The following is a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in Hіlо, Hawaіі on January 11, 2003 (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology Volume 91)
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: My millions of obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master, nitya-līlā praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja. And the same, unto my śikṣā-guru, nitya-līlā praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja.
Very quickly, in a couple of years, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja quickly 
preached throughout the whole world — in the mountains, on ocean islands, in the North, East, South, and West. I see his glories everywhere. Although parama-pujyapāda Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja came to this world as a representative of our guru-paramparā, some people want him to be the only guru. They want there to be only one guru for the past, present, and future. They want to deny our guru-paramparā. This is very bad; we should not follow this. Rather, it is imperative that we know what guru-tattva is.
Guru means ‘heavy,’ more so than anyone else in this world – even more than Kṛṣṇa Himself. Sometimes it may happen that Kṛṣṇa comes to that guru and takes his footdust.* It is written in Śrī Gīta-govinda by Śrīla Jayadeva Gosvāmī that Kṛṣṇa said to Śrīmatī Rādhikā,
smara-garala-khaṇḍanaṁ
mama śirasi maṇḍanam
dehi pada-pallavam udāraṁ
[“The beautiful flower blossoms of Your feet counteract the deadly poison of amorous love. They extinguish the terrifying fire of the pain of that love, which rages within My heart. Therefore, please be kind and allow Your feet to decorate My head.”]
Kṛṣṇa sometimes also says this to the gopīs who serve Śrīmatī Rādhikā more than they serve Him. He may pray to them, “Please place your footdust on My head.” This is guru-tattva.
(A devotee explains that Kṛṣṇa expands first as Balarāma, who is akhaṇḍa-guru-tattva, the undivided 
principle of guru. All gurus are representatives of Baladeva Prabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu. Baladeva is non-different from Kṛṣṇa, but simply has the mood of a servant. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa says that “I am the guru.” Guru is the mercy manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of the guru, we come to know about Kṛṣṇa and receive the seed of bhakti. The guru gives us teachings on sambandha-jñāna, our relationship with Kṛṣṇa, and thus we become liberated and begin to serve Kṛṣṇa. By serving the guru with intimacy, we can realise our eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Without the mercy of the guru, we cannot attain the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.)
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: The subject of guru-tattva is the essence of all our bhakti literature. This subject is very heavy, and therefore it is essential to hear it from the core of your hearts. We can only worship Kṛṣṇa after we have worshipped the guru.
All of us in this world have turned away from Kṛṣṇa. Whether we accept it or not, it is true. Although we are suffering terribly, we do not realise it. Why not? We have drunk such a large quantity of the alcohol of māyā that we have become completely mad, and in this madness, we think ourselves very happy. You should know that one day you will have to give up your bodies and all that you have collected in this world. One day, you will surely have to grow old. Old age is eagerly waiting to embrace you, and none of you can escape it. A devotee of the calibre of Śrī Nārada Muni can escape this māyā and its presentation of old age, but you are not like Nārada Muni. You will have to suffer if you are not careful.
It is stated in the Vedas:
yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.23)
[“Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed.”]
This instruction has been given since ancient times: “Yasya deve parā bhaktir.” Those who are suffering and who want to be happy in this world and in the next, especially those living in the present age of quarrel and hypocrisy called Kali-yuga, should serve Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord. And, not less than Him, such persons must serve the bona fide gurudeva. In this verse, the word parā-bhakti is used; understanding its meaning is necessary.
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-
śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.1)
[“Uttamā bhakti, or unalloyed devotion unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, involves the rendering of devotional service in a way that is favourable to the Lord. This devotional service should be free from any extraneous motive and devoid of fruitive karma, impersonal jñāna and all other selfish desires.”]
Parā-bhakti is the continuous, uninterrupted flow of activities performed by our body, mind, words, and moods (bhāvas), which are executed only for the benefit of Kṛṣṇa. Such activities are not disturbed or covered by jñāna (mental speculation or knowledge leading to impersonal liberation) and karma (the desire to enjoy the fruits of one’s activities), and it is performed under the guidance of the guru. 
If there is a lack of the above symptoms in a devotee’s activities, but bhakti is there to some degree, we can still call it bhakti – but it is not parā-bhakti.
The Vedas tell us that parā-bhakti is certainly to be applied to Kṛṣṇa, but first to the guru. If one has no guru, all his devotional activities will be like zero; only worldly fruits will come. If one thinks, “I am already chanting, remembering, and performing arcanā (regulative worship of the Deity),” but he is not truly initiated by a bona fide guru, the fruit of his activities will only be worldly. Intoxicated by sense enjoyment, such a person may think himself happy, but he will not actually be happy. It is therefore stated in the śāstras:
brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 19.151)
(“According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.”)
