The following is a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in Vṛndāvana, India, on September 19, 1992
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: In your recent discussions on Jaiva-dharma, Chapter 21, you mention that Vrajanātha and 
Vijaya-kumāra understood that they could only attain perfection by getting dīkṣā from an uttama-adhikārī. Our god-brothers in ISKCON may not be uttama-adhikārīs, but they are giving dīkṣā.* How will their disciples achieve perfection? By sending them to you for further guidance?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Dīkṣā-guru must be qualified; Or, śikṣā-guru must be qualified. We cannot achieve perfection without a qualified guru.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: ‘Qualified’ refers to an uttama-bhakta?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Certainly, he must be more advanced than us. He must be more advanced than that sādhaka.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: What would be the general procedure, then, for the disciples of our god-brothers?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: They will gradually develop in this birth, and then in the next birth, and then in the birth after that.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: What about the situation wherein the dīkṣā-guru is a madhyama-adhikārī, but that madhyama guru can direct their disciples to an uttama śikṣā-guru? In that case, can the disciple attain perfection even with a madhyama dīkṣā-guru?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa will arrange everything.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: How does Kṛṣṇa work it out?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: He sees what is needed in the disciple’s heart. If the disciple is a sādhaka, then Kṛṣṇa will make arrangements. If the disciple is not a sādhaka but only a disciple – simply thinking, “I am a disciple,” but not following bhakti, then Kṛṣṇa will not do anything.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: What do you mean by the word sādhaka?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Those who have greed are sādhakas.
kṛti-sādhyā bhavet sādhya-
bhāvā sā sādhanābhidhā
nitya-siddhasya bhāvasya
prākaṭyaṁ hṛdi sādhyatā
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā (22.105)
[“When transcendental devotional service, by which love for Kṛṣṇa is attained, is executed by the senses, it is called sādhana-bhakti, or the regulative discharge of devotional service. Such devotion eternally exists within the heart of every living entity. The awakening of this eternal devotion is the potentiality of devotional service in practice.”]
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: If a sādhaka can connect with a śikṣā-guru who is an uttama-bhakta, they can attain 
perfection in that way?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: How did you come to me?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: By your mercy and our Prabhupāda’s mercy.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: How?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: By Āditya’s mercy (a god-sister).
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Who made this arrangement?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Then certainly Kṛṣṇa will make whatever arrangement is required.
Jagatāriṇī dāsī: What do you mean by ‘disciple’?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: He calls himself a disciple, but he has no greed. He is not doing anything serious to advance in bhakti.
Jagatāriṇī dāsī: It is just a formality? One who is not serious and not interested in advancement?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: He does not want to improve.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: So, even if one’s dīkṣā-guru is madhyama, and he has a śikṣā-guru who is uttama…
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Madhyama Vaiṣṇavas are of so many varieties – there is madhyama-kaniṣṭha (a beginner madhyama), madhyama-madyama (an intermediate madhyama), and madhyama-uttama (an advanced madhyama). Madyama-uttama is about to become uttama; this will do. He will be a rasika Vaiṣṇava – very interested in Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes with the gopīs.
Without lobha, genuine spiritual greed, we cannot move forward an inch. There should be real greed, and we should judge whether or not our greed is real. If a person is greedy for anything, he will not consider whether the process of achieving that thing is right or wrong. He will only think, “I must have it.”
He is not discouraged if ordinary people tell him not to strive for that objective. Rather, upon the appearance of true spiritual greed, he will see how the gopīs attained that rāga, or spontaneous attachment, for Kṛṣṇa – how Rūpa Gosvāmī, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, and Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura were situated in rāgānuga-bhakti and reached the level of svarūpa-siddhi and vastu-siddhi. [They are Kṛṣṇa’s eternal associates, but as an example for us, they played the role of conditioned souls advancing. –ed] He will see how the Śrutis achieved gopī-bhāva and determine, “I will also have to do this. Beg, borrow or steal, I must adopt their methods.” Spiritual greed will not come just by reading books.
If we have some greed to enter this type of bhakti, we will have to adopt the method of Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, and Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, and especially Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.
[(This paragraph is taken from later in the darśana) When a person has greed, he will not question other 
things. He will only ask how he can attain his desired goal. Suppose I see a very beautiful picture of you. I am not concerned about how it came to you, how you collected it, or its price value. My question, or concern, is how to collect it from you – I will have to take it by theft or by giving anything, by hook or crook. If I have so much greed for that picture, my question or concern will be only on this point.]
The ruci, or taste, of a person with such greed, will not go to anything which is not helpful.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: Their taste will not go where?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: It will not go that thing which is not helpful in the development of rāgānuga-bhakti. Do you understand?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: Right now, I no longer have a taste for painting because I don’t see how it is helpful.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: A natural taste will come for anything helpful for rāgānuga-bhakti. Such devotees will not need to ask anyone, “Should I do this or not?” The presence or absence of taste will determine what to do and what not to do.
