Master and Servant

November 27, 2009

By

Baladeva Dasa

We are encouraged to search for Krsna, yet we should never forget that on our

own we can never find Him. It is He that must come to us. The path of bhakti is

a descending process. It is super-subjective – it always has been and always

will be. In the words of the German philosopher Hegel, “He is for Himself and

by Himself”.

aham sarvasya prabhavo

mattah sarvam pravartate

" I am the cause of everything. Everything comes from Me. Mattah sarvam

pravartate – and everything is coming out of Me. Even search about Me also

comes from Me, worship of Me is coming from Me, I am worshiping Myself and I am

showing it to you all. " (Gita 10.8)

nayam atma pravacanena labhyo

na medhaya na bahuna srutena

yam evaisa vrnute tena labhyas

tasyaisa atma vivrnute tanuh svam

" The Supreme Lord is not obtained by expert explanations, by vast intelligence,

or even by much hearing. He is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To

such a person, He manifests His own form. " (Katha Up. 1.2.23)

In the words of Srila Sridhara Maharaja:

" This one path we recommend. By His grace we can know Him - no other

alternative. Yam evaisa vrnute tena labhyas. Whoever is graced by His selection

The only path, the srota path – grace, krpa – that is the way. "

But how do we qualify to attain that krpa? If we seek after His service, then

He may come to us. We learn this from the example of Maharaja Prataparudra, who

desired the darsana of Mahaprabhu but was refused even when Sarvabhauma

Bhattacarya requested the Lord. Yet when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu witnessed the

king's affection for Ramananda Raya and saw his humble service attitude at the

Ratha-yatra festival, He at once granted him His association and service.

..

== THE KEY ==

trnad api sunicena

taror api sahisnuna

amanina manadena

kirtaniyah sada harih

" One can chant the Holy Name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking

himself lower than the straw in the street. One should be more tolerant than the

tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and ready to offer all respects to

others. ln such a state of mind one can chant the Holy Name of the Lord

constantly. " (Siksastaka 3)

Srila Sridhara Maharaja says:

" Our attitude in the search for Sri Krsna should be that we are most unfit.

This is the qualification for the finite to approach the Infinite. To think

ourselves qualified is a disqualification in our search after the infinite. We

may take the Name of the Lord, the divine sound, but the process is such that we

must be mindful to that. Otherwise, our search will be in vain; our attempt will

be lost. What will be the attitude? Trnad api sunicena – we must think of

ourselves as the meanest of the mean, the humblest of the humble. Sincere. Our

forbearance must have no limit. "

" We should be conscious that hindrances and obstacles are almost sure to attack

us, but we must deal with them with humility and forbearance. Slow and steady

wins the race. Our march towards the infinite is a long journey, not to be

finished within a few hours, a few days or a few years. "

In most instances, we see that generally a jiva takes many lifetimes to reach

perfection. Though at first this may sound harsh and unpleasant, it is consoling

to notice that the grace of the all-merciful Lord never ceases and the spiritual

assets of the progressing jiva are never lost under any circumstances. Those

that are spiritually advanced can feel that He is there. He is our best friend

and He is in the background of everything.

tyaktva sva-dharmam caranambujam harer

bhajann apakvo ’tha patet tato yadi

yatra kva vabhadram abhud amusya kim

ko vartha apto ’bhajatam sva-dharmatah

" One who has forsaken his material occupations to engage in the devotional

service of the Lord may sometimes fall down while in an immature stage, yet

there is no danger of his being unsuccessful. On the other hand, a non-devotee,

though fully engaged in occupational duties, does not gain anything. " (Bhag.

1.5.17)

Sometimes the mercy of the Supreme Lord may take an apparently unpleasant form,

as in the story of the great devotee Citraketu, who had to take birth as a

demon. However, his previous knowledge and application of that transcendental

knowledge was not lost. Though Citraketu was so powerful that he was quite

competent to curse mother Parvati in retaliation, he did not do so. Instead, he

very humbly accepted her curse and bowed his head before Lord Siva and his wife.

This is appreciated as the standard behavior of a Vaisnava.

" Our guardians have told us that this attitude of humility must be maintained

at all times, in all that we do – taking the Name, cooking for the Lord's

pleasure, cleaning the temple, hearing or speaking of Him. It is like adding

salt to a preparation – it will give us the proper result since only then are

our devotional activities ‘palatable’ to Him. He may then be pleased and

thus we may achieve the goal of our life – going back to Godhead. "

" Yam evaisa vrnute – only one way, appointment must come from that quarter.

The visa can only be granted by that domain. The passport officers are helpless,

they cannot give any visa. It must come from the other world. Yam evaisa vrnute

tena labhyas – yes, you may come in, you are desirable. That sort of visa is

compulsory, before entering that land. " (Srila Sridhara Maharaja)

..

