Nimai Pandit Das: My
desire is to come to understand fully, if it is the Truth (I am keeping
the possibility open that it may not be), and to explore the
possibility that the process of Diksha is explained so comprehensively,
THAT THERE CAN BE NO QUESTION TO ACCEPT THAT ONLY SRILA PRABHUPADA IS
THAT DIKSHA GURU, OF ALL OURS. AND THAT AS A SIDE ISSUE JULY 9TH LETTER
is of course, so natural. I think to try to prove/disapprove the July
9th letter from the angle of past “ritvik” practices is superficial and a
play in logic by both sides.
Mahesh: VERY EASY. Let’s consider the following facts:
1) WHY did Srila Prabhupada ARRANGE to have his OWN murti in ALL the
temples in ISKCON for worshiping during Guru Puja UNLESS he was GIVER OF
the DIVYA Jnana hrdaya prakasito HE GIVES DIVYA JNANA (DIKSHA)
ONLY a MAHABHAGAVATA is accepted as Worshipable Diksha Guru as per
Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya 24.330. Srila Prabhupada is THE ACHARYA of
ISKCON.
NOTE: It is ONLY ACHARYA that can give DIKSHA because
even in NOD this is stated REGARDING ACCEPTING INITIATION from the
spiritual master it refers to Srimad Bhagavatam 11.17.27 which is
ACHARYA.
Nectar of Devotion 7 — Evidence Regarding Devotional Principles
REGARDING ACCEPTING INITIATION from the spiritual master, in the Eleventh Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Seventeenth Chapter, verse 27, it is stated by Lord Krishna, “My
dear Uddhava, the spiritual master must be accepted not only as My
representative, but as My very self. He must never be considered on the
same level with an ordinary human being. One should never be envious of
the spiritual master, as one may be envious of an ordinary man. The
spiritual master should always be seen as the representative of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, and by serving the spiritual master one
is able to serve all the demigods.”
Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.7.15 — Indra Offends His Spiritual Master, Brihaspati:
“By the mercy of the spiritual master one is benedicted by the
mercy of Krishna. Without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot
make any advancement.” A disciple should never be a hypocrite or be unfaithful to his spiritual master. In Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.17.27), THE SPIRITUAL MASTER IS ALSO CALLED ACHARYA. Acaryam mam vijaniyan: the Supreme Personality of Godhead says that one should respect the spiritual master, accepting him as the Lord Himself. Navamanyeta karhicit: one should not disrespect the acharya at any time. Na martya-buddhyasuyeta:
one should never think the acharya an ordinary person. Familiarity
sometimes breeds contempt, but one should be very careful in one’s
dealings with the acharya. Agadha-dhisanam dvijam: the acharya is a perfect brahmana and has unlimited intelligence in guiding the activities of his disciple.
2) Srila Prabhupada put it DELIBERATELY in all his books
FOUNDER-ACHARYA. Srila Prabhupada did NOT say he was only ISKCON
founder. There is HYPHEN in between the words Founder AND Acharya which
indicates HE IS ALSO ITS CURRENT ACHARYA.
3) There is ALSO the FACT that ONLY INITIATED DISCIPLE will be
Director. This means HE wanted to REMAIN the INITIATOR for the EXISTENCE
of the society: Other WILL Srila Prabhupada’s Will
The executive directors who have herein been designated are appointed
for life. In the event of death or failure to act for any reason of any
of the said directors, a successor director or directors may be
appointed by the remaining directors, provided the new director is MY
INITIATED DISCIPLE following strictly all the rules and regulations of
the International Society for Krishna Consciousness as detailed in my
books, and provided that there are never less than three (3) or more
than five (5) executive directors acting at one time.
4) Letter: Madhudvisa, August 4, 1975
The GBC should all be the instructor gurus. I AM THE INITIATOR
GURU, and you should be the instructor guru by teaching what I am
teaching and doing what I am doing. This is not a title, but you must
actually come to this platform. This I want.
Conversations, March 12, 1968, San Francisco
Prabhupada: Yes, I AM the spiritual master of this institution, and ALL the members of the society, they’re supposed to be MY disciples.
They follow the rules and regulations which I ask them to follow, and
they are initiated by me spiritually. So therefore the spiritual master
is called guru. That is Sanskrit language.
