Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept our dandavat pranams.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to the Lotus Feet of Srila Gurudev. All glories to Sri Sri Gauranga.
While meditating on how to give pleasure to Srila Gurudeva and to act in such a way that would please Srila Gurudev "the most", the following verses are worth meditating on.
brahmovāca
tvayā me ’pacitis tāta kalpitā nirvyalīkataḥ
yan me sañjagṛhe vākyaṁ bhavān mānada mānayan
Lord Brahma said: My dear son Kardama, since you have completely accepted my instructions without duplicity, showing them proper respect, you have worshiped me properly. Whatever instructions you took from me you have carried out, and thereby you have honored me.
In his wonderful purport to the above verse (3.24.12 from Srimad Bhagavatam) Srila Prabhupada, with a lot of transcendental punches very nicely explains the process of honoring one's Guru.
"Lord Brahma, as the first living entity within the universe, is supposed to be the spiritual master of everyone, and he is also the father, the creator, of all beings. Kardama Muni is one of the Prajapatis or creators of the living entities, and he is also a son of Brahma. Brahma praises Kardama because he carried out the orders of the spiritual master in toto and without cheating. A conditioned soul in the material world has the disqualification of cheating. He has four disqualifications: he is sure to commit mistakes, he is sure to be illusioned, he is prone to cheat others, and his senses are imperfect. But if one carries out the order of the spiritual master by disciplic succession or the parampara system, he overcomes the four defects. Therefore, knowledge received from the bona fide spiritual master is not cheating. Any other knowledge which is manufactured by the conditioned soul is cheating only. Brahma knew well that Kardama Muni exactly carried out the instructions received from him and that he actually honored his spiritual master. To honor the spiritual master means to carry out his instructions word for word."
So we have to be very careful in executing the instructions received from our Spiritual Master. We should not bring our mind in the equation because then we start cheating (when we follow our mind we actually cheat ourselves only and no one else) as it is made clear in the next verse.
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." In the purport to above verse 3.24.13 of Srimad Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada continues giving special punches giving more clues as to how to become perfect and come out from the clutches of the material world.
"Two words in this verse are very important; one word is pitari, and another word is guroh. The son or disciple should accept the words of his spiritual master and father without hesitation. Whatever the father and the spiritual master order should be taken without argument: "Yes." There should be no instance in which the disciple or the son says, "This is not correct. I cannot carry it out." When he says that, he is fallen. There should be no argument in following their instructions. That is real service to the father and to the spiritual master. Srila Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura 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. This is confirmed in the Upanishads: the import of Vedic instruction is revealed automatically only to one who has implicit faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead and in his spiritual master. One may be materially considered an illiterate man, but if he has faith in the spiritual master as well as in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then the meaning of scriptural revelation is immediately manifested before him."
We pray at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada that we never lose focus from following the instructions given to us by Srila Gurudev, so that we act in such a way that would please Srila Gurudev the most, through the eternity of our lifetime.
Thank you very much.
Your servants in the service of Srila Gurudev and Srila Prabhupada,
Krsna Samarpan Krsna Das, Purna Prajna Devi Dasi and Ambarisha Das
Auckland, New Zealand.
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