You Must Go to a Guru
Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.28
Bombay, November 28, 1974
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Devotee: "On hearing the statement of
the Lord, Devahuti inquired: What kind of devotional service is worth developing
and practicing to help me easily and immediately attain to the service of Your
lotus feet?"
Prabhupada:
kacit tvayy ucita bhaktih
kidrsi mama gocara
yaya padam te nirvanam
anjasanvasnava aham
[SB 3.25.28]
So, it is the duty of the disciple, disciple means everyone, human, human body, one who has got human body, athato brahma jijnasa. This is the Vedanta-sutra advice. Atha, atah, brahma-jijnasa. This life, human life is meant for inquiry. What is that inquiry? Brahman inquire, about the absolute truth. So the Vedic injunction is that if you are inquisitive about self-realization, Brahman realization, then you should approach a guru. Therefore here Devahuti is accepting his (her) son, exalted son, incarnation of God, Kapiladeva, inquiring from Him. That is the Vaisnava process. Vaisnava process is not to speculate oneself. If one is actually inquisitive to know about the absolute truth, he must approach a bona fide spiritual master. (indistinct) First business is to find out guru, guru-krsna-krpaya paya bhakti-lata-bija [Cc. Madhya 19.151], Caitanya Mahaprabhu says. At the present moment this is a mentality, of course they have got some bad experience, but the process is that you must go to a guru. That is Vedic injunction. Tasmad gurum prapadyeta [SB 11.3.21]. Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum eva abhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. Abhigacchet means "must," there is no other alternative. In the Bhagavad-gita also it is said,
tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti tad jnanam
jnaninas tattva-darsinah
[Bg. 4.34]
If we actually are very serious to get out of the clutches of maya, the repetition of birth, old age, and disease, and get back our original spiritual life, eternal life, na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20], there is, that is our real identification. We do not die after the annihilation of this body, but you are so dull by the influence of maya, we think that death is inevitable. No, why death is inevitable? Death can be avoided, birth can be avoided, disease can be avoided, but you do not know, you have become so dull. We do not know how to overcome. We are busy temporary inconveniences. The whole world is struggling, some temporary. The real business is atyantika-duhkha-nivrtti, everyone is trying to minimize the miserable condition, but they are busy for temporary miserable condition. But the Vedic knowledge is how to mitigate the topmost miserable condition. That topmost miserable condition is the repetition of birth, death, and old age. Janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi duhkha-dosanudarsanam, anu-darsanam [Bg. 13.9]. We should not be very much afflicted with these temporary things. We must have the sense how to solve the ultimate miserable condition of life. That, tad-vijnanartham, in order to know that science sa gurum evabhigacchet.
If one is interested to know that science, then it is necessary to approach Just like Arjuna was busy, perturbed that he has to fight with his relatives, the other side, and they will be killed. And he was presenting so many problems that, If I kill my brothers, my sister-in-laws will become widow and they will be polluted, and there will be varna-sankara generation, then the whole world will be hell. In this way he was thinking, the immediate material problems, but when, after arguing with Krsna, he could not find out any solution, then Arjuna submitted to Krsna, sisyas te 'ham sadhi mam prapannam [Bg. 2.7]. "My dear Krsna, now I don't want to talk with you as friend, because friendly talk, the talking will be very much, but there will be no benefit." Generally we do so. We talk with some person, some friend, without any duty, just to waste time. That is not the way. If you go and talk with some person, then you must derive some benefit. Gain should be there, otherwise simply waste of time. And it is the injunction of the sastra that, unless one is submissive, the superior man should not talk, tad viddhi pranipatena [Bg. 4.34], unless one is submissive he will not be able to accept the sublime instruction.
