Nowadays the word “GURU” has become a fashion. We can see many people in different fields of endeavor addressing themselves as guru. In the movie field, people call famous actors gurus. In the sports field, a good player is also addressed as a guru. In the political field, people are using this term. In the academic field, the word guru is also used. Nowadays, even in the spiritual field, those who become celebrated have a fascination with accepting themselves as a celebrity guru. However, the word “GURU” actually means heavy; heavier than the Himalayan mountains. In this regard, we can say that Guru is The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, who is the owner of the entire universe. All living beings are under His control. One who is completely dedicated to Sri Krishna in helping people establish a loving connection with Sri Krishna is a Guru.
When a person of sufficient pious credit (bhakti-unmukhi-sukriti) gets the association of pure devotees and becomes spiritually inclined. At that time the chaitya-guru reveals the mahanta-guru who is the one that will physically initiate, inspire, and teach us how to be connected with Sri Krishna and His pleasure potency, Srimati Radharani. Sri Sri Radha Krishna as well as Sri Guru are the object of our worship. Due to the influence of material energy in this miserable mundane world, most people are misleading the masses with the word “Guru”.
As per authenticated scriptures, Guru is as good as God but that definition is being misused by people. The Guru is respected in every aspect of present society. Many opportunists are taking advantage and pretending to be Gurus. Many softhearted people are surrendered to them and with their best ability, offer such gurus sufficient donations, luxury accommodations, flight journeys, and so on with the best service attitude. However, these opportunist people are pretending to like Guru and taking advantage of these surrendered devotees. They use the Guru profession as an easy livelihood to maintain their material lives. They are pretending to be Gurus and cheating people for their material gains only. The real Guru’s goal is to inspire people to become free from material gain, material appreciation, recognition, name, fame, and distinction desires. Simultaneously, the Guru teaches his followers and others to establish spiritual gain. At the same time, keeping a proper balance between material duties and spiritual practices. Lord Gauranga has said, ‘Yatha-Yogya vishaya bhunja anāshakta haiyā’, which means that we should maintain all of our responsibilities towards our children, parents, relatives, neighbors, etc without attachment.
According to the above explanation, we know that Sri Krishna and His potency of pleasure are the source of all real Gurus. Sri Krishna and Radharani together appeared in the form of Lord Gauranga. Lord Gauranga is Sri Krishna Himself with the mood and form of Srimati Radharani. This Gauranga lineage is called the Gaudiya Vaishnava lineage. This Gaudiya Vaishnava lineage started from Krishna. Gradually, the teachings of Gauranga Mahaprabhu are coming to us through His intimate associates — the six Goswami’s, namely Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, Jiva Goswami, Raghunatha Das Goswami, Gopala Bhatta Goswami, Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami, also through Vrndavana Das Thakur, Krishna Das Kaviraja Goswami, Narottam Das Thakur, Shyamananda Prabhu, Srinivas Acharya, Visvanath Chakravatipada, Baladeva Vidyabhushan Prabhu, Srila Vaishnava Sarvabhauma Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaja, Saccidananda Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur, Srila Gaur Kisore das Babaji Maharaja, founder acharya of entire Gaudiya Math Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and his true followers.
These are all considered as real Gurus. In their entire lives, we saw that they never ran after a pinch of material recognition, distinction, recognition, appreciation, name, fame, or other material desires. They were all following the instruction of Lord Gauranga who taught us to first preserve then propagate, “Apani achari dharma jivere sikhaya”. The founder acharya of Gaudiya Math, his Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, in order to spread the loving message of Lord Gauranga, chanted the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra (consisting of 16 words, 32 syllables) one billion times from 1905 to 1915. To complete chanting 1 billion names, one needs to chant 192 rounds every day for 10 years. My grand spiritual master, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, chanted accordingly and then established Lord Gauranga’s preaching mission with the name Sri Chaitanya Math, the parent preaching center of Lord Gauranga. Gradually, my grand spiritual master spread Lord Gauranga’s loving message and established 64 preaching centers and temples. Again, I am telling you and all that whoever is truly following the footsteps of Srila Prabhupada is eligible to be Guru for delivering people from their miserable material condition.
One of the most prominent disciples of my grand spiritual master, HDG Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur, was my spiritual master, HDG Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Thakur, the founder acharya of Sri Gopinath Gaudiya Math, Mayapur and all other branches. He is known amongst the Vaishnava community as being the embodiment of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Siksastakam’s third sloka:
tṛṇād api su-nīcena, taror iva sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
This third sloka teaches us that if we are in Lord Chaitanya’s Gaudiya Vaisnavism, then we must establish these qualities in our behavior. We must be humble like a blade of grass, tolerant like a tree, and completely free from material recognition, appreciation, name, fame, and material desires. Simultaneously, we should have respect for all living beings, and chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra constantly.
