Çré Guru Takes one Beyond Jïäna to Pure Devotion
1.51
evaà gurüpäsanayaika-bhaktyä
vidyä-kuöhäreëa çitena dhéraù
vivåçcya jéväçayam apramattaù
sampadya cätmänam atha tyajästram
SB 11.12.24/GKH 1.59
evam—thus (with the
knowledge I have given you); guru—of the spiritual master;
upäsanayä—developed by
worship; eka—unalloyed; bhaktyä—by loving devotional
service; vidyä—of knowledge; kuöhäreëa—by the
sword; çitena—sharp; dhéraù—one
who is steady by knowledge; vivåçcya—cutting down; jéva—of
the living entity;
äçayam—the subtle body
(filled with designations created by the three modes of
material nature); apramattaù—being very careful in
spiritual life; sampadya—
achieving; ca—and; ätmänam—the Supreme
Personality of Godhead; atha—then;
tyaja—you should give
up; astram—the means by which you achieved perfection.
With steady intelligence you should develop unalloyed
devotional service by
careful worship of the spiritual master, and with the sharp
sword of transcendental
knowledge you should cut off the subtle material covering
of the soul. Upon realizing
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, you should then lay
down the sword of
knowledge (and replace it with bhakti).
Offending the Guru is unpardonable
1.52
harau ruñöe gurus trätä / gurau ruñöe na kaçcana
tasmät sarva-prayatnena / gurum eva prasädayet
Adityä Puräëa/HBV 4.360/Bhakti San. A 237/BRSB p.
44/Arcana-dépikä p. 119/KGH (P)
harau—when Çré Hari; ruñöe—is
angered; guru—Çré Guru; trätä—delivers (one);
gurau—when Çré Guru; ruñöe—is
angered; na kaçcana—no one (can save); tasmät—
therefore; sarva-prayatnena—with all endeavour; eva—certainly;
prasädayet—one
should please; gurum—Çré Guru.
If Krishna is angry, the
spiritual master will save you. If the spiritual master is
angry, no one can save you. Therefore make all efforts to
please your spiritual master.
Even Harinäma cannot absolve offences committed against a
Vaiñëava
1.53
hari-sthäne aparädhe täre harinäma
vaiñëava-sthäne aparädhe nahika
eòäna
Offences committed at the lotus feet of Çré Hari are
absolved by harinäma. But for
offences against a Vaiñëava there is absolutely no means of
deliverance.
The bona fide spiritual master is not different from Kåñëa
1.54
sa vai priyatamaç cätmä / yato na bhayam aëv api
iti veda sa vai vidvän / yo vidvän sa gurur hariù
SB 4.29.51/GKH (P)
saù—He; ätmä—the
Supersoul; vai—certainly; priyatamaù—the most dear; ca—
also; yataù—on account of Him; na—never; bhayam—fear;
aëu—little; api—even;
iti veda—(one who)
knows; saù—he; vai—certainly; vidvän—educated; yaù—he
who; vidvän—educated; saù—he; guruù—spiritual
master; hariù—(not different
from) Çré Hari.
One who is engaged in devotional service has not the least
fear in material
existence. This is because the Supreme Personality of
Godhead is the Supersoul and
friend of everyone. One who knows this secret is actually
educated, and one thus
educated can become the spiritual master of the world. One
who is actually a bona
fide spiritual master, representative of Kåñëa, is not
different from Kåñëa.
One’s body is the boat, Guru is the captain and Çästras are
the favourable winds
1.55
nå-deham ädyaà su-labhaà su-durlabhaà
plavaà su-kalpaà guru-karëadhäram
mayänukülena nabhasvateritaà
pumän bhaväbdhià na taret sa ätma-hä
SB 11.20.17
nå—human; deham—body;
ädyam—the source of all favorable results; su-labham—
effortlessly obtained; su-durlabham—although
impossible to obtain even with great
endeavor; plavam—a boat; su-kalpam—extremely
well suited for its purpose; guru—
having the spiritual master; karëa-dhäram—as the
captain of the boat; mayä—by
Me; anukülena—with favorable; nabhasvatä—winds;
éritam—impelled; pumän—a
person; bhava—of material existence; abdhim—the
ocean; na—does not; taret—
cross over; saù—he; ätma-hä—the killer of his
own soul.
The human body, which can award all benefit in life, is
automatically obtained by
the laws of nature, although it is a very rare achievement.
