Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!
This is in continuation of the previous offering titled "Service to Spiritual Master", wherein we were meditating on some of the powerful points of Srila Prabhupada, in Srimad Bhagavatam verses 4.28.47 to 53 on how a spiritual master serves the Lord and the relation between the disciple and the spiritual master. In previous offering we saw 8 points. Now we shall see the remaining points.
9. In conclusion, if a disciple is very serious to execute the mission of the spiritual master, he immediately associates with the Supreme Personality of Godhead by vani or vapuh. This is the only secret of success in seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Instead of being eager to see the Lord in some bush of Vrindavana while at the same time engaging in sense gratification, if one instead sticks to the principle of following the words of the spiritual master, he will see the Supreme Lord without difficulty.
10. The Paramatma is always the caitya-guru, the spiritual master within, and He comes before one externally as the instructor and initiator spiritual master.
11. The Lord can reside within the heart, and He can also come out before a person and give him instructions. Thus the spiritual master is not different from the Supersoul sitting within the heart.
12. Just as one gets a chance to consult with the Paramatma within his heart, one also gets a chance to see Him actually situated before him. Then one can take instructions from the Supersoul directly. This is the duty of the pure devotee: to see the bona fide spiritual master and consult with the Supersoul within the heart.
And when we are perplexed as to what we should do after the departure of our spiritual master in his absence, Srila Prabhupada writes:
13. At such a time the Supersoul immediately appears, provided the devotee is purified in heart by following the directions of the spiritual master. A sincere devotee who follows the instructions of the spiritual master certainly gets direct instructions from his heart from the Supersoul. Thus a sincere devotee is always helped directly or indirectly by the spiritual master and the Supersoul.
14. This is confirmed in Caitanya-caritamrta: guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja [Cc. Madhya 19.151]. If the devotee serves his spiritual master sincerely, Krishna automatically becomes pleased. yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ. By satisfying the spiritual master, one automatically satisfies Krishna.
15. Thus the devotee becomes enriched by both the spiritual master and Krishna.
We are extremely grateful to HG Devakinandan Prabhu and HG Radhika Mataji for sharing these verses with us and giving us an opportunity to discuss the purports.
After the programme when I was talking to HG Radhika Mataji, she mentioned that after our Guru Maharaj had departed, she and Prabhuji had thought of Maharaj and opened the Bhagavatam and these verses came before them. I was really touched to see how Maharaj reciprocated with Prabhuji and Mataji, who are very sincere. It is a fact that Maharaj is more with each and every one of us than before, when he was present physically among us. And the more we follow his instructions (and sincerely) the more he reciprocates and guides us. We could feel his presence amongst us yesterday. This is the nature of the spiritual world where there is no duality. Though Maharaj was absent, he was also present and with us.
Maharaj told in the lecture that if Krishna is present in our lives, then we will not be anxious about the future. As Srila Prabhupada has stated in his purports, Krishna comes into our lives ONLY and ONLY by sincerely following our Guru's instructions. Thus the best way to bring Krishna into our lives and get rid of our anxiety is to remind each other of Guru Maharaj and his instructions and co-operate with each other, encourage each other, inspire each other while we endeavor to follow his instructions to the best of our abilities.
My sincere prayer to Maharaj is that I follow this and stop all my nonsensical activities and behaviour which keeps me away from Krishna.
Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Govardhan das
Singapore.
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