The following are excerpts from discourses delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja at Śrī Keśavajī Gauḍīya Maṭha in Mathurā, India, on May 7, 8 & 9, 1991, published in Śrī Guru Vandanā

 

Śrī Nārada Gosvāmī, Uddhavajī, and Gopa-kumāra were having a discussion, and Nāradajī became overwhelmed with bliss as he offered his respects to Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, remembering each pastime and uttering its name. And thus he mentioned Veṇu–gīta [wherein the gopīs are glorifying Girirāja-Govardhana with the verse hantāyam adrir abalā haridāsa–varya (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.21.18)]. For some days now, we have been discussing this, especially the insights of our Gosvāmīs, of Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī and Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, that arose in their hearts by the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu alone is the root of these conceptions. If He had not come and had not infused their hearts with inspiration, such understandings would not have been revealed to the world. This is why Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, before commencing any activity of bhakti, be it studying Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, discussing nitya–līlā, or reading any other grantha, are sure to propitiate Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and accept the shelter of His feet. Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, or any of the Vaiṣṇavas, under their guidance, are always sure to glorify Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in one way or another and express their gratitude before proceeding. Those who do not embrace a sense of indebtedness to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are simply not Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas.

Other people may very well regard Girirājajī as Bhagavān and view worship of him as the worship of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa or others. However, in our sampradāya, he is seen only as hari–dāsa–varya, because there can be nothing more authoritative than the words of the gopīs, especially when among the gopīs, it is from Śrīmatī Rādhājī Herself, from Her own lips, that we find this statement, “… śrī rādhikā-vaktra-candrāt – (O Girirāja, your sweet title, haridāsa-varya) issued forth from the moon-like face of Śrīmatī Rādhikā.”

Should Rādhikā say one thing and Kṛṣṇa another, we will accept what Rādhikā says. Kṛṣṇa is sometimes unreliable. Sometimes He will just tell people to their face what they want to hear. If there are two gopīs, He will meet one and tell her she is His most beloved. Then, He will see the other gopī and tell her that she is His most beloved. Then He will see the other gopī and tell her that she is truly His favourite. What He says to Rukmiṇī, He will say to Satyabhāmā. He will tell everyone what they want to hear. This is why Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says that we do not trust the words of people who live in Mathurā. We do not trust that part of Kṛṣṇa who lives in Mathurā. But we have full conviction in Śrīmatī Rādhikājī, in what She has said, what has issued forth from Her lips, that Girirāja is hari–dāsa–varya. This is why we regard Girirāja as the greatest servant of Hari.

Once (when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was residing in Purī), a Vaiṣṇava from here (Vraja) gave Mahāprabhu a small necklace of guñja berries and also a śilā of Girirājajī. Mahāprabhu was very delighted to receive that śilā, so much so that He could not decide whether to keep it on His head or rest it on His eyelids, whether to keep it on His heart or outside. Nor could He decide what to do with it. “Should I bathe it with ocean water, or should I ask for some Gaṅgā water from Śrī Paramānanda Purī’s well and bathe it with that or with My tears?” He could barely determine where to keep it, how to worship it.

He did serve it, seeing Girirāja as Kṛṣṇa and the guñjā necklace as Rādhā. He would pick eight tulasī–mañjarīs, each with a beautiful soft bud in the centre of two soft leaves, and offer some water. He served with bhāva. Just by seeing Girirāja, He would be reminded of all that transpired at Govardhana-giri; He would remember the gopīs; He would remember everything. For Him, bhāva–sevā was natural. For us, presently, bhāva–sevā is very, very difficult.

After some days, He gave the śilā to Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, for He saw, “Oh, he is a worthy boy.” And He told him exactly how to worship it. “You are a niṣkiñcana Vaiṣṇava. You do not have the money to make a golden altar, to build a temple, to provide rāja–bhoga offerings and chāpānna–bhoga (56 preparations), ten or however many times daily. All this is not possible for you. You just offer these eight tulasī-mañjarīs and water; render bhāva–sevā.”

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu served Girirāja in His own mood, but how did Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī serve? He served Girirāja as one who gives prema for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. He has written somewhere, or perhaps Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has written, that in Vṛndāvana there are two personalities who can give prema for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa: Girirāja-Govardhanajī and Yamunājī. Both are mentioned as those who grant such prema. This is how he served Girirāja, and it is this form that is beneficial for us.

If someone sees Kṛṣṇa Himself as Girirāja, then it is somewhat problematic. Kṛṣṇa cannot give Himself fully to anyone, because He does not belong to Himself. Everything that was His – His body and belongings – He gave to Śrīmatījī. He has nothing left to give. That is why, if these personalities (such as Girirāja and Yamunā) are inclined to give something, they have the power to give Him in His entirety. Kṛṣṇa cannot give Himself fully.

It is for this reason that this mood of service is mentioned in our sampradāya. Hence, we too shall serve Girirāja in this manner, as he who grants prema for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. By serving him, one can attain that prema. He is the giver. “Nirupadhi-karuṇena śrī-śacī-nandanena tvayi kapaṭi-śaṭho ’pi tvat-priyeṇārpito ’smi – The causelessly merciful Śrī Śacīnandana, who is most dear to you, has offered me to you. I am kapaṭa (deceitful), but whatever I am, I am yours, so please accept me.” Girirāja accepts even our kapaṭatā (deceitfulness). If we submit everything at his feet, he will surely bestow kṛṣṇa–prema upon us.

And suppose we do think that Kṛṣṇa is Girirājajī. Does Kṛṣṇa mean more to us, or does Śrīmatījī? Who is the object of our worship? “Madīśā-nāthatve vraja-vipina-candraṁ vraja-vaneśvarīṁ tāṁ-nāthatve – the moon of Vraja’s forest (Kṛṣṇa) is the Lord of the life of my mistress, who is the Goddess of Vraja’s forest.” Rādhājī is our ārādhya (worshipful deity). We aim to please Her, do we not? By pleasing Her, everyone will be pleased. This is why the topic of hari–dāsa–varya is mentioned. That is our objective.

But to become hari–dāsa–varya, there are some prerequisites. We must look to the light, to that which is not darkness: “Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya – don’t go to the darkness.” Sleep, laziness, madness, what are these? They are darkness. “Jyotir gamaya – go towards the light.” Hari-kathā is the light.