5) Disciple belongs to whoever gives DISCIPLINE TO him: In ISKCON we
are ALL being DISCIPLINED by Srila Prabhupada (we receive instructions
DISCIPLINE) FROM Srila Prabhupada’s books. Even the most basic
discipline, 16 rounds of Hare Krishna Mantra and four Regulative
Principles are coming FROM Srila Prabhupada. Common sense — if you ARE
being disciplined BY Srila Prabhupada then it follows you ARE Srila
Prabhupada’s disciple. How can it be otherwise? The MEANING of the word
“disciple”
Srila Prabhupada’s Morning Walk, March 8, 1976 in Mayapur:
Prabhupada:
“Discipline… Disciple means discipline. The word discipline comes from
disciple, or disciple comes from discipline. So unless there is
discipline, there is no question of disciple. This discipline must… That
should be uniform. Otherwise, sisya… sisya, the word sisya, it comes
from the root, verb, sas-dhatu. sas. sas means ruling. From this word,
sasana. Sasana means government. sastra. sastra means weapon, and
sastra, scripture, and sisya… These things have come from the one root
sas-dhatu. So sas-dhatu means ruling under discipline. There is another
English word, that “Obedience is the first law of discipline,” or
something. They say, “Obedience is the first law of discipline”? So I am
right? “Obedience is…”? That is the…
Tamala Krishna: Yes, that’s more or less what it is.
Prabhupada: No, what is the word, exact. There is an
English word. “Obedience is the first law of discipline.” So unless
there is obedience, there cannot be any discipline. And unless there is
discipline, there is no question of disciple. DISCIPLE MEANS ONE WHO
FOLLOWS DISCIPLINE.”
Discipline comes from Srila Prabhupada. We are actually being
disciplined by Srila Prabhupada. It is Srila Prabhupada who has given us
the regulative principles of no meat, fish or eggs; no intoxication
(including tea and coffee), no illicit sex, and no gambling. It is Srila
Prabhupada who has made it a regulative principle for us to chant
sixteen rounds on the beads HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA
HARE HARE /HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE.
Srila Prabhupada’s books contain all the instructions, the guidance
required for us to get ourselves out of the clutches of the modes of
material nature. In fact, Srila Prabhupada is personally present as his
books.
Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi 1, Text 35:
“There is NO DIFFERENCE between the spiritual master’s instructions and the spiritual master himself.”
Since the instructions of the spiritual master and the spiritual master
are not different, one can be the disciple of Srila Prabhupada by
following his discipline and can be considered Srila Prabhupada’s
disciple. Another point is he can be considered both direct disciple and
not direct simultaneously, because Srila Prabhupada is still present in
his instruction form (his books). The following example will illustrate
the point.
Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja is the example of both direct and not direct
disciple simultaneously. (THE PHILOSOPHY OF SIMULTANEOUS ONENESS AND
DIFFERENCE).
Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi 1:
“A direct disciple of Srila Rupa Gosvami was Srila Raghunatha dasa
Gosvami. The author of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Srila Krishnadasa
Kaviraja Gosvami, stands as the DIRECT DISCIPLE of Srila Rupa Gosvami
and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami. The direct disciple of Srila
Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami was Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, who
accepted Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti as his servitor. Srila
Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura accepted Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji,
who initiated Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who in turn initiated Srila
Gaurakishora dasa Babaji, the spiritual master of Om Vishnupada Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, the divine master of our
humble self. Since we belong to this chain of disciplic succession from
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, this edition of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita
will contain nothing newly manufactured by our tiny brains, but only
remnants of food originally eaten by the Lord Himself.”
Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya 19.102:
Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami was not actually a direct disciple of
Srila Rupa Gosvami, but he FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS given by Srila Rupa
Gosvami in Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu. He therefore ACTED ACCORDING TO THE DIRECTIONS of Rupa Gosvami and prayed in every chapter for his mercy.
6) Note: It is SUCCESSION MEANS to SUCCEED Srila Prabhupada is the LAST name in Disciplic Succession of ACHARYAS:
Srimad Bhagavatam 3.29.17 Explanation of Devotional Service by Lord Kapila
In Bhagavad-gita, Thirteenth Chapter, it is clearly stated that one
should execute devotional service and advance on the path of spiritual
knowledge BY ACCEPTING THE ACHARYA. Acaryopasanam: one should worship an acharya, a spiritual master who knows things as they are. THE
SPIRITUAL MASTER MUST BE IN THE DISCIPLIC SUCCESSION FROM KRISHNA. THE
PREDECESSORS OF THE SPIRITUAL MASTER ARE HIS SPIRITUAL MASTER, HIS GRAND
SPIRITUAL MASTER, HIS GREAT-GRAND SPIRITUAL MASTER AND SO ON, WHO FORM
THE DISCIPLIC SUCCESSION OF ACHARYAS.
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