This human body can be
compared to a perfectly constructed boat having the
spiritual master as the captain
and the instructions of the Personality of Godhead as
favourable winds impelling it
on its course. Considering all these advantages, a human
being who does not utilize
his human life to cross the ocean of material existence
must be considered the killer
of his own soul.
Who Thinks the Spiritual Master an Ordinary man Goes to
Hell
1.56
ärcye viñëau çilä-dhér guruñu nara-matir vaiñëave
jäti-buddhir
viñëor vä vaiñëavänäà kali-mala-mathane päda-térthe ‘mbu-buddhiù
çré-viñëor nämni mantre sakala-kaluña-he çabda-sämanya-buddhir
viñëau sarveçvare tad-itara-sama-dhér yasya vä näraké saù
Pädma Puräëa/Padyävalé 115/PJ 4.14
ärcye—worshippable
Deity; viñëau—of Lord Viñëu; çilä—as stone; dhéù—the
conception; guruñu—of the spiritual masters; nara—of being an
ordinary man;
matiù—the conception; vaiñëave—to
the vaiñëavas; jäti—of birth; buddhiù—the
conception; viñëoù—of Lord Viñëu; va—or; vaiñëavänäm—of
the Vaiñëavas; kali—
of Kali-yuga; mala—of the impurity; mathane—in
the destruction; päda—of the
feet; térthe—in the pilgrimage place; ambu—of
water; buddhiù—the conception; çréviñëoù—
of Lord Viñëu; nämni—in the name; mantre—a mantra;
sakala—all;
kaluña—impurities; he—destroying;
çabda—a sound; samanya—ordinary;
buddhiù—the
conception; viñëau—to Lord Viñëu; sarva—of all; éçvare—the
master;
tat—than Him; itara—others;
sama—equal; dhéù—the conception; yasya—of
whom; va—or; näraké—a resident of hell; saù—he.
Anyone who considers the worshippable Deity to be stone;
who considers the
Vaiñëava Guru to be a mortal man; who considers a Vaisnava
to be limited by the
confines of caste, lineage, or creed; who considers the
holy foot-wash of Lord Vishnu
(Gaìgä water), or of a Vaiñëava (caraëämåta), to be
ordinary water; who considers
the holy name (the Hare Kåñëa mahä-mantra), which
vanqishes all sins, to be
material sound vibration; and who considers the God of
gods, Lord Viñëu, to be
merely on the level of demigods—such a person is a resident
of hell.
1.57
guruñu nara-matir yasya vä näraké saù
Pädma Puräëa/KGH 1.56
One who thinks of the spiritual master as an ordinary man
is said to live in hell.
The danger of assuming the position of Guru without being
qualified
1.58
Kåpä Kara Vaiñëava Öhäkura, Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura
SGG p. 31
kåpä kara vaiñëava öhäkura
sambandha jäniyä, bhajite bhajite, abhimäna hau düra (1)
O Vaiñëava Öhäkura, please give me your mercy – knowledge
of my relationship
with Bhagavän and the ability to do bhajana, sending
my false ego far away.
‘ämi ta’ vaiñëava,’
e buddhi haile, amäné nä ha’ba ämi
pratiñöhäçä äsi’, hådaya düñibe, haiba niraya-gämé (2)
If I think “I am a Vaiñëava,” then I will never become
humble. My heart will
become contaminated with the hope of receiving honor from
others, and I will surely
go to hell.
tomära kiìkara, äpane jäniba, ‘guru’-abhimäna tyaji’
tomära ucchiñöha, pada-jala-reëu, sadä niñkapaöe bhaji (3)
Give me the mercy that I can renounce the false conception
of my being Guru and
can be your servant. Let me accept without duplicity your
remnants and your footbath
water.
‘nije çreñöha’ jäni’, ucchiñöhädi däne, ha’be
abhimäna-bhära
täi çiñya tava, thäkiyä sarvadä, nä laiba püjä kä’ra (4)
By thinking that I am superior (guru-abhimäna) and
giving my remnants to others,
I will be burdened with the weight of false pride. Let me
always identify as your
disciple and not accept worship or praise from others.
amäné mänada, haile kértane, adhikära dibe tumi
tomära caraëe, niñkapaöe ämi, kädiyä luöiba bhümi (5)
In this way I can renounce the desire for honor for myself
and can offer respect to
others. Sincerely weeping at your lotus feet and rolling on
the ground, I pray that you
will give me the ability to perform kértana purely.