What is the meaning of guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde? It generally means that one can attain the bhakti-latā-bīja – the seed of parā-bhakti – by the combined mercy of Kṛṣṇa and of the guru. In this connection, however, there is another meaning. Here, the meaning is that the bona fide guru is a manifestation of Kṛṣṇa Himself.
ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān
nāvamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta
sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.17.27)
[“One should know the ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy 
him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.”]
Kṛṣṇa does not come to us, but the guru may come, as Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja came and travelled everywhere.
The mercy of Kṛṣṇa first manifests as the mercy of the guru. From the bona fide guru, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself as His manifestation (āśrayā-vigraha), we can have the seed of bhakti. What is the seed of bhakti? It is kṛṣṇa-sevā-vāsanā (the desire to serve Kṛṣṇa). This desire will come only from gurudeva, the bona fide Vaiṣṇava, and it does not matter whether he is acting as a śikṣā-guru or a dīkṣā-guru. The seed of the bhakti creeper comes from this high class of guru.
One can know who Kṛṣṇa is only from gurudeva, and if a guru is not bona fide, Kṛṣṇa cannot be known.
Out of the sixty-four limbs of bhakti, the first ten are these:
guru-pādāśraya, dīkṣā, gurura sevana
sad-dharma-śikṣā-pṛcchā, sādhu-mārgānugamana
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.115)
[“On the path of regulative devotional service, one must observe the following items: (1) One must accept a bona fide spiritual master. (2) One must accept initiation from him. (3) One must serve him. (4) One must receive instructions from the spiritual master and make inquiries in order to learn devotional service. (5) One must follow in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas and follow the directions given by the spiritual master.”]
kṛṣṇa-prītye bhoga-tyāga, kṛṣṇa-tīrthe vāsa
yāvan-nirvāha-pratigraha, ekādaśy-upavāsa
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.116)
[“The next steps are as follows: (6) One should be prepared to give up everything for Kṛṣṇa’s satisfaction, and one should also accept everything for Kṛṣṇa’s satisfaction. (7) One must live in a place where Kṛṣṇa is present — a city like Vṛndāvana or Mathurā or a Kṛṣṇa temple. (8) One should acquire a livelihood that is just sufficient to keep body and soul together. (9) One must fast on the Ekādaśī day.”]
dhātry-aśvattha-go-vipra-vaiṣṇava-pūjana
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.117)
[“(10) One should worship dhātrī trees, banyan trees, cows, brāhmaṇas and devotees of Lord Viṣṇu.”]
What is the meaning of pādāśraya?
Devotee: Taking shelter at the lotus feet of the guru.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: But what is the meaning of ‘shelter’? Shelter is taken through hearing, and that is harināma initiation in the real sense. Those who take shelter of such a guru can progress quickly in bhakti. After guru-pādāśraya, there is dīkṣā and śikṣā. Dīkṣā means initiation, and śikṣā means instruction. The disciple will begin to understand his gurudeva’s instructions and then try to follow them. You can take initiation from that guru, but be very careful. If a guru is bona fide, and you have some doubt in his character or teachings, Kṛṣṇa will never accept you:
yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ‘pi
dhyāyan stuvaṁs tasya yaśas tri-sandhyaṁ
vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam
Śrī Gurvāṣṭakam (8)
[“Solely by the mercy of śrī guru one can receive the mercy of Bhagavān; without it one cannot make any advancement. Meditate on and sing śrī guru’s glories at the three sacred junctions of the day. I adore the lotus feet of that śrī gurudeva.”]
Suppose a guru is bona fide, and he is preaching and serving his gurudeva. If one doubts his guru, he falls down from Kṛṣṇa consciousness; no one can save him.
ajñaś cāśraddadhānaś ca
saṁśayātmā vinaśyati
nāyaṁ loko ’sti na paro
na sukhaṁ saṁśayātmanaḥ
Bhagavad-gītā (4.40)
[“But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next.”]
We should be very careful not to associate with such a person. Also, do not associate with anyone who associates with that type of wretched person. Try to behave as you would behave regarding the passing of stool. If we can pass stool easily, we are very happy. We feel great relief if there is a motion. If the stool remains inside the body, we will be restless. We will not be able to do bhakti or anything else. Similarly, you will surely have to give up bad association for your entire life. If you want bhakti, if you want to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, then do not mix with those persons who doubt a bona fide guru, who is serving his gurudeva and who is preaching throughout the world. Parama-pujyapāda Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja had thousands of disciples, but so many of them have completely 
given up their Kṛṣṇa consciousness due to their doubts.