I have seen that my spiritual master was indeed the embodiment of the third sloka of the Siksastakam. The Puranas have also described the qualities of a bona fide guru and their behavior. (Sri Gaudiya Kanthahar 1.15)
kṛpā-sindhuḥ su-saṃpūrnaḥ, sarva-sattvopakārakaḥ
nispṛhaḥ sarvataḥ siddhaḥ, sarva-vidyā-viśāradaḥ
sarva-saṃśaya-saṃchettā, ‘nalaso gurur āḥṛtah
One who is an ocean of mercy, who is fulfilled in all respects, who has all good qualities, who works for the benefit of all souls, who is free from lust, who is perfect in all respects, who is well-versed in the scriptures, who knows the science of Kṛṣṇa, who can remove all the doubts of his disciples, and who is always alert in the service of Kṛṣṇa is known as a genuine guru. (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 1.45,46 quoted from Viṣṇu-śmṛti Vacana)
This text proves that the spiritual master should be an ocean of mercy. An ocean never discriminates between heavy rain or no rain. The level of ocean water always remains the same. I have also seen that it did not matter whether the person was a disciple or not, if anyone came to him with the intention of practicing spirituality, my spiritual master would always bestow his mercy on them with this swasti vachan.
om̐ svasti no govindaḥ svasti no’cyutānantau, svasti no vāsudevo viṣṇurdadhātu
svasti no nārāyaṇo naro vai, svasti naḥ padamanābhaḥ puruṣottamo dadhātu
svasti no viśvakseno viśveśvaraḥ, svasti no hṛṣīkeśo harirdadhātu
svasti no vainateyo hariḥ, svasti no’ñjanāsuto hanurbhāgavato dadhātu
svasti svasti sumaṅgalaikeśo mahān, śrīkṛṣṇasaccidānandaghanaḥ sarveśvareśvaro dadhātu
karotu svasti me kṛṣṇaḥ sarvalokeśvareśvaraḥ, kārṣṇādayaśca kurvantu svasti me lokapāvanāḥ
kṛṣṇo mamaiva sarvatra svasti kuryāt śriyā samam, tathaiva ca sadā kārṣṇiḥ sarvavighnavināśanaḥ
om̐ mādhavo mādhavo vāci, mādhavo mādhavo hṛdi
smaranti sādhavaḥ serve, sarvakāryeṣu mādhavam
śrī-nṛsiṁha, jaya nṛsiṁha, jaya jaya nṛsiṁha
prahlādeśa jaya padmā-mukha-padma-bhṛṅga
namas te narasiḿhāya, prahlādāhlāda-dāyine
hiraṇyakaśipor vakṣaḥ-, śilā-ṭańka-nakhālaye
vāg-īśā yasya vadane, lakṣmīr yasya ca vakṣasi
yasyāste hṛdaye samvit, taṁ nṛsiṁham ahaṁ bhaje
ito nṛsiṁhaḥ parato nṛsiṁho, yato yato yāmi tato nṛsiṁhaḥ
bahir nṛsiṁho hṛdaye nṛsiṁho, nṛsiṁham ādiṁ śaraṇaṁ prapadye
om̐ āṃ hrīṃ kṣrauṃ krauṃ ca huṃ phaṭ
This is a very powerful bija mantra to protect us from all types of material dangers. Then he used to recite as follows:
taptahāṭakakeśāgra jvalatpāvakalocana vajrādhikanakhasparśa divyasiṃha namo’stu te
śrī kṛṣṇacaitanya prabhu nityānanda śrī advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi gaurabhaktavṛnda
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
If anyone came with the desire to chant the Mahamantra and practice spirituality, my spiritual master used to sprinkle holy water on them and whilst praying to the Parampara for their protection, used to recite these mantras and used to put his hand on their heads. He never allowed anyone to touch his feet except for his intimate associates. He always used to place his soft lotus hands on their head and bestow his mercy on all of them. This was the characteristic of my spiritual master. He never discriminated against anyone. He was ‘kripa-sindhu’, an ocean of mercy. The ocean accepts all the rivers going into it. The ocean never becomes puffed up; the ocean level is never affected by water entering or leaving it. My spiritual master’s character was like that of an ocean. He was never affected by the comings and goings of anyone. He was always absorbed in his worshipful Lord’s Radha Krishna’s service.