Çré Guru Vandanä
1.59
näma-çreñthaà manum api çacé-pütram atra svarüpaà
rüpaà tasyägrajam uru-pürià mäthuréà goñthaväöém
rädhä-kuëòaà giri-varam aho! rädhikä-mädhaväçäà
präpto yasya prathita-kåpayä çré-guruà taà nato’smi
Çré Muktä-carita, Raghunätha däsa Gosvämé/SGG p. 6
I am fully indebted to Çré Gurudeva. Why? He has given me
so many things: the
highest conception of the holy name of Kåñëa, the highest
form of sound which
contains the highest form of thought, aspiration, ideal,
everything. And he has given me
the service of our great savior, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu,
and His dearmost assistant,
Svarüpa Dämodara. He has brought me in connection with Çré
Rüpa, who was ordered
to distribute the heart’s
innermost dealings, the highest devotional love, rägänugä-
bhakti. Gurudeva has
given me Çréla Sanätana Goswämé, who gives us sambandhajïäna,
a proper understanding of our relationship with Çré Kåñëa,
and he has given me
Mathurä Maëòala, which will help me in my remembrance of
Rädhä and Govinda
wherever I shall cast my glance. By his grace Gurudeva has
revealed the superexcellent
position of Rädhä-kunda, the favorite place of Rädhä and
Govinda for Their pastimes
and this Giriräja Govardhäna. Lastly, he has given me the
hope that one day I can get
the service of Çré Çré Rädhikä and Mädhava. I have been
given all these assurances by
my Gurudeva, so I bow my head with all my respects to his
lotus feet.
Çréla B.R. Çrédhara Gosvämé Mahärajä: If we are conscious of all these spiritual
matters, we can think that we have approached our Gurudeva
properly. What is our
Guru? What is his mission? It is filled with all these
things. Devoid of that, what is
our interest?
Çré Guru Praëäma
1.60
mükaà karoti väcälaà / paìguà laìghayate girim
yat-kåpä tam ahaà vande / çré-guruà déna-täraëam
Bhavärtha Dipikä, Maìgala Stotram 1/ CC Mad 17.80/ Gétä
Dhyänaà 8
mükam—a dumb man; karoti—makes;
väcälam—an eloquent speaker; paìgum—a
lame man; langhayate—cause to cross over; girim—a
mountain; yat-kåpä—whose
mercy; tam—unto Him; aham—I; vande—offer
obeisances; çré gurum—(my)
spiritual master; déna—the fallen and destitude; täraëam—delivers.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master,
the deliverer of all fallen
souls, whose mercy turns the dumb into eloquent speakers,
and enables the lame to
cross mountains.
1.61
namas te gurudeväya sarva-siddhi-pradäyine
sarva-maìgala-rüpäya sarvänanda-vidhäyine
SGG p. 6
I offer praëäma unto Çréla Gurudeva who is the
embodiment of all auspiciousness
and who bestows all spiritual perfection and happiness.
Vijïapti
1.62
he çré-guro jïäna-da déna-bandho svänanda-dätaù
karuëaika-sindho
våndävanäséna hitävatära praséda rädhä-praëaya-pracära
Arcana Paddhati/SGG p. 7
O Gurudeva! You bestow transcendental knowledge, you are
the friend of the
fallen, you bestow the spiritual
bliss which exists within your own heart, you are an
ocean of mercy, you reside in Våndävana, you are the
incarnation of auspiciousness,
and you preach about Çrématé Rädhikä’s love for Kåñëa.
Please be merciful to me.
1.63
träyasva bho jagannätha guro saàsära-vahninä
dagdhaà mäà käla-dañöaà ca tväm ahaà çaraëaà gataù
Çré Hari-bhakti-vilasa 101, Gopal Bhaööa Gosvämi/SGG p. 7
träyasva—save; bhaù—O;
jagannätha—master of the worlds; guro—O spiritual
master; saàsära-vahninä—by the fire of repeated
birth and death; dagdham—
burned; mäm—me; käla—by time; dañöam—bitten;
ca—and; tväm—you; aham—I;
çaraëam—to the
shelter; gataù—gone.
“O Gurudeva, master of this world! Seeing that material
existence is like a blazing
forest fire which resembles the devouring teeth of
Yamaräja, I take shelter of you and
appeal to you for deliverance.” [or] “O spiritual master, O
master of the worlds, please
rescue me, who am bitten by time and burned by the flames
of repeated birth and
death. I surrender to you and take shelter of you.”