If anyone says something that is not helpful for rāgānuga-bhakti, they will think it is very painful. For example, if you are extremely thirsty and a man gives you very warm salty water, as found in Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, will you drink it?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: No.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Similarly, a rāgānuga-bhakta will only adopt those things that are helpful for the development in rāgānuga-bhakti. If someone forcefully says to you, “You should do this,” you will think that it is harassment; you will feel difficulty.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: You were speaking to our god-brothers about how the spiritual master comes and eats what his disciples offer to him. You were also talking about the occasion when the guru is not uttama. I forgot what you said at that time. Can you please explain this again? Can the disciple offer prasādam to a madhyama dīkṣā-guru, and will that madhyama guru be able to take it and pass it up the disciplic succession? Or…?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Initiated disciples should always believe, “My Gurudeva is uttama, and very near and dear to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa will like whatever he will do. He is most dear to Kṛṣṇa.”
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: But some persons thought that Bhavānanda and Rāmeśvara and other ISKCON gurus were uttama. Later, those persons found out they weren’t and felt cheated.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: They should consider what kind of guru someone is before taking initiation from him.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: Even if the gurus are not uttama, it is okay for the disciple to think that they are?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: If we are giving everything of ourselves unto the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, He will surely provide us with a connection to a good guru. If we are not qualified and have many material desires, then Kṛṣṇa will make different arrangements. Over time, the disciple’s understanding will mature, enabling him to identify a genuine guru. He will again take initiation.
Jagatāriṇī dāsī: We saw so many unqualified people who took dīkṣā from Prabhupāda.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: But they had no doubt in Prabhupāda. Those performing activities of bhakti will gradually develop, and those who were not qualified and left Prabhupāda will go to hell. At the same time, some persons left Prabhupāda but still have faith that he is bona fide. For example, Bhavānanda left hari-bhajana, but if anyone asks whether his guru is pure, he will say, “My guru is pure.” I think whoever has not committed offences at the feet of the guru will again return to the path of bhakti.
Jagatarini dāsī: It is a weakness of heart that they could not complete the process? I’m asking this because you just said that if one is sincere, he will get a good guru; if he is insincere, he will not. But sometimes, it seems that one who appeared more sincere had some difficulty, and one who seemed insincere got Prabhupāda. It appears that it is difficult to criticize and say that those who got Bhavānanda were all insincere.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: When the disciples of Prabhupāda were initiated and joined the movement, at that time their faith was good. If they had had regular, qualified Vaiṣṇava saṅga, this mishap could not have come about. For example, after Prabhupāda’s departure, Bhavānanda, Rāmeśvara and others became free in their preaching – their mixing with ladies and gentlemen and materialists. There was no control, so they began to do whatever they wanted. There was no one to regulate them, so they had no fear.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: Nowadays, many of the devotees coming into ISKCON and taking dīkṣā from our god-brothers understand that their gurus are not on Śrīla Prahbupāda’s level of uttama, but that they are on some level of madhyama. Is it okay for them to think that their guru is on some level of madhyama?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: They should think, “My Gurudeva is a Vaiṣṇava, and by surrendering to him, we can attain the service of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.” If they do not regard their guru in this way, they will not be able to obey their holy master, and gradually, they will go down. If they think, “My guru is a Vaiṣṇava, bhāgavata-svarūpa (a manifestation of the Supreme Lord), they will gradually go up. Then, when their heart becomes so sincere, Kṛṣṇa will arrange the right person as a guru.
Jagatāriṇī dāsī: Perhaps the disciples’ madhyama guru is ahead of them, and if he is advancing and 
advancing, then he will be able to guide them to some proper course?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Guru is akhaṇḍa-tattva. If a guru says, “Chant harināma,” this idea is not of that gurudeva. It is of Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktivedānta Svāmī. This idea came from his guru, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. At last, the origin is Kṛṣṇa, and from Kṛṣṇa comes Baladeva Prabhu.
Kṛṣṇa is akhaṇḍa-guru; Baladeva is akhaṇḍa-guru. We should obey our spiritual master and think he is obeying Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva, the root gurus. We should believe, “In this way, I am obeying Baladeva Prabhu.” Guru is a manifestation of Baladeva Prabhu.
Suppose we see that our guru is different from Baladeva Prabhu, Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja. In that case, we should do namaskāra (offer respect) to him and have no further relation with him – if there is a difference. And if there is no difference, we should treat him as a manifestation of Baladeva Prabhu.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: But hundreds or thousands of ISKCON devotees now think, “My Gurudeva is madhyama“. This is because of all that happened in ISKCON.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Do you think your Gurudeva is madhyama?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: No.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Why?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: Because he has the words and characteristics and symptoms of an uttama-adhikārī.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: You are coming to me. What do you think about me? Do you think I am uttama or kaniṣṭha?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: I think you are uttama.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: I’m telling you that I am a kaniṣṭha-adhikārī.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: I don’t believe it. None of us here believe it.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: You are not believing?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: No. Because you have the lakṣaṇa (symptoms) of an uttama.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Oh, you know the lakṣaṇa of an uttama?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: Well, you seem to.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: [Laughing with some sarcasm, as only an uttama-bhakta, or madhyama-uttama, can recognize such symptoms with realization] You are so qualified.
