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The Nectar of Instruction 5

kr•s•n•eti yasya giri tam• manas•driyeta

d•ks••sti cet pran•atibhiœ ca bhajantam •œam

œuœr•s•ay• bhajana-vijñam ananyam anya-

nind•di-œ•nya-hr•dam •psita-sañga-labdhy•

SYNONYMS

kr•s•n•a — the holy name of Lord Kr•s•n•a; iti — thus; yasya — of whom;

giri — in the words or speech; tam — him; manas• — by the mind; •driyeta —

one must honour; d•ks•• — initiation; asti — there is; cet — if; pran•atibhih

• — by obeisances; ca — also; bhajantam — engaged in devotional service; •œ

am — unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; œuœr•s•ay• — by practical

service; bhajana-vijñam — one who is advanced in devotional service; ananyam —

without deviation; anya-nind•-•di — of blasphemy of others, etc; œ•nya —

completely devoid; hr•dam — whose heart; •psita — desirable; sañga —

association; labdhy• — by gaining.

TRANSLATION

One should mentally honor the devotee who chants the holy name of Lord Kr•s•n

•a, one should offer humble obeisances to the devotee who has undergone

spiritual initiation [d•ks••] and is engaged in worshiping the Deity, and one

should associate with and faithfully serve that Pure devotee who is advanced in

 

undeviated devotional service and whose heart is completely devoid of the

propensity to criticize others.

PURPORT

In order to intelligently apply the sixfold loving reciprocations mentioned

in the previous verse, one must select proper persons with careful

discrimination. Œr•la R•pa Gosv•m• therefore advises that we should meet with

the Vais•n

•avas in an appropriate way, according to their particular status. In this

verse he tells us how to deal with three types of devotees — the kanis•t•

ha-adhik•r•, madhyama-adhik•r• and uttama-adhik•r•. The kanis•t•ha-adhik•r• is

a neophyte who has received the hari-n•ma initiation from the spiritual master

and is trying to chant the holy name of Kr•s•n•a. One should respect such a

person within his mind as a kanis•t•ha-vais•n•ava. A madhyama-adhik•r• has

received spiritual initiation from the spiritual master and has been fully

engaged by him in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The

madhyama-adhik•r• should be considered to be situated midway in devotional

service. The

uttama-adhik•r•, or highest devotee, is one who is very advanced in devotional

service. An uttama-adhik•r• is not interested in blaspheming others, his

heart is completely clean, and he has attained the realized state of unalloyed

Kr•

s•n•a consciousness. According to Œr•la R•pa Gosv•m•, the association and

service of such a mah•-bh•gavata, or perfect Vais•n•ava, are most desirable.

One should not remain a kanis•t•ha-adhik•r•, one who is situated on the

lowest platform of devotional service and is interested only in worshiping the

Deity in the temple. Such a devotee is described in the Eleventh Canto of Œr•

mad-Bh•gavatam (11.2.47):

arc•y•m eva haraye

p•j•m• yah• œraddhayehate

na tad-bhaktes•u c•nyes•u

sa bhaktah• pr•kr•tah• smr•tah•

"A person who is very faithfully engaged in the worship of the Deity in the

temple, but who does not know how to behave toward devotees or people in

general is called a pr•kr•ta-bhakta, or kanis•t•ha-adhik•ri."

One therefore has to raise himself from the position of kanis•t•ha-adhik•r•

to the platform of madhyama-adhik•r•. The madhyama-adhik•r• is described in

Œr•mad-Bh•gavatam (11.2.46) in this way:

•œvare tad-adh•nes•u

b•liœes•u dvis•atsu ca

prema-maitr•-kr•popeks••

yah• karoti sa madhyamah•

"The madhyama-adhik•r• is a devotee who worships the Supreme Personality of

Godhead as the highest object of love, makes friends with the Lord's devotees,

is merciful to the ignorant and avoids those who are envious by nature."

This is the way to cultivate devotional service properly; therefore in this

verse Œr•la R•pa Gosv•m• has advised us how to treat various devotees. We can

see from practical experience that there are different types of Vais•n•avas.