So one has to become submissive. That submissiveness Krsna, Arjuna is teaching us, sisyas te 'ham sadhi mam prapannam. I am now submitting myself to you, not that equal position with you, friend and friend equal position, that I am giving up. I am becoming your disciple, submissive, sisyas te 'ham sadhi mam prapannam [Bg. 2.7]. Prapannam means submissive, that is the way. You cannot speculate. Your speculation has no value, athapi te deva ciram vicinvan [SB 10.14.29]. Ciram vicinvan, you can go on speculating for many births, many years, still you will not be able to understand the ultimate goal of your life. It is not possible, therefore all the sastras, they advise that you go to a guru. Guru means weighty, one who has got more weight, one who can teach you, because everyone thinks that "I am learned. I am all learned." Who can teach you? No. Nobody is like that. Everyone requires instruction, therefore the Vedic system is (indistinct), to make one's life fruitful, one must approach guru.
Therefore our system is, Vedic system is from the very beginning, a child, a boy is sent to gurukula to learn. Not that automatically one learns. One must go to gurukula, brahmacari. Brahmacari goes to guru, and he works like a menial servant. He may be a son of a big brahmana or big king, it doesn't matter. The one who goes to gurukula, he immediately becomes the menial servant of guru. This is the system. That means guru can order him to act any, I mean to say, low class service, still he is prepared to do it. This is the business of brahmacari, and he takes all trouble, and childhood, he doesn't mind. Even Krsna, he went to gurukula. To teach us. Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, what is the use of His going to gurukula? No, He is teaching, apani acari' prabhu jiveri sikhaya. Caitanya Mahaprabhu also accepted guru, teacher, guru more murkha dekhi' karila sasana [Cc. Adi 7.71].
When Caitanya Mahaprabhu was talking with Prakasananda Sarasvati, Prakasananda Sarasvati was very learned scholar and he knew that Caitanya Mahaprabhu was also very learned scholar. So he was criticizing Him that "This sannyasi from Bengal who has come to Benares, He is simply chanting and dancing and does not give attention in the reading of Vedanta, so He is not a bona fide sannyasi. He is sentimental." He was thinking like that, but one brahmana, Maharastrian brahmana, he arranged a meeting with Prakasananda Sarasvati and Lord Caitanya. There was discussion. So Prakasananda Sarasvati inquired from Him that "You are a sannyasi. Instead of giving your attention in the matter of reading Vedanta-sutra, Sankhya philosophy, what is this that you are chanting and dancing?" So Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied that "My guru found Me, I am a fool number one, guru more murkha dekhi [Cc. Adi 7.71], I am not very much learned. So he said, My guru said, that 'You cannot read Vedanta-sutra.' " Actually Vedanta-sutra, Vedanta philosophy is not meant for ordinary learned person. It requires great knowledge in Sanskrit language and philosophy. So He, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, took the part of ordinary person, at the present moment that guru more murkha dekhi' karila sasana [Cc. Adi 7.71] . Generally people are not so learned that they can understand Vedanta-sutra. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu taking the part of the murkha society, the illiterate, ignorant society, He said that "I cannot read Vedanta-sutra. He advised me to chant Hare Krsna and I am doing that. And I am getting the result.
So at the present moment, especially in Kali-yuga, they are not very much educated, mandah sumanda-matayo manda-bha... [SB 1.1.10]. They are simply busy how to earn some money and fill up the belly, that's all. They are not no more interested in Vedanta-sutra. Mandah, mandah means very slow, or very bad. They are so badly infected with the influence of maya, they do not care to understand that there is life after death, and that life may be anything of these 8,400,000 forms of life. And if I become one of them, if I become tree, if I become cat, if I become dog, or insect or even human being, then, if I am in a very inconvenient condition then they do not care to know. Sometimes they say, "Never mind if I become a dog, what is the wrong there? I will forget everything." People say, in western country, even the university student, they say they don't, so ignorance. Therefore they have been described as mandah.