You may have heard the names of Droṇācārya and Ekalavya. Ekalavya went to Droṇācārya and told him, “I accept you as my guru.” Droṇācārya replied, “I knew you would come to me even before you came. I know your heart and pulse; you are against pure bhaktas, and therefore I will not teach you archery.” Ekalavya then said, “I have accepted you as my guru, so I must learn something about archery from you.” Droṇācārya again refused and said, “I cannot give lessons to you. If you learn archery, you will become a burden to the world.”
Still determined, Ekalavya went to the forest and made a clay statue of Droṇācārya. He offered 
praṇāma to that statue and, repeatedly taking the footdust of that statue, he began to practice archery with great faith. Practising archery while regularly performing arcanā and offering flowers to Droṇācārya, Ekalavya became a master. Then, one day, when Droṇācārya went to the forest and saw Ekalavya, he became astonished to see how he had learned such a high class of archery. When Ekalavya saw Droṇācārya, he fell at his lotus feet and told him, “What I have learned, I have learned from you.” Droṇācārya then told Ekalavya, “If you have really learned archery from me, then I want some guru-dakṣiṇā.” Ekalavya said, “Whatever you wish, I am prepared to give. I am also prepared to give my life if you want that.” Droṇācārya replied, “I want your right-hand thumb.” He cut his thumb and immediately gave it to Droṇācārya.
Ekalavya was still able to shoot with his remaining four fingers, but what was the result? During the Mahābhārata battle, he wanted to fight with Kṛṣṇa and kill Him; therefore, Kṛṣṇa took His Sudarśana cakra and very easily cut off his head.
Ekalavya was selfish and wanted to ruin the devotees, and because of this ulterior motive, his śraddhā in making and worshipping a statue of Droṇācārya was really not śraddhā at all. Our śraddhā should not be like that of Ekalavya. Rather, it should be like that of Arjuna.
Always remember this, and do not associate with those like Ekalavya. Some ignorant devotees, who are not actually devotees, have named their sons or disciples Ekalavya. It behoves us to be careful and avoid the misconception that he was a good disciple.
(Break in audіо)
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Someone may ask, “If a guru is not an uttama-adhikārī, how can he help his disciples? He may speak and behave incorrectly.” The reply to such a doubt is that if a guru is in the final stage of madhyama-adhikārī (madhyama-uttama), if he is very sincere and continually serving his uttama-adhikārī gurudeva, and if he has no worldly desires, he will very soon become an uttama-adhikārī.** This is explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu:
yāhāra komala śraddhā, se ‘kaniṣṭha’ jana
krame krame teṅho bhakta ha-ibe ‘uttama’
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.69)
[“One whose faith is soft and pliable is called a neophyte, but by gradually following the process he will rise to the platform of a first-class devotee.”]
So don’t doubt this.
Kṛṣṇa has said:
ye ’py anya-devatā-bhaktā
yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ
te ’pi mām eva kaunteya
yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam
Bhagavad-gītā (9.23)
[“Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O 
son of Kuntī, but they do so in a wrong way.”]
Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna that if a person worships a demigod with strong faith in order to fulfil his worldly desires, thinking, “Surely he will fulfil my desire,” that person is actually worshipping Kṛṣṇa Himself, but in the wrong way. Someone may directly touch his nose, and someone else may touch it by making his hand and finger go all the way around his head before it reaches his nose. Similarly, that person’s desires can be fulfilled by Kṛṣṇa alone, whether they are fulfilled by directly asking Him or by getting them fulfilled in a roundabout way by supplicating the demigods. It is actually Kṛṣṇa who gives benedictions. The devatās are not powerful; they are unable to give any benediction.
In a similar way, a guru may be madhyama-uttama (a madyama-adhikārī in the final stage); he may not yet be siddha (a perfect, self-realised soul) like Śrī Nārada Muni, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and others. In that case, if he is a sincere devotee and if a disciple follows him with deep faith, who will give the fruit of the disciple’s worship? A madhyama-adhikārī cannot give it. If one is an uttama-adhikārī like Nārada Ṛṣi, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī, or Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, he can give it at once, but a madhyama-adhikārī cannot. The madhyama-adhikārī guru will tell hari-kathā and engage his disciples in such a way that they will advance in bhakti. What will be the result? If one has very deep faith in that guru, Kṛṣṇa Himself will surely give the fruit, and that fruit will be transcendental. Try to understand this. It is not very easy to understand, but try. Do not have any doubt about this.
