The Spiritual Master

Only the unalloyed servants of the spiritual masters Śrī Svarūpa and Śrī Rūpa can understand the mystery of worshiping the Lord. A devotee who has firm faith in and love for the spiritual master’s lotus feet is called an unalloyed servant. The Vedas declare, yasya deve parā bhaktir, yathā deve tathā gurau/ tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ, prakāśante mahātmanaḥ: “Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23)

“If I can fully surrender at the lotus feet of my spiritual master, in whose hands Lord Kṛṣṇa has entrusted the responsibility for my well being, then I am an actual disciple. It is my duty to obey whatever arrangements my spiritual master makes for me without fail.” This is how a true disciple thinks. To think otherwise means our downfall is inevitable.

Those who instead of becoming sense enjoyers serve the Supreme Lord constantly under the spiritual master’s guidance are genuine disciples. Everything in this world is meant to be used in the spiritual master’s service for Kṛṣṇa’s service. We will not find benefit if we think anything is meant for our pleasure. If we fail to see that all objects in this world are intended for service to guru and Kṛṣṇa, we will certainly become degraded. An ideal disciple realizes this fact and always makes service to his guru and Kṛṣṇa his life and soul.

A real disciple sees his spiritual master both internally and externally. Although he considers himself insignificant, a disciple’s vision is not low. A sincere disciple certainly possesses the good intelligence to know that he has no well-wisher in this world other than his spiritual master. A real disciple is always steady in the understanding that he should serve his spiritual master; he considers his spiritual master as good as God. A good disciple possesses firm faith in and spontaneous love for his spiritual master.

A true disciple accepts the spiritual master as his most intimate well-wisher. He knows his guru is most dear to Kṛṣṇa and therefore an object of love. The guru is his eternal master, his life and soul. A disciple knows that the spiritual master is simultaneously the personification of devotional service and of the Supreme Lord. The spiritual master is dearer to Kṛṣṇa than His life. He is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa because he is a manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. It is not possible to attain Kṛṣṇa’s service without serving the spiritual master. Only those who serve their spiritual master are real Vaiṣṇavas and disciples. Others are simply bewildered by false ego. Frankly speaking, they are filled with material desire.

Only the person Lord Kṛṣṇa send us as spiritual master will manifest before us as our guru. By the Lord’s mercy we attain a spiritual master, and by the spiritual master’s mercy we attain Kṛṣṇa. We are given a spiritual master according to our fortune. Different people have different mentalities, and the omniscient Lord sends each an appropriate spiritual master. There are those who desire the Lord’s nonduplicitous mercy and who completely depend on Him for their success. These souls please the Lord with their simple sincerity. To bestow His mercy upon them, He appears before them personally. To those who want something else from the Lord, who are not actually aspiring for His complete mercy, the Lord sends through His illusory energy a spiritual master appropriate to their mentality. A sincere person never faces difficulty but quickly finds a bona fide guru.

Unless we are pure devotees or liberated souls, we should not make disciples. Instead, we should first become disciples ourselves by taking shelter of a bona fide spiritual master. We should then hear hari-kathā from such a guru’s mouth and follow his instructions in practice and humility. While glorifying those instructions, we should then become gurus. Trying to remain forever insignificant on some pretext amounts to self-deceit. To become guru means to become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa and to remain constantly engaged in the Lord’s service with all our senses.

There are no hard and fast rules that tell us we must make disciples, but if the Lord desires it, then a pure devotee will give instructions for others’ benefit. Such pure devotees are not selfishly motivated. Rather, their main purpose is to make the insignificant great, to make the godless inclined toward the Lord, and to make each person a devotee of Kṛṣṇa.

The spiritual master is the proprietor of the Supreme Lord. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the spiritual master’s property or wealth. That is why only the spiritual master is able to give Kṛṣṇa. Simply by the spiritual master’s mercy we can attain the mercy and darśana of Kṛṣṇa.

As soon as we forget the Lord, various mundane thoughts and sense desires swallow us. The most merciful Śrī Kṛṣṇa is always ready to protect us from such danger provided we depend on Him completely. Lord Kṛṣṇa saves the living entities in the form of the spiritual master. The spiritual master is the personification of Kṛṣṇa’s mercy. The spiritual master, Kṛṣṇa’s representative, appears in this world to deliver the living entities from material existence and bring them back to Godhead. Only those fortunate souls who eagerly accept the mercy of such a spiritual master become liberated and go back to the eternal abode of peace.

We can attain Kṛṣṇa’s complete mercy simply by becoming qualified to be counted among the servants of Vṛṣabhānu’s daughter as Śrī Rūpa’s servant. We can achieve such good fortune simply by becoming a servant or particle of dust at the lotus feet of the guru who is a staunch follower of Śrī Rūpa. That is why it is said that we need to become lower than straw in the street. If we wish to become lower than straw in the street, we have to consider ourselves the guru’s servant and serve the holy name without reservation.

Those who think themselves Vaiṣṇavas are not Vaiṣṇavas. Those who think themselves gurus or great personalities are not qualified to become gurus. Those who consider themselves disciples of a disciple are qualified to become spiritual masters. Only one who has unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord and the spiritual master is able to act as a guru.

However learned or thoughtful a person may be, until he takes shelter of an ācārya whose qualities personify Vaiṣṇava philosophy, he cannot understand Vaiṣṇavism. The Bhagavad-gītā states, tad viddhi praṇipātena, paripraśnena sevayā/ upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ, jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ: “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.” (4.34)

We can understand the Vaiṣṇava philosophy if we possess three specific qualities: unconditional surrender, honest inquiry, and a serving temperament. The teachers of Vaiṣṇava philosophy instruct those who approach an ācārya to render these three qualities as dakṣiṇā. The ācāryas are not tempted by mundane dakṣiṇā.

We must cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness under the guidance and order of Kṛṣṇa’s devotee. The daughter of Vṛṣabhānu is most favorable to Kṛṣṇa. Another name for Śrī Rādhā is  anukūlyena  or favorable. The spiritual masters are the dearest companions of the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu. We Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas worship Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Actually, Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas are more partial to Rādhā than Kṛṣṇa. The spiritual master is nondifferent from Śrī Rādhā. Cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is done under Śrī Rādhās guidance and in subordination to Her. If we fail to subordinate ourselves to Her representative, the spiritual master, we will not be able to cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness or even please Kṛṣṇa. Rather, we will only dance wildly for our own happiness. By renouncing such adverse mentality, such pride, and by serving Kṛṣṇa under our guru’s order, we will be benefited.

But unfortunately we have forgotten to satisfy Kṛṣṇa and are busy satisfying our own senses. Alas! Instead of making Kṛṣṇa the center of our household we have made ourselves the center and have become attached householders. If we are actually interested in our own benefit, we must take special care during our present life. Otherwise, we will be cheated and will lose an excellent opportunity.

Śrī Rādhikā, who is the hlādinī aspect of the Lord’s internal energy, is the original spiritual master of all devotees. She is even Kṛṣṇa’s spiritual master. As Her disciple, Kṛṣṇa learns how to dance from Her. Pure devotees belonging to rasas other than the mādhurya-rasa accept Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu as their original spiritual master, but Śrī Rādhikā is the original spiritual master of the rasika devotees belonging to the mādhurya-rasa.

Before awakening pure devotional service, we must certainly learn of our relationship with the Supreme Lord. The spiritual master alone is able to bestow such knowledge. Therefore the root of devotional service is firm faith in the transcendental spiritual master. This faith is the first principle on the devotional path. The first requirement any devotee must fulfill is to give up the blind conception that there are many religions. He must also reject the path of argumentation and maintain faith in his spiritual master’s auspicious instructions.

What is faith? Faith means full confidence in Śrī Gurudeva’s words. We cannot rely on the words of worldly persons but trust only Gurudeva. Everyone else is a pretender. Therefore we should give up all worldly topics and have complete faith in the spiritual master’s words. We cannot find success in any other way. By the spiritual master’s mercy, our anarthas will be destroyed, our desires fulfilled, and we will certainly attain the Lord’s mercy and darśana.

Our troubles are vanquished and we achieve devotional service when we approach and associate with guru and sādhu. That is why we should rely implicitly on Śrī Gurudeva if we wish to approach and serve the Absolute Person. The spiritual master will give us the highest good. If perchance we meet a real spiritual master, we must be saved. We must be able to reach our goal. The spiritual master will always supply and enrich us with transcendental knowledge and service.

“I will regulate the spiritual master”: this is an atheist’s conception. It comes from the offense of disregarding the spiritual master’s order. We must renounce this mentality as soon as it appears. I will not listen to the words of anyone in this world. I will listen only to my spiritual master’s words because he has descended from Vaikuṇṭha to deliver me.

We are minute, conscious souls. We can approach the supreme conscious Lord simply by the guru’s mercy. We will give up the association of others and return to our Eternal Master. Although the spiritual master considers himself the Supreme Lord’s insignificant servant, we must undoubtedly accept him as the only means by which we can go back to Godhead. He is our eternal well-wisher.

I offer everything at the lotus feet of my spiritual master, knowing that he is most dear to God; he is as good as God. I will perform all my work in his service and desire nothing in return. Then I will attain perfection.

By taking shelter of the spiritual master’s lotus feet, we become fearless, free of lamentation, and happy. When we serve him, we gain his association. If we serve the spiritual master with body, mind, and speech, we quickly attain his mercy. When he is pleased, we will find that our inclination to serve him progressively increases. This is the highest form of auspiciousness and the only gain.

The spiritual master’s servants are Vaiṣṇavas. Devotees who are initiated by bona fide gurus and who have taken complete shelter at their spiritual master’s feet are Vaiṣṇavas. According to how well we serve the spiritual master, we see differences in the quality of our service to Kṛṣṇa. Those who abandon their spiritual master or who are envious of him are avaiṣṇava. They are atheists possessed of a hellish mentality. Those who are envious of the spiritual master are also envious of the Supreme Lord. Actually, they are envious of the whole world. Only devotees who are fixed at the spiritual master’s lotus feet and who are free of material desire are pure. A person who is free from the influence of wealth, women, and the tigress of fame is a Vaiṣṇava. He is detached and pure and can defeat the entire world.

It is not possible to worship Kṛṣṇa without taking shelter at the spiritual master’s feet. The spiritual master is not an ordinary human being. He is as good as the Supreme Lord. That is why the spiritual master is described as God. He is the object of love and devotion. Those who know that the spiritual master is as good as the Supreme Lord are his genuine followers. Such followers are eligible for his mercy. Because the spiritual master, who is dear to Kṛṣṇa, is pleased with unalloyed disciples, Kṛṣṇa, his dearmost friend, also becomes pleased with them.

