The following is a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in Murwillumbah, Australia, on February 13, 2002 

 

I offer my humble obeisances unto the lotus feet of my paramārādhya śrīla gurudeva, nitya-līlā-praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja. I offer the same unto my śikṣā-gurus, nitya-līlā-praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja and prapūjyacaraṇa nitya-līlā-praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Mahārāja, and unto the lotus feet of our whole guru-paramparā. I offer my puṣpāñjali unto their lotus feet.

It is stated in verse six of Śrī Gurvaṣṭakam by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura:

nikuñja-yūno rati-keli-siddhyai
yā yālibhir yuktir apekṣaṇīyā
tatrāti-dākṣyād ati-vallabhasya
vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam

Śrī Gurvāṣṭakam (6)

[“The spiritual master is very dear, because he is expert in assisting the gopīs, who at different times make different tasteful arrangements for the perfection of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s conjugal loving affairs within the groves of Vṛndāvana. I offer my most humble obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master.”]

What is the meaning of nikuñja-yūno rati-keli-siddhyai? What is that guru doing?

Devotee: He’s rendering intimate service to the Divine Couple.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: What services is he rendering? The answer is very secret.

Devotee: He performs pleasing services.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: He not only does this. Sometimes he rebukes Kṛṣṇa in many ways, and sometimes he also cheats Him. [An example of cheating Kṛṣṇa is as follows: Kṛṣṇa may ask the guru (in his form as a maidservant of Śrīmatī Rādhikā) if Rādhikā has come to the Vṛndāvana forest to meet Him. That maidservant may reply, “No, Her mother-in-law would not allow Her to leave the house.” Although Śrīmatī Rādhikā is actually hiding in a nearby grove, Kṛṣṇa believes the maidservant. His anxiety to meet Rādhikā thus increases, and when they meet shortly after this, that meeting is more meaningful. -ed]

Gurudeva must be like this: nikuñja-yūno rati-keli-siddhyai. He must be serving the Divine Couple Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and especially Rādhikā. The gopīs make so many arrangements for Their meeting. Rati-keli-siddhyai yā yālibhir yuktir apekṣaṇīyā. They engage in all methods of cheating their fathers, mothers, and husbands (everyone) for the successful meeting of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and for serving Them. A gurudeva is very expert in all these activities.

We see in our guru-gāyatrī, kṛṣṇānandāya dhīmahi. This refers to both Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇā. Pleasing both. Anyone can serve Kṛṣṇa; any male can serve. But who will serve Kṛṣṇā?

Who is Kṛṣṇā? Kṛṣṇā is Rādhikā. Any male cannot serve [Her]. Never and never. In what form can he do rati-keli-siddhyai [serve the playful, loving pastimes of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa]? A guru cannot serve in his male form. So Svāmījī, my Gurudeva, you know, my Gurudeva – Vinoda Mañjarī are both serving there in their female forms as gopīs. In that realm, my Gurudeva (Vinoda Mañjarī), Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda (Nayana Mañjarī), Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura (Kamala Mañjarī), Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī (Vilāsa Mañjarī), Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī (Rūpa Mañjarī), and Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī (Rati Mañjarī) serve.

Dhṛṣṭadyumna dāsa: And our Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: You can tell (laughter). If you surrender everything, fully, then I may tell you. Otherwise, I will not. I know who he is, but you do not know (laughter). None of the ISKCON leaders know. He has cheated them all.

So gurudeva is rati-keli-siddhyai yā yālibhir yuktir apekṣaṇīyā. I offer praṇāma to my gurudeva in that very form, who is cheating others, even cheating Kṛṣṇa. By such ‘cheating,’ he brings Kṛṣṇa to serve His most beloved Rādhikā. In the Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it is openly stated who the guru of Kṛṣṇa is. Who?

Devotees: Rādhikā. (laughter)

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Yes, so why not take shelter at the lotus feet of the guru of Kṛṣṇa? Our guru is there.