Before becoming the servant of Hari, there are some other endeavours we must make. First, we become liberated: “Āge haya mukti tabe sarva-bandha-nāśa, tabe se haite pāre śrī-kṛṣṇera dāsa – first liberation occurs, and all bondage is destroyed, then one can become the servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa” (Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya-kaṇḍha, 17.106). And even upon becoming Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s servant (dāsa), still something remains to be done. Although everything is implied here – becoming Kṛṣṇa’s dāsa, Rādhā’s dāsa, etc. – it is a general statement. Just saying “Kṛṣṇa’s servant” does leave something wanting.

To properly understand this matter, we will have to come down the line somewhat; we will have to descend. To where? First is māyā–dāsa (servant of the material energy). All the people of the world are māyā–dāsa. How is it that they are all māyā–dāsa?

“Kṛṣṇa bhuli sei jīva anādi-bahirmukha, ataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra-duḥkha – having forgotten Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has been averse to Him since time immemorial, and so māyā inflicts upon him the sufferings of material existence” (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya–līlā 20.117).

“Piśācī pāile yena mati-cchana haya, māyā grasta jīvera haya se bhāva udaya – When the witch catches him, his awareness is covered. The state of conditioned existence then arises for the soul thus gripped by illusion.”

“Kabhu rājā kabhu prajā kabhu vipra śūdra, kabhu duḥkhī kabhu sukhī kabhu kīṭa kṣudra – Sometimes he is a king, sometimes a citizen, sometimes a priest, and other times a labourer. Sometimes he is happy, sometimes sad, and sometimes he is a small bug” (Śrī Prema-vivarta 6.3, 5).

“Brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva, guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja – wandering throughout the universe, a fortunate soul, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa and the guru receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.”

“Mālī hañā kare sei bīja āropaṇa, śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana – becoming a gardener, he sows that seed and waters it by the process of hearing and chanting” (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya–līlā, 19.151, 152).

Nowhere else is there such a beautiful description of this process, be it in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Vedas or the Upaniṣads. If you want to read something about bhakti, then you must read Śrī Caitanya–caritāmṛta. To understand Śrī Caitanya–caritāmṛta, the Ṣaṭ-sandarbhas are absolutely necessary. And to understand the Ṣaṭ–sandarbhas, we also need to attain the mercy of Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī’s Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta and Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Bhakti–rasāmṛta-sindhu and Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi; otherwise, we will not be able to understand these books at all. In addition, to explain all of these books, we have the writings of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, and others. Ours is a huge and weighty fortune, but at least we have come into contact with this dhārā (line of thought), or current. If not today, then maybe tomorrow, we will be able to become immersed in it. Just how immensely fortunate are we!

So, first of all, we are all māyā–dāsa. What does māyā–dāsa mean? Servitude to māyā entails that our consciousness is engrossed in this body and all that pertains to it – wealth, followers, children, family – all the objects of our attachment, all that is there in this saṁsāra. As long as we are entrapped here, all of this will surely remain with us in one form or another.

When the soul receives the mercy of a sādhu and guru, or Kṛṣṇa and the guru – guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja – he begins to rise somewhat. When he rose above being a servant of māyā, he developed some sukṛti (spiritual merit). Then he had some association with sādhus, obtained the mercy of a guru, and has now become a guru–dāsa. The first stage is guru–dāsa. What can he attain beyond the material energy if he is a servant of māyā? Whatever one may try to do, if it is without a guru, one will not be successful. Hence, one has to become a guru–dāsa.

There is not just one type of guru–dāsa. First is śiṣya–bruva, one who is a disciple only in name, just as there are brāhmaṇa-bruvas (so-called brāhmaṇas). After that, there is the tāmasika-dāsa (disciple in the mode of ignorance). Then comes the rājasika–dāsa (disciple in the mode of passion), after which comes the sāttvika-dāsa (disciple in the mode of goodness). These disciples are the kaniṣṭhas and madhyamas. Beyond them is the nirguṇa–dāsa (disciple who is beyond the modes). This kind of disciple is referred to as uttama. And after this, there is something else. The living entity will then become kṛṣṇa–dāsa (a servant of Kṛṣṇa).

To understand this topic, first understand what śiṣya–bruva is. He is not a servant of the guru, but he says he is. Guru–bruva (being a guru in name only) is also mentioned. He does not have any real qualities of a guru, but he pretends to, and to gain physical and worldly pleasures, he makes disciples. That is a guru-bruva. Someone with no connection to the spiritual realm is called a guru–bruva.

A śiṣya–bruva is one who does not have any real relationship with the guru, but because he wants to kill someone or because he has a rivalry with someone and is envious of someone, he duplicitously takes shelter of a guru, bringing with him his tāmasika motives. Instead of serving a guru, he strives to pursue his own ends, like a counterfeiter exchanging counterfeit notes.

I was reading in one of Prabhupāda’s articles how, previously, a guru (before giving initiation) would wait at least one year while examining the disciple, and the disciple would also wait and observe the guru. After this period, once they were both satisfied, having developed a mutual relationship of a spiritual nature, the guru would offer the disciple dīkṣā, and the disciple would accept. That is why the problems that happen nowadays did not happen back then. Currently, the disciple makes a decision quickly, and so does the guru. This is not the correct procedure. It is a lifetime after lifetime relationship, not just a one lifetime or two lifetimes relationship. And it is on the basis of this relationship that kṛṣṇa–prema, or the position of kṛṣṇa–dāsa or any other spiritual thing, is attained. Those who have a proper foundation will achieve those results.

Droṇācārya was teaching Arjuna, Bhīma, Nakula, Sahadeva, Dharmarāja, Duryodhana and his brothers. A hundred Kaurava brothers and five Pāṇḍavas – Droṇa had a hundred and five disciples. He taught all equally, but still, he had more affection for Arjuna.

Ekalavya, a hunter’s son, could not tolerate Arjuna’s prestige. He was the atheistic type, the jealous type.

It was recommended that a guru should make sure that his disciples were from good families and not accept disciples from low-class families. If a disciple was not of reputable character, if there was no certainty of his family heritage, what his conduct and beliefs were, or who his parents were, then he should not be given dīkṣā. A guru must be discerning. I saw something similar in my time as a government-employed policeman. They had a review process before appointing a person. The CID (investigating agency) would come and look at your diary and see what your family was like, what your mother and father were like. They would investigate everything.

So this Ekalavya came to Droṇācārya and said, “Mahārāja, Prabhu, Gurudeva, from this day forth I choose you as my teacher. Please teach me this dhanuṣa–vidyā (knowledge of archery).”