The pr•kr•ta-sahajiy•s generally chant the Hare Kr•s•n•a mah•-mantra, yet

they are attached to women, money and intoxication. Although such persons may

chant the holy name of the Lord, they are not yet properly purified. Such

people should be respected within one's mind, but their association should be

avoided. Those who are innocent but simply carried away by bad association

should

be shown favor if they are eager to receive proper instructions from pure

devotees, but those neophyte devotees who are actually initiated by the bona

fide

spiritual master and are seriously engaged in carrying out the orders of the

spiritual master should be offered respectful obeisances.

In this Kr•s•n•a consciousness movement a chance is given to everyone

without discrimination of caste, creed or color. Everyone is invited to join

this

movement, sit with us, take pras•da and hear about Kr•s•n•a. When we see that

someone is actually interested in Kr•s•n•a consciousness and wants to be

initiated, we accept him as a disciple for the chanting of the holy name of the

 

Lord. When a neophyte devotee is actually initiated and engaged in devotional

service by the orders of the spiritual master, he should be accepted

immediately

as a bona fide Vais•n•ava, and obeisances should be offered unto him. Out of

many such Vais•n•avas, one may be found to be very seriously engaged in the

service of the Lord and strictly following all the regulative principles,

chanting the prescribed number of rounds on japa beads and always thinking of

how

to expand the Kr•s•n•a consciousness movement. Such a Vais•n•ava should be

accepted as an uttama-adhik•r•, a highly advanced devotee, and his association

should always be sought.

The process by which a devotee becomes attached to Kr•s•n•a is described in

Caitanya-carit•mr•ta (Antya 4.192):

d•ks••-k•le bhakta kare •tma-samarpan•a

sei-k•le kr•s•n•a t•re kare •tma-sama

"At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders to the service of

the Lord, Kr•s•n•a accepts him to be as good as He Himself."

D•ks••, or spiritual initiation, is explained in the Bhakti-sandarbha (868)

by Œr•la J•va Gosv•m•:

divyam• jñ•nam• yato dady•t

kury•t p•pasya sañks•ayam

tasm•d d•ks•eti s• prokt•

deœikais tattva-kovidaih•

"By d•ks•• one gradually becomes disinterested in material enjoyment and

gradually becomes interested in spiritual life."

We have seen many practical examples of this, especially in Europe and

America. Many students who come to us from rich and respectable families

quickly

lose all interest in material enjoyment and become very eager to enter into

spiritual life. Although they come from very wealthy families, many of them

accept

living conditions that are not very comfortable. Indeed, for Kr•s•n•a's sake

they are prepared to accept any living condition as long as they can live in

the temple and associate with the Vais•n•avas. When one becomes so

disinterested in material enjoyment, he becomes fit for initiation by the

spiritual

master. For the advancement of spiritual life Œr•mad-Bh•gavatam (6.1.13)

prescribes: tapas• brahmacaryen•a œamena ca damena ca. When a person is serious

about

accepting d•ks••, he must be prepared to practice austerity, celibacy and

control of the mind and body. If one is so prepared and is desirous of

receiving

spiritual enlightenment (divyam• jñ•nam), he is fit for being initiated.

Divyam• jñ•nam is technically called tad-vijñ•na, or knowledge about the

Supreme.

Tad-vijñ•n•rtham• sa gurum ev•bhigacchet: [MU 1.2.12] when one is

interested in the transcendental subject matter of the Absolute Truth, he

should be

initiated. Such a person should approach a spiritual master in order to take

d•ks

••. Œr•mad-Bh•gavatam (11.3.21) also prescribes: tasm•d gurum• prapadyeta

jijñ•suh• œreya uttamam. "When one is actually interested in the

transcendental science of the Absolute Truth, he should approach a spiritual

master."

One should not accept a spiritual master without following his instructions.

Nor should one accept a spiritual master just to make a fashionable show of

spiritual life. One must be jijñ•su, very much inquisitive to learn from the

bona fide spiritual master. The inquiries one makes should strictly pertain to

transcendental science (jijñ•suh• œreya uttamam). The word uttamam refers to

that which is above material knowledge. Tama means "the darkness of this

material world," and ut means "transcendental." Generally people are very

interested

in inquiring about mundane subject matters, but when one has lost such

interest and is simply interested in transcendental subject matters, he is

quite fit

for being initiated. When one is actually initiated by the bona fide spiritual

master and when he seriously engages in the service of the Lord, he should be

accepted as a madhyama-adhik•r•.

