Spiritual Master is all Spiritual

Date: 2006-05-10 Author: Sajjana Priya das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

When , as a messenger of Lord Ramachandra, was trying to enter , he was blocked by Lankini who was protecting Lanka. She was thinking that Hanuman is only a Vaanara and therefore tried to kick him out of entrance. But actually she was kicked out by Hanuman and she fell dead. At the time of being hit by Hanuman and thrown to a far distant place she realized that Lord had told that one monkey will throw you out of lanka and that will be the end of Lanka. She remembered and regretted her action. Actually she thought Hanuman is a Vaanara, a monkey.

Actually Hanuman, being the loving servant of Lord is a special human being and not an ordinary monkey. In the same way we should not consider our spiritual master is like any other human being with two legs and hands and has got the same type of nature like us. They are special as they are representative of Lord Ramachandra. Lankini is like the pride in our heart which makes us feel that spiritual master is on the same level like us. He sometimes chastises us to remove any amount of pride in our heart and that is for our ultimate welfare and thereby material conception of life is destroyed and we start performing loving devotional service unto the Supreme Lord, but our pride is like lankini not willing to recognize the special feature of our spiritual master and we continue to think of him in the same level as we are. It is therefore enjoined, gurushu nara-matih...naaraki sah: Considering the spiritual master as an ordinary human being will lead us to hell.

Also it is confirmed in Srimad Bhagavatam 6.7.15 where Lord offends Brahaspati, his spiritual master and regrets for his actions,

athāham amarācāryam agādha-dhiṣaṇaṁ dvijam prasādayiṣye niśaṭhaḥ śīrṣṇā tac-caraṇaṁ spṛśan

King Indra said: Therefore with great frankness and without duplicity I shall now bow my head at the lotus feet of Bṛhaspati, the spiritual master of the demigods. Because he is in the mode of goodness, he is fully aware of all knowledge and is the best of the brāhmaṇas. Now I shall touch his lotus feet and offer my obeisances unto him to try to satisfy him.

Prabhupada in his unparalleled purport substantiates his point..,

"Coming to his senses, King Indra realized that he was not a very sincere disciple of his spiritual master, Brhaspati. Therefore he decided that hence forward he would be nishata, non-duplicitous. niśaṭhaḥ śīrṣṇā tac-caraṇaṁ spṛśan: he decided to touch his head to the feet of his spiritual master. From this example, we should learn this principle enunciated by Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura:

yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto 'pi

By the mercy of the spiritual master one is benedicted by the mercy of Krsna. 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. Ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān: 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-buddhyāsūyeta: 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. agādha-dhiṣaṇaṁ dvijam: the acharya is a perfect brahmana and has unlimited intelligence in guiding the activities of his disciple.

I therefore surrender to the lotus feet of my spiritual master again and again and seeks his forgiveness for my inability to understand His position and seeking His mercy and shelter at the dust of His lotus feet life after life.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Sajjana Priya Krishna das Abu Dhabi.