== THE VISA ==

Faith, surcharged with an attitude of eagerness to please Him, is the only

means through which we can attempt to approach Him, and then – and only then,

He may manifest Himself.

“Sraddha, sadhu-sanga, serving tendency—that is the visa.” As we have

heard, Srila Sridhara Maharaja is the one who gives the visa. We may ask: Who is

the appointed consul? There may be a number of them – just as one country has

a number of representatives posted in various countries. But, at least for us,

it is quite clear – it is our guru. Our only concern should be, “How can I

please him?” For if I please him, then even though I may be disqualified in so

many ways, I still have a chance for that krpa – just as Amogha was told by

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

" You are the object of My affection because you are the son-in-law of

Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. Everyone in Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya's house is very

dear to Me, including his maids and servants and even his dog. And what to speak

of his relatives? " (Cc. Madhya 15.283-284)

..

== WHO SERVES WHOM? ==

" Externally disciples seem to be the servant, but internally we consider guru

is the servant of so many disciples. He tries to make them fit for the service

of Krsna, just as when you go to the temple to worship with certain things, so

many things are cleaned in such a way that it may be acceptable by Krsna. So

guru is also serving, he is helping so many persons so they may be fit to serve

Krsna. He is rendering service to so many. " (Srila Sridhara Maharaja)

On the other side, there are some gurus who take service from their disciples

while thinking of themselves as guru, as Srila Puri Maharaja said, “If you

think that you are a guru – you are a gauru, a cow.”

Taking the position of a guru inspired by false ego, for cheap adoration, or to

exploit others by taking donations, or for any other ulterior motive (subtle or

gross) other than to guide souls in their search for Krsna is very wrong!

guravo bahavah santi

sisya vittapaharakah

durlabhah sad-guru devi

sisya santapa-harakah

" O goddess, there are many gurus who are expert at taking away the money of

their disciples, but a real guru who is expert at taking away the miseries of

his disciples, is very rare. " (Padma Purana)

Such an attitude of exploitation can never satisfy Krsna, nor can it benefit

the jiva who is supposed to be a recipient of the highest truth. Such a jiva is

then bereft of his eternal prospect. The charlatan who poses as a guru will

never be given entrance into that highest realm, for the eternal associates of

Sri Krsna will bar his entrance there. It is a conscious world and nothing can

pass unnoticed by them. Those agents are on high alert so that no unqualified

person can disturb the pastimes of the Lord.

It is very unfortunate that this kind of posturing can be seen in Vaisnava

society today.

Accepting the position of an acarya is not a light matter and should be taken

up only by the instruction of a higher agent directly or via inspiration. If an

individual has truly been inspired by a divine agent or has been inspired by

maya to live in a fools paradise—this will be shown in his words and deeds. As

the saying goes, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

..

== THE BEST SERVANT ==

Though he is our guardian and master, simultaneously Sri Guru is the best

servant.

na ca tasman manusyesu

kascin me priya-krttamah

bhavita na ca me tasmad

anyah priyataro bhuvi

" One who is explaining this secret of Bhagavad-gita to My devotees, that person

he is priya-krttamah – he is most dear to Me. Gita is my most favorite thing,

and he who distributes the inner meaning of Gita is the most favorite to Me. He

who continues the line of Gita to the public, he is My best devotee. " (Gita

18.69)

While serving his guardians and serving us by presenting us with many

invaluable instructions and insights through his spoken and written word, our

Divine Master has received recognition from the higher agents, as well as from a

number of nirupadhi Vaisnavas—those free from malice.

The spoken word, sound—this is the method by which a genuine Vaisnava and

acarya is recognized. In the same way, those that are not properly situated in

guru-tattva are revealed by the medium of sound and are then checked by those

genuine agents.

Furthermore, due to his good-hearted nature and infinite kindness, Srila Guru

Maharaja always thinks of our ultimate good, although he has been used and

abused a number of times. In spite of all these personal ‘injuries,’ our

Gurudeva does not stop giving and trusting.

As a result of his selfless sacrifice, Sri Guru creates a unique association of

sincere, loving and caring individuals who are genuinely advanced in spiritual

life. We consider ourselves truly fortunate for having the privilege of

association and service of such Vaisnavas.

View online as html:[ http://www.gosai.com/krishna-talk/99-master-and-servant.html ]At the present moment our minds are polluted with the dirt accumulated over millions and millions of lifetimes of sense gratification. Even though our original pure nature is eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss, due to our mental contamination we are presently suffering in the realm of temporality, ignorance, and misery. By the purificatory process of chanting the holy names of God we can revive our original, pure nature and thus relish the sweetest happiness at every minute.

Chant:Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare HareHare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare