Understanding Krsna Is A Labor Of Love

July 5, 2003

The true meaning to the Vedic literature is hidden to the academics scholars, therefore we can not change Srila Prabhupada's books to suit our ideas of what is academically correct. One has to hear the transcendental message from a pure devotee only, through disciplic succession, as is enjoined in the scriptures. That is the importance of disciplic succession. The acaryas are pure, perfectly liberated souls, whose very instructions are identical with those of Supersoul. So there is no mistake.

There is no scope whatsoever to improve on his writings because of some material analysis on the part of his conditioned disciples or nondevotees. As disciples of Srila Prabhupada, we accept whatever he wrote in his translations to be exact and perfectly correct because he is, as explained in the shastras, the external manifestation of Supersoul, and therefore he is beyond error.

Srila Prabhupada is writing only what Krsna is dictating. So these phrases to which some are referring to as sexists are correct also. Because Srila Prabhupada is the confidential servant of Krsna, whatever he has written as Krsna's words are in fact Krsna's words. That is the faith of the devotee and disciple who understands the relationship between Krsna and the pure devotee who is speaking on His behalf. As explained before, "For one who has explicit faith in the pure devotee spiritual master and in Krsna, all the purports to the Vedic literature are revealed". If we think otherwise about Srila Prabhupada, that he can make mistakes and we should correct them, then we are not understanding the process of hearing thru disciplic succession, and may be seeing him as an ordinary man. I do not need to elaborate on that mistake. Srila Prabhupada is not writing the Bhagavad-gita as a scholar, but he is the transparent via media for Krsna to speak to us through him.

So we can be confident that just by submissively hearing the verses exactly as he has given us in his Bhagavad-gita As It Is , or in other scriptures, or lectures, or everything--all of his speaking, we can understand them perfectly, without any need for further academic or scholarly study or exercise. Param para is not like the academic study of the materialists. It is through submissive hearing that our realizations come--not by speculation, analysis, or academics. It is a labor of love. Out of Love for Krsna, we continously want to hear His instructions in the Bhagavad-gita. And out of His love for His devotee and his causless mercy, He sends his representative to us, and then He kindly reveals the understanding of everything from within our heart, being pleased with the sincere devotee.

Our philosophy is that we can only understand Krsna by pleasing and serving the pure devotee guru. That is from where our success comes, our success in developing love of God. Other kinds of success like liberation, etc., may come from other methods of spiritual endeavor, but in our line of Bhakti we do not follow these other processes. The ultimate success is Krsna consciousness, love of Krsna. And Krsna is the property of the pure devotee. So only if we approach the pure devotee guru with great submission, in the mood of great fools, and render humble, menial service, and hope for his blessing upon us by our teeny but sincere efforts to serve him--only then can we ever hope to approach the highest goal, pure Krsna consciousness. So, if others do not accept our beloved spirtual masters words as perfectly bonefide, that is ok. Our job is to educate the submissive inquirer, to pass along this perfect teaching to the next generation, to those who also want to develop their devotional service and who accept Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is stated in the purports of the First Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam that in order for there to be successful transmission of transcendental knowledge, there are required two things. The first is that the speaker must be qualified. That means that he must be in disciplic succession and he is passing the message along intact, with no omissions or adding anything. But the second requirement must be met as well, according to Srila Prabhupada in the book mentioned above, and that is the hearer must be submissive. So what is the point of trying to prove everything to those who are not actually interested in developing a better understanding of Krsna? We are not interested in debates and arguments only. We are interested in giving Krsna to others, to the innocent.

Hoping this finds you well, Mahananda dasa