The following is a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in Russia on August 4, 2000 (The Process of Dīkṣā, Bhakta Bandhav Anthology Volume 60)
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja:
sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
Bhagavad-gītā (18.66)
[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.]
Completely abandoning all bodily and mental dharma, such as varṇa and āśrama, fully surrender to Me alone. I shall deliver you from all reactions to your sins. Do not fear.
“Abandon everything that I have stated until now — the religion of this body, mind, everything. The service of all incarnations of Kṛṣṇa, the demigods like Śaṅkara, Hanumān, Gaṇeśa, Durgā — fully surrender to Me, surrender to Me. And I will do what? I will deliver you from all kinds of dangers, death, birth, sorrow and suffering.”
ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ
Bhagavad-gītā (4.11)
[As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.]
daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te
Bhagavad-gītā (7.14)
[This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.]
Mām eva — Kṛṣṇa is saying, “Mām eva.” What does mām eva mean? Not to others. Not to Rāma, not to Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā. Not to Dvārakādhīśa Kṛṣṇa, not to Rāma, Sītā, Hanumān. “Myself. I am the Supreme Personality. Everything emanates from Me.”
Understand? What is Gaṇeśa doing? What is there in his hand? He is chanting. What is he chanting? Once, all 
the demigods were assembled, and they quarrelled among themselves, “Who is superior among us? Who should be worshipped first?”
Indra was saying, “I am supreme.”
Durgā was saying, “I am supreme.”
Gaṇeśa was saying, “I am supreme.”
Śaṅkara came and said, “I am supreme.”
In the meantime, Nārada came, and they asked him, “Who is supreme?”
Nārada instructed them, “You should all quickly go and do parikramā of the universe. The first person back will be worshipped.” Durgā immediately hurried to her lion. Kārttikeya, the son of Śiva, sat on his peacock and quickly flew away. Indra sat on his elephant. The sun-god sat on his chariot. Like this, they hurried away. But Gaṇeśa was so unhappy. Why? His rat was tiny, and Gaṇeśa was so heavy that he was not moving. He cried bіtterly.
Nārada instructed him, “Write the name of Rāma here on the earth and circumambulate that.” Gaṇeśa wrote the name of Rāma, circled that three times, and then sat there. After so many days, all the demigods returned gradually. They were all thinking, “I was first.” Upon their return, they inquired, “Who was first back?”
Nārada explained, “Gaṇeśa was first. Why? Because he has written the name of Rāma here. The names of Rāma and Rāma are nondifferent. Rāma is also non-different from Kṛṣṇa. Why? Because He is Rādhā-ramaṇa, always in the heart of Rādhikā. And thousands and thousands of universes are in Kṛṣṇa’s heart. Understand? Not only one. Thousands and thousands of universes are in the heart of Kṛṣṇa. Thus, Gaṇeśa had circled lakhs and lakhs of universes. That is why he is superior and should be worshipped first.” From then on, Gaṇeśa used to chant “Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.” That is why he is chanting.
Do you know why he has an elephant’s head? Why? Pārvatī was alone, while Śaṅkara was elsewhere. On a 
scorching day, a radiant figure appeared when she removed some perspiration from her body – the beautiful son, Gaṇeśa. He looked like a handsome general. Unlike before, Pārvatī now had a son. This very beautiful son appeared from her perspiration. He was breathtakingly beautiful, with captivating eyes and a well-formed head. Pārvatī was thrilled. “Oh, he is my son.”
She instructed him, “My son, Śaṅkara, is my husband. He’s gone somewhere but will be back shortly. I will take a bath in my bathroom, so please stay here. Wait here until I have finished bathing and everything else.” So he guarded the door while Pārvatī bathed inside.
In the meantime, Śaṅkara returned while she was bathing. He saw a young, very handsome boy there. Mahādeva Śaṅkara inquired, “Where is Pārvatī? Where is my wife?”
He replied, “She is taking a bath.” Śaṅkara tried to go to the bathroom, but he did not let him in. He told Śaṅkara, “You cannot go there. She is my mother. Without my mother’s permission, I will not allow you to enter that room.”