“Why do you want to learn archery?” Droṇa asked. Ekalavya fell silent. Droṇa asked him several times, but he did not respond. All Ekalavya could think of was defeating Arjuna. He was friends with Duryodhana, just like Karṇa was. His heart was wicked. A guru can see the subtle body. Droṇa could tell his intentions were not honourable. “He wants to take this knowledge from me, but with it he is going to destroy the world.” “Sorry,” he said, “we do not have a place for you here. This is where we teach princes, those whose backgrounds and characters are familiar to us. We do not teach anyone else.” He thus dismissed Ekalavya, who left feeling much aggrieved. He went into the forest and made a deity of Droṇācārya and began taking ‘lessons’ from that deity.

Sometime later, when the princes’ education had progressed, Droṇa took them into the forest one day to test them, to see who had learned what and how well. As they reached the forest, a dog started barking loudly at them. Suddenly, it stopped barking completely. “Why did it stop?” they wondered. “Let’s go see.” They saw that the dog’s mouth was full of arrows, but there was not a single scratch on its mouth. “Who could have shot these arrows so perfectly as to not injure the dog at all and yet stop its barking?” they thought. They estimated the direction the arrows had come from and searched a short distance until they came upon a dark-skinned youth, a rugged character, standing there with bow and arrow. As soon as the youth saw Droṇācārya, he bowed down before him. “Who are you?” Droṇa asked.

“I am Ekalavya,” he replied.

“You shot these arrows?” Droṇa asked.

“Yes, I shot them.”

“You are very talented. Who did you learn from? Who is your guru?”

At this, he paid Droṇa full prostrated obeisances and said, “You are my guru.”

“I never taught you,” said Droṇa.

“Look at this,” he said, “I have a deity of you here. I took lessons from this deity.”

“Oh, so you are my disciple.”

“Yes,” said Ekalavya.

“Well, you have learned a lot, but you never offered any dakṣiṇā to your guru. Give me a dakṣiṇā.”

“Whatever you ask, I will give. This whole body is yours.”

“Then cut off your right thumb and give it to me,” Droṇa said.

Ekalavya did not hesitate for even a second. He cut off his thumb and gave it to Droṇa, who simply took it. He did not say, “Oh, you are such an exalted disciple. You gave me your thumb.” There is no description of anything like that in the Mahābhārata. It just says that he took the thumb and left, taking the five Pāṇḍavas with him. But it does say that as Droṇa returned from the forest, he was filled with dread. Why? “This is the very sort of person I did not want to teach,” he thought. “And yet he learned all of these skills. This does not bode well. It will not bring good to the world.”

When the same Ekalavya grew up, prior to the Mahābhārata war, he fought against Kṛṣṇa, wanting to kill Kṛṣṇa and the Pāṇḍavas. Kṛṣṇa cut off his head with His sudarśana–cakra. Whose heads does Kṛṣṇa cut off with His sudarśana–cakra? What kind of evil characters are they? Ekalavya was one of them.

Once one has offered oneself to a guru, the disciple must do whatever the guru says without a second thought. This is the duty of the disciple. Droṇa told him, “I will not teach you, for you are not suitable.” But Ekalavya insisted on learning. What Droṇa had said was said for a reason, for the good of the world, and Ekalavya disobeyed that instruction.

Śrīla Prabhupāda comments that those who are karma–jaḍa (engrossed in fruitive works) will view Ekalavya as the model guru-sevaka. Their intelligence has been ruined. Devoid of the capacity to make proper judgments, they see only the gross aspects of existence. They will not venture into the inner aspect, which is why they do not believe there is such a thing as spirit. This is the case of the śiṣya–bruva (so-called disciple).

Now, let us proceed to the tāmasika-sevaka (disciple in the mode of ignorance) or guru-dāsa. Take Karṇa, for example. He saw how good an archer Arjuna was and was jealous of him. He ended up being humiliated in a contest in which he competed with Arjuna. At the end of the contest, Bhīṣma Pitāmaha said to him, “You came here to prove yourself as equal to these royal princes, but first tell us what your lineage is. You have shown us your skill in competition with Arjuna, aiming as well as he does, shooting the eye of the fish. Whatever he did, you have done. Everyone is amazed. But since you have come to compete with him, tell us this: Whose son are you? These are the sons of Pāṇḍu, and these are the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra. So whose son are you? Tell us the names of your mother and father.”

Karṇa could not say.

“What? You do not know who your mother and father are?”

“I am Radheya,” he said. “My mother’s name is Radha.”

“Oh, you are his son, the person who drives the chariots? He is a sūta–putra (person of mixed caste). So, you are also a sūta-putra. A sūta-putra has no right to compete with princes. Leave this place immediately.”

That is when Duryodhana stood up and gave Karṇa his crown, saying, “He is the king of Aṅga-deśa and my best friend. You must respect his place here among us.” But in front of Bhīṣma Pitāmaha, none of this worked, and Karṇa, embarrassed, left.

Where did he go? He went to Paraśurāma. “To defeat even Bhīṣma, I have to learn from his guru,” he thought.

Paraśurāma asked him, “Whose son are you? What caste are you from?”

He said, “I am the son of a brāhmaṇa.”

“Very well then,” said Paraśurāma.

Karṇa did not say he was a kṣatriya; otherwise, Paraśurāma would have reacted adversely. He told him that he was the son of a brāhmaṇa. Ṛṣis and mahārṣis are very simple and straightforward. Paraśurāma believed him: “Why would he lie? And he has come to learn the knowledge of sacred weapons. He has come for a virtuous purpose; it is only right to give him the knowledge he seeks.” So Paraśurāma taught him everything, the brahmāstra and every other astra.

Karṇa was about to complete his studies and leave his guru’s āśrama. It was just a few days before his return. One afternoon, the great sage put his head on Karṇa’s lap and took a nap. It was the monsoon season, and an insect, a vajra-kīṭa, climbed onto Karṇa’s leg and bored into it, coming out the other side. A stream of blood gushed from his leg, but Karṇa did not move. The blood touched Paraśurāma’s head. Feeling something warm, he woke up. “What is this?” He saw blood everywhere. “Where did all this blood come from? This insect bored into your leg, and you did not say a word?”

“No,” he said, “I did not want to disturb you.”

“You cannot possibly be a brāhmaṇa,” said Paraśurāma, “You are definitely a kṣatriya. Brāhmaṇas do not have such tolerance to pain. A brāhmaṇa would surely have woken me up. Tell me the truth, otherwise I will curse you right now. Whose son are you?”

