Dhruva Maharaja

[Guest guest]

> At first he went to the

> forest, completely determined to see the Supreme Lord, by the inspiration

> of his mother Sunitha. Was he already aware of devotional service because

> of being raised as a King's son?

 

Not necessarily. In BRS Rupa Goswami cites Dhruva Maharaja as an example of

'artharthi' i.e. going to Krsna for wealth. He goes on to say that arta.

atharthi, jigyasu & jnani all fall in a category which is even lower than the

platform of a kanishtha-adhikari bhakta. But they can also come to highest

platform of an uttama by associating with a pure devotee.

 

> And how does Lord Krsna consider

> devotional service to Him, before one meets his initiating spiritual

> master? Sunitha was his first spiritual guide, but it was not formal

> initiation. Can a person advance within devotinal service without an

> initiating guru, but with instructions from a siksha guru?

 

Surely why not. Initiation is not required to begin the chanting of the Holy

Name and thus begin our progress in spiritual life.

 

 

 

diksa-purascarya-vidhi apeksa na kare

jihva-sparse a-candala sabare uddhare

Cc 15.108

 

TRANSLATION

"One does not have to undergo initiation or execute the activities

required before initiation. One simply has to vibrate the holy name with

his lips. Thus even a man in the lowest class [candala] can be delivered.

 

FROM PURPORT:

 

[...]

"Although Deity worship is not essential, the material conditioning of

most candidates for devotional service requires that they engage in this

activity.

[...]

 

In other words, the chanting of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra is so

powerful that it does not depend on official initiation, but if one is

initiated and engages in pancaratra-vidhi (Deity worship), his Krsna

consciousness will awaken very soon, and his identification with the

material world will be vanquished.

 

Similarly, the Ramarcana-candrika states:

 

vinaiva diksam viprendra purascaryam vinaiva hi

vinaiva nyasa-vidhina japa-matrena siddhi-da

 

"O best of the brahmanas, even without initiation, preliminary

purification or acceptance of the renounced order, one can attain

perfection in devotional service simply by chanting the Lord's holy name."

 

 

 

So in other words, chanting is sufficient to liberate us but the whole process

is speeded up and success is completely assured if we accept the shelter of a

bona-fide self-realized spiritual master through the process of diksha. Thus

Prabhupada also quotes in the above purport from the different scriptures like

Visnu Yamala, Hari Bhakti Vilasa, Bhakti Sandarbha, the ultimate importance of

diksha for advancement in spiritual life.

 

Regarding whether guidance from a siksha guru is sufficient, Prabhupada says in

the context of Dhruva's example only that a siksha guru generally goes on to

become one's diksha guru at a later stage.

 

And if it is not possible for the siksha guru to become one's diksha guru, then

it is normally understood that one should look out for and surrender to a

maha-bhagavata diksha guru. Ofcourse if his siksha guru is a very elevated pure

devotee, then he should try by all means to take diksha from him.

 

If the devotee is following the rules & regulations of bhakti especially the

chanting of the holy names, the progress of the devotee will be there even if

he doesn't take diksha. But diksha & full surrender to a wholly (100%) good

preceptor (SBSST) will speeden up and ensure his completely success in

spiritual life.

 

I will conclude with the views of Srila Bhaktisiddhnata on diksha which

reinforces the view that diksha is very helpful process in achieving pure love

of God:

 

The ceremony of diksha, or initiation, is that by which the Spiritual

Preceptor admits one to the status of a neophyte on the path of

spiritual endeavor. The ceremony tends to confer spiritual

enlightenment by abrogating sinfulness. Its actual effect depends on the

degree of willing cooperation on the part of the disciple. It is,

therefore, not the same in all cases. It does not preclude the

possibility of the novice reverting to the non-spiritual state--if he

slackens in his effort or misbehaves.

 

Initiation puts a person on the true track and also imparts an initial

impulse to go ahead. It cannot, however, keep one going for Good unless

one chooses to put forth his own voluntary effort.

 

The nature of the initial impulse also varies in accordance with the

condition of the recipient. Although the mercy of the Good Preceptor enables

us to have a glimpse of the Absolute and of the path to His attainment, the

seed thus sown requires very careful tending under the direction of the

Preceptor. Only then will it germinate and grow into the

fruit-and-shade-giving tree. After obtaining a working idea of his real

nature, unless our soul, of his own accord, chooses to serve Krishna, he

cannot long retain the Spiritual Vision. The soul is never compelled by

Krishna to serve Him.

 

Still, initiation is never altogether futile. It changes the disciple's

outlook on life. If he sins after initiation, he may fall into greater depths

of degradation than the uninitiated. Although, even after initiation,

temporary setbacks may occur, they do not ordinarily prevent the final

deliverance. The faintest glimmering of the real knowledge of the

Absolute has sufficient power to radically change for Good our whole mental

and physical constitution. This glimmering is incapable of being totally

extinguished--except in extraordinarily unfortunate cases.

 

Vaisnava dasabhas

Nayana-ranjana das