Çré Guru-Rüpa-Sakhé Praëäma
1.64
rädhä-sammukha-saàsaktià sakhé-saìga-niväsiném
täm ahaà satataà vande guru-rüpäà paräà sakhém
Båhat-bhakti-tattva-sära/SGG p. 7
aham—I; satatam—perpetually;
vande—offer praise; täm—to that; guru-rüpäm—
form of Çré Guru; paräm—(as) the supreme; sakhém—maïjaré
friend (of Çrématé
Rädhikä); saàsaktém—fully attached; rädhä-sammukha—to
the company of Çré
Rädhä; nivasinam—dwelling; sakhé-saìga—in the
association of Her sakhés.
I forever worship my Guru who in his form as an exalted sakhé
maïjaré is happily
immersed in the company of Çrématé Rädhikä and the other sakhés.
A prayer of longing for Çré Guru
1.65
tvaà gopikä våña-raves tanayäntike ‘si
sevädhikäriëi guro nija-päda-padme
däsyaà pradäya kuru mäà vraja-känane çrérädhäìghri-
sevana-rase sukhinéà sukhäbdhau
Stava Kalpadruma, Raghunätha däsa Gosvämé
tvaà—You; asi—you are; gopikä—a gopé, beloved; antike—nearby;
tanayä—the
daughter; våña-raveù—of King Våñabhänu; sevä-adhikäriëi—You
are encharged with
Her service; guro—O Çré Guru; pradäya—please
bestow; däsyaà—service; nija-pädapadme—
at your own lotus feet; kuru—make; mäà— me; sukhiném—happy;
vrajakänane—
in the forest
of Vraja; çré-rädhäìghri—Çré-Rädhä’s
lotus feet; sukhäbdhau—
in the ocean of ecstatic bliss; sevana-rase—of the rasa
of service to Her;
“O Gurudeva! You are the gopékä beloved of Çrématé
Rädhikä. You are immersed
in an ocean of bliss and you can award transcendental
service to Her. Please bestow
upon me the shelter of your lotus feet so that I too can be
ecstatically engaged in Her
transcendental service in the kuïjas of Vraja.”
~ Guru-tattva – Other
Definitions ~
1.66
Gu – darkness,
andhakar, ignorance; samsarik äsakti, attachment to the physical
and mental plane, to material existence.
Ru – light; he who
enlightens, who removes that attachment, who takes one from
the darkness of ignorance to the light of spiritual
realisation.
Sad-guru (sat means
real, eternal) – A genuine, bona fide Guru, fully conversant
with çästra, completely self-realised (having
realised his svarüpa and Çré Kåñëa’s
svarüpa), serving in
the nitya-léla, and being completely devoid of material desires or
any self-interest. Sad-guru is acintya-bhedäbheda
prakäça vigraha, the inconceivable
different and non-different worshipable manifestation of
the Lord.
Dékñä-guru –
Initiating or mantra-guru; Kåñëa’s rüpa (form); Kåñëa’s very
self; He
who helps establishing one’s relationship with Kåñëa by
giving sambandha jïäna in
the form of the dékñä-mantra.
[Editorial note: Unless the Guru has realised his svarüpa
(siddha-deha), he cannot
give dékñä. This is because at dékñä the Guru
is supposed to bestow the disciple’s
svarüpa in a seed form
within the dékñä-mantra. If the Guru cannot see his disciple’s
svarüpa, then the mantra
he gives cannot produce the desired perfection.]
Çikñä-guru –
Instructing Guru; Kåñëa’s svarüpa (personality); Kåñëa’s intrinsic
nature. The person from whom one receives instructions on
how to progress on the
path of bhajana.
Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura: Even for Vaiñëavas who are duly initiated into the
genuine sampradäya, the vastu-prabhä, or
illumination of one’s eternal identity
(svarüpa) arising from their dikñä-mantra which
they received from their dikñä-guru,
will not appear until they receive this svarüpa-jïäna by
the mercy of a çikñä-guru.
(BTV p. 49)
Çravaëa-guru – The
person from whom one hears about the fundamental truths
of Bhagavän. The çravana-guru and
çikñä-guru is usually the same person.
Samañöi-guru – Akhanda
(undivided) guru-tattva, Balaräma or Nityänanda
Prabhu (in one sense He is Guru and in another He is
Bhagavän himself). Guru-tattva
is one, but appears in many forms (just as Kåñëa is one but
appears in many forms).