Śaṅkara said, “She is my wife. Why are you behaving in such a manner? Step aside.” He was ready to fight. Śaṅkara took his trident and cut off his head. In the meantime, Pārvatī heard some sounds, so she came out of the room. She saw that Śaṅkara was furious and had cut off the head of that boy. She wept, “Through my body’s perspiration, my son appeared, and now you have cut off his head. Please show mercy and restore him to life.”
Śaṅkara said, “I was unaware that you had a son. But he is very dangerous. He even forbade me from seeing you. Therefore, I cut off his head.” But Pārvatī repeatedly requested, “You should revive him.”
Śaṅkara instructed her, “You should go from here and bring the head of the first person you meet.” 
She immediately left and saw an elephant walking. She cut off the head of that elephant and brought it to Śaṅkara. Śaṅkara then replaced the head of that boy. Thus, his body was human, but his head was an animal’s. Why? Those who resemble humans are very attractive, but those who do not perform bhajana are considered animals.
Śaṅkara is a Vaiṣṇava, a pure Vaiṣṇava. He is always chanting and remembering Kṛṣṇa. But Gaṇeśa quarrelled with him, and therefore, Śaṅkara cut off his head and replaced it with an elephant’s head. But later on, by the mercy of Śaṅkara, he became so intelligent that he chanted, “Rāma Rāma Rāma Rāma Rāma.” He became a devotee.
In the form of Gopīśvara Mahādeva, Śaṅkara is always chanting and remembering. To serve Rāma, he has become Hanumān. He serves Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in so many forms. Without serving Kṛṣṇa, he cannot live. He knows all the truths, all the siddhāntas of Kṛṣṇa. So we worship him as Guru. We should try to be one-pointed like Śaṅkara and always serve Kṛṣṇa. Especially we should follow Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
He offers respect to all but is always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, “Where is Kṛṣṇa? Where is Kṛṣṇa? Where is Kṛṣṇa?” If you are doing this, your life will be successful. Kṛṣṇa has inspired me to come to you. Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja, your parama-guru, inspired me to come here; my sole purpose is to help you become one-pointed.
In Badarī-nārāyaṇa, Nara-Nārāyaṇa is there. Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi is in Badarī-nārāyaṇa. Who is Badarī-nārāyaṇa? A ṛṣi. But who is He? The Supreme Personality, a manifestation of Kṛṣṇa — only one. He is a manifestation. One fraction of Kṛṣṇa has become Badarī-nārāyaṇa. Lakhs and lakhs of Badarī-nārāyaṇas can emanate from the body of Kṛṣṇa. Thousands and thousands of Brahmās, Viṣṇus, Maheśas emanate from Kṛṣṇa. We should know these facts from the Gītā.
ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo
mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate
iti matvā bhajante māṁ
budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ
Bhagavad-gītā (10.8)
[I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.]
daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te
Bhagavad-gītā (7.14)
[This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.]
sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
Bhagavad-gītā (18.66)
[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.]
We should know that by performing bhajana of Kṛṣṇa, the bhajana of all others is included. There is no need to perform bhajana elsewhere, only perform bhajana of Kṛṣṇa. I explained that Vyāsa was despondent. He could not understand why he was despondent. He wrote so many Vedas, Upaniṣads, divided the Veda, 
everything. He wrote the Purāṇas and Vedānta, everything. But he was in a dilemma. “What to do? Why am I not happy?”
Then Nārada came and instructed him, “You have not glorified Kṛṣṇa. Notably, you have not glorified that He is indebted to the gopīs; you have not glorified that Yaśodā can control Him through her love and affection. Kṛṣṇa can create the whole universe, and birth and death will end by chanting His name. Yet He is afraid of Yaśodā and weeping. Sometimes, the potency of Kṛṣṇa, Rādhā, becomes angry towards Him. Then Kṛṣṇa comes and places His head at Her feet. He also surrenders His flute, peacock feather and everything and says, ‘In the future, I will not offend You.’” This is Kṛṣṇa’s love.
If you love Him, He will completely reciprocate your loving worship. Pūtanā went to Kṛṣṇa, and she wanted to kill Kṛṣṇa with a very strong poison. But Kṛṣṇa gave her a motherly position in Goloka Vṛndāvana. Who is foolish that by giving up Kṛṣṇa, he will worship another? So, you should not be foolish. You should be very intelligent and serve Kṛṣṇa, only Kṛṣṇa. Then, all others will be served.
yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena
tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ
prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇāṁ
tathaiva sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā
[As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, simply worshipping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality.]