“I am a sūta–putra,” he told him.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before? And why did you want to learn weaponry? Tell me the truth.”

“To defeat Arjuna.”

“You did not tell me this to begin with. You are not a real disciple. You lied to me. Go! Because you lied to me, when the time comes that you really need this knowledge, you will forget everything you have learned. Until then, yes, you may have use of it. Just as you have treated me – hiding the truth – I will treat you.” Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham – in whichever way a person renders service to Me, I reciprocate with him accordingly.

This (keeping grudges and envy within the heart) is typical of the tāmasika mentality. Karṇa is an example of one in the mode of ignorance serving śrī guru.

Let us proceed a step further to the rājasika disciple. What is a rājasika disciple? It refers to one who serves a guru to obtain pleasure, luxury, indulgence, a wife, or a husband.

In the discussion between Kapiladeva and Devahūti, there is mention of rājasika, tāmasika, and sāttvika–bhakti. This gradation of the modes pertains to bhakti. Depending on the mode of the practitioner, bhakti is referred to by different names. In fact, bhakti is of one kind only: uttamā–bhakti. Likewise, there is only one kind of guru–sevaka, but according to the various moods of devotion individuals have or what they are concerned with, they are given different names.

Bhīṣma Pitāmaha vowed that he would not marry: “I will remain celibate my whole life. I will not accept the throne.” However, to get his brother married, he won the three daughters of the king of Kāśī – Ambā, Ambālikā, and Ambikā – and brought them back to Hastināpura. Two of them married his brother, but the other refused and said, “I will marry only you. It is you who won us; therefore, I want to marry you. You must marry me.”

Bhīṣma, however, told her he could not marry her. She turned to everyone in the assembly for help, but none could help her. Bhīṣma was very formidable, very strong, so she went to his guru and began to weep pitifully.

“Why are you crying, daughter?” asked Paraśurāma.

At that time, Bhīṣma was known as Devavrata. “Devavrata won me in the svayaṁvara” (ceremony in which a woman selects her husband), she told him, “and then he brought me to Hastināpura. But he brought me here to marry his brother. I want to marry him, yet he won’t marry me. Please talk to him. When he won me, I gave him my garland. I will only marry the person I gave my garland to.”

She was weeping profusely. Paraśurāma felt compassion for her. He summoned Bhīṣma, his disciple, and asked him, “Why won’t you marry her? You won her, yes?” 

“Yes,” said Bhīṣma.

“Then why won’t you marry her?”

“Because I won her for my brother. I defeated everyone at the svayaṁvara and abducted these princesses, but I did this for my brother.”

“I don’t know anything about that,” said Paraśurāma, “But if you won her, you should marry her.”

“But I made a vow to my father that I will not marry, that I will not take the kingdom. I made that vow in regard to the kingdom and marriage. I will not marry her.”

“Then why did you go to the svayaṁvara and take her away by force? Were you not thinking about your vows then? Who will take responsibility now?”

Bhīṣma still refused. Paraśurāma insisted: “Either you marry her or you fight with me.”

When Bhīṣma heard this, he became very happy. He had found a way out. “I will fight you and die, but I will not marry.” And so they fought. In the end, neither of them could win. Brahmā and others had to come and mediate a truce. Bhīṣma never married. But he did not obey his guru. Why? Did his justification have any spiritual merit? No. This type of person is the rājasika disciple. Bhīṣma enacted this to exemplify a rājasika disciple.

In the sāttvika category are the examples of Aruṇi and Upamanyu:

What did Aruṇi do? On the order of his guru’s wife, amid torrential rain, in the middle of winter, in the freezing cold, he went to repair a broken dike in the field. His guru’s wife had told him that the floodwaters would damage their home. So, again and again, he tried to fix the dike, but it kept breaking. The flow of water was very strong. He kept building up the dirt, but it kept getting washed away. Finally, he saw there was no option but to lie across the breach. Some water still escaped, but much less. He lay there like that all night. By morning, he was practically lifeless, freezing and covered in dirt. His guru came looking for him. “Aruṇi, where are you? Aruṇi?”

In a faint voice, with all a dying man could muster, he called out weakly, “Gurujī, I am here.”

“Where?”

“Over here…”

His guru came over and saw the state he was in. “Why are you lying here?” he asked.

“I tried… I could not stop the water, so I lay down.”

His guru raised him up and embraced him to his chest, blessing him to have instant realisation of all the Vedas and Vedānta. Aruṇi became a mantra-draṣṭā ṛṣi (sage and seer of the mantras).

Upamanyu’s case was somewhat similar. His guru told him, “Stop eating so much! I order you. You are getting so fat. Do you drink milk from the cows?”

“Yes,” said Upamanyu, “After the calf drinks, I drink what is left.”

“Don’t drink milk anymore,” his guru said.

Sometime later, his guru asked, “You’re still getting fat. Are you continuing to drink cow’s milk?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then what are you eating?”

“Well, when the cows are sitting down to chew their cud, some foam forms on their mouths. I take this foam and eat that.”

“What? Are you eating foam from the mouths of the cows? From tomorrow, don’t do that anymore.”

“Yes, as you command,” said Upamanyu.

The next day, he did not eat anything. He was so hungry that he ended up eating some leaves from a plant, but the leaves made him blind, and he fell into a well. In the evening, the cows returned (from the pasturing grounds). The guru and his wife noticed that the cows had returned, but that Upamanyu had not. “Where did he go?” they wondered. His guru went out looking for him. “Where are you, Upamanyu? Where are you?” As he was searching everywhere, night fell. Finally, the guru heard him calling from the well.

“Gurujī, I fell into the well.”

“How did you fall in? Wait, hold on.” He brought a rope and hauled him out of the well. “How did you fall in?”

“You told me not to drink milk, so I stopped doing so. Then you told me not to eat the foam from the cows’ mouths, so I stopped doing that. But I was so hungry I picked some leaves from a plant that was leaking a sap resembling milk and drank a few drops, but that sap made me blind.”

“You followed my orders. You did not eat. You did exactly what I said. May all the Vedas and Upaniṣads manifest to you.” Thus, he was blessed with Vedic knowledge, and his eyes were also healed.