The chanting of the holy names of Kr•s•n•a is so sublime that if one chants

the Hare Kr•s•n•a mah•-mantra offenselessly, carefully avoiding the ten

offenses, he can certainly be gradually elevated to the point of understanding

that there is no difference between the holy name of the Lord and the Lord

Himself. One who has reached such an understanding should be very much

respected by

neophyte devotees. One should know for certain that without chanting the holy

name of the Lord offenselessly, one cannot be a proper candidate for

advancement in Kr•s•n•a consciousness. In Œr• Caitanya-carit•mr•ta (Madhya

22.69) it

is said:

y•h•ra komala œraddh•, se 'kanis•t•ha' jana

krame krame teñho bhakta ha-ibe 'uttama'

"One whose faith is soft and pliable is called a neophyte, but by gradually

following the process, he will rise to the platform of a first-class devotee."

Everyone begins his devotional life from the neophyte stage, but if one

properly finishes chanting the prescribed number of rounds of harin•ma, he is

elevated step by step to the highest platform, uttama-adhik•r•. The Kr•s•n•a

consciousness movement prescribes sixteen rounds daily because people in the

Western countries cannot concentrate for long periods while chanting on beads.

Therefore the minimum number of rounds is prescribed. However, Œr•la

Bhaktisiddh•

nta Sarasvat• T•h•kura used to say that unless one chants at least sixty-four

rounds of japa (one hundred thousand names), he is considered fallen (patita).

According to his calculation, practically every one of us is fallen, but

because we are trying to serve the Supreme Lord with all seriousness and

without

duplicity, we can expect the mercy of Lord Œr• Caitanya Mah•prabhu, who is

famous as patita-p•vana, the deliverer of the fallen.

When Œr•la Satyar•ja Kh•n, a great devotee of Œr• Caitanya Mah•prabhu,

asked the Lord how a Vais•n•ava could be recognized, the Lord replied:

prabhu kahe, — — "y•ñra mukhe œuni eka-b•ra

kr•s•n•a-n•ma, sei p•jya, — — œres•t•ha sab•k•ra"

"If one hears a person say even once the word 'Kr•s•n•a,' that person should

be accepted as the best man out of the common group." (Cc. Madhya 15.106)

Lord Caitanya Mah•prabhu continued:

"ataeva y•ñra mukhe eka kr•s•n•a-n•ma

sei ta 'vais•n•ava, kariha t•ñh•ra samm•na"

"One who is interested in chanting the holy name of Kr•s•n•a or who by

practice likes to chant Kr•s•n•a's names should be accepted as a Vais•n•ava and

 

offered respects as such, at least within one's mind." (Cc. Madhya 15.111) One

of our friends, a famous English musician, has become attracted to chanting

the holy names of Kr•s•n•a, and even in his records he has several times

mentioned the holy name of Kr•s•n•a. At his home he offers respect to pictures

of Kr

•s•n•a and also to the preachers of Kr•s•n•a consciousness. In all

regards, he has a very high estimation for Kr•s•n•a's name and Kr•s•n•a's

activities; therefore we offer respects to him without reservation, for we are

actually seeing that this gentleman is advancing gradually in Kr•s•n•a

consciousness. Such a person should always be shown respect. The conclusion is

that anyone

who is trying to advance in Kr•s•n•a consciousness by regularly chanting the

holy name should always be respected by Vais•n•avas. On the other hand, we

have witnessed that some of our contemporaries who are supposed to be great

preachers have gradually fallen into the material conception of life because

they

have failed to chant the holy name of the Lord.

While giving instructions to San•tana Gosv•m•, Lord Caitanya Mah•prabhu

divided devotional service into three categories.

œ•stra-yukti n•hi j•ne dr•d•ha, œraddh•v•n

'madhyama-adhik•r•' sei mah•-bh•gyav•n

"A person whose conclusive knowledge of the ϥstras is not very strong but

who has developed firm faith in chanting the Hare Kr•s•n•a mah•-mantra and

who is also undeterred in the execution of his prescribed devotional service

should be considered a madhyama-adhik•r•. Such a person is very fortunate."

(Cc.