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam [4.31.14], it is stated that if you pour water on the branches, flowers, and leaves of a tree or creeper, the tree or creeper will dry up. You cannot save that tree by pouring water on the leaves and flowers. You should pour water on the root of that tree.
Kṛṣṇa is the root of all. Even the root of Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Kalki, Vāmana, Nārāyaṇa — all. So if you are serving Kṛṣṇa, your life is successful. Don’t disbelieve this. Believe it strongly. If you are becoming one-pointed, you will surely be happy. And you can realize your soul in your heart, very beautiful and youthful, and Kṛṣṇa is also there. Then you will be happy. This is the instruction of the Vedas, Upaniṣads, Bhāgavata, Purāṇas, Gītā, everything. I saw someone who was singing on a vīṇā. Where is she? Who is she?
Devotee: Mīrābāi.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: What is she doing? 
Devotee: She is chanting.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: What became of Mīrābāi? She left her kingdom; she left the king, her husband. He selected one lady and promised, “I will only be with her, not with anyone else. I will support her, and she will serve me with all her senses.” This is called marriage. When you accept a lady as your wife, anyone else cannot approach her because she is your wife. A relationship has developed between you and her. If you are with her and you see other women, she may divorce you [for being unfaithful]. You’re then not suitable to be her husband. You are so lusty. Your wife will not trust you. So you should be one-pointed to her. Understand? Similarly, when Gurudeva gives dīkṣā to a disciple, he performs the disciple’s marriage with Kṛṣṇa. He accepts that “Kṛṣṇa is my beloved, gopī-jana-vallabha.” He declares, “Kṛṣṇa is mine, and I am His.” If you have a relationship with a lady, then if she is sick, you will spend a lot of money on her. You may sell your property for her treatment. But if there is no relationship, then you will pay nothing. So, if you have a relationship with Kṛṣṇa, then Kṛṣṇa’s mercy will come. Otherwise, it will never come.
Be one-pointed to Kṛṣṇa. Guru establishes the disciple’s relationship. The relationship Guru establishes is one you should accept forever, eternally. Your Guru has not explained these things to you. You should try to hear all these things one day and then have a fixed relationship with Kṛṣṇa. This is the real process of dīkṣā. Then you will have faith in Kṛṣṇa, His supremacy, and His mercy. Then you will be a real devotee. Now, you are obeying your uncontrolled mind and not gaining anything. No experience and realization is coming. But when you chant with that relationship, that transcendental relationship, you will soon realize something, and you will be happy forever.
Devotee: He always thought that śikṣā is more important than dīkṣā.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: A Guru who cannot give śikṣā is not Guru. Śikṣā-guru will give everything. He will establish a relationship. But there should also be a dīkṣā-guru. Both are essential. An expert Guru is both śikṣā-guru and dīkṣā-guru.
Devotee: If his spiritual master falls down, then his dīkṣā…
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: He was not a spiritual master — never. You should not accept him as a Guru. You should retake dīkṣā. Otherwise, you cannot progress. Once you are aware that he has fallen down, immediately reject him and establish a relationship with a bona fide Guru. One should accept initiation from a bona fide Guru. That Guru will never fall down — never. He is always chanting and remembering with realization.
Devotee: If our Guru has fallen down, we still have some good experience…
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: That experience is wrong. A good experience can never come from a bogus Guru. Without the sun, there is no light to illuminate the universe; artificial light can only illuminate a small area.
Devotee: And if experience from previous lives manifests…
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: If his previous activities were good, how did he accept a bogus 
Guru? This shows that it was not good. But something was good because he came in the line of Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja (Śrīla Prabhupāda). That is why you are meeting me and others. We should try to give up our false ego that “I have experience, I am so wise,” and all these things. One should immediately take shelter of those who are always chanting, remembering, like Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja (Śrīla Prabhupāda), Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī. Their mantras are potent.