But what is Veda? What does Vedic knowledge mean here? The Vedas are composed of three divisions. “Evaṁ trayī-dharmam anuprapannā gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante – Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.” (Gītā 9.21). Once they enjoy the heavenly planets, they have to come back to this world. The three divisions of the Vedas are centred around kāma and are for those who are sakāma (who desire worldly happiness). Hence, these two (Upamanyu and Aruṇi) are referred to as sāttvika.

Let us proceed somewhat higher. Here, we enter the Bhāgavatam. This is where nirguṇa-bhakti, or the example of nirguṇa-dāsa, begins. Up till now, we have discussed the sāttvika, rājasika, tāmasika, and bruva categories of disciples.

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes how Sudāma and Kṛṣṇa, on the order of their gurvī (the wife of their guru, Sāndīpani Muni), went into the jungle to collect wood. It started to rain. It was winter too. All night they stood there, holding their bundle of wood on their heads. They did not return to the āśrama. When morning arrived, Sāndīpani Muni came with a lamp, looking for them. “Are! Kṛṣṇa, Sudāmā? Where are you?” All night, they had been standing there, getting soaked but holding the bundle on their heads. Who did so? Kṛṣṇa Himself, with Sudāmā. When their guru found them, he asked, “Why didn’t you come back?”

“It was raining,” they said. “We didn’t know which way to go, which way was flooded and which was not. Water filled all directions.”

“You could have set the bundle down and found your way.”

“If we had set the bundle down, the wood would have gotten fully soaked, and then how would Gurvī be able to cook? If it’s a bit wet, it can still be used, but had we set the wood down, it would have gotten waterlogged. We had to keep it on our heads.”

“I see,” their guru replied. And he blessed them with knowledge of all the sixty-four arts. These arts are still considered part of Vedic knowledge, but they are spiritual. Kṛṣṇa is in this story (to show the importance of guru-sevā), is He not? The two of them did not consider their own personal gain or loss. They acted only to serve their guru. This is an example of nirguṇa–dāsa. Sudāmā’s bhakti is nirguṇa, and he attained bhakti for Nārāyaṇa, meaning for Kṛṣṇa as Dvārkādhīśa. He obtained great wealth, but also utter detachment from it, as well as special anurāga (attachment) to Kṛṣṇa.

Now, having reached the nirguṇa stage, let us proceed a bit further, for we have still not found our abhīṣṭa (cherished objective). Hence, we proceed to this verse:

cintāmaṇir jayati somagirir gurur me
śikṣā-guruś ca bhagavān śikhi-piñcha-mauliḥ
yat-pāda-kalpataru-pallava-śekhareṣu
līlā-svayaṁvara-rasaṁ labhate jayaśrīḥ

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi-līlā 1.57)

[“All glories to Cintāmaṇi and my initiating spiritual master, Somagiri. All glories to my instructing spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who wears peacock feathers in His crown. Under the shade of His lotus feet, which are like desire trees, Jayaśrī (Rādhārāṇī) enjoys the transcendental mellow of an eternal consort.”]

What kind of guru–dāsa is the author of this verse? Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura refers to Cintāmaṇi as his guru. Which guru? The guru who showed him the path. Anyone who shows us the path to enlightenment, no matter who they may be, even if they are a prostitute, is to be honoured as a guru, as our patha–pradarśaka or vartma–pradarśaka-guru. It is not possible for us to repay those who have shown us the path. They were inspired by Kṛṣṇa Himself to send us here (to the society of Vaiṣṇavas), so we are indebted to them, to anyone who might have helped us (spiritually) prior to establishing a relationship with our guru. Gratitude is synonymous with Vaiṣṇavism.

Those who have no sense of gratitude have not the slightest trace of the quality of a Vaiṣṇava in them.

First, Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura pays his respects to Cintāmaṇī, then to his dīkṣā–guru (Somagiri), and last of all, he pays obeisances to his śikṣā–guru (Śikhi-piñcha-mauli, Kṛṣṇa), who wears a peacock feather on His head. Kṛṣṇa was the one who, as caitya–guru and as śikṣā-guru, inspired him in his heart, who roused all of the moods of Kṛṣṇa–karṇāmṛta within him. Śrī Bilvamaṅgala gives more emphasis to śikṣā–guru here, because his śikṣā–guru is Kṛṣṇa Himself. Still, especially in this world, we are indebted to the dīkṣā–guru. How else do we make a connection with Kṛṣṇa? Even if Kṛṣṇa Himself is the śikṣā–guru, we still have to give our respects to our dīkṣā–guru. If we are so indebted to our vartma–pradarśaka-guru, are we not indebted to the person who has given us dīkṣā? We cannot honour our patha–pradarśaka-guru and then not honour our dīkṣā–guru.

These two, dīkṣā–guru and śikṣā–guru, are to be regarded as Kṛṣṇa’s (rūpa and) svarūpa. One should not think one is less than the other. Sometimes the dīkṣā–guru is more exalted in terms of personal qualification. Sometimes the śikṣā–guru can also be more exalted. For example, we have our (dīkṣā-) guru, but if we think of Kṛṣṇa as our śikṣā–guru, then who is more exalted? If we think of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as our śikṣā–guru, then who is superior? And if Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is our dīkṣā–guru? Then what? One cannot neglect the dīkṣā-guru. There is a saying in Bengali: “Don’t be like a cow climbing over the trough to get to the grass; you will injure yourself.” This should not happen. (In other words, we have to respect both equally, but always the dīkṣā–guru first, even if the śikṣā–guru is in fact superior.)

Sometimes, in the realm of bhajana, the śikṣā-guru becomes more influential than the dīkṣā-guru, as in the case of Śyāmānanda Prabhu, or Duḥkhī Kṛṣṇadāsa, as he was known. He sought advice from his guru (Hṛdaya-caitanya), who told him to go to Vṛndāvana and take shelter of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. There, he studied the scriptures under the tutelage of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī and developed one-pointed devotion for Śrīmatī Rādhājī. But he gave each of his gurus, Hṛdaya-caitanya and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, the respect they deserved. This is how it should be; otherwise, we will be ruined.

With our śikṣā–guru, the relationship is somewhat like rāgānuga (more natural, spontaneous). There are many things we cannot say to or ask our dīkṣā–guru, who is like a father. We feel some shyness, some hesitation, don’t we? But our śīkṣā–guru is like our father’s younger brother, an uncle, or cācā–guru, one might say. The things we cannot say to our guru, we can express to him. We can interact with him more in a mood of equals.

So, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmījī is a śikṣā–guru, and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvamī is a dīkṣā–guru. If Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Kṛṣṇa are śikṣā-gurus, then how should we interact with Them? Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is also a śikṣā-guru. It is said, “vande ’haṁ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca, śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa jīvam – I bow to the feet of śrī guru and the Vaiṣṇavas, Śrī Rūpa and his elder brother (Śrī Sanātana) with their entourage of Śrī Raghunātha dāsa, Śrī Jīva, and others.”

And after that, there are even more śikṣā-gurus mentioned: “sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ, śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī viśākhānvitāṁś ca – I bow to Śrī Advaita, Śrī Nityānanda, to Śrīman Mahāprabhu and His associates, to Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and Their associates headed by Lalitā and Viśākhā.” These are all śikṣā–gurus. In the realm of spiritual life, we must heed all of these details.

The moods expressed in the prayers of Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura are spiritual and immaculate. Even among that which is nirguṇa, this is uttama (topmost). But still, there is something lacking.

Now, let us go to the time of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. Bilvamaṅgala was from a previous era. Śrīman Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He did not make any disciples, did He? Still, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says He is my guru. Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī says He is my guru. The world says He is my guru. They do, do they not? Yes, it is said quite often, and it’s true to some extent.

In Benares, He infused Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī’s heart with everything. Externally, He gave him everything and inspired him internally as well. As caitya–guru, He inspired Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī in his heart, yet He also gave him direct instructions: What is the svarūpa of the jīva? The jīva is an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. How to serve Kṛṣṇa? What is our relationship with Him? The kind of instructions He gave on sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojana in three chapters (of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta) have not, to this day, ever been given anywhere in this world. Can there be any guru greater than this? This is guru–tattva, the real guru. Did even Sāndīpani Muni give this sort of instruction to Kṛṣṇa? Did any of the gurus we mentioned earlier ever give this calibre of instruction? Hence, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the real guru-tattva. And if anyone is to become the servant of such a guru, then that person is the topmost guru-dāsa.

Even still, however, something remains to be said. Prior to this, in Prayāga, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had given instructions to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Therefore, how does Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī pray? He says, “I was prompted to write Bhakti–rasāmṛta–sindhu by His mercy – hṛdi yasya preraṇāya, pravartito ‘haṁ varāka-rūpo ’pi.” “I am varāka,” he says. Varāka means what? It means insignificant. “By whose mercy, by whose inspiration, I was engaged in writing books like Bhakti-rasāmṛta–sindhu and Ujjvala–nīlamaṇi…” Who gives inspiration? Caitya–guru gives inspiration. So, he says, “I bow to that guru, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself advented as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.”

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī also offers his obeisances to another guru, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī. He thought of Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī as his direct dīkṣā–guru, so he wrote a verse for him too: “viśrāma–mandiratayā tasya sanātana-tanor mad-īśasya – Sanātana is my worshipful master. I bow to him. Why? This Bhakti–rasāmṛta–sindhu is dear to Kṛṣṇa, so it is like a temple for Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī to take rest within. Bhakti–rasāmṛta–sindhur bhavatu sadāyam pramodāya – it is for his delight that I have written this.”

Thus, both of these personalities and another, a third personality, Śrī Kavi Karṇapūra, saw Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as their guru. What did Mahāprabhu give Kavi Karṇapūra? He gave him His toe to suck on. What did Kavi Karṇapūra produce? What book did he write? Ānanda–vṛndāvana-campū. And at a very young age, as a small child, he composed such beautiful verses about Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s love, with every imaginable poetic embellishment, such that he had everyone biting their fingers in sheer amazement. It was that little boy who became Kavi Karṇapūra. This is called being a disciple.

But now, to conclude this topic, let us go just a little further.

Śrīman Mahāprabhu, during His final days, was living in Purī at the home of Kāśīśvara Paṇḍita, at the Gambhirā, absorbed twenty-four hours a day in a state of bhāva (ecstasy). Who was serving Him? Śrī Govinda, and also a small boy (Gopāla), who later became Gopāla-guru. They were both serving Him, but Govinda is better known. Śrī Govinda, as per Mahāprabhu’s wish, was taking prasāda to Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura every day, because Haridāsa Ṭhākura would not come near the temple of Śrī Jagannātha.

Śrīman Mahāprabhu had relationships like this with those He loved, with those He had such affection for, and Govinda had a connection only with them. Those Śrīman Mahāprabhu did not have any relationship with; Govinda too had no relationship. A disciple should be like this. Whoever has a relationship with his guru, whoever is dear to his guru, he has a relationship with that person.

Govinda took care of everything in regard to Śrīman Mahāprabhu. Who does the body of Mahāprabhu belong to? Govinda. One day, he went to serve Mahāprabhu, to massage His feet, and Mahāprabhu was deliberately sleeping across the doorway. Śrī Govinda draped a cādara over Him to enter the room and do his service. Mahāprabhu slept there like that for two hours or so, on purpose. When He woke up and saw Govinda, He asked him: “Why didn’t you go today to take prasāda (with Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura)?”

“I came in, and there was no way to get out,” Govinda said.

“But how did you come in?” Mahāprabhu asked.

“Prabhu,” he replied, “To serve You, I placed a cloth (an uttarīya) on Your limbs and stepped over You to come in.”

“So why did you not go back the same way?”

“When I did that to come in, it was for the sake of Your service. For my own service, how can I do the same?”

Just see what one must do to be a disciple. One has to give up any sort of concern one has for oneself. For the service of one’s guru (worshipful master), one has to sacrifice all that one has. One has to give it all up, like tilāñjali (oblations of sesame seeds). Even against one’s own desires, one has to serve. Then it will be guru-sevā. Otherwise, one can cut one’s name from the list of servants of one’s guru. This is how one should be; otherwise, one will fall into one of the categories we have discussed.

Govinda’s service is most remarkable. It is something beyond even praise, something we perhaps cannot even touch. What is that exactly? Govinda said, “Why do Rāmānanda Rayā and Svarūpa Dāmodara come here even at night to see Mahāprabhu?”

Govinda did not like them coming. Why? When they were not there, Mahāprabhu was somewhat peaceful. Whenever these two came, all night, He was weeping. (Govinda is saying,) “They weep and make Him weep. They don’t sleep, and they don’t let Him sleep.” But Govinda cannot say anything to them. Govinda was hearing everything, and hearing Mahāprabhu cry made his heart cry too. What grand and weighty service is this? Until we reach that flow (dhārā), we cannot understand this kind of service. What glorious service is that? When a person’s master is the foundation of his whole life, when a person is sad when his master is sad and happy when he is happy, then such a person can render guru-sevā. This is what is meant by hari-dāsa-varya. People like this can be called hari-dāsa-varya.

