Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.
In our last offering on the story of Mrgari, we saw how the source of income is not the source of maintenance.
Let us continue to meditate further on the lessons from the story.
10. Surrender is Success in Spiritual Life: When Narada muni assured the hunter that he will take care of his maintenance and everyday food supply, the hunter at once surrendered unto him.
"Being thus assured by the great sage Nārada Muni, the hunter broke his bow, immediately fell down at the saint’s lotus feet and fully surrendered. After this, Nārada Muni raised him with his hand and gave him instructions for spiritual advancement."
By asking the hunter to break the bow Narada muni saved not only the hunter's life but also the lives of so many living entities too. And he also stopped the accrual of grave sins in the hunter’s life. This is the unique quality of saintly personalities. Narada muni inspired the hunter that he can earn a living without harming other living entities and that is a much better occupation. This is the beginning of a miraculous turn of events within a few moments in the hunter’s life. In hardly a few minutes, he turned around from being a frightful hunter to a surrendered soul. The act of surrender is extremely benedictory in our life. Simply by an act of surrender to a bona fide spiritual master in the line of Srila Narada muni we are bestowed with
1. Immunity from the reactions of our past sins
2. Guidance to perfect our present and future life
3. Assurance of relief from all anxieties in regard to basic material needs and
4. Above all, the most valuable treasure of Pure devotional service & Krishna Prema.
For a simple act of surrender, which other process in all the three worlds except bhakti can give this much benedictions? That is why bhakti marg is glorified everywhere. But it should also be noted that surrender actually means following the orders of the spiritual master strictly. The hunter did this perfectly starting with the first instruction of ‘break your bow’ and hence he was successful. Lord Brahma speaks the following beautiful verse in SB 3.24.13:
etāvaty eva śuśrūṣā kāryā pitari putrakaiḥ
bāḍham ity anumanyeta gauraveṇa guror vacaḥ
Sons ought to render service to their father exactly to this extent. One should obey the command of his father or spiritual master with due deference, saying, “Yes, sir.”
Srila Prabhupada enlightens us with the following powerful words in his purport: “The order of the father or the order of the spiritual master must be carried out without hesitation, with an immediate yes. There should be no argument. That is real service to the father and to the spiritual master. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has stated that the order of the spiritual master is the life and soul of the disciples. As a man cannot separate his life from his body, a disciple cannot separate the order of the spiritual master from his life. If a disciple follows the instruction of the spiritual master in that way, he is sure to become perfect.”
Srila Prabhupada showed us this process personally by achieving unimaginable success simply by taking the order of his spiritual master as his life and soul.
Krishna willing, we shall continue to meditate further on the lessons from Mrgari’s story in the subsequent offering.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Kalacakra Krsna das
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