Gurusu nara-matih/jivan-mukti

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Pranamas, Vaisnavas. Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

 

This passage is from Srila Prabhupada's purport to Bhagavatam, 8.3.2:

 

"In this verse the words etac cid-atmakam are very important. The material

body certainly consists only of material elements, but when one awakens to

Krsna conscious understanding, the body is no longer material but

spiritual. The material body is meant for sense enjoyment, whereas the

spiritual body engages in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

Therefore, a devotee who engages in the service of the Supreme Lord and who

constantly thinks of Him should never be considered to have a material body.

It is therefore enjoined, gurusu nara-matih: one should stop thinking of

the spiritual master as an ordinary human being with a material body. Arcye

visnau sila-dhih: everyone knows that the Deity in the temple is made of

stone, but to think that the Deity is merely stone is an offense. Similarly,

to think that the body of the spiritual master consists of material

ingredients is offensive. Atheists think that devotees foolishly worship a

stone statue as God and an ordinary man as the guru. The fact is, however,

that by the grace of Krsna's omnipotence, the so-called stone statue of

the Deity is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the body of the

spiritual master is directly spiritual. A pure devotee who is engaged in

unalloyed devotional service should be understood to be situated on the

transcendental platform (sa gunan samatityaitan brahma-bhuyaya kalpate).

Let us therefore offer our obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

by whose mercy so-called material things also become spiritual when they are

engaged in spiritual activity."

 

Your humble servant,

 

MDd