Just consider how Hari, guru, and the Vaiṣṇavas are placed in succession. The spiritual master sits in the center, placing the Supreme Lord and the Vaiṣṇavas on his lap. By firmly catching hold of the spiritual master’s lotus feet, we will automatically receive the mercy of the Lord and His devotees. If the spiritual master is pleased, Śrī Hari and the Vaiṣṇavas will also be pleased. If we cannot become unalloyed devotees of the spiritual master, if we cannot make the spiritual master our life and soul, then we will spoil everything and will not be able to receive the mercy of either the Lord or His devotees. Ultimately, we will be deceived and not attain the Lord’s service.

The spiritual master is not a temporary, perishable lump of flesh and blood. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states that the spiritual master is the Lord Himself. He is an incarnation of the Lord. Of his own sweet will, the spiritual master mercifully descends from the spiritual world to this world. He is eternally present both in the Lord’s manifest and in unmanifest pastimes. He always acts as our guide and gives us proper intelligence.

The spiritual master is an extraordinary personality. He is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss. To consider him an ordinary human being is to be possessed of a hellish mentality. To think like this is an offense against the holy name. The spiritual master is self-realized; he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa. He is dear to Śrī Caitanyadeva. He has appeared in this world to deliver fallen souls like us. He is not a karmī, jñānī, or yogī. He is an associate of the Lord in His pastimes. He is a topmost devotee. As God is eternal, so is the spiritual master. The transcendental Cupid, Kṛṣṇa, is God. The spiritual master is nondifferent from that same Kṛṣṇa. He is a manifestation of Kṛṣṇa.

When we consider the spiritual master as nondifferent from God, we recognize that the spiritual master is worshipable God. Although he is the worshipable Supreme Lord, he is most dear to the Lord. The spiritual master manifests the pastimes of worshiper God. The spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa are simultaneously one and different. The spiritual master is sheltered, and Lord Kṛṣṇa is the shelter. The spiritual master is servitor God and Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the object of service, the Personality of Godhead. The spiritual master is most dear to Lord Mukunda. In the vision of a self-realized disciple on the rāga path, the spiritual master is Kṛṣṇa’s energy and a manifestation of Vṛṣabhānu’s daughter. The spiritual master, who is dear to Kṛṣṇa, is part of Kṛṣṇa’s internal energy; Lord Kṛṣṇa is the supreme energetic. Kṛṣṇa is the male or enjoyer, and the spiritual master is the female or beloved of Kṛṣṇa.

We should serve the spiritual master at the beginning of every year, every month, every day, and every moment. If we do not serve the spiritual master constantly, we will certainly face difficulty. The moment we forget our guru’s service, we will forget ourselves.

Knowledge imparted by worldly teachers or instructors produces insignificant results, but the bona fide spiritual master does not bestow such insignificant results. The spiritual master bestows real auspiciousness. As soon as the living entities are bereft of the mercy of the sheltered God—the spiritual master—they are captured by material desires. If an instructing spiritual master does not instruct us how to take shelter at a guru’s lotus feet and how to deal with him, then we may lose the most coveted jewel even after having received it.

Chanting the Lord’s holy name is the best form of worship. The spiritual master teaches us this process. But if we do not please the spiritual master, how will we gain the strength to worship the Lord? That is why I say that those who want to attain the Lord’s shelter, who want real peace and freedom from material existence, should make the spiritual master’s service their life and soul. They should serve the spiritual master constantly and try their best to please him. Then they will not face any problems in life. They will attain all perfection.

Enjoyer-Kṛṣṇa is half and Enjoyed-Kṛṣṇa is the other half. The various pastimes performed by both are complete. Kṛṣṇa is the complete manifestation of the enjoyer, and our spiritual master is the complete manifestation of the enjoyed. A spiritual master is one who personally demonstrates how to serve the Supreme Lord throughout life. That spiritual master is present in every object. We have no business other than to serve his lotus feet constantly.

We should certainly communicate directly with the spiritual master. Those who do not wish to serve and associate with their spiritual master personally are bound to be cheated. Direct communication with guru is the first step on the path of divine service.

We should serve the manifestations of guru in every entity. If we cannot serve the guru, we cannot serve anyone. I must not hear anything until my divine master, Śrī Gurudeva, authorizes me to hear it.

The spiritual master is the Lord’s transcendental temple. The Supreme Lord lives in that temple. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is controlled by His devotees’ love, manifests Himself in the hearts of the spiritual master and the devotees. Scripture states, śrutim apare smṛtim itare bhāratam anye bhajantu bhava-bhītāḥ, aham iha nandaṁ vande yasyālinde paraṁ brahma: “Let others, fearing material existence, worship the Vedas, the Vedic supplementary Purāṇas, and the Mahābhārata, but I shall worship Nanda Mahārāja, in whose courtyard the Supreme Brahman is crawling.” (Padyāvalī 126)

Many people say that they are eager to see the Supreme Lord, but they do not understand that the Lord’s darśana is possible simply by taking darśana of the spiritual master. Unless we meet the spiritual master, we cannot meet the Supreme Lord. Devotional service does not begin without first taking shelter at a spiritual master’s lotus feet.

The spiritual master is certainly the via media between Kṛṣṇa and the living entity. Lord Kṛṣṇa sends His best servant, His best associate, to this world to distribute His unlimited mercy. The spiritual master is the personification of that mercy. Those who teach us to serve the Lord’s Deity and to chant His holy names are spiritual masters. It is not enough to serve the spiritual master with awe and reverence only from a distance; we must serve him with strong faith and love. The best example of this is the intimate service Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa rendered to Śrīla Svarūpa Dāmodara Prabhu.

The moment I fall down from service to my spiritual master, who is protecting me at every moment by keeping me at his lotus feet, I will become distracted from the Absolute Truth. As soon as I fall away from my spiritual master’s shelter, I will be captured by innumerable material desires. When I run to bathe, I will become busy protecting myself from cold. I will spend my time running to perform activities other than my spiritual master’s service. If I do not remember my spiritual master’s lotus feet—the lotus feet of that spiritual master who has always protected me from the material concept of life—at the beginning of every year, every month, every day, every moment, I will certainly find myself in trouble. I will pretend to become the spiritual master myself and expect others to adore me. This is the material conception of life. It is not that we should worship our spiritual master for only a day; we should serve him at every moment.

In order to bestow mercy on me, my spiritual master appears before me in various forms. They are all manifestations of my initiating spiritual master, who imparts transcendental knowledge. The light of the jagad-guru is reflected in various objects. My spiritual master is reflected in each and every object. Worshipable Kṛṣṇa is half and worshiper Kṛṣṇa is the other half. Their combined pastimes are complete. Kṛṣṇa is the complete manifestation of the object of worship, and my spiritual master is the complete manifestation of the worshiper. All cognizant objects in which the reflection of transcendence falls are my spiritual master in different forms. My spiritual master is the one who always personally demonstrates how to serve Kṛṣṇa throughout my life. He is reflected in the hearts of all living entities, and he is present in all objects as the Lord’s subordinate. Thus he is present in every item.

If, out of good fortune, we can feel the spiritual master’s presence in our heart, if we can see the spiritual master traveling and walking in our heart, then the Supreme Lord will manifest in our heart too. There is no way to attain the Lord’s service other than by serving and satisfying that personality who always inspires us to offer our devotion to the Lord.

We think that now that we have received mantras from our spiritual master, we are saved. But if we are not prepared to take complete shelter of our spiritual master, we will be cheated in proportion to our duplicity.

Only the spiritual master who is an intimate associate of Śrī Gaurāṅga is capable of delivering us from death in the form of material existence. Now let us consider who is a spiritual master and who is insignificant. One who constantly serves the Absolute Truth, the supreme worshipable object of all spiritual masters, is a bona fide spiritual master. I am not talking about the guru who teaches vina or bodybuilding. Such persons cannot protect us from death. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states, gurur na sa syāt sva-jano na sa syāt, pitā na sa syāj jananī na sā syāt/ daivaṁ na tat syān na patiś ca sa syān, na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum: “One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother, or a worshipable demigod.” (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. 5.5.18)

When we are illusioned, we fall into death’s trap. When we have knowledge, we are delivered. The knowledge earned from this world is useless when we find ourselves paralyzed or dying. If we do not search after Absolute Truth, then we are dead matter. One who cannot deliver his dependents from death is simply cheating. One who induces us to become attracted to sense gratification is certainly a cheater. But we should serve a spiritual master who protects us from all these cheaters. We should serve him every year, every month, every day, at every moment.

It is extremely necessary to worship the spiritual master. Even if we want to become a successful karmī, jñānī, or sense enjoyer, we require a spiritual master’s guidance. But the knowledge imparted by spiritual masters teaching such things produces insignificant results. A bona fide spiritual master, however, does not award temporary or insignificant results. A real spiritual master awards actual auspiciousness.

As soon as we forget the compassion our spiritual master has shown us we invite material desires into our hearts. If the Vaiṣṇavas, who are fixed at the spiritual master’s lotus feet, do not instruct us how to approach, serve, and deal with our spiritual master, we may lose a coveted jewel.

My spiritual master is completely independent. He is not dependent on the mercy of anyone in this world. His good wish is that everyone sincerely worships Hari. He considers giving others instruction on how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa’s senses as the best form of compassion. He considers teaching others to fuel their sense gratification envy not mercy.

If we ever become fortunate enough to receive a bona fide spiritual master, all credit goes to Kṛṣṇa alone. Through the spiritual master, Lord Kṛṣṇa awards us the benediction of fearlessness. Only the fortunate receive this opportunity. An appropriate spiritual master comes to an appropriate person.

It is an offense to enjoy items offered to the spiritual master. If we do not engage our ears in hearing hari-kathā, if we engage our eyes only in measuring objects we can see, our nose in smelling fragrances, our tongue in relishing palatable foods, and our body in enjoying the sense of touch, then we must be thinking those ingredients meant for the spiritual master’s service are objects of our own enjoyment. This means that we are treating the spiritual master as if he were an insignificant, ordinary human being.

One should not disobey his spiritual master. We should not blaspheme the Vedic literature or disrespect the guru by considering many persons his equal. The only benefit the living entities can experience is to take complete shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.

My spiritual master is an ocean of mercy. A single drop of that mercy ocean can drown me in an ocean of happiness. Out of great compassion, my spiritual master used to tell me, “Give up your high education, sanctity, high birth, and come to me. You do not need to go anywhere else. Whatever you need—whatever house, palace, knowledge, self-control, or renunciation—you will attain simply by coming to me. Do not run after these insignificant material objects. Do not consider them the goal of your life. Ordinary people consider such things important.