Formerly, especially in India, the catur-varnyam, the brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra, so at least the most intelligent class of men, the brahmanas, they were interested to understand brahma-jijnasa. Athato brahma jijnasa. But at the present moment they are all sudras. They are not interested about brahma-jijnasa. They are interested how to get more money, where is the cinema, where, what picture is going, they are interested in that, not about brahma-jijnasa. But the human life is meant for that purpose. Therefore we learn from Bhagavad-gita. Arjuna is personally teaching us. He is accepting Krsna as guru, sisyas te 'ham [Bg. 2.7], "Krsna now I become Your servant, not that I remain as Your friend." Friend to friend talk is not very serious. Now I want to talk with serious. You become my spiritual master, you teach me, and I will take your lesson. This should be the It is not meant for only Arjuna. It is meant for everyone, that if you, you must find out the guru. The first guru is Krsna, and anyone who is Krsna's representative, he is guru. Guru is Krsna, the original guru, and if Krsna representative is found, is available, then he is also guru.
Just like you are a businessman and anybody goes to canvass for business, to get some order for your business, he is your representative. It is not very difficult to understand. If he is your representative and talks something nonsense then he is not your representative, he is cheating you. He is taking your money and doing something else. No, real representative is he who is canvassing for Krsna, not canvassing for himself that "I have become Krsna." No, he is not guru, he is cheater.. The representative is he who canvasses business for Krsna. That is guru. Krsna wants this business. What is that? "You rascal, give up everything and surrender unto Me, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]." Krsna wants this business. And Krsna's representative also says that you give up everything, simply surrender to Krsna. This is Krsna's representative. Sometimes we are very much eulogized, "I have done a wonderful thing, but I have done as representative of Krsna." Same thing. I have told all these boys and girls nothing magic. I never showed any gold-making magic. I simply said to them the "Here is Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, you surrender unto Him." That's all. Ask any (indistinct). I never said anything. So that is actually representative.
Anyone can become Krsna's representative, everyone, especially Indians. They should become Krsna's representative. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission,
bharata-bhumite haila manusya-janma yara
(janma) sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara
[Cc. Adi 9.41]
Para-upakara means the whole world does not know about the message of Krsna, therefore it is the greatest welfare activity to carry this message and inform them. This is the work of Krsna's representative, and any Indian can do it but they'll not do it. They will take Bhagavad-gita and speak their hodge podge, that's all. That is not Krsna's representative. Therefore it has not been successful. For the last 200 years so many swamis and yogis went to foreign countries, but nobody spoke about Krsna. Simply hodge-podge. Therefore there was not a single person accepted this cult; Vedic culture. That is fact.
So as Arjuna We are reading Bhagavad-gita, you can understand that Arjuna is a friend, why he's accepting Krsna as guru? Why? He's a friend. He's talking equally, sitting equally, friend and friend, sometimes talking nonsense. Krsna, in the Eleventh Chapter he was begging Krsna, "Forgive me. As a friend I have misbehaved with you." Friend has got right, Krsna did not mind for that, but he knew that "Krsna, although He is my friend, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, He is the proper person to become my guru." And he says also that "The perplexity which I have been put into now in this battlefield, this cannot be solved by anyone else except Yourself." That he said also. So this is instruction we get from Bhagavad-gita, everyone reads Bhagavad-gita, that we have to accept Krsna as the guru, or Krsna's representative as guru. Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya [Bg. 4.34], and we have to give service to such guru and we have to surrender ourself. Not that I accept you guru just to know how much you are learned, how much you can talk with me, not with that spirit. (indistinct) ...that I surrender to you sir, sisyas te 'ham, I have become sisya. Sisya means voluntarily accepting his ruling. Whatever guru will say he will accept, that is called sisya. Sisya means ruling, who accept disciple, means disciplinary measure. Whatever guru says, one who accepts he becomes disciple. He, I don't care for my guru's order and still I am disciple, that is not accepting guru. Of course it has become a fashion like that, to have a guru but don't care for guru. That is not, that will not help. Sisyas te 'ham sadhi mam prapannam [Bg. 2.7], and immediately Krsna as we, as soon as He accepted to become guru of Arjuna, He immediately chastised him,
asocyan anvasocas tvam
prajna-vadams ca bhasase
gatasun agatasums ca
nanusocanti panditah
[Bg. 2.11]
"My dear Arjuna, you are not taking like a learned man. You are thinking that you are very learned man, that you are talking with Me, what will happen to this, to that if I fight. You have wasted so much time. But actually I find that you are a fool number one. You do not know anything. Asocyan anvasocas tvam, because you are lamenting for things for which one should not lament. What is that? This body. You are thinking of this body of your relative, and because they will be in the war, they will be killed. You are thinking like that. But actually this is not the subject matter pondering. The real subject matter is how to save the soul."