Vyasti-guru – One’s
individual Guru or the Supersoul (the expansion of
Nityänanda, the original Guru).
Vartma-pradarçaka-guru –
He who first gives kmowledge about spiritual life,
introduces one to the path of bhakti, or leads one
to sad-guru (eg. Dhruva’s
Mahäräja’s mother, Bilvamaìgala Öhäkura’s Cintämaëi).
Harinäma-guru – He who
gives harinäma (technically, he is not the initiating
Guru, because initiation is by dékñä, not by näma.
Çréla Jéva Gosvämé writes, “As
illustrated by Dhruva’s history, the acceptance of dékñä
is absolutely necessary in
order to perform the sädhana and bhajana for
realising Çré Bhagavän.” [BS 27, Öékä]).
Sannyäsa-guru – The
Guru who gives sannyäsa and gopé-bhäva mantra. The
sannyäsa Guru is not
less important than the dékñä Guru, since the gopé-bhäva
mantra is an
invitation to enter Rädhä-Kåñëa lélä. Unless one receives the mantra
aurally from a fully self-realised, rasika, tattva-jïä Vaiñëava,
the mantra will not
produce the desired perfection.
Bhägavata-guru – The
Guru who can give the internal meaning of Bhägavatam,
(i.e. Rädhä-däsyam). The Bhägavata-Guru, çikñä
line, is superior to the Païcarätric,
dékñä line. See BPKG
Biography p. 298: ‘The charm and superiority of the Bhägavata-
Guru paramparä‘.
Rasika-guru – one who
is able to relish bhakti-rasa within his heart. At the stage
of bhäva, a bhakta’s heart becomes infused with çuddha-sattva
from the heart of one
of Kåñëa’s eternal associates in Vraja (the sad-guru).
This çuddha-sattva is then
known as kåñëa-rati, the first dawning of divine
love (prema). When this permanent
sentiment of love combines with other ecstatic emotions, it
generates the unique
experience of bhakti-rasa. One who is eligible to
taste this rasa is known as a rasika-
Vaiñëava. A sad-guru
must be at least in the stage of bhäva, otherwise he cannot
bestow çuddha-sattva.
The relation between Sad-guru and Sat-çiñya – One who follows Çré Guru’s
instructions completely and surrenders at his lotus feet.
The key for one who aspires
to become a real disciple is humility and çaranägati; and
he must be in änugatya
(under the guidance of a living sad-guru), otherwise
Rädhä-Kåñëa will not accept
any service he performs or anything he offers. Without
being in änugatya – taking
shelter of and being under the guidance of Çré Guru, sad-guru,
a bona fide Guru (in
one of the four bona fide sampradäyas, as mentioned
in 1.49)– one’s devotional
practice will inevitably deviate from the path of pure bhakti.
One must always be
under the guidance of a living sad-guru (who may be
a çikñä Guru). One may
understand the external, apparent consideration in relation
to the instructions of
çästra and Guru (apara-vicara),
but one is bound to misunderstand the absolute,
internal consideration (tattva-vicara). Being a conditioned
soul and being devoid of
the guidance of a living sad-guru, one is bound to
stray into deviations and
misconceptions and may lose his bhakti
altogether.
Kåñëa never rejects a jéva who comes to Him, but He
allows the jéva the free will
to turn away from Him and serve mäyä. Similarly, Çré
Guru never rejects a disciple,
but allows the disciple the free will to turn away and
serve mäyä.
Çré Guru displays simultaneously and inconceivably both mugdhatä
(the state of
being bewildered) and sarva-jïätä (the state
of being omnicient). He is mugdhatä out
of sheer mercy, so that we can follow in his footsteps,
relate to him as one of us
conditioned souls, and have affectionate dealings devoid of
aiçvarya. He is sarvajïätä,
otherwise he would not be the direct representative of
Kåñëa, capable of
taking us out of mäyä and into the forest groves of
Vraja.
Çré Guru knows how to make his disciple qualified for
chanting çuddha-näma. He
has controlled Kåñëa by his pure love and service to
Çrématé Rädhikä and can bestow
that mood of pure love for Rädhä-Kåñëa upon us.
Çré Guru is simultaneously Nityänanda prakäña and
the direct manifestation of
Kåñëa’s mercy, that is, Çrématé Rädhäräné. Without being
sanctioned by Her, no one can
be a genuine Guru (one cannot be voted by an assembly of
conditioned souls into being
a Guru). Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Prabhupäda said, “Çré
Gurudeva is non-different from
Çrématé Rädhikä.” Only a pure devotee, Çré Guru, can
recognize and acknowledge
another Çré Guru.