We don’t need to make disciples, we need to become disciples. In other words, we must always engage in the service of guru and Kṛṣṇa. The Vaiṣṇavas, the devotees of Viṣṇu, see the spiritual master in everything. If we are proud to be Vaiṣṇavas, we cannot serve Lord Viṣṇu or the Vaiṣṇavas properly.

“I don’t do anything myself. Rather, I do whatever the Lord makes me do.” Persons devoid of this mentality and engaged in the Lord’s service can actually benefit other living entities by helping them become inclined toward Kṛṣṇa. Simply speaking about humility is useless. One has to be firmly convinced that “I am actually directed by the Lord.”

I have not made anyone my disciple. Those who are considered my disciples by others are actually my spiritual masters. To associate with others means to accept something from them. I do not accept anything from anyone except that which I received from my spiritual master. I do not engage in any activity under anyone’s order except the order of my spiritual master. We should not accept anything from anyone for ourselves. If anyone faithfully and gladly gives us something we can use to serve guru and Kṛṣṇa, we should happily accept it and then use it for the Lord’s service. Then we will achieve auspiciousness. If we learn the mystery of engaging everything in the Lord’s service without looking at it with an enjoying spirit, we can enter the kingdom of God.

Only those who have descended from the spiritual world can speak about the spiritual world. No one from this world can speak about the spiritual world. When the living entities are fortunate enough to hear about the spiritual world from those who have come from the spiritual world, they gain the opportunity to know about Vaikuṇṭha. We cannot understand transcendental topics by mundane consideration. It is not proper to make a compromise between the transcendental and the phenomenal. If we are fortunate, we will meet a Vaikuṇṭha man. Therefore Śrī Caitanyadeva states in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, kṛṣṇa yadi kṛpā kare kona bhāgyavāne, guru-antaryāmi-rūpe śikhāya āpane: “Kṛṣṇa is situated in everyone’s heart as the caitya-guru, the spiritual master within. When He is kind to some fortunate conditioned soul, He personally gives him lessons so he can progress in devotional service, instructing the person as the Supersoul within and the spiritual master without.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 22.47)

Only when we hear hari-kathā from saintly persons and the mahājanas and then follow in their footsteps can we achieve auspiciousness. In order to make pots, we must first take lessons from a potter. Then we must start to work. Similarly, if we do not follow the most experienced persons but try to achieve something by our independent endeavor, we will face many obstacles on the path to success. We will also fail to understand the purport of scripture and become controlled by mental speculation.

It is our duty to take shelter of a spiritual master. There is no other way to realize the Absolute Truth than to follow the disciplic succession. Without smearing the dust from the lotus feet of the akiñcana mahājanas on our body, we cannot see or realize anything. Only the mahājanas can protect us from the spell of misconception. We can realize the Absolute Truth only when we take shelter of a spiritual master and serve Kṛṣṇa under his guidance.

As long as people accept the path of dry argument, they cannot find a bona fide spiritual master. The path of argument causes us to doubt the fact that there cannot be any truth superior to or separate from the spiritual master’s teachings. Those who follow the path of argument disregard the spiritual master. The spiritual master alone is capable of removing all doubts and misconceptions. Dry argument has no foundation or standing. The truth received through disciplic succession does not change. The spiritual master gives us that unchangeable truth. The conception maintained in the argument-prone hearts of those who are envious of the spiritual master is disrespectful toward the guru and scriptures.

How can we attain auspiciousness if we reject the well-wisher who has come to bestow auspiciousness? The spiritual master comes from Vaikuṇṭha. The Lord has sent him. How can we go back to Godhead if we renounce his shelter and association? The spiritual master’s mercy is the root of all auspiciousness. What have we actually done to receive his mercy? Rather, we should renounce our false ego and offer our respectful obeisances at his feet. To give up the false ego that “I am the seer,” “I am the enjoyer,” is called offering obeisances. That is why the word “namaḥ,” obeisance, is added to mantras.

Receiving the spiritual master’s mercy destroys the sinful mentality that “I am the doer.” Receiving the spiritual master’s mercy awakens the pride that “I am the Lord’s servant.” Material pride, false ego, and all sinful mentalities are removed simply by his influence.

I was not accustomed to worshiping my spiritual master every day, but by his mercy I came to know that my only duty was to serve his lotus feet. It is everyone’s duty to worship the self-realized spiritual master and follow in his footsteps. We should not follow the blind. The spiritual master is our only well-wisher; our only relative, and our only protector. Only by his mercy are we fortunate enough to know this.

After attaining the lotus feet of my spiritual master, I no longer maintained the mentality that without his service I have something else to do. When my spiritual master, who is the Lord’s dearmost servant, mercifully imparted knowledge of Nandanandana’s service to me to protect me from false ego, I realized that the living entities have no other duty than to gratify Kṛṣṇa’s senses. Nandanandana is the only worshipable Lord, the life and soul and ornament of all living entities. The spiritual master is extremely dear to that Nandanandana.

An unqualified person like me cannot serve such a spiritual master with body, mind, and speech, yet my spiritual master, who is an ocean of mercy and affection, empowers me out of his causeless mercy and treats me with an abundance of love. He is so merciful! If I can attain his mercy, if I can realize that I have no other well-wisher in this world, then simply by his causeless mercy I will be able to attain the qualification to engage in his service. He is pleased by affectionate service. On the day he bestows his causeless mercy on me and becomes pleased with me I will properly understand hari-kathā. Then nothing other than the service of guru and Kṛṣṇa will remain important to me.

We should always pray to the spiritual master to become qualified to accept his causeless mercy and empowerment. There is nothing with which to compare the spiritual master’s mercy. I am so unfortunate that I do not consider the spiritual master great. Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is controlled by his devotion, still, I am unable to show gratitude for his causeless mercy on me.

Sincere disciples should be completely devoted to their guru. They should know their spiritual master to be as good as God and the only object of their love and devotion. “The spiritual master is my eternal master and I am his eternal servant”: this is how a disciple thinks. Service to the spiritual master is a disciple’s life, ornament, and means of survival. Disciples do not know anything except their spiritual master. They always think of their spiritual master while eating, sleeping, dreaming, and serving. They are fully convinced that the spiritual master is the fully independent Personality of Godhead.

A sincere disciple has the following mentality: “Even if my spiritual master does not accept service from such an unqualified person as myself, I will always be prepared to render unalloyed service at his feet with body, mind, and words. If he kicks me, I will think it is because of my incompetence; his kick will come because of my faults. He is always right. May temporary sense desires not distract me from his service even for a moment. My only prayer is that my spiritual master mercifully accepts my service. I pray never to fall into bad association or to fall away from his lotus feet. My only solace is that my spiritual master is more merciful to unqualified persons like me. With a desire to achieve his causeless mercy, I will become greedier for his service.”

The spiritual master is known to ordinary people in one form and to his intimate devotees in another. The pure devotees recognize their spiritual master as the supreme well-wisher, as most dear to Kṛṣṇa, and as the object of their love and devotion, the object of their eternal service and their life and soul. The spiritual master is most dear to and nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa. It is not possible to achieve Kṛṣṇa’s service without serving the spiritual master. Only those who serve the spiritual master can be considered Vaiṣṇavas.

We cannot see the spiritual master’s lotus feet with sinful eyes. Considering the spiritual master an ordinary human being is a hellish mentality. The spiritual master is not an insignificant creature; he is not an ordinary human being. He is the Supreme Lord and is very dear to the Lord. He is a great personality, an exalted devotee, and an ācārya who can award Hari’s holy names to others.

Because we think the spiritual master, who is nondifferent from the Supreme Lord, is a mortal being, our current vision is full of faults. That is why we are unable to sincerely surrender to his lotus feet. We find ourselves in our present pathetic condition because we have transgressed the words of the Vedas, the Supreme Lord, and the Bhagavad-gītā and considered the spiritual master a mortal being, the Vaiṣṇavas as belonging to a particular caste, and the Supreme Lord as made of material elements—stone, wood, or clay.

We should give up topics about the material world and repose our full faith in the spiritual master’s words, because without the spiritual master’s mercy, our anarthas cannot be destroyed. We must accept our spiritual master as the only means by which we can go back to Godhead. He is our only eternal well-wisher. Faith means full confidence in the guru’s words. We do not rely on the words of so-called gurus, religious reformers, or pretenders.

All our inauspicious qualities will be vanquished simply by associating with sādhus. By such association we will attain pure devotional service. Therefore we should rely implicitly on Śrī Gurudeva in order to approach and serve the Absolute Person.

A sādhu is one who will relieve us from all puzzling doubts. A sādhu gives the highest good. We should make friends with such a guru who truly wishes our highest good. If perchance we meet such a true guru, we cannot help but be saved and reach our goal. Such a guru will always supply and enrich us with transcendental knowledge and service.

We accept both the universal spiritual master and the initiating spiritual master. By accepting only the jagad-guru, we may face many anarthas. If at present we want to follow Christ’s orders by accepting him as jagad-guru, and we think that we do not require an initiating spiritual master, we will certainly face the doubt about how well we can follow Christ’s orders. The Supreme Lord or universal jagad-guru delivers His instructions about the Absolute Truth only through the disciplic succession. As I sit on the bank of the Ganges in Navadvīpa, far from the Himālayas where the Ganges originates, and am able to touch her water here, the initiating spiritual master similarly brings the Ganges of pure devotional service, which emanates from the Lord’s lotus feet, and places it in my hand and on my head. If the flow of the Ganges did not come to me, then because I am an ordinary, powerless, poor person, I would not have been able to climb the Himālayas to touch her water. Or if the flow of the Ganges from the Himālayas was interrupted on the way, I would have had to face the danger of accepting a polluted flow instead of the pure Gaṅgā. If the instructions Jesus Christ gave two thousand years ago do not come to us through disciplic succession, or if we have to sort them out from books, then perhaps we may create a blunder and accept a perversion of the truth taught in the name of Christianity. We may even come to accept something opposite from what he taught, thinking it his actual philosophy.

The initiating spiritual master is also jagad-guru because he is a manifestation of the original jagad-guru. Out of his causeless mercy he delivers the message of the original jagad-guru through the disciplic succession. He does not cheat nor flatter the disciple, nor does he yearn for any material gain from me. He is simply a messenger of the Absolute Truth.

