Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: But I want that there should be some rule and regulation. There should be no quarrel among yourselves. If any devotee wants to take hari-nāma from Padmanābha Mahārāja, but Nemi Mahārāja or anyone is telling again, again, and gives them dīkṣā and hari-nāma, then this is not okay. Do you understand?
Śrīpāda Padmanābha Mahārāja: No, Gurudeva.
Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja: Gurudeva wants to tell that if someone wants to take from you, but other devotees say, “Don’t. He is bad, don’t go to him, and take from me.” Like this…
Śrīpāda Padmanābha Mahārāja: Oh, telling against him.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Now understand?
Śrīpāda Padmanābha Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: What did I tell?
Śrīpāda Padmanābha Mahārāja: Yeah, that if someone wants to take hari-nāma, let’s say from Āśrama Mahārāja, but then Sajjana Mahārāja is telling that devotee, “No, no, no, don’t go to Āśrama Mahārāja. Take from me.” So this….
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: In case he will do this, first time, a warning. And second time, then his giving dīkṣā should be stopped by the general body.
Śrīpāda Āśrama Mahārāja: I thought nobody can control guru.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: What?
Śrīpāda Āśrama Mahārāja: Guru is āśraya-tattva. Guru – ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān nāva-manyeta karhicit [“The acarya is to be considered as My very self. No one should disrespect him.”]. How can a general body control…?
Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja: No, Gurudeva want to say that suppose someone wants to take initiation from you, but Padmanābha Mahārāja and myself, or another says to him, “Don’t go to him. He’s bad, African, black person. Don’t go to him.” Then, first there will be a warning. Second time, his giving initiation will be stopped.
Śrīpāda Āśrama Mahārāja: But my question is that guru is a transcendental position, not to be controlled. How can guru be controlled by a body?
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: What?
Śrīpāda Āśrama Mahārāja: Guru. How can guru be controlled by a body?
Śrīpāda Śuddhādvaitī Mahārāja: Commission…
Śrīpāda Āśrama Mahārāja: Maybe the commission is made up of baddha-jīvas, and guru himself – his disciples are thinking that he is liberated.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Now that I am present, I am giving power to the general body that if any sannyāsī is doing like so, he must be stopped. Like ISKCON is doing.
Vrajanātha dāsa: Mahārāja, if a sannyāsī says, “He is bad,” then that sannyāsī who says that, he is not…
Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja: He will be banned from giving initiation.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Otherwise, there will be quarrels among yourselves, and you will be separated.
Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja: Now understand, Āśrama Mahārāja?
Śrīpāda Āśrama Mahārāja: Yeah, I understand, understand.
Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja: Who is blaspheming and telling “Oh, don’t go to him. He is bad,” that sannyāsī will be banned from giving initiation.
Śrīpāda Āśrama Mahārāja: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That sannyāsī will be banned.
Sannyāsī darśana Kārtika 4th November 2008
Śrīpāda Sajjana Mahārāja: Would a madhyama-adhikārī remain in a spiritual institution that has resolutions against pure devotees and bans them from their society?
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: There was an imitation Rūpa Gosvāmī named Rūpa Kavirāja. He banned others indiscriminately, and he was expelled from our sampradāya by Śrīmatī Hemalatā Ṭhākurāṇī. Have you heard this story about the atibāḍī* Kavirāja?
Walking with a Saint – Morning Walks and Conversations 2010
The daughter of Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, Hemalatā Ṭhākurāṇī, was extremely learned and a great Vaiṣṇavī. She expelled an estranged disciple named Rūpa Kavirāja from the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava community. Thereafter Rūpa Kavirāja was known as atibāḍī* in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava community.
Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu-bindu by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
*Atibāḍī refers to one who acts beyond his adhikāra. In other words, by definition and qualification, a madhyama-adhikārī will never stay in unfavourable association. Śrīla Gurudeva is saying that those who cannot distinguish between non-devotees and devotees are never madhyama.
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