We all belong to Kåñëa, but He belongs to Çrématé Rädhikä.
We are all controlled
by Kåñëa, but He is controlled by Rädhikä, and by Her mäïjarés.
They appear in this
world as Çré Guru, the direct manifestation of Her mercy
upon the jévas.
Çré Guru means the Guru who is an intimate (maïjaré)
maidservant of Çré,
Çrématé Rädhikä. Çré Guru also means the Guru who has çré
— unnatojjvala-rasäà
sva-bhakti-çréyam, the
most exalted and radiant rasa (mellow of love) for Kåñëa. This
refers to parakiya-rasa-bhakti, mädhurya-rasa.
Sva-bhakti-çréyam refers to the beauty
of Çrématé Rädhikä’s moods. These moods are reflected in
Her pälya-däsés, the
maïjarés. Who has this
çréyam, the beauty of the bhävas of Rädhikä? The maïjarés,
especially Çré Rüpa Maïjaré. One who is absorbed in this
mood, who is endowed with
this mood and who can bestow this mood, is called Çré Guru.
Çréla Gurudeva will perform an operation on the heart of a
surrendered disciple, a
heart that is black with the dirt of lust, anger and greed.
He will make it pure and soft
and fragrant, a perfect kuïja for Çré Rädhä-Kåñëa to
manifest Their pastimes.
A living sad-guru is absolutely essential. Therefore
the åtvik position is untenable
and incompatible with Guru-tattva. Çréla Swämé Prabhupäda
has stated innumerable
times that one has to hear from the lips of a pure devotee.
Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta
Sarasvaté Prabhupäda said, “We have to hear about the
Supreme Lord from His own
agent. When we hear those things, then all material
experience and the inclination
to make false arguments have to be locked up. When we hear
about the Supreme
Lord from a living sädhu who can deliver these talks
in a bold, lively, inspiring way,
then all weakness will disappear from our hearts, we will
feel a kind of courage which
was never there before, and the soul’ñ natural tendency to
surrender to the Lord will
fully manifest itself. In that surrendered heart the
eternally manifested truth of the
transcendental world will
spontaneously reveal itself.”
The lotus feet of Çré Gurudeva are the treasure-house of
Çré (Çrématé Rädhikä)
1.67
Çré Guru-Caraëa-Padma, Çréla Narottama däsa Öhäkura (SGG p.
24)
çré guru-caraëa-padma, kevala bhakati-sadma,
vando mui sävadhäna-mate
jähära prasäde bhäi, e bhava tariyä jäi,
kåñëa-präpti haya jähä ha’te (1)
The lotus feet of Çré Gurudeva are the treasure-house of çré,
unalloyed premabhakti
for Kåñëa. I very carefully worship and serve those lotus
feet (gurupäda
padma). By his mercy,
O brother, anyone can cross over this vast ocean of misery and
attain the lotus feet of Çré Kåñëa.
guru-mukha-padma-väkya, cittete kariyä aikya,
ära nä kariha mane äçä
çré guru-caraëe rati, ei se uttamä gati,
je prasäde püre sarva äçä (2)
The words emanating from the lotus mouth of Çré Gurudeva
should be embraced
within the heart. No aspiration beyond his words should
enter because his
instructions bring one to the highest goal – rati,
or attachment for his lotus feet. By
his grace all of our desires for spiritual perfection are
fulfilled.
cakñu-däna dilä jei, janme janme prabhu sei,
divya-jïäna håde prakäçita
prema-bhakti jähä haite, avidyä vinäça jäte,
vede gäya jähära carita (3)
He gives me the gift of transcendental vision and
enlightens my heart with divine
knowledge. He is my master birth after birth. From him
emanates prema-bhakti,
divine loving devotion, by which ignorance is destroyed.
The Vedic scriptures sing of
his character.
çré guru karuëä-sindhu, adhama janära bandhu,
lokanätha lokera jévana
hä hä prabhu! kara dayä, deha more pada-chäyä,
tuwä pade lainu çaraëa (or)
narottama loinu çaraëa
[ebe yaça ghuñuka
tribhuvana] (4)
Çré Gurudeva is the ocean of mercy, the greatest friend of
the shelterless, the life
and soul of everyone! (O Lokanätha! You are the life of
this world). O master, be
merciful! Alas, Gurudeva, give me the shade of your lotus
feet – at your