Those who join the Maṭha with a return ticket do not completely want the Supreme Lord. Does a person who actually wants to attain the Supreme Lord wish to return from there? If we awaken our propensity to serve the Supreme Lord, do we want to give up our direct service to the Lord so we can again become busy serving Maya? Those who have attained spiritual knowledge do not and cannot approach their worshipable Lord with a return ticket. Only those who are puffed up with false ego, who wish to become masters, who have dependents to look after, who adore someone other than God, and who instead of accepting themselves as the spiritual master’s servants proudly proclaim themselves husbands, fathers, learners, foolish, poor or rich. These persons suffer anxiety and distress because they are intoxicated with the pride of accepting themselves as servants of their wives, sons, and daughters. That is why the scriptures advise us to approach a spiritual master. In approaching, there is no question of return. The Vedas state, tad vijñānartham sa guruṁ eva abhigacchet—if we want transcendental knowledge, we must approach a bona fide spiritual master. Abhigacchet means “to take shelter.”

“I am an expert”: this is not a transcendentalist’s mentality. If we realize that there are no persons as fallen, wretched, and unqualified as ourselves in the entire world, then we are eligible to receive the mercy of Nityānanda Prabhu, the original guru.

If we live with the spiritual master out of pretense, we may find ourselves in trouble. Similarly, if we live away from the spiritual master, we may also be in trouble. But if we maintain staunch faith and love for our spiritual master and the Vaiṣṇavas, we will certainly be benefited regardless of whether we stay with them or live far away from them.

One day a gentleman’s son suddenly came to see me. He had passed his entrance examination. He was so detached that he wore a piece of old cloth that only came to above his knee. He came like this every day for a few days. At the time I was residing in Śrī Māyāpur and arranging for property. On seeing my activities he lost faith in me and went elsewhere. He then fell into bad association and became degraded. Therefore if we want to measure devotees simply by their external appearance and not by understanding their actual intentions, we will certainly bring ruination on ourselves.

By taking shelter of the spiritual master’s lotus feet, we can attain everything including Kṛṣṇa’s holy name and the mantras in relation to Kṛṣṇa. But unless we have a strong service attitude toward our spiritual master’s lotus feet, we cannot realize these transcendental topics. Unless we take shelter of our spiritual master with firm faith and devotion and proceed on the devotional path under his order, we cannot attain real auspiciousness. The materialists are naturally fond of dry arguments. No one can understand devotional service by following the path of dry argumentation. Unless we take shelter of a Vaiṣṇava spiritual master and execute devotional service under his guidance, we cannot properly utilize our own good intelligence. Therefore the śāstra states, guru-pādāśrayas tasmāt, kṛṣṇa-dīkṣādi-śikṣaṇam/ viśrambheṇa guroḥ sevā, sādhu-vartmānuvartanam: “First one should take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, then he should take initiation and transcendental knowledge from him, he should serve his spiritual master with faith and devotion, and follow in the footsteps of a saintly person.” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.74)

It is not that Śrī Rādhārāṇī is not present. Even now we can attain Her lotus feet and service. If we can see the beauty of Śrī Rādhārāṇīs toenails at our spiritual master’s lotus feet, we will no longer think about where we will find Śrī Rādhārāṇī. If we are fortunate enough, we can attain service to and darśana of Śrī Rādhārāṇīs lotus feet in the darśana of our spiritual master’s lotus feet, because he is nondifferent from Śrī Rādhā and very dear to Her.

In mādhurya-rasa, the spiritual master is an intimate gopī friend of Śrī Rādhārāṇī. He is nondifferent from the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu. Only the sincere disciples of a spiritual master in mādhurya-rasa can attain the darśana of the beauty of Śrī Rādhās toenails in the form of their spiritual master. Only the intimate disciples of a spiritual master can realize that their spiritual master is a manifestation of Śrī Rādhā, or that he is nondifferent from the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu.

I am more insignificant than the most insignificant, and the spiritual master, who is always engaged in serving the Almighty is greater than the greatest.

The word pranipāt means to surrender, to hear something with full attention. Without pranipāt the hearing process is incomplete. Without pranipāt there is no way to understand the transcendental Absolute Truth and topics about the spiritual master, Vaiṣṇavas, and the śāstras.

The word paripraśna means “honest inquiry,” or to humbly inquire from the spiritual master. We should be prepared to hear the reply to our inquiry. Inquiring with a doubtful mind is not honest inquiry. To make a show of inquiring while under the control of false ego is also not honest inquiry. Unless we are fully surrendered, we cannot make honest inquiry. But unless a subject matter is clarified through honest inquiry we cannot begin our service.

Give up envy and become compassionate toward all living entities. Convert the godless living entities into devotees of Kṛṣṇa. Do not become a guru and become envious. Do not become a guru so you can drown in the ocean of material enjoyment. Do not become a guru for the sake of formality. But if you can become a sincere servant of your spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa and attain their mercy, then there is nothing to fear. Otherwise, your degradation is guaranteed.

Serve your spiritual master with love and devotion just as you do Kṛṣṇa. Consider the spiritual master as good as the Supreme Lord. Do not think him inferior to the Lord in any way. It is a disciple’s duty to treat, worship, and serve the spiritual master as if he were God. If a disciple does not do so, he will fall down from his position as a disciple. Only those who consider the spiritual master nondifferent from the Supreme Lord can understand the confidential purport of the scriptures, chant Hari’s holy name, and preach hari-kathā. To teach about His own service Lord Kṛṣṇa appears in the form of the spiritual master. If we are fortunate enough, we can understand this flawless scriptural verdict. Otherwise, we will remain doubtful and continue to drown in the ocean of material existence.

The spiritual master is neither the predominating absolute nor the original predominated absolute. He is a manifestation of the original predominated absolute. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the worshipable God and the spiritual master is the worshiper God. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the predominating absolute and the spiritual master is the predominated absolute. Because the spiritual master, who is the worshiper God, is the personification of service to Kṛṣṇa Himself, he is most dear to Kṛṣṇa. This is the special characteristic of the science relating to the spiritual master. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the energetic and the spiritual master is His complete energy. The spiritual master is not an ordinary human being. He is the master of the living beings. The spiritual master is the supreme consciousness and a manifestation of the Lord’s spiritual energy. But the living entities as minute spiritual sparks belong to the Lord’s marginal energy and are part and parcel of the Lord.

Śrī Rādhārāṇī is the original predominated absolute. Śrī Rādhā, the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu, is the crest jewel of all ācāryas of mādhurya-rasa and of all lovers of Kṛṣṇa. Our spiritual master, who is an ācārya in the line of mādhurya-rasa, is Śrī Rādhās dear companion. He is an eternally perfected Vraja-gopī. By discussing the writings of Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, which state that guru rupā sakhī bāme, “on the left the sakhī in the form of the spiritual master is situated,” it is clearly understood that the spiritual master or sakhī is the manifestation of the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu and is nondifferent from Her.

A real disciple accepts his spiritual master as servitor God, most dear to Kṛṣṇa. He never considers his spiritual master inferior to the Lord in any way. A sincere disciple serves and worships his spiritual master as if he were God. Those who do not follow this principle fall down from their position as disciples. Until we see the spiritual master as a manifestation of and nondifferent from the Supreme Lord, we will not be able to chant the Lord’s name purely. A genuine disciple must possess firm determination and faith in his spiritual master, thinking, “I will serve my spiritual master and Lord Gaurāṅga with utmost simplicity. I will follow my spiritual master’s instructions, which have come down from the Supreme Lord. I will never disobey my spiritual master’s orders under the influence of anyone in this world. If following my spiritual master means I must become proud or an animal or go to hell forever, I will never hesitate. I will not follow anyone other than my spiritual master. I will destroy the current of mundane thought by the strength of his instructions. If my spiritual master showers even a particle of pollen from his lotus feet upon the world, then millions of people will be delivered. There is no knowledge or proper code of conduct in the fourteen worlds that weighs more than a particle of dust from the lotus feet of my spiritual master.”

There is no scarcity of instructors in this world. People in this world advise us to pay special attention to our immediate needs, but this creates more bad than good because our needs go on increasing. While trying to fulfill our temporary needs we drown in the ocean of unlimited needs and difficulties. It is neither beneficial for us to live in this world with attachment nor to display detachment. We should become free from the cheaters who, in the guise of saints, induce ordinary people to aim for religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, and liberation and who are busy trying to make ordinary people as apparently religious as themselves. Instead, we should become intelligent enough to concentrate our mind on topics about Śrī Caitanyadeva.

Bṛhaspati is the spiritual master of the demigods. He instructs the demigods in such a way that they can enjoy a better standard of life. Both Bṛhaspati’s sharp intelligence and his instructions on religious principles are meant simply to increase his disciples’ enjoying propensity. There are many good instructors in human society too— family priests, community leaders, country leaders, and relatives— whose instructions are similarly meant. There are also family spiritual masters such as Vasiṣṭha who instruct their disciples to renounce sense gratification. But a Vaiṣṇava spiritual master instructs people only to worship Hari. He makes neither material enjoyment nor dry renunciation the goal of his instructions. Instead, he instructs others for their eternal benefit.

I have not made any disciples. Everyone is my spiritual master. I learn something from everyone. My only prayer is that they may mercifully award me the opportunity to follow their non-duplicitous ideal of worshiping the Lord. 

The spiritual master gives a surrendered soul the spiritual name. The spiritual master is nondifferent from the Supreme Lord and personifies devotional service. We should never disregard the spiritual master or consider him an ordinary human being. If we disregard the spiritual master, we commit a grave offense. Similarly, there is no difference between the transcendental sound vibration and the transcendental Lord. Kṛṣṇa’s holy name and Kṛṣṇa Himself are nondifferent. The holy name is not a product of the material world. The holy name is not an object of our vision; rather, He is the seer.

Only a bona fide spiritual master who is dear to Kṛṣṇa can bestow Kṛṣṇa on others. Kṛṣṇa-kathā should be heard only from the Vaiṣṇava spiritual master. No one but devotees can speak about the Lord. If we approach karmīs, jñānīs, yogīs, or worldly teachers to hear something, they will only discuss Maya. They accept neither the Lord’s eternal existence nor the fact that the Lord is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss. Such people consider both the Lord’s incarnations and the spiritual master to be mortal beings.

A spiritual master awards his surrendered disciples Kṛṣṇa’s holy name and the mantras in relation to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa-mantras are topmost. There is no mantra as powerful as a kṛṣṇa-mantra. If we learn to chant these kṛṣṇa-mantras perfectly, all our mental speculation will be destroyed. As long as we consider our spiritual master an ordinary being, we will not be able to understand the holy name’s glories. We will not become spiritually successful if we consider Śrī Caitanyadeva an ordinary human being. Simply by the spiritual master’s mercy can we understand the glories of Śrī Gaurasundara and Vraja-dhāma.