Whoever received his mercy will find the path of bhakti either in this lifetime or the next. He used to bestow ‘su-saṃpūrnaḥ’ mercy to everyone. ‘sarva-sattvopakārakaḥ’ – If anyone came with any material problems, he would provide the solution and the solution would be the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. ‘nispṛhaḥ’ He had no material attachment. ‘sarvataḥ siddhaḥ’ whoever accepts Harinam wholeheartedly has attained all perfections because Krishna is the embodiment of all perfections and Harinam is non-different from Krishna. Therefore, he was always absorbed in chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. Consequently, becoming the embodiment of ‘sarvataḥ siddhaḥ’. He used to chant wherever he stayed and kept all the authenticated books with him. He would always provide the reference from the shastras and so he was ‘sarva-vidyā-viśāradaḥ’. sarva-saṃśaya-saṃchettā’ – he would destroy all our doubts and establish devotion in our hearts. Devotion is the only way to the lotus feet of the Lord, and that is the eternal blissful and peaceful loving home for all living beings. He would always encourage us to chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra.
To protect us all from different dangers that come in the path of chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, he would always encourage us to chant the Nrsimhadeva prayers because He protects us from the obstacles in bhakti. He protects our devotion. My spiritual master used to tell us to chant the Nrsimha prayer before the Hare Krishna Mahamantra for protection. We will then attain Krishna’s services (Prema or pure love for Krishna), which is the goal of chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra.
analaso gurur āḥṛtah’ – He never allowed his body to relax. It was very difficult to understand when he went to bed and when he got up. I was his close servant and used to look after his physical form and do his secretarial work. I used to wait until he took a rest. I used to read and chant. I had to get up so I used to lay my head on a doormat in front of his bed. When he finished writing – he used to go for nature’s call. When he used to get up, he had to call me because he needed help to move his books off the bed so that he could lie down. So in this way, I saw that he used to get into bed around 12-12:30 AM. After getting into bed I used to sleep next to his door. When I used to get up around 4 AM, I used to see that he was already up and chanting on his beads, attentively. Therefore, we cannot say that he allowed his body to relax. He was constantly engaged. If anyone wants to be a spiritual master or Guru, they should have such quality; ‘analaso gurur āḥṛtah’.
Today, I am humbly begging my spiritual master: please bestow your mercy on me so that I become your true disciple. Disciple means one who accepts all the principles of the spiritual master. One who follows can be called a disciple of that Guru. My spiritual master was an amazing personality. We also saw his strong faith in Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur. When anyone would come and say something unfavorable of Srila Prabhupada or did not accept the Bhagavata Parampara, he used to say ‘Srila Prabhupada is very close to Srimati Radharani. I am happy that I am a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, my Prabhupada is very dear to Srimati Radharani who is the actual Acharya’. If you have some doubt about our Gaudiya Vaishnava Parampara, you have to know that I am accepting my spiritual master Srila Prabhupada as a valid Parampara. He said, ‘Whatever Srila Prabhupada set up is the perfect Bhagavat Parampara.’ In that way, he had sound faith. My spiritual master was appointed by Srila Prabhupada as the editor of the daily newspaper called the Dainika Nadiya Prakash. Prabhupada also used to keep my spiritual master for taking dictation.
One day in 1994, my spiritual master came down with pneumonia. When he felt a little better, he was trying to write an article. After writing, he was unable to read his own handwriting. He was crying and smiling at the same time. He was crying that he could not perform the service Srila Prabhupada had given him and was smiling because his body had become old and his hands were shaky. Now, Prabhupada would take him to his abode at any time. Seeing this, I asked if he allowed, me could dictate to me and if I could write on his behalf, although I may make many mistakes. Gurudeva replied, ‘My Prabhupada gave me writing seva, not dictation seva. Also, you have a lot of responsibilities, manage the temple, cook for me, and do puja. It is also not possible for me to dictate. If I dictate, I will be neglecting Srila Prabhupada’s instructions. My Gurudev had such firm faith in his Gurudev Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur.
Today, I am humbly begging, ‘O, my spiritual master, please bestow your mercy that I too may have such type of firm faith in you and the entire Gaudiya Vaishnava Parampara. Their mercy will give me the strength to deliver myself from this miserable mundane world. Then allow me to stay eternally under the lotus feet of the Divine Couple Sri Sri Radha Krishna. Which is a blissful and peaceful loving home for all living beings. Please allow me to reach that place.’