Devotee: If Kṛṣṇa gives the fruit to someone who has a madhyama-adhikārī guru, and the uttama-adhikārī guru himself gives the fruit, then what is the point of accepting an uttama-adhikārī guru?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Because uttama-adhikārī gurus are not easily available; 
they are very rare in this world. Moreover, even if they are available, most people will not be able to recognise them. For example, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī was naked, and Śrī Vamsidāsa Bābājī put fish bones and other abominable things outside his bhajana-sthālī. You would not be able to know that Śrīla Gaura-kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja is an uttama mahā-bhāgavata.
If a madhyama-uttama guru (who is under the guidance of an uttama-adhikārī guru) will tell you, or an uttama-adhikārī playing the role of a devotee in the stage of madhyama-adhikārī will tell you, then you will be able to know. We should be very, very careful about this. Do not have any doubt in that kind of guru. If one is madhyama-uttama, he can help so much by his direction. If a person has a doubt, do not 
associate with that person. His association should be given up, just as one gives up stool after passing it. Gaura-premānande!
Devotee: One of my godbrothers fell away, a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda. He performed so many sinful activities. He did not want to have anything to do with the devotees. On his deathbed, he was in a coma, and he sat up and said, “Prabhupāda, you’re here.” How is this possible? He rejected the instructions of Prabhupāda, left the devotees, performed so much sinful activity, and yet he is crying like this.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Oh, it is possible; it is possible. In the end, after the coma, he mentioned the name of Prabhupāda. It is like how, in the last days of his life, Bharata Mahārāja remembered that deer, and thus he became a deer. Similarly, this devotee may be born into a high family in this world and continue to develop from there.
*All the pure gurus in the disciplic line of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, in their spiritually perfected forms, are gopī maidservants of Śrīmatī Rādhikā.
**An excerpt from The Essence of All Advice, Chapter 3:
We should explain something here. An uttama-adhikārī like Nārada and others is actually a guru. Sometimes, such a guru, being uttama-adhikārī, will come in the stage of madhyama-adhikārī for preaching. But a madhyama-adhikārī, perhaps in the stage of madhyama-madhyama or madhyama-uttama, after he has become knowledgeable in all kinds of śāstra–siddhānthas, and his śraddhā is very thick and strong, can initiate a limited number of disciples, but not too many. And very carefully, he should select such disciples who are on the same platform. What platform? Madhyama platform. He considers himself, “I am still in the madhyama stage. I am not high, and I cannot help my disciples so much.” He should understand his position in this way, thinking, “There are no high-class Vaiṣṇavas available now, so I am filling in, simply giving letters like a peon, like a postman.” He should understand in which stage he is situated and not be proud that “I am making lākhas and lākhas of disciples.” Otherwise, he becomes fallen, and then he must fall down. He is already fallen, so what to speak of falling down. If he is humble, he may advance into uttama-adhikārī, and surely, very soon, he will be able to really preach and initiate.
It should be understood that his disciples cannot make much progress towards the ultimate goal of life under his insufficient guidance. Their progress will be very limited. He should know this. Who should know? Any madhyama who is giving initiation. He should not be proud, thinking, “I am the same as Nityānanda Prabhu, and you should obey me as you would obey him.” This will be an offence. He should know that he is not like Rūpa Gosvāmī or Nityānanda Prabhu. He should not have this false pride. He should always realise his own position and should pray, “Oh, I know that I am only helping them a little.”
But we see that so many disciples accepted such a guru. Having made about two thousand disciples and himself becoming Bhagavān, then what happened? He went to hell. So we should not think, “Oh, think of me as Nityānanda — sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair. I am that person, sākṣād-dharitvena.” But a sincere guru will not think like this. He will think that he is simply a messenger of Nityānanda Prabhu. He will not say, “I am the same person. I will come again and again, and I will take you to 
Goloka.” Nityānanda Prabhu and an uttama-adhikārī can speak like this. But don’t imitate them and say that “I am an uttama-adhikārī.”
Those who imitate put themselves in a very dangerous position. We have seen how so many have fallen away from their positions and have even suffered violent reactions. Why? And some disciples, even while their gurudeva is still present in the world, begin initiating so many people themselves without their guru’s order. Why are they doing this? This is very bad behaviour.
So the madhyama–guru should know that his disciples cannot advance very well, and he should realise that he himself should take guidance from an advanced spiritual master. Then he will not commit any aparādha against high-class Vaiṣṇavas. But if he does not take such shelter, then he will make so many offences at the lotus feet of higher devotees — he is bound to do so. “Therefore, a disciple should be careful to accept an uttama-adhikārī as a spiritual master.” We should be very careful in these matters.
***Kṛṣṇa will give that disciple the fruit of the association and shelter of an uttama-adhikārī guru
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)