The spiritual master has an eternal kuñja on the shore of Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa. There he has bound Kṛṣṇa by the power of his service. Simply by his mercy we can attain the shelter of Govardhana Hill. Govardhana Hill is another form of Kṛṣṇa. If we are filled with mental speculation we will see Govardhana only as a stone mountain. But the place where Vṛṣabhānu’s daughter enjoys Her pastimes is not an ordinary place made of clay in this world. It is transcendental and decorated with spiritual gems. It is by our spiritual master’s mercy that we can aspire to attain the intimate service of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava.

All our inauspiciousness is destroyed and our auspiciousness created simply by the spiritual master’s mercy. It is impossible to know Kṛṣṇa either by sinful endeavor or worldly morality. We can understand Him only through pure devotional service. It is possible to learn to practice this pure devotion only by the spiritual master’s mercy.

Kṛṣṇa-kathā is certainly an invaluable asset. Actually, it is the only asset as we attempt to progress on the path leading to Goloka. Kṛṣṇa-kathā is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa Himself. Any topic not related to Kṛṣṇa is actually useless. Therefore, kṛṣṇa-kathā should be preached extensively in this world. We can hear topics about Kṛṣṇa or Vaikuṇṭha from the lotus mouth of the spiritual master who is a resident of Vraja. At present, we spend our time thinking about our body, which is a bag of bones and flesh, and have given up topics about Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, we identify with material objects and do not attain self-realization.

Among Vaiṣṇavas, the spiritual master is topmost. It is essential to listen eternally to the instructions of the spiritual master, who is dear to Kṛṣṇa. If we do not discuss or hear our spiritual master’s instructions every day but engage in other activities, we will simply invite distress. We should not imitate the spiritual master or the Vaiṣṇavas. Such imitation constitutes bad association. Rather, we should follow in their footsteps. We should associate with those devotees in whose hearts the Lord resides. Devotees and nondevotees, liberated souls and conditioned souls, perfect souls and imperfect souls—these are not one and the same. Raw rice is not fit for our eating; it becomes fit only after it is cooked. Similarly, we should associate with perfected devotees. That is both most desirable and auspicious.

Since the spiritual master is conversant with the science of Kṛṣṇa and is the personification of the highest service to the Lord, his disciple considers him just like Kṛṣṇa Caitanya or Hari Himself. Therefore the disciple addresses him as Viṣṇupāda or Prabhupāda.

Unless I realize that all the people in the world are worshipable, I cannot offer my respectful obeisances to my spiritual master. My spiritual master is the spiritual master of the entire world. People who are envious of my spiritual master are also envious of the Supreme Lord and of every other human being. Until I feel this conviction in my heart, I cannot become a real servant of my spiritual master and cannot surrender at his lotus feet. Neither will I be able to understand that I am the most insignificant created being. Therefore I will not be able to chant the holy name of Hari thinking of myself as lower than a straw in the street and more tolerant than a tree. I will not be devoid of the desire for respect or prepared to offer respect to others. If I respect my spiritual master properly, I will be able to respect the whole world. This will make it possible for me to become free of the desire to receive respect for myself and thus able to glorify Lord Hari constantly.

The spiritual master is the one who can protect me from death in the form of material existence. The bona fide spiritual master is the one who can deliver me from the fear or anxiety generated by death. When I approach my spiritual master, I do not need to hear from anyone else. He is the source of all my auspiciousness and the hands into which the all-auspicious Supreme Lord has entrusted my well-being.

By the spiritual master’s grace, my mentality of false proprietorship is destroyed. The spiritual master is Kṛṣṇa’s potency. He plants Vedic knowledge in our hearts, makes us feel lower than the straw in the street, makes us more tolerant than a tree, removes our desire to be respected, teaches us to offer others our respect, and empowers us to always glorify the Supreme Lord and everything in relation to Him. The spiritual master alone is capable of delivering us from the clutches of Maya.

The spiritual master is he who awards me the knowledge that everyone in this world is worshipable. He teaches me that everyone is my spiritual master and that I am Kṛṣṇa’s eternal servant. He also teaches me that service to Kṛṣṇa is my constitutional duty.

As a good doctor does not prescribe cures according to the patient’s desire, a bona fide spiritual master does not falsely encourage or flatter conditioned souls. I have no qualification to approve the actions of those who display or will display devotion to their fathers and mothers in order to achieve worldly happiness and peace. Our hearts are not righteous like theirs. We follow Vedic injunctions. Our aim and ideal is simply to practice devotional service. Therefore we are unable to pay attention to anything else. Neither can we take anyone else’s advice while becoming indifferent to the service of guru and the Vaiṣṇavas. We have no time to serve others while indulging in mental speculation, renouncing the Lord’s service, which is our constitutional duty.

The spiritual master is not the supreme enjoyer like Kṛṣṇa. In other words, he is not Gopīnātha, the beloved lord of the gopīs. The spiritual master is the servitor God. In that sense, he is as good as God, most dear to God, and the Lord’s topmost devotee. The spiritual master is the predominated God; he is not the predominating God like Kṛṣṇa or the original predominated God, like Śrī Rādhā.

The spiritual master is nondifferent from Gaurāṅga. That is, he is simultaneously one and different from Śrī Gaurāṅga. He is the manifestation of Śrī Gaurāṅga. He is the predominated Absolute Truth. If we attempt to merge him with the existence of the predominating Absolute Truth and thereby destroy the identity of the predominating Absolute Truth, we will be guilty of the offense of impersonalism. Such thinking is purely impersonalism, atheism. Śāstra states, yadyapīāmāra guru—caitanyera dāsa, tathāpi jāniye āmi tāṅhāra prakāśa. “Although I know that my spiritual master is a servitor of Śrī Caitanya, I know him also as a plenary manifestation of the Lord.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 1.44)

tāte kṛṣṇa bhaje, kare gurura sevana, maya-jāla chuṭe, pāya kṛṣṇera caraṇa: “If the conditioned soul engages in the Lord’s service and simultaneously carries out his spiritual master’s orders, serving him, he can become free of Maya’s clutches and become eligible for shelter at Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 22.25)

Under the shelter, guidance, and order of the spiritual master who is dear to Kṛṣṇa, we should worship Kṛṣṇa. This is the śāstric verdict.

Only that great personality who has been sent by the Lord from the spiritual world into this world to deliver fallen souls like us, who delivers people who are afflicted with the threefold miseries and sends them back to Godhead, who is most dear to the Supreme Lord and who represents Him, and who is the messenger of transcendental subject matter, is capable of acting as our spiritual master. He is an actual devotee and an actual spiritual master whose ax-like words remain always sharpened to sacrifice our propensities for material enjoyment and dry renunciation.

A spiritual master is that person who has no concept, duty, or business other than Kṛṣṇa’s service, and who understand that Kṛṣṇa is the only object of service. He is not eager to hear anyone’s flattery and he is a brave preacher of the Absolute Truth.

One who does not speak anything other than hari-kathā, who does not instruct others to do anything but serve Hari, and who does not himself engage even for a moment in any activity other than such service, is qualified to be a spiritual master. An insincere hypocrite cannot be guru. One who aspires for mundane activities cannot become a spiritual master. Pseudo spiritual masters should be exposed. If a spiritual master utilizes the ingredients collected by his disciples— the wealth, alms, etc.—for his own enjoyment or simply to accumulate gold, women, and fame, his disciples should totally reject such a spiritual master, knowing him to be a cheater. We should not hear anything from such dishonest persons. A person who usurps the ingredients meant for Kṛṣṇa’s service can never be called a spiritual master. The Nāradiya Purāna states, īhā yasya harer dāsye, karmaṇā manasā girā/ nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu, jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate: “A person acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness with his body, mind, intelligence, and words, is a liberated person even within the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities.” (quoted in Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.187)

We need not associate with the atheists who have come to engage in social service rather than Kṛṣṇa’s service. Such people can benefit neither themselves nor others. While performing social service, they fall into Maya’s pit and make others fall into that pit also. We do not associate with those who make a show of chanting the holy names on beads just to cheat the Lord, or who raise a great hue and cry yet do not see Kṛṣṇa in every sound vibration and Gaurasundara in every utterance. The goal of all knowledge is to develop our relationship with Kṛṣṇa. If we develop a propensity to serve the Lord under the spiritual master’s order, in the association of devotees, we will learn to see the entire world as made for the Lord’s service. We will then utilize everything we see for that service and thus attain auspiciousness.

If we associate and serve that great personality who sees the Lord everywhere, who sees everything in relation to the Lord, who sees his spiritual master everywhere, who thinks himself humbler than a blade of grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, who does not desire respect for himself, who is always ready to respect others, and who in this way constantly chants the Lord’s holy name, then the path to perfection will open. Simply out of good fortune, we obtain such a bona fide spiritual master. We cannot reach Gaurasundara’s shelter by accepting a servant of Maya as our spiritual master and thus maintaining our enjoying spirit. Although Śrī Gaurasundara may not currently be present in this world, if we sincerely associate with guru and the Vaiṣṇavas, dovetailing our mentality with the mentality of such Vaiṣṇavas—if we mix our desire with their desire—then we will, by the mercy of Śrī Gaurasundara, certainly attain auspiciousness. If we can take complete shelter at the lotus feet of a spiritual master who is conversant with the science of Kṛṣṇa, then by his proper association, service, and subordination we will attain ultimate benefit.

The first step in attaining perfection is to take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master. By the Lord’s will, everyone receives a spiritual master according to his own qualification, just as the Christians received Jesus Christ and the Muslims Prophet Mohammad. Moreover, according to their luck, materialists remain attached to material life by accepting family priests as their spiritual masters. But if we are fortunate and search sincerely for a bona fide spiritual master, and if we humbly pray to the Lord to attain the mercy of such a guru, then by the Lord’s mercy we will certainly receive a bona fide guru in this lifetime. Then by taking shelter at his lotus feet our life will become successful. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta states:

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva,
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

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. (Madhya 19.151)

kṛṣṇa yadi kṛpā kare kona bhāgyavāne,
guru-antaryāmi-rūpe śikhāya āpane

Kṛṣṇa is situated in everyone’s heart as the caitya-guru, the spiritual master within. When He is kind to some fortunate conditioned soul, He personally gives him lessons so he can progress in devotional service, instructing the person as the Supersoul within and the spiritual master without. (Madhya 22.47)

guru kṛṣṇa-rūpa hana śāstrera pramāṇe,
guru-rūpe kṛṣṇa kṛpā karena bhakta-gaṇe

According to the deliberate opinion of all revealed scriptures, the spiritual master is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa in the form of the spiritual master delivers His devotees. (Adī 1.45)

yadyapi āmāra guru—caitanyera dāsa,
tathāpi jāniye āmi tāṅhāra prakāśa

Although I know that my spiritual master is a servitor of Śrī Caitanya, I know him also as a plenary manifestation of the Lord. (Ādi 1.44)

śikṣā-guruke ta’ jāni kṛṣṇera svarūpa,
antaryāmī, bhakta-śreṣṭha,—ei dui rūpa

One should know the instructing spiritual master to be the Personality of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa manifests Himself as the Supersoul and as the greatest devotee of the Lord. (Ādi 1.47)

jīve sākṣāt nāhi tāte guru caitya-rūpe,
śikṣā-guru haya kṛṣṇa-mahānta-svarūpe

One should know the instructing spiritual master to be the Personality of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa manifests Himself as the Supersoul and as the greatest devotee of the Lord. Since one cannot visually experience the presence of the Supersoul, He appears before us as a liberated devotee. Such a spiritual master is none other than Kṛṣṇa Himself. (Ādi 1.58)

“O Kṛṣṇacandra! Please accept me as your servant. I will not continue to serve this temporary material world while thinking of myself as an enjoyer.” When a living entity sincerely and humbly prays to the Lord in this way, then the most merciful Kṛṣṇa appears before him in the form of a liberated devotee. Unless we are fortunate enough to receive transcendental knowledge from a bona fide spiritual master, we cannot become qualified to engage in the Lord’s service. Since no human being or demigod is capable of awarding such transcendental knowledge, we must find shelter under a bona fide spiritual master.