Therefore, we must know that Govinda is not inferior. He does not seem to have expertise in scripture. He displays neither oratory eloquence nor expertise in singing rāgas, rāginīs, ālāpas, etc. But we have to examine what kind of desire he has to serve Mahāprabhu in his heart and the mood with which he does so. Simply and spontaneously, he has shown us the ideal of service to Śrīman Mahāprabhu. 

Even Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya had some doubt in regard to such a servant. “Why did Īśvara Purī accept this śudra disciple? And how can you accept his service?” he asked Śrīman Mahāprabhu. “What will people say?” And this was when Sārvabhauma had already gained a mood of bhakti. Still, he asked this question. Mahāprabhu responded, “My Īśvara (My master, Śrī Īśvara Purīpāda) ordered me to accept him. My guru is independent; the ordinances of the Vedas and śāstras have no control over him. Therefore, I had no further consideration in this regard.”

In this context, Mahāprabhu said, “Gurura kiṅkara haya mānya se āmāra – The servant of the guru is always respectable for Me.” (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya–līlā 10.142). If we wish to perform bhajana of Bhagavān, we must revere whoever is serving the guru. We are to honour even a dog that serves our guru. Keep this mood. If, for even one day, a person has served our guru, then we are indebted to him. Śrīla Prabhupāda (Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura) has said, “He who is a sevaka of the Vaiṣṇavas is the sevaka of the guru.” Without being the servant of all the Vaiṣṇavas, we cannot be the sevaka of the guru. We will not even know what a guru is. Does Bhagavān exist separately from His devotees? Is the guru separate from his sevakas? A guru is the foremost of the Vaiṣṇavas. If someone is a genuine guru-sevaka, he will surely be a vaiṣṇava-sevaka.

Every genuine Vaiṣṇava who is more advanced than oneself, who is rasika and who knows siddhānta is to be regarded as a guru. The division is only here, as within para–tattva, in Goloka Vṛndāvana, there is no guru–tattva. There, everyone is sakhī–tattva or sakhā–tattva (Kṛṣṇa’s associate). Here Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī is the guru, and Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is his disciple. There, they are all friends, although there is somewhat more regard for Rūpa Mañjarī. Nothing faulty exists there. The notion of superior and inferior does not exist there. And even in this līlā, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī has referred to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī as praṇamya (venerable). He offers his obeisance to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, stating that it is only by his mercy that one may obtain the grace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu or Kṛṣṇa.

The era following Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is that of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Sanātana. In that period, they are the gurus, and the disciples are Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, Śrī Raghunātha dāsa, and others. Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī is rūpānuga–vara (foremost of the followers of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī). All of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s teachings condensed are embodied in Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. In Bhakti–rāsāmṛta–sindhu, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī explains the process of sādhana for many types of sādhakas and, from a taṭasthā (impartial) perspective, describes all of the rasas. But is Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī himself taṭasthā? Is he in all of the rasas? No, he has his own rasa, which is what? Mañjarī–bhāva.

What is mañjarī–bhāva? Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi describes the types of sakhīs: sakhī, nitya-sakhī, prāṇa–sakhī, priya–sakhī, and parama-preṣṭha–sakhī. The general sakhīs are those who are more attracted to Kṛṣṇa; they have affection for both Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, but somewhat more for Kṛṣṇa, like Dhaniṣṭhā. Some sakhīs have truly equal affection for both Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Although others, such as Lalitā and Viśākhā – the priya–narma or preṣṭha–sakhīs – have affection for both, they have somewhat more affection for Rādhikājī. The prāṇa–sakhīs and nitya–sakhīs have more affection for Rādhikā than for Kṛṣṇa. They are always Her pālya–dāsīs (maidservants that She nourishes and maintains). Where do they live? Wherever Śrīmatī Rādhājī is. They are sad when She is sad, happy when She is happy. When Śrīmatī Rādhājī is in viraha, they are sad, and when She meets with Kṛṣṇa, they are happy. They are constantly occupied at Her feet, following Her orders and rendering Her many kinds of service. Most of the Vaiṣṇavas in our Gauḍīya sampradāya are serving in this mood. And this is what Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to give.

What did He come to give? Sva–bhakti-śrīyam, the beauty of Her bhakti (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.4). What is that like? “Anarpita-cariṁ-cirāt, that which had not been offered since time immemorial.” Samarpayitum means “to (thoroughly) give”. Give what? Now this has to be said altogether; you cannot separate it in the middle or else it will confuse the meaning: unnata–ujjvala-rasāṁ sva–bhakti–śriyam, that exalted, brilliant rasa, or bhakti-rasa, that is svayaṁ, Her own. Whose own? Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s. The bhakti She has for Kṛṣṇa as a paramour is unnata–ujjvala-rasa, and the beauty of that (Her bhakti) is what Śrīman Mahāprabhu came to give.

Just as lotus flowers or mango blossoms have buds, or mañjarīs, which constitute the very beauty of the flower, so the beauty of Śrīmatī Rādhājī’s love is the mañjarīs. Rādhājī’s rūpa (form) is so very beautiful. But who is the (personified) mañjarī of that rūpa? Rūpa Mañjarī. If a lotus flower moves, its blossoms are tossed to and fro even more forcefully than the flower itself. They (the mañjarīs) experience even more bliss. This is mañjarī–bhāva. Those sakhīs, seeking to serve, experience several times more joy than Śrīmatī Rādhājī derives from meeting with Kṛṣṇa. This happens by means of uddīpana, wherein whatever feelings Rādhājī and Her sakhīs are experiencing are conducted into them (the mañjarīs) in even greater intensity and in their fullest form. This is called mañjarī–bhāva.

This is sva–bhakti–śriyam, the beauty of Her own personal devotion. Sva means Rādhikājī, so this sva–bhakti refers to Her mahābhāva, Her prema. That is something no one can access. But they can achieve something of its śobhā (splendour); that is śrīyam.

The (personified) mañjarī of Rādhājī’s rūpa (beautiful form) is Rūpa Mañjarī. The (personified) mañjarī of Rādhājī’s bhāvas (moods of love for Kṛṣṇa) is Bhāva Mañjarī. The (personified) mañjarī of Rādhājī’s vilāsa (amorous pastimes with Kṛṣṇa) is Vilāsa Mañjarī. The (personified) mañjarī of Rādhājī’s rāga (ardent attachment to Kṛṣṇa) is Rāga Mañjarī. This is what Śrīman Mahāprabhu came to give.

Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī adopted Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s own personal moods. Though Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī wrote Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi and Bhakti-rāsāmṛta-sindhu, which outline śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya, madhura-rasa, and the countless moods stemming from them, we have to consider what his own mood was.

(In Śrī Vilāpa-kusumāñjali, 6) Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī offered his obeisances to Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī in an external manner: vairāgya–yug-bhakti-rasaṁ prayatnair, apāyayan mām anabhīpsum andham, kṛpāmbudhir yaḥ para-duḥkha-duḥkhī, sanātanaṁ taṁ prabhum āśrayāmi. This is an offering of obeisances befitting one’s guru, especially one’s dīkṣā–guru. “Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī is an ocean of causeless mercy,” Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī is saying, “I did not want bhakti, and I was totally blind. In regard to tattva–jñāna, I was blind. Such was I, not wanting what he gave and totally blind, yet he caught a tight hold of me and poured that prema into my mouth. I take shelter of Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, who is an ocean of mercy. I bow down to him.” Who is an ocean of mercy? Saṁsāra-dāvānala–līḍha-loka-trāṇāya kāruṇya-ghanāghanatvam – to deliver the living beings scorched by the blazing forest fire of material existence, śrī gurudeva, who is an ocean of auspicious qualities, manifests like a condensed cloud of mercy” (Śrī Gurvāṣṭakam 1). This condensation of compassion is Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī. But this is an external offering of reverence. In Vārāṇasī, Śrīman Mahāprabhu had given Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī instructions on vaidhī-bhakti, so Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī paid his respects in that mood. But how does he pay praṇāma to his śikṣā–guru? He does not mention who (of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī) he sees as śikṣā–guru and who he sees as dīkṣā–guru, but he says:

tvaṁ rūpa-mañjari sakhi prathitā pure ’smin
puṁsaḥ parasya vadanaṁ na hi paśyasīti
bimbādhare kṣatam anāgata-bhartṛkāyā
yat te vyadhāyi kim u tac chuka-puṅgavena

Vilāpa-kusumāñjali (1)

[“My dear sakhī Rūpa Mañjarī, you are well known in Vraja for not even looking at the face of any man other than your husband. Therefore, it is surprising that your lips, red like bimba fruits, have been bitten, even though your husband is not at home. Has this been done by the best of parrots?”]

If two people are equals, the formality of obeisances, namaskāra, does not work. When they meet, they laugh and joke and tease each other, like bosom friends. As soon as they see each other, their hearts fill with joy. There is no cordiality on top of that, no need for polite formality: “Namaskāra, mahodaya, namaskāra – Greetings to you, great sir, greetings.” There is no need to say anything like that. The two meet, smile, and that’s it. Praṇāma done. And where there is no bhāva, no smile will come, and so this namaskāra mahodaya is needed.

Here, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī has paid praṇāma to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in a way that directly seeks the bliss within Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s heart. He is smiling. In his perfected form as Rati Mañjarī, he saw Rūpa Mañjarī and said something to tease her. “Rūpa Mañjarī, what have you been doing? Everyone in this town of Vraja praises you so much, saying you are very chaste. There is no lady so chaste as you in all of Vraja. Hasn’t your husband gone somewhere to purchase cows? It has been three or four days, and I know he has not returned. And I know you don’t even look at the face of any man but your husband. Your glance doesn’t wander anywhere. But what is this? Am I mistaken? Oh, your lips are very red. How red? Like bimba fruits. They are very tender, thin, subtle, and juicy. So, what am I looking at? It is as if a parrot came and perched on you, thinking your lips were bimba fruits, and bit them! But where is your husband? Then how did this happen?” Saying this, she started laughing and smiled at Rūpa Mañjarī. And just like that, this became the father (crest jewel) of all praṇāmas. Hearing her words, Rūpa Mañjarī smiled too.

Something like this happens in this world when two friends meet; this teasing and playful dialogue. Where is the gurutva (gravity) in paying praṇāma to one’s guru like this? But really (for one who is qualified), this is true gurutva. Even among prayers in the category of rāgānuga-bhakti, this praṇāma is distinctly that of a rūpānuga. This is rūpānugatva (being a follower of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī). Especially regarding those following the line of Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s conceptions, all or many or most of them will inevitably become rāgānuga, but it is very difficult to become rūpānuga. Rūpānuga is not so easy.

Only if one follows closely in the guidance of certain concepts particular to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, ones that come from his own personality and nature, can one become a rūpānuga. Therefore, even among Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, it is extremely difficult to become a rūpānuga, very difficult. Our Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, and especially those under the guidance of our Śrīla Prabhupāda (Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura), however, are worshipping in this mood.

If a guru has this kind of relationship in the spiritual realm and is giving it (to others in this world), then he is the greatest, most substantial guru. Those who realise this will feel such gratitude; they will feel they cannot repay such a debt, not in a whole lifetime and not in millions and millions of lifetimes, not even when they have attained Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Goloka Vṛndāvana.

If a disciple does not understand that he is indebted to his guru, then is he a disciple? When he has not understood what his guru is giving and why he is indebted, if he does not know what paramārtha (the supreme spiritual wealth) really is, and most disciples these days do not, then why would he feel indebted? People may feel indebted if you give them 100 rupees or something decorative, like an ornament or something. For that, they will feel indebted. But they do not feel indebted for the paramārtha they have been given. This means they have not understood what paramārtha is. Especially when it comes to all these topics. What will they understand? They can’t understand. But slowly, slowly, slowly, when they progress, then they will understand what this paramārtha is, what it means to be rūpānuga, and just how indebted they are. They will not understand so easily at first.

How will we understand now that we are indebted to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī? Only if we enter into this subject somewhat, otherwise not. From what I can understand, on the topic of guru–sevā, one who rouses even the slightest bit of greed within us to become a particle of Rūpa Mañjarī’s foot dust is a real guru, a truly pāramārthika–guru. And those who cannot convey such moods do not have any place in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism (in the line of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu). To those who can, we are forever indebted. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has also described these things in his Siddhi–lālasā songs. When we read these properly, when we enter into them (their profound meanings), then we will understand.

Source: Purebhakti.com (Śrī Guru Vandanā translated by the Rays of The Harmonist 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)