This verse (nikuñja-yūno rati-keli-siddhyai) does not apply to ordinary, bogus gurus who fall down twenty times or thirty times a day. It also doesn’t apply to gurus who can fall down. I do not accept them as gurus. Actually, a guru is someone who can serve Rādhikā. If a guru has fully controlled his senses, but he is not directly serving Rādhikā, he is only partially a guru.

vāco vegaṁ manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ
jihvā-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ
sarvām apīmāṁ pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt

Śrī Upadeśāmṛta (1)

[“A sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the mind’s demands, the actions of anger and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world.”]

atyāhāraḥ prayāsaś ca
prajalpo niyamāgrahaḥ
jana-saṅgaś ca laulyaṁ ca
ṣaḍbhir bhaktir vinaśyati

Śrī Upadeśāmṛta (2)

[“One’s devotional service is spoiled when he becomes too entangled in the following six activities: (1) eating more than necessary or collecting more funds than required; (2) over-endeavouring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain; (3) talking unnecessarily about mundane subject matters; (4) practicing the scriptural rules and regulations only for the sake of following them and not for the sake of spiritual advancement, or rejecting the rules and regulations of the scriptures and working independently or whimsically; (5) associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; and (6) being greedy for mundane achievements.”]

utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt
tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt
saṅga-tyāgāt sato vṛtteḥ
ṣaḍbhir bhaktiḥ prasidhyati

Śrī Upadeśāmṛta (3)

[“There are six principles favourable to the execution of pure devotional service: (1) being enthusiastic, (2) endeavouring with confidence, (3) being patient, (4) acting according to regulative principles (such as śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam – hearing, chanting and remembering Kṛṣṇa), (5) abandoning the association of nondevotees, and (6) following in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas. These six principles undoubtedly assure the complete success of pure devotional service.”]

dadāti pratigṛhṇāti
guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati
bhuṅkte bhojayate caiva
ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ prīti-lakṣaṇam

Śrī Upadeśāmṛta (4)

[“Offering gifts in charity, accepting charitable gifts, revealing one’s mind in confidence, inquiring confidentially, accepting prasāda and offering prasāda are the six symptoms of love shared by one devotee and another.”]

tan-nāma-rūpa-caritādi-sukīrtanānu-
smṛtyoḥ krameṇa rasanā-manasī niyojya
tiṣṭhan vraje tad-anurāgi-janānugāmī
kālaṁ nayed akhilam ity upadeśa-sāram

Śrī Upadeśāmṛta (8)

[“The essence of all advice is that one should utilise one’s full time – twenty-four hours a day – in nicely chanting and remembering the Lord’s divine name, transcendental form, qualities and eternal pastimes, thereby gradually engaging one’s tongue and mind. In this way, one should reside in Vraja (Goloka Vṛndāvana-dhāma) and serve Kṛṣṇa under the guidance of devotees. One should follow in the footsteps of the Lord’s beloved devotees, who are deeply attached to His devotional service.”]

Someone who is partially a guru also has control of his senses, vāco vega (speech), manasa vega (mind), krodha vega (anger), jihvā-vega (tongue), etc. He is also closely following all the instructions of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī given in Śrī Upadeśāmṛta: atyāhāraḥ prayāsaś ca (verse 2), utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt (verse 3), dadāti pratigṛhṇāti, guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati (verse 4), tan-nāma-rūpa-caritādi (verse 8).

Still, if he is not like Rūpa Mañjarī and Rati Mañjarī, and if he is not serving them, he may be a guru in part, but not in full. The highest quality of a guru is service to Rādhikā. In this way, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura is writing, vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam. I bow down to my gurudeva and all gurus who serve in this way. So our guru is not only the prakāśa (manifestation) of Nityānanda Prabhu or Baladeva Prabhu, but he is also the prakāśa of Rādhikā. Such a guru is the highest. Even Baladeva Prabhu takes shelter at Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s lotus feet. You know how? As Anaṅga Mañjarī. How beautiful and glorious She is.

So vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam.

In this evening’s class, we will discuss guru-tattva, from beginning to end. Whether you are a female devotee or a male, you should be ready to speak, and we will discuss guru-tattva from the beginning.

Śrīpāda Bhaktivedānta Āśrama Mahārāja: Gurudeva, you said that someone who is partially a guru has controlled the six urges, such as vāco vegaṁ, manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ, etc. Such gurus, even with that partial quality, will not fall?

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: They will not fall down, but they are not perfect gurus. Those who are serving Śrīmatī Rādhikā personally are the highest type of gurus.

Śrīpāda Bhaktivedānta Āśrama Mahārāja: Regarding the ones who have fallen down, they’re not even gurus partially?

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: No, never, never. They are not even devotees, what to speak of being gurus.

Devotee: Because they are cheating?

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: They are cheating themselves, not only cheating others.

Gaura Premānande.

Source(s): Purebhakti.com, Serve Love – Bhakta Bandhav (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology transcribed and edited by the Bhakta Bandhav Team)

Image(s) made possible by Pixabay.com, Krishnapath.org.in, Keystone Press / Alamy Stock Photo and / or Bhaktiart.net

Unless indicated otherwise, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)