The guru and Vaiṣṇavas are the transcendental home of the Supreme Lord. The Lord does not manifest just anywhere. He appears and remains in the hearts of guru and the Vaiṣṇavas. Many people want to see the Lord, but they do not know that the Lord’s darśana can be had only through the spiritual master’s darśana. It is not possible to begin devotional service without a spiritual master. The spiritual master is the via media between us and Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. This is Kṛṣṇa’s mercy: He sends His topmost servant or Vaiṣṇava into this world to deliver everyone. Thus the spiritual master is the personification of that causeless mercy.

The spiritual master is our ever well-wisher. Therefore it is not enough simply to serve him with awe and reverence from a distance. Instead, we must serve him with firm conviction and love. Then only will we attain perfection. The spiritual master is more important to us than Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Gaurāṅgadeva is the spiritual master of all gurus. He revealed to us that even though the spiritual master is nondifferent from the Supreme Lord, he is the Lord’s principal devotee. We cannot serve the Lord without our guru’s mercy, because our guru is the Lord’s topmost devotee. The living entities have no way to achieve auspiciousness other than to serve the spiritual master.

Lord Kṛṣṇa bestows mercy upon us and gives all living entities shelter in the form of the spiritual master. Caitanya-caritāmṛta states, kṛṣṇa yadi kṛpā kare kona bhāgyavāne, guru-antaryāmi-rūpe śikhāya āpane “Kṛṣṇa is situated in everyone’s heart as the caitya-guru, the spiritual master within. When He is kind to some fortunate conditioned soul, He personally gives him lessons so he can progress in devotional service, instructing the person as the Supersoul within and the spiritual master without.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 1.45)

guru kṛṣṇa-rūpa hana śāstrera pramāṇe, guru-rūpe kṛṣṇa kṛpā karena bhakta-gaṇe: “According to the deliberate opinion of all revealed scriptures, the spiritual master is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa in the form of the spiritual master delivers His devotees.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 22.47)

The spiritual master’s mercy and the mercy of Kṛṣṇa are not two separate things. The spiritual master does not teach anything other than to worship Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa also does not accept any service that has not been rendered by His devotee.

The spiritual master offers everyone’s service to Kṛṣṇa. The eternally worshipable spiritual master is not an ordinary, mundane human being. In order to deliver the fallen souls he appears in this world by Kṛṣṇa’s will and awards the fallen souls the seed of devotional service, the opportunity to serve the Lord. Kṛṣṇa’s mercy comes to us through the spiritual master. Caitanya-caritāmṛta states, brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva, guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja: “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.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 19.151)

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has hands and He is scratching His body with His hands. There is no difference between His body and His hands. He is serving Himself. In the same way, in order to teach devotional service, the Lord personally appears in the form of a spiritual master. My spiritual master is nondifferent from the Lord. The Lord is the predominating object, and the spiritual master is the predominated object. The Lord is the worshipable God, and the spiritual master is the worshiper God. Lord Mukunda is the object of service, and the spiritual master, who is most dear to Mukunda, is the topmost servant. There is no one as dear to the Lord as my spiritual master. He is certainly most dear to Kṛṣṇa. Like two halves of a chickpea, worshipable Kṛṣṇa is one half and worshiper Kṛṣṇa is the other. The pastimes between them make them complete. The complete existence of the worshipable Lord is Kṛṣṇa, and the complete existence of the worshiper Lord is my spiritual master.

Lord Kṛṣṇa is the predominating Supreme Brahman and the spiritual master is the predominated supreme Brahman. We are smaller than the smallest and the spiritual master, who constantly serves the greatest, is greater than the greatest. The spiritual master is extremely dear to Lord Mukunda. The spiritual master’s lotus feet are the best form of shelter. We will attain success if we accept the spiritual master, who is dear to Kṛṣṇa, as servitor God.

Only a devotee of Kṛṣṇa who knows the science of Kṛṣṇa can act as guru. Since karmīs, jñānīs, and impersonalists are nondevotees, they can never become gurus. Only one who worships the Personality of Godhead is able to become a spiritual master. Those who think proudly that they are Kṛṣṇa’s servants cannot become spiritual masters unless they proudly identify themselves as disciples of a disciple. As long as we are proud to be Vaiṣṇavas, we cannot become guru. A person who acts as guru never claims to be a Vaiṣṇava or spiritual master. My spiritual master never considered himself a Vaiṣṇava. One who calls himself a Vaiṣṇava is branded a non-Vaiṣṇava.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung:

āmi ta’ vaiṣṇava, e-buddhi ha-ile, amānī nā haba āmi
pratiṣṭhāśāāsi’, hṛdaya dūṣibe, ha-iba niraya-gāmī
tumāra kinkara āpane jāniba, guru abhimāna tyaji
tumāra uchhistha pada jala renu, sadā niṣkapate bhaji
nije śreṣṭha jāni’, ucchiṣṭādi-dāne, habe abhimāna bhāra
tāi śiṣya tava, thākiyā sarvadā, nā la-iba pūjā kāra

If I think I am a Vaiṣṇava, I shall look forward to receiving others’ respect. If the desire for fame and reputation pollutes my heart, I will certainly go to hell. I will give up the pride of being a guru and consider myself your eternal servant. I will sincerely accept your remnants and the water that has washed your lotus feet. By giving others the remnants of my food, I will think myself superior and be burdened by the weight of false pride. Therefore, always remaining your surrendered disciple, I will not accept worship from anyone else. (Kalyāṇa Kalpataru)

Only a pure devotee can be a spiritual master. A great personality sees the spiritual master everywhere. Such a person is himself qualified to become a spiritual master because he can induce everyone to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Unless we are devotees ourselves, we cannot make others devotees. Therefore, to become guru, we must become devotees of Kṛṣṇa. We must always engage in Kṛṣṇa’s service with all our senses. We are not qualified to act as spiritual master unless we are ourselves staunch disciples of our own spiritual master.

A pure devotee thinks himself to be humbler than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree. He never says he has served his spiritual master enough and therefore no longer needs to offer service to his guru. He never thinks it is time for him to become guru. Although he may indeed act as spiritual master, he never becomes proud of it.

If we do not take shelter of a devotee’s lotus feet, we cannot take shelter of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. Without the association and shelter of the Lord’s devotees, we can never obtain the Lord’s service. We are all fallen souls and are therefore unable to benefit ourselves. Since we are fallen, we cannot be delivered until we take shelter of the lotus feet of the deliverer of fallen souls. There is no other way to achieve auspiciousness than to associate with devotees.

In the beginning, we have to know about our relationship with the Supreme Lord. Initiation is another name for the kind of knowledge we gain when we come to understand our relationship with the Supreme Lord. Merely receiving instructions regarding how to chant mantras is not initiation. Initiation is that act by which we attain transcendental knowledge. The living entities cannot benefit themselves even after studying hundreds of pieces of literature or by making a show of whimsical worship. Mercifully, the spiritual master imparts transcendental knowledge unto his sincere disciples who are inclined to serve the Lord. Only a devotee who completely follows his spiritual master’s orders by renouncing his independence is eligible to receive the spiritual master’s mercy and become successful in attaining actual transcendental knowledge.

An actual spiritual master does not make disciples. Rather, he makes everyone his spiritual master. He makes godless people devotees of Kṛṣṇa. He pleases Kṛṣṇa by engaging everyone in the Lord’s service. His activities and behavior are consistent with devotion. He always sees everything in relation to Kṛṣṇa and in relation to his own spiritual master. He does not see anything with an enjoying spirit or from a mundane viewpoint. As medical professors do not make students but doctors, the spiritual master does not make disciples but spiritual masters.

If the Vaiṣṇava does not execute a spiritual master’s duty, then the Vaiṣṇava family, the disciplic succession, will be checked. If, however, a Vaiṣṇava acts as if he were a spiritual master, he will become a non-Vaiṣṇava. Therefore we should not try to act as if we were spiritual masters if we are not qualified to serve in that way. If we do, we will bring about our own ruination. A spiritual master does not proudly consider himself guru.

Kartā-bhajā is an unauthorized sampradāya or sect. The followers of this sect are not Vaiṣṇavas. They imagine that the spiritual master is Kṛṣṇa Himself—that is, that the guru is the supreme enjoyer. Therefore, they think there is no need to worship Kṛṣṇa. This is atheism. While it is true that the spiritual master is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa, it is not true that he is the supreme enjoyer. He is servitor god, a topmost devotee, the personification of devotional service. He is most dear to Kṛṣṇa. In order to teach us how to serve Him, Lord Kṛṣṇa appears in this world in the form of various spiritual masters. The spiritual master is not the energetic, but the Lord’s energy. He is expert in rendering the Lord service. He personifies devotion. Since he is servitor god, he has no tinge of material desire. This is why Vaiṣṇavas who are attached to his lotus feet can serve Kṛṣṇa under his guidance. They adopt the process of devotional service as their life and soul. They never consider their spiritual master Rāsabihāri, Gopīnātha, or Rādhānātha.

If I am fortunate enough, I will take shelter of a spiritual master who always worships Hari. I should surrender to a spiritual master who is cent percent engaged in the Lord’s service. Otherwise, unable to follow his ideal example, I will not be able to engage myself cent percent in the Lord’s service. A person devoid of proper etiquette, a platform speaker, or a professional priest cannot become guru. If we receive such a spiritual master, unfortunately, we cannot learn to worship Hari. A spiritual master must be free from material desire, self-controlled, well conversant with scripture, and self-realized. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.3.21) states, tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta, jijñāsuḥśreya uttamam/ śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ, brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam: “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.”