On this auspicious day, I am remembering one more thing by Srila Narottam Das Thakur,
śrī-guru karuṇā-sindhu, adhama janāra bandhu,
lokanātha lokera jīvana
Sri Gurudev’s mercy is the ocean of mercy, and he is the friend of all fallen souls because Guru means one who brings a fallen soul from darkness to light. Darkness is an illusion and light is Bhagavan – the Sun. Out of causeless mercy, Gurudev always helps fallen souls, like me. Of course, the Guru has to be a bona fide Guru. Nowadays, being a guru is a good business without capital. Many opportunists take advantage of this position of being a guru but my Guru and my grand spiritual master and my Guru Varga like HDG Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj, HDG Srila Bhakti Gaurav Vaikhanas Goswami Maharaj, HDG Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev Goswami Maharaj, HDG Srila Bhakti Pragyan Keshav Goswami Maharaj, HDG Srila Bhakti Vedanta Swami Goswami Maharaj (presently known as Srila Prabhupada), HDG Srila Bhakti Kumud Santa Goswami Maharaj, HDG Srila Bhakti Hridoy Bon Goswami Maharaj, HDG Srila Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Goswami Maharaj, HDG Srila Bhakti Kusum Shraman Goswami Maharaj, HDG Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Goswami Maharaj as well as all our Guru Varga who are the disciples of my grand spiritual master are all true Gurus. They are all oceans of mercy and are all qualified to deliver us.
According to this discussion, the true Guru is Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur. He gave us the definition of dharma, which he explained as the eternal function and nature of the soul. That is dharma. Our identity is that we are a spirit soul. The natural eternal function of the soul is to be eternally blissful, peaceful, and in love. So, according to our understanding of the definition of dharma, we must feed our soul. What is the food of our soul? The soul is transcendental and so the food is also transcendental. This is why Srila Prabhupada established Gaudiya Math so that people can understand and feed the soul.
Once, Srila Prabhupada was in the temple and one scholar came and started glorifying Srila Prabhupada. He said ‘Srila Prabhupada, your disciples are preaching the Vaishnava dharma village to village. It seems like very soon you can establish Gaudiya Math in each village.’ Srila Prabhupada was not pleased with this comment. Prabhupada said, ‘You are minimizing my mission. My mission is not to establish Gaudiya Math in each village. I aim is to establish Lord Chaitanya’s mission in the heart of each person. Then Lord Chaitanya’s mission will move everywhere.
Whoever practices spirituality should be completely blissful because they are feeding their souls. Whatever people follow in the name of religiosity may be their ideology but it is not considered dharma. If people follow various ideologies, they will not be satisfied eternally. People will be running behind material recognition, appreciation, name, fame, and desires, trying to balance their practice. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur told us that dharma is to establish the practice that feeds the soul, and the food is the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. When we chant without quarreling, without desiring material appreciation, recognition, name, fame, and other material desires, then that food will feed our souls. Otherwise, it will increase the weeds of material appreciation, recognition, name, fame, and other desires. Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur, one of our great teachers, explained that:
kāhāre nā kare nindā, `kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa’ bale ajeya caitanya sei jinibeka hele
If you want to realize the real mission of Lord Chaitanya, you should not get entangled with quarrelsome behavior or criticism. We are entangled in this material appreciation, recognition, name, fame, and distinction desires to the degree to which we criticize others. If we are with a person that can not be convinced of the importance of not criticizing, then it is better to leave that place chanting ‘Krishna, Krishna’. To understand the real mission of Lord Chaitanya, the true followers of Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur are our true Gurus. The true Guru is Krishna and one who represents Krishna in this current age. They have never gotten involved in quarrels and never desired material recognition. They just inspired people to feed their souls. Feeding the soul means all requirements are fulfilled. Pure material requirements are never fulfilled.
I am humbly praying on this auspicious day, Ashwin Shukla Chaturthi, the fourth day of the waxing moon cycle in the Vedic month Ashwin, three days before Durga Puja, when my spiritual master physically manifested the pastime of being born in the Chakravarti family from mother Ramrangini Devi and father Tarini Charan Chakravarti. On this auspicious day, I humbly pray, please bestow your mercy on this fallen (adhama) soul who pretends to be your disciple. My request is to make me your true disciple with your mercy deliver me from this miserable mundane world and allow me to serve the Divine Couple in the blissful and peaceful loving abode of Goloka Vrindavan.
Please keep me under the lotus feet of Guru, Vaishnava, and Bhagavan as a tiny dust particle.
B.B.Bodhayan
Acharya- Sri Gopinath Gaudiya Math
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