavior, unwanted thoughts will be eradicated. And that is a bit of a difficult period, can be a little difficult, confronting these anarthas as they come up. But if we continue the process of watering the plant, chanting and hearing, and are alert to distinguish the wanted creepers from the unwanted ones and uproot the unwanted ones, and also, fence in the creeper to protect it from occasional mad elephants that might come in and trample the creeper and destroy everything in the garden, then one will be able to become free from anarthas and pass on to the subsequent stages.

Now, the mad elephant that can destroy in no time at all a very nicely cultivated garden is vaiṣṇava-aparādha. There are many manifestations of vaiṣṇava-aparādha, but it basically means becoming hostile to a Vaishnava or Vaishnavas. In the case of the disciple, Srila Prabhupada relates it to disobeying the orders of the spiritual master knowingly or deliberately, but disobeying the orders of the spiritual master. So, what is the fence that protects the devotional creeper from the mad elephant? It is the circle of pure devotees; we have to stay in the circle of pure devotees. And again and again, it just comes up because if you don’t stay in the circle of pure devotees, you will be subject to offenses, and you will be subject to cultivating these other creepers; karma, jnana, political, social, philanthropic, all sorts of other bījas. And it happens.

We say bad association, but by the association of people who are either not devotees or at best mixed devotees, we can be influenced by them, and then we start to cultivate these other desires and activities, and then the bhakti creeper becomes weakened, and then it can happen that the other ones become stronger. And one gets to see less and less of the person, or you see him but he is a little different, there is some mischievousness going on. But we are fortunate here, Bhanu is fortunate, his seed is sprouting in this lovely garden of ISV, and Vaisesika Prabhu is a very capable master gardener who is always vigilant to see that no unwanted creepers sprout up in the garden, to see that no mad elephants start peeping in the window, trying to come in the back door. [laughter] And he has other very capable master gardeners who are assisting him.

So, if we stay close to the type of instructions that we get here, the type of association from Vaisesika Prabhu [Unintelligible 00:39:26], so many others, and continue to chant and hear and follow the regulative principles, then one will progress, one will be able to chant properly and preach properly. And that is the special mercy of Lord Chaitanya delivered to us by Srila Prabhupada, and that is saṅkīrtana and the mercy of Lord Chaitanya and Nityananda. By spreading the saṅkīrtana movement, the holy name, prasāda, and especially Srila Prabhupada’s books, one gets special mercy from Gaura-Nitai. And even if one isn’t all that able to follow all the details because either our own fallen natures or circumstances, a lot of it is circumstances, the hard struggle for existence, dog eats dog, the big fish eats the little fish, if we give ourselves to this mission of Srila Prabhupada, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, then we get special mercy. And that special mercy will help us to progress even in the midst of Kali-yuga.

We talk about not offending devotees. Actually, we should not offend anyone, that is very clear. So, Bhakti Chaitanya Swami asked Srila Prabhupada at Bhaktivedanta Manor, “What if he is preaching and someone takes offense. What kind of reaction does he get?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “If you are sincerely trying to present the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with no ulterior motive and the person happens to take offense, it doesn’t count as an offense, and there is no reaction.” So, that way, if we take up the mercy of the Pancha-tattva as delivered to us through Srila Prabhupada’s instructions and movement, then we can clear all sorts of anarthas very easily and very quickly, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, the saṅkīrtana cleanses the heart of so many dirty things, that is anartha-nivṛtti.

So yes, we chant and hear and we worship the deity, that is another point, that although Lord Chaitanya says to water it with chanting and hearing, but we are not at that stage where we can just chant and hear twenty-four hours a day, chant three lakhs’ names, which is sixty-four rounds times three, very few of us can chant sixty-four rounds. And so, we have other activities to engage us, deity worship is important. And deity worship doesn’t mean just worshiping the deity personally, but seeing someone else worship the deity counts. So, one person might be offering maṅgala-ārati, but everyone who participates in maṅgala-ārati is engaging in deity worship, this is how it works. The congregation in the worship gets the credit for participating in the worship.

So, there are many intricacies that many of you have been learning and, Vaisesika Prabhu and others have been teaching you, and you will continue to learn. So, that will go on, but this thrust to go out and deliver Lord Chaitanya’s mercy to others, that will prevail over everything. But to do that you have to hear properly and follow the regulative principles. If you do that and you really extend yourself to others in that mood of audārya, like Lord Chaitanya, like all of our acharyas; Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and Srila Prabhupada, then you get special mercy from the Pancha-tattva, from Srila Prabhupada, the whole paramparā, and lead a very happy life in Krishna consciousness. Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: So, now I will request His Grace Vaisesika Prabhu.