If we proudly think we are great, we cannot become humble. Even though we are servants, we would prefer to be masters. As a result, we would bring about our own ruination because we would come to see everything as fit for our enjoyment rather than for Kṛṣṇa’s enjoyment. If we can see everything in relation to guru and Kṛṣṇa, we will not see it as meant for our personal enjoyment. When we wear blue spectacles everything appears blue; by seeing everything in relation to guru and Kṛṣṇa, we come to see everything through divine vision. Everything will rightly appear worshipable. This universe is full of objects for the service of the master of this universe. Therefore, all objects are worshipable. If we are endowed with spiritual vision, we can easily see Kṛṣṇa.

Just as the mother who is meant to be enjoyed by the father and not by me, the father is meant to be served by me, similarly I am meant to serve and worship this material world, which is meant for the universal Father’s enjoyment. If we actually take shelter of a spiritual master and serve him sincerely with love, we will certainly attain Kṛṣṇa’s service along with transcendental knowledge about Him.

We have to act in a way that doesn’t bring us into the association of gross materialists and women. Then we will be able to treat objects meant for Kṛṣṇa’s enjoyment as worshipable. Our service propensity will be awakened when we stop considering ourselves enjoyers of women and matter. When we are free of this enjoying propensity, we will actually be able to realize Kṛṣṇa. Even after we accept initiation, if we continue to maintain an enjoying spirit, we are fallen. Therefore I advise those who want auspiciousness to catch hold of their bona fide spiritual master’s lotus feet and serve him as their life and soul. In this way, their perfection will be guaranteed. An obedient and faithful disciple never falls down. Devotees who are attached to the spiritual master’s lotus feet will certainly attain Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.

The spiritual master is nondifferent from Lord Nityānanda. By his mercy we receive Kṛṣṇa’s holy name, initiation into kṛṣṇa-mantras, and proper instruction by which we can attain eternal auspiciousness. Without the spiritual master’s mercy we cannot receive the mercy of Lord Gaurāṅga and Śrī Rādhā-Govinda. Our previous ācārya, Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, has explained this: the jīvas’ material existence is exhausted and the wealth of love of God is attained simply by their receiving the spiritual master’s mercy. The spiritual master, who is our devotional teacher, is an intimate devotee of Śrī Gaurāṅga. By serving such a guru with love, our perfection is guaranteed. Those whose hearts have become hard due to material attachment cannot chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, who killed the Agha demon, purely. If, however, we hear Hari’s holy name attentively from the mouth of the spiritual master, then the holy name will certainly intoxicate us. If the spiritual master bestows unconditional mercy upon us, seeing our sincere humility and eagerness, glorification of Hari will come from our mouth with intensity.

The faith, devotion, and tastes of godless people are always opposed to devotion. With such faith, devotion, and tastes, human beings will never be able to understand actual truth. When the Absolute Truth personally appears by His causeless mercy, He reveals Himself to the surrendered souls. In the form of the Supersoul, the Lord reveals to sincere souls to whom they should surrender. Actual truth comes down to us through the pure and perfect process of disciplic succession.

The localized Paramātmā, the individual Godhead situated within the heart of every living entity, who is described in the Vedas beginning with the verse dvā suparṇā, is the internal, pure, unalloyed “conscience spiritual master,” the caitya-guru.

The Supreme Lord is present in our heart as the internal spiritual master and outside our heart as a pure devotee. If we are sincere, the Lord will guide us to a pure devotee. We may approach Him and beg for such mercy, but He is the sole in-charge for granting our wish. We cannot question Him if He refuses to grant it. Kṛṣṇa is not the caretaker of our garden. Our duty is to wait patiently for His mercy. In the meantime, we should give up material desire and engage in His service. If we sincerely seek His mercy, He will certainly bestow it upon us. Simply by His mercy we will obtain a bona fide spiritual master. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta states, kṛṣṇa yadi kṛpā kare kona bhāgyavāne, guru-antaryāmi-rūpe śikhāya āpane: “Kṛṣṇa is situated in everyone’s heart as the caitya-guru, the spiritual master within. When He is kind to some fortunate conditioned soul, He personally gives him lessons so he can progress in devotional service, instructing the person as the Supersoul within and the spiritual master without.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 22.47)

The Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the cause of all causes. The Absolute Truth is self-manifest. He is not dead matter. He is fully cognizant. He manifests before us out of His own sweet will. It is impossible to know Him by mundane experience or the ascending path. The Absolute is not an object belonging to the third dimension. We can measure objects belonging to the third dimension. Anything that can be measured with our material senses belongs to the world of Maya.

As we have to open our eyes if we wish to see the sun, we have to wait until our internal spiritual consciousness is revived before we can realize the Absolute. As we cannot see the sun at night even if we illuminate the sky with thousands of electric lights—and as there is no need of artificial lighting once the sun rises in the morning—so the Absolute Truth cannot be illuminated by sensually acquired knowledge. As long as we are materially conditioned, we cannot understand the Absolute Truth’s identity. We must hear about Him from our spiritual master. Thus there is no way to know the Absolute Truth except to surrender at our spiritual master’s lotus feet.

The spiritual master we choose, or a person who, according to our consideration is qualified to be guru, may not be bona fide. Only a person sent to us personally by Kṛṣṇa will manifest before us as the spiritual master.

The Supreme Lord regulates the living entity’s good and bad propensities by residing in their hearts as the Supersoul. The Supersoul or internal spiritual master directs all living entities. The Supersoul also guides us to a spiritual master. Aside from this, the spiritual master’s servants act as instructing spiritual masters.

Persons who glorify the śāstras, who explain śāstra to others, and who act according to śāstric injunctions regulate the restless, anartha-filled minds of ignorant people. Such instructing spiritual masters help people before they receive initiation from a spiritual master.

Without the mercy of the internal spiritual master (caitya-guru), no one can become qualified to serve the lotus feet of the initiating and instructing spiritual masters. Until we accumulate piety in the form of Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, we cannot achieve the true mercy of the caitya-guru. As long as our hearts are filled with the desire for religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, and liberation, we cannot aspire for devotional service. If due to good fortune we desire to take shelter at the Lord’s lotus feet, then the internal spiritual master will mercifully guide us to initiating and instructing gurus.

The devotee spiritual master is attained by the caitya-guru’s mercy. The caitya-guru bestows mercy in two ways, and it is because of these two forms of mercy that some people become materialists and others become devotees. Materialists are people who have accepted sense gratification as their ultimate goal. Instead of searching for devotional service, which is the ultimate goal of life, such people seek temporary happiness. This is the caitya-guru’s tricky mercy. Only a cheater is fit to receive such tricky mercy. Pious, sincere devotees, however, become glorious by receiving the caitya-guru’s true mercy. If someone who despite becoming the Supreme Lord’s servant wants something other than his Lord’s service, what can he be but a cheater?

An instructing spiritual master teaches a surrendered disciple to accept an initiating spiritual master. Therefore even though there may be many instructing spiritual masters, there is no difference in opinion between such gurus and the initiating spiritual master, who awards the disciple transcendental knowledge. Rather, an instructing spiritual master is the real friend of the initiating spiritual master.

A living entity’s awareness of his constitutional position is revived when he receives transcendental knowledge. At that time those who give instructions regarding the process of Hari’s devotional service are called instructing spiritual masters. The initiating spiritual master is situated between the commander-in-chief and the ordinary soldiers who are in the form of instructing spiritual masters.

Only a person who is favored by the Lord in the form of the caitya-guru receives the good fortune to understand the devotee of the Lord as his bona fide spiritual master. Only by the Lord’s mercy can a living entity see the beauty of a bona fide spiritual master’s toenails and thus make his life successful.

If our minds remain unregulated after having received mantras, it means we have not actually received the mantras. Giving mantras is more than whispering something or blowing air into someone’s ears. Accepting mantra initiation means to accept transcendental knowledge. This transcendental knowledge smashes to pieces the pillars of the nescience we have accumulated since time immemorial, then builds pillars of eternal truth out of transcendental knowledge. When Lord Kṛṣṇa gave Brahmā transcendental knowledge, he said, “I am the Absolute Truth.” Only an empowered personality can reveal the Absolute Truth. This empowered personality is the spiritual master. Many insignificant agents or messengers come into this world, but the most powerful messengers are sent by God. Kṛṣṇa adapts them to the needs of the recipients and calls them spiritual masters. Such expert personalities reveal the Absolute Truth. Only such spiritual masters can destroy our mental speculation and bring about a radical change in our spiritual propensity.

The knowledge we receive from the spiritual master is not mundane but transcendental, spiritual. This transcendental knowledge is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss. Mantra is fully cognizant. Mantra can definitely regulate our mind. It can deliver the mind from both vice and virtue and award us the qualification to cultivate real spiritual life.

We must hear from a bona fide spiritual master. When we first hear from guru his words appear revolting to us. Some unfortunate people dare to think we can correct our spiritual master by our own experience. But the current of mundane thoughts cannot attack the spiritual master; he is situated millions of miles from such thoughts. He is known as guru because his position does not shift; he is the heaviest personality.

By taking shelter of a bona fide spiritual master a living entity can make the highest advancement on the path of worshiping Hari. By serving guru and Kṛṣṇa a living entity’s mundane conceptions are destroyed and he attains Goloka. As a result of sincere service a living entity can attain an equal position with liberated souls—even eternally liberated souls. The spiritual master, who is nondifferent from Lord Nityānanda, is not a lump of flesh and blood. By taking shelter at his lotus feet a living entity can attain freedom from the threefold material miseries.

To disobey the spiritual master’s order is the third offense in chanting the holy name. To disregard the spiritual master means to consider him an ordinary living being, a product of matter, and an insignificant person. To neglect his service is also an offense against the holy name. If we commit offenses against our spiritual master, the holy name will not appear in our heart. Without the spiritual master’s mercy human beings cannot become liberated from the influence of high birth, opulence, vast knowledge, and fame. Such persons will be unable to attain service at the Lord’s lotus feet.

The spiritual master is the direct manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the servitor God, yet he is nondifferent from the worshipable Lord. The spiritual master is simultaneously one and different from Nanda Mahārāja’s son. Just as we cannot see the sun with the help of either sunrays or an artificial light, we cannot see Kṛṣṇa on our own. But when by the strength of the spiritual master’s mercy the fire for material enjoyment is extinguished in our heart, we will be able to see Kṛṣṇa face to face.