Therefore He began instructing that we are not this body, we are soul. Dehino 'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha dehantara-praptam [Bg. 2.13], in this way He gave first instruction that we are not this body. So here also Devahuti is woman. Everyone is less intelligent before his guru, especially woman. Striyo sudra tatha vaisya te 'pi yanti param gatim, but God, or Krsna, is open for everyone. It is not that Krsna is open for the brahmanas, the learned scholars or the Hindus or the Muslims or Christian, no, Krsna is open for everyone. Striyo sudra tatha vaisyas te 'pi yanti param, mam hi partha vyapasritya ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah [Bg. 9.32], even papa-yonayah. Papa-yoni means low class. Just like in our country we have got low class people, the cobbler muci, the candalas the dog-eaters. They are considered as low class. So Krsna is open even for the low class.
This is universal movement, Krsna consciousness, because it is concerned with the soul, consciousness. Therefore you have named the word consciousness. Consciousness belongs to the soul, that is the symptom of presence of soul. At the present moment because the soul is in the body, if I pinch your body then you will feel, consciousness, feel pains or pleasure. But as soon as the soul is gone out of the body, if I chop off your body with a dagger, you will not protest. The consciousness is gone. Yena sarvam idam tatam avinasi tu tad viddhi, yena sarvam idam tatam. Sarvam idam, this body. This body, wherever you pinch it you feel pain. Why? Because consciousness is there. So Krsna advises that consciousness is eternal. Therefore we have to purify our consciousness, then our life is successful.
Consciousness will go with us. At the time of death the consciousness carries me to another body. Suksma, the fine, or the subtle body, the mind, intelligence, and ego, but we do not see that mind, intelligence, ego. And the soul, it is still finer. Mind is, we know you have got mind, you know I have got mind but you do not see. I know you have got intelligence, you know I have got intelligence but you can not see. But how the mind, intelligence carry the soul to another body, how you can see? We see that this gross body is stopped, we say it is everything finished, because we have got gross intelligence, we have no suksma, in Therefore we have to approach guru, just like Arjuna approached guru. And Arjuna, Krsna teaching that you are thinking of this body like a rascal. Nanusocanti panditah. He said in a very gentlemanly language, no learned man thinks like that, that means you are a fool. Nanusocanti panditah, that you are not a pandita, you are a fool. Just try to understand, that real life is for the soul, therefore you should take care of the soul. The whole Vedic language, Vedic education means to take care of the soul. The soul is entangled, embodied, engaged in this material affair, and he is suffering, and to rescue him, to get him out of this material clutches, that is called education.
That is called education and for that education one has to approach a proper guru like Kapiladeva. Kapiladeva is incarnation of Krsna. So guru is there, Krsna, and His instruction is there in the Bhagavad-gita. Why you are not taking advantage? You have become so foolish. The instruction is there. Guru is there. Somebody says that Arjuna had the opportunity, good opportunity to talk with Krsna face to face, but we haven't got that. But what is that talk? The talk is already there. You hear it from His representative, the same instruction. Where is the difficulty? But they will not do that. They will take Bhagavad-gita and misinterpret in a foolish way, in rascaldom, and spoil his career and other's career. That's all. Otherwise everything is there. Where is the difficulty? Krsna says that there is the owner of the body within the body and He has explained in so many ways, acchedyo 'yam adahyo 'yam, distinguishing the quality that the soul is never to be cut into pieces, acchedyo 'yam. It cannot be burned into the fire. It cannot be moistened by water. That means everything matter, there is interruption. Any matter will be interrupted by another matter, but the soul is not anything of this material world. In the material world, any hard thing, the iron, the stone, can be cut into pieces if you have got the instrument. But Krsna says the soul is acchedyo 'yam, it cannot be cut into pieces. So it is above all material action and reaction. Adahyo 'yam, in material, even iron can be melted, even a stone can be melted, but adahyo 'yam, asosyah 'yam, in so many ways. That means it is different from this material thing, the soul.