If a bogus Guru gives mahā-mantra and all the mantras like guru-mantra, gāyatrī-mantra, and gopāla-mantra, there will be no potency in these mantras. It is like a paddy, and there is no rice. Understand? There are paddies but no rice; there are only husks. Thousands and thousands of mounds of empty husks may be there, but they cannot even give one grain of rice.
Devotee: Can he receive this from śikṣā-guru, or does he need to take dīkṣā?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: He will have to reject his Guru because his Guru is bogus and has 
fallen down. He was not a Guru. That mantra will not work because these are only husks with no rice. Nārada gave a mantra to Dhruva, and he was soon successful. He gave it to Prahlāda and others, and soon, they were successful. One will not succeed if one receives mantras from someone who is not a pure devotee. There is no rice, only husk. Caitanya Mahāprabhu travelled throughout South and West India and chanted, “Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa.” Those who heard became pure disciples, and they received kṛṣṇa-prema, love of Kṛṣṇa — even elephants, mad elephants, tigers, bears, what to speak of humans. But we are chanting so much, and nothing is coming. They are falling down. They are chanting, but there is no potency, and no realization is coming. So you must reject [that Guru] and take [dīkṣā] from an elevated and authentic Guru. Then you will realize something very soon. I am not saying this, but all śāstras declare this. I can show you statements from Jiva Gosvāmī, from the Vedas, Upaniṣad, and Bhāgavata.
tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta
jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam
śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ
brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.3.21)
[Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.]
Devotee: Is it enough to hear a potent mantra from someone, or should one somehow take dīkṣā?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: This is called dīkṣā — to hear, to follow — this is called dīkṣā. He imparts realization to the disciples. This is really dīkṣā. Those who do not have Kṛṣṇa in their hearts, how can they give Kṛṣṇa to others? How can those with no rubles give thousands and thousands of rubles to others?
Devotee: Some people say that the mantra is potent in itself. Is it necessary to hear it from a realized soul?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: The mantra is potent, and this is indeed okay. But, if a genuine devotee has not given it, the mantra is not real. It is only an imitation, a shadow. It is not the real mantra, so it is not potent. All the mantras are potent. All the mantras are very potent. The gopāla-mantra is identical with Kṛṣṇa. But if they do not come from the heart of a pure devotee, then they are only a shadow, not the real mantras. They cannot work.
If these mantras come from the heart of one who is siddha (perfect in these mantras), then they will work; otherwise, they will not. Otherwise, they will not be potent. If one has no realization of a mantra and has not achieved perfection in it, it will not work if he gives a mantra. It will not work in your heart. Nothing will come, even if you chant that mantra for thousands of births.
But if a pure devotee who has performed it and has become siddha will give that mantra, everything will come in a moment. He will say, “Oh, everything should come.”
(Audіo break)
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Nārada gave a mantra to Vyāsa, and he became perfect.
Devotee: He asks you to bless him to chant harināma.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: I pray to Kṛṣṇa that He should give you іntellіgence to thіnk about all these thіngs and come іn the lіne. And you should be happy forever.
Devotee: He asks if you can give him a mantra.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: If he has faith in me, I can help him, then I can. Otherwise not. He should hear all these things and have firm faith in me. Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja (Śrīla Prabhupāda) instructed me when he was about to leave, “You should help my devotees in all these things.” So I can help you. If you have some faith in me, I can help you. Then I must help you. Thank you so much. You should think about this, think deeply, and then decide.
Devotee: When he first met you five or six years ago, he felt a very strong attachment to you. It was a very strong spiritual emotion, and he thought about it for years.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: And especially, you have come in the line of Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja (Śrīla Prabhupāda), it is a good symptom. We should try to give up our false ego. Ego is our enemy. Be very simple, very simple, as we are. You have not seen Kṛṣṇa or the ātmā, so we should not say that we are realized or anything — no. If tears are not coming when we are chantіng the holy name…
Devotee: He says he doesn’t cry, but he chants the holy name.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: If the real name is there, oh, some symptoms will come. No sleepiness will be there, no idleness, nothing. Love and affection will come, tears will come, and the heart will melt. There is some hole there if this does not come. Give it more thought, and we’ll discuss this in the evening.
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 and/or Bhaktiart.net
Unless indicated differently, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)