However hard we may try to achieve knowledge about the transcendental Absolute Truth without the spiritual master’s mercy, we will find that we are laboring uselessly. It will be as if we were beating a husk after the grain had been removed. Our attainment of scriptural knowledge depends on the spiritual master’s mercy. To try to attain scriptural knowledge with the help of academic qualifications is as futile as pouring ghee onto ashes.

We should never be faithless when hearing the words of śāstra or guru. That is an offense. It is necessary to have complete faith in the words of the spiritual master and the scriptures if we are to understand the Absolute Truth. The fourth offense in chanting is to not have complete faith in the śāstric statements.

If the spiritual master and the saintly persons mercifully allow us to take dust from their lotus feet, we should respectfully accept it. However there is a possibility of inviting inauspiciousness if we forcibly or by request try to take dust from their lotus feet. One day, when a person named Vṛndāvaṇacandra Lashkar touched my spiritual master’s lotus feet, my spiritual master became upset and said, “How dare you touch my feet? You will go to hell.” When Lashkar told me about it I explained, “Even persons like Brahmā have difficulty achieving the spiritual master’s lotus feet. Attaining the spiritual master’s feet is rare. Therefore what right or qualification do we have to touch the guru’s feet? We cannot approach the spiritual master unless we are eligible. We cannot approach the spiritual master with our sinful mentalities and offensive hearts.”

One day, out of his causeless mercy, my spiritual master personally took the dust from his own lotus feet and smeared it on my head. Such was his mercy!

There are three types of spiritual masters, the initiating guru, the instructing guru, and the caitya-guru. The spiritual master is never ordinary. He is godly. It is an offense to separate the spiritual master from Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya by considering him an ordinary, insignificant human being. In the form of the spiritual master, Kṛṣṇa alone awakens the living entity’s spiritual consciousness and thereby helps him attain eternal benefit.

The initiating spiritual master awards transcendental knowledge, knowledge of the Absolute Truth. “Kṛṣṇa alone is my eternal master and I am His eternal servant”: this transcendental knowledge or sambandha-jñāna is imparted by the initiating spiritual master.

An instructing spiritual master first tells us how to remove anarthas, then teaches us the process of pure devotion. In most cases the initiating spiritual master acts as the instructing spiritual master. A conditioned soul cannot act as an initiating or instructing spiritual master. An initiating spiritual master gives both mantras and instructions on bhajana. An instructing spiritual master teaches the process of bhajana after our anarthas are destroyed.

Śrī Hari, who dwells in our hearts as the Supersoul, is the internal spiritual master, caitya-guru. Caitanya-caritāmṛta states, kṛṣṇa yadi kṛpā kare kona bhāgyavāne, guru-antaryāmi-rūpe śikhāya āpane: “Kṛṣṇa is situated in everyone’s heart as the caitya-guru, the spiritual master within. When He is kind to some fortunate conditioned soul, He personally gives him lessons so he can progress in devotional service, instructing the person as the Supersoul within and the spiritual master without.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 22.47)

The caitya-guru awards us the qualification to realize the instructions we have heard from the initiating and instructing gurus. He also imparts the strength to follow those orders. Without His mercy, no one can understand the intention of either the initiating or instructing spiritual master. Lord Śrī Gaurāṅgadeva alone awards transcendental knowledge and pure devotional service through the initiating spiritual master, protects that pure devotion by sending the instructing spiritual masters (who are nondifferent from Him), and as the internal spiritual master personally awards the strength to follow the gurus’ orders and teachings.

I am blinded by ignorance, so who will show me the right path? Who will impart to me real knowledge? Everything is attained simply by the spiritual master’s mercy. We are fallen conditioned souls and the spiritual master is our only shelter. A spiritual master is he who always serves the Supreme Lord. The spiritual master is the servitor God. Are we looking at him in that way? If not, how can we expect to benefit from his association?

By serving the spiritual master with great faith we will definitely attain auspiciousness. Human beings work hard in this world of distress simply so they can suffer more and more. This is māyās arrangement for the conditioned souls. Those who are busy trying to attain worldly happiness certainly invite inauspiciousness. Due to their aversion to the Lord’s service, human beings have developed such a mentality. They cannot understand that their distress is caused by their endeavor to achieve personal happiness. The entire fourteen worlds are a place of such inauspiciousness.

Unfortunately, we have currently developed the strong misconception that we are the doer. How can we free ourselves from such a misconception? We have to take shelter at the spiritual master’s lotus feet and engage in the Supreme Lord’s service. At present we are busy enjoying this world under the control of our senses. We have come to this world by opposing the Lord’s service. We think, “Let everyone gratify my senses. If anyone disturbs my sense gratification, he is bad.” The only way to become free of such a miserable condition is to take shelter at the spiritual master’s lotus feet.

We are smaller than the smallest and the spiritual master is greater than the greatest. The spiritual master serves the Great, and that Great is controlled by his love. Those who worship Kṛṣṇa in the mood of mādhurya-rasa accept the spiritual master as nondifferent from the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu. Those who are candidates for vātsalya-rasa accept him as a manifestation of Nanda and Yaśodā. Those who serve on the platform of sakhya-rasa know the spiritual master as one of Kṛṣṇa’s friends such as Sudāmā or Śrīdāmā as well as a manifestation of Lord Nityānanda, who is the Lord of Kṛṣṇa’s friends. Those who pursue dāsya-rasa consider the spiritual master a manifestation of Nanda Mahārāja’s servants such as Raktaka and Patraka.

The spiritual master is the predominated Supreme Lord. No one should misunderstand him to be the original predominating Supreme Lord or object of service. There is a difference between how we see the spiritual master when we have anarthas and how we see the spiritual master when we are free of anarthas.

We have to serve the Lord in the same way our spiritual master serves Him. If we serve the Lord whimsically and independently, we will not be successful. Material existence means the mundane concept of life. Our misconceptions can be removed by the spiritual master’s mercy, because the spiritual master sees everything with equal vision. The Lord’s devotees know that this world is meant to be used in the Lord’s service. When our hearts are free of material desire, we will see every impediment we experience as Kṛṣṇa’s mercy. Our ruination is inevitable if we think that the spiritual master is an imperfect, mortal being like ourselves, or that he is little better than we are. The spiritual master is our life and soul. Without his shelter, we will not be able to understand the spiritual conception of life and our journey will be limited to the platform of direct, indirect, and beyond the direct and indirect.

Maya refers to what we can see, smell, touch, and enjoy. We have to become servants of the transcendental Lord. We cannot achieve such service through a hired priest or the representative of a hired priest.

The spiritual master is as good as Lord Hari. This does not mean that he is the supreme enjoyer. Rather, he is servitor God. Kṛṣṇa remains the supreme object of service. The spiritual master is Kṛṣṇa, yet an individual, topmost devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the object of all spiritual pastimes, and the spiritual master is the best among the supporters of those pastimes. There is no better devotee of Kṛṣṇa in this world than the spiritual master. The spiritual master is one and not five or ten. He is an associate of Kṛṣṇa. If associates of the Lord are separated from the Lord, then the Lord’s supremacy is denied. This will result in revolution against the Lord. The spiritual master is not separate from the Lord.

Although the spiritual master and his worshipable Lord are one, they possess different characteristics. We should not attempt to eliminate the object of worship from its worshiper. The nondevotees conclude that the spiritual master’s position is temporary, that he is only a means to an end and not eternally worshipable. By treating the spiritual master with such an abominable, low-class mentality, however, we will certainly go to hell.

Only Kṛṣṇa can give Himself away; Kṛṣṇa gives Himself to the spiritual master, and the spiritual master can then give Kṛṣṇa away to others. The spiritual master alone can give away Kṛṣṇa. That spiritual master who gives Kṛṣṇa away to others resides eternally in Goloka Vṛndāvana. He was present before material time came into being and he will remain afterwards.

One who does not serve the spiritual master can never become a spiritual master himself, because the spiritual master teaches by his personal example how to serve guru and Kṛṣṇa. A spiritual master is that person who eternally serves Kṛṣṇa without fail. Every action the spiritual master performs is motivated by the desire to give Kṛṣṇa pleasure. It is not the spiritual master’s job to become God, because opposing God is an action of low-class, insignificant creatures.

The spiritual master can never be a nondevotee. He is self-realized and expert in allotting service to his disciples according to their particular qualifications. We will certainly achieve perfection if we receive such a great personality as our spiritual master. A spiritual master who encourages our sense gratification is not a spiritual master but a flatterer. A spiritual master who does not want to see his disciple progress approves everything his disciple does. A genuine spiritual master does not do so, because he is not a flatterer.

A spiritual master is not the disciple of his disciples, nor is he their order supplier. He does not flatter others, but carries Kṛṣṇa’s order to them. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and there is no abomination in His existence. The spiritual master is an eternally liberated devotee of the Lord; he is devoid of anarthas. The spiritual master imparts knowledge regarding the Lord’s energies, glories, and identity. The spiritual master appears in this world to benefit us.

Our spiritual masters are eternally perfected beings. They have not attained perfection by the strength of their sādhana but were already perfect. If we do not serve such a spiritual master, we will become proud, remain far away from the humble vision of being lower than a blade of grass, and will not become established as Kṛṣṇa’s servants.

Despite receiving shelter at the feet of a bona fide spiritual master, we have not been able to take advantage of it because we do not pay guru-dakṣinā. To not pay guru-daksiṇā after having accepted the spiritual master’s shelter is cheating. Do we feel that we belong to our spiritual master? If not, how will we serve? By serving the spiritual master with love and devotion as surrendered souls, all our anarthas and prejudices will be destroyed. Only through serving the guru can we achieve auspiciousness. To become indifferent to the spiritual master’s service is the path of degradation.

Although the spiritual master is eternally worshipable, he is the embodiment of the Lord’s service. He is the personification of devotional service to the Lord. The spiritual master is full of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He is always absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa’s service. The spiritual master’s name, form, qualities, and pastimes are all fully engaged in the Lord’s service. Service to the Supreme Lord is his existence, his identity, his quality, and his pastime. He is expert in loving the Lord and an experienced teacher of loving devotional service. The spiritual master is the captain to help us cross the ocean of material existence. He gives us both the holy name and love of God. He is the perfect guide, an ācārya for teaching us how to chant the holy name and to give us knowledge of our relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

By not following the orders of the all-auspicious spiritual master the living entities invite suffering. Such disobedience or neglect increases their material desires and they go to hell after death. Anyone who does not obey his spiritual master’s orders is certainly a materialist and offender. Those who transgress the spiritual master’s orders take birth as pigs. Those who are too attached to material enjoyment cannot attain benefit because they do not serve the spiritual master with heart and soul, even though, due to good fortune, they have received a bona fide guru. Since they do not understand the value of such an invaluable gift they consider the temporary material world eternal and suffer birth after birth.