Therefore na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20]. This instruction, the common sense is that if my position is like that, acchedyo 'yam adahyo 'yam na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20], that what is that life? How I can attain that life? That is brahma-jijnasa. One should be inquisitive. If you remain fools and rascals like cats and dogs to maintain this body only, then what is the benefit of this human life. Human life is meant for understanding this science that I am not this body, but I am busy with this bodily comfort. I am soul within the body, what I am doing for that which is Brahman? This is required. Therefore tad vijnanartham sa gurum eva abhigacchet [MU 1.2.12], if you want to learn about that then you must find out a guru. What kind of guru? Just like Kapiladeva, Krsna, or His representative. Not a bogus guru. Then you will be cheated. Andha yathandair upaniyamanah. The so-called rascal guru, he does not know also what is the aim of life, and if he makes some disciples then sastra says, andha yathandair upaniyamanah, one blind man is trying to guide many other blind men. So what is the benefit? There is no benefit. So if you want to be guided by somebody, he must have opened eyes. Tattva-darsinah, upadeksyanti tad jnanam tad jnani tattva-darsinah. Darsana. Darsana means who have got eyes to see what is the absolute truth. Don't go to a blind man, who has no knowledge about the absolute truth. The absolute truth is there, Krsna. The sun is there, everyone can see. Sun is not hiding but I am hiding. I am closing my door, how can I see sun? Come to the field, open to the sun and you will see sun. There is sun, there is light. Similarly God is there, Krsna. You come to Krsna. Take His lesson, Bhagavad-gita, you will learn what is God.
But the rascals will not do that. They will manufacture some meaning. This meaning this, this meaning that, this meaning that. They will not accept Krsna. That is the difficulty. Otherwise there is no difficulty. Even there is difficulty, one can say that "Yes, it is all right. Krsna's instruction is there, Krsna's Deity is there, but still how can I see? How can I understand?" This is obstinate. That Krsna is so kind, "All right, you see Me in the water, come on. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh [Bg. 7.8]. Why don't you see Me? You are seeing water and why you take water? For satisfying your thirst, and that quality of satisfying your thirst, I am," Krsna says. So if you think of Krsna when you become satisfied by drinking water, if you think of Krsna, you will become one step advanced, immediately. Is that very difficult? Nothing difficult, but we are obstinate, we will not do that. We will not try to understand Krsna, we will not take Krsna's instruction. Why it is so? Maya. Daivi hy esa gunamayi mama maya duratyaya [Bg. 7.14], that is very strong. As soon as I try to accept Krsna as the Supreme Lord, maya will whisper in my ear, "No, no, no. There are many gods, why you are accepting Krsna?" Immediately, "There are many gods, why you are accepting Krsna?" But sastra says, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28], isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1]. That we will not hear. I will not take lesson from the sastra, from the acaryas. At least in India we have got big, big acaryas, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Visnu Svami, even Sankaracarya, even Guru Nanak, they have accepted, all, Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Why should we not? Why you? I shall be another competitor to Krsna. This is our misfortune. Therefore Bhagavan said, na mam duskrtino mudhah prapadyante naradhamah [Bg. 7.15]. Because we are sinful, because we are rascals, we do not accept Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You are searching after Krsna, making speculation, philosophical. Don't do that. Accept Krsna and be in Krsna consciousness and be happy. Thank you very much. (end)
© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.
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