Madhya 22.67) A madhyama-adhik•r• is a œraddh•v•n, a staunchly faithful

person, and he is actually a candidate for further advancement in devotional

service. Therefore in the Caitanya-carit•mr•ta (Madhya 22.64) it is said:

œraddh•v•n jana haya bhakti-adhik•r•

'uttama', 'madhyama', 'kanis•t•ha' — — œraddh•-anus•r•

"One becomes qualified as a devotee on the elementary platform, the

intermediate platform and the highest platform of devotional service according

to the

development of his œraddh• [faith]." Again in Caitanya-carit•mr•ta (Madhya

22.62) it is said:

'œraddh•'-œabde — — viœv•sa kahe sudr•d•ha niœcaya

kr•s•n•e bhakti kaile sarva-karma kr•ta haya

" 'By rendering transcendental service to Kr•s•n•a, one automatically

performs all subsidiary activities.' This confident, firm faith, favorable to

the

discharge of devotional service, is called œraddh•." Œraddh•, faith in Kr•s•n•

a, is the beginning of Kr•s•n•a consciousness. Faith means strong faith. The

words of Bhagavad-g•t• are authoritative instructions for faithful men, and

whatever Kr•s•n•a says in Bhagavad-g•t• is to be accepted as it is, without

interpretation. This was the way Arjuna accepted Bhagavad-g•t•. After hearing

Bhagavad-g•t•, Arjuna told Kr•s•n•a: sarvam etad r•tam• manye yan m•m•

vadasi keœava. "O Kr•s•n•a, I totally accept as truth all that You have told

me." (Bg. 10.14)

This is the correct way of understanding Bhagavad-g•t•, and this is called œ

raddh•. It is not that one accepts a portion of Bhagavad-g•t• according to

his own whimsical interpretations and then rejects another portion. This is not

œ

raddh•. Œraddh• means accepting the instructions of Bhagavad-g•t• in their

totality, especially the last instruction: sarva-dharm•n parityajya m•m ekam•

œaran•am• vraja. "Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto

Me." (Bg. 18.66) When one becomes completely faithful in regard to this

instruction, one's strong faith becomes the basis for advancing in spiritual

life.

When one fully engages in chanting the Hare Kr•s•n•a mah•-mantra, he

gradually realizes his own spiritual identity. Unless one faithfully chants the

Hare

Kr•s•n•a mantra, Kr•s•n•a does not reveal Himself: sevonmukhe hi jihv•dau

svayam eva sphuraty adah•. (Bhakti-ras•mr•ta-sindhu 1.2.234) We cannot

realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead by any artificial means. We must

engage

faithfully in the service of the Lord. Such service begins with the tongue

(sevonmukhe hi jihv•dau), which means that we should always chant the holy

names

of the Lord and accept kr•s•n•a-pras•da. We should not chant or accept

anything else. When this process is faithfully followed, the Supreme Lord

reveals

Himself to the devotee.

When a person realizes himself to be an eternal servitor of Kr•s•n•a, he

loses interest in everything but Kr•s•n•a's service. Always thinking of Kr•s•n•

a, devising means by which to spread the holy name of Kr•s•n•a, he

understands that his only business is in spreading the Kr•s•n•a consciousness

movement

all over the world. Such a person is to be recognized as an uttama-adhik•r•,

and his association should be immediately accepted according to the six

processes (dad•ti pratigr•hn••ti, etc.). Indeed, the advanced uttama-adhik•r•

Vais•n•ava devotee should be accepted as a spiritual master. Everything one

possesses should be offered to him, for it is enjoined that one should deliver

whatever he has to the spiritual master. The brahmac•r• in particular is

supposed to beg alms from others and offer them to the spiritual master.

However,

one should not imitate the behavior of an advanced devotee or mah•-bh•gavata

without being self-realized, for by such imitation one will eventually become

degraded.

In this verse Œr•la R•pa Gosv•m• advises the devotee to be intelligent

enough to distinguish between the kanis•t•ha-adhik•r•, madhyama-adhik•r• and

uttama-adhik•r•. The devotee should also know his own position and should not

try to imitate a devotee situated on a higher platform. Œr•la Bhaktivinoda T•h•

kura has given some practical hints to the effect that an uttama-adhik•r•

Vais•n•ava can be recognized by his ability to convert many fallen souls to

Vais

•n•avism. One should not become a spiritual master unless he has attained

the platform of uttama-adhik•r•. A neophyte Vais•n•ava or a Vais•n•ava

situated on the intermediate platform can also accept disciples, but such

disciples

must be on the same platform, and it should be understood that they cannot

advance very well toward the ultimate goal of life under his insufficient

guidance. Therefore a disciple should be careful to accept an uttama-adhik•r•

as a

spiritual master.