Jagatāriṇī dāsī: A disciple cannot see on what level his guru is situated. You have said on other occasions that he is not qualified to discern.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Why are you bothering about these things? You have a connection with a real guru, so what are your problems?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: None. But we are surrounded by people in ISKCON who have these problems and ask these questions.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: They should work out their problems. Why are you wasting your time with this? I am also travelling to so many places and am not bothered. I believe in akhaṇḍa-guru-tattva – pūrṇa-guru-tattva (the whole, complete, undivided principle of guru).
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: How do we avoid puruṣa-bhāva (the false ego of thinking “I am the doer”) when we are preaching and lecturing to audiences?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: By thinking, “I am a servant, or maidservant, of Kṛṣṇa. I am preaching to give pleasure to Kṛṣṇa. I am preaching so that Kṛṣṇa may be pleased and our gurudeva may be pleased.” With this conviction, puruṣa-bhāva will not come. Being very simple, with prema, love and affection, we should preach and serve as Lalitā does, as Rūpa Mañjarī does, and as Rūpa Gosvāmī does.
How many disciples did Rūpa Gosvāmī have? How many śiṣyas (initiated disciples) did Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī have?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: Unlimited. Millions.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Millions?
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: I mean, in the spiritual world.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī did not accept any śiṣyas. He only had one, namely Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī; no other. But he preached and wrote so many books, and anyone connected with him became like him – with no puruṣa-bhāva.
(November 29, 1992)
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: We sing nikuñja-yūno rati-keli-siddhyai to the spiritual master. [“Śrī Gurudeva is always present with the sakhīs, planning the arrangements for the perfection of yugala-kiśora’s amorous pastimes (rati-keli) within the kuñjas of Vṛndāvana. Because he is so expert in making these tasteful arrangements for Their pleasure, he is very dear to Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. I offer prayers unto the lotus feet of Śrī Gurudeva.” (Śrī Gurvāṣṭakam, Verse 6)]
If the spiritual master is not siddha (perfect in self-realization), but he is sādhaka (a devotional practitioner aspiring for pure devotion), is there any benefit in singing that song?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: So much benefit. Baladeva will accept all these things.
Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: Even if the disciple thinks that the words of the song are going directly to his sādhaka guru, still, Baladeva is accepting it?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva are the root-guru. As akhaṇḍa-guru (complete guru), They will accept the worship. So, no harm.
[* A Few śāstric considerations on uttama, madhyama, and kaniṣṭha adhikārī devotees: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.45):
śrī-havir uvāca
sarva-bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed
bhagavad-bhāvam ātmanaḥ
bhūtāni bhagavaty ātmany
eṣa bhāgavatottamaḥ
“Śrī Havir said: The most advanced devotee sees within everything the soul of all souls, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Consequently he sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord and understands that everything that exists is eternally situated within the Lord.”
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.47):
arcāyām eva haraye
pūjāṁ yaḥ śraddhayehate
na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu
sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ
“A devotee who faithfully engages in the worship of the Deity in the temple but does not behave properly toward other devotees or people in general is called a prākṛta-bhakta, a materialistic devotee, and is considered to be in the lowest position.”
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.46):
īśvare tad-adhīneṣu
bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca
prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā
yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ
“An intermediate or second-class devotee, called madhyama-adhikārī, offers his love to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is a sincere friend to all the devotees of the Lord, shows mercy to ignorant people who are innocent and disregards those who are envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.64
śraddhāvān jana haya bhakti-adhikārī
‘uttama’, ‘madhyama’, ‘kaniṣṭha’ — śraddhā-anusārī
“A faithful devotee is a truly eligible candidate for the loving service of the Lord. According to one’s faith, one is classified as a topmost devotee, an intermediate devotee or an inferior devotee.”
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.65
śāstra-yuktye sunipuṇa, dṛḍha-śraddhā yāṅra
‘uttama-adhikārī’ sei tāraye saṁsāra
“One who is expert in logic, argument and the revealed scriptures and who has firm faith in Kṛṣṇa is classified as a topmost devotee. He can deliver the whole world.”
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.66
śāstre yuktau ca nipuṇaḥ
sarvathā dṛḍha-niścayaḥ
prauḍha-śraddho ’dhikārī yaḥ
sa bhaktāv uttamo mataḥ
“One who is expert in logic and in understanding the revealed scriptures, and who always has firm conviction and deep faith that is not blind, is to be considered a topmost devotee in devotional service.”
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.67
śāstra-yukti nāhi jāne dṛḍha, śraddhāvān
‘madhyama-adhikārī’ sei mahā-bhāgyavān
“One who is not very expert in argument and logic based on the revealed scriptures but who has firm faith is considered a second-class devotee. He also must be considered most fortunate.”
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.69
yāhāra komala śraddhā, se ‘kaniṣṭha’ jana
krame krame teṅho bhakta ha-ibe ‘uttama’
“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.”
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.70
yo bhavet komala-śraddhaḥ
sa kaniṣṭho nigadyate
“One whose faith is not very strong, who is just beginning, should be considered a neophyte devotee.”]
Source: Purebhakti.com
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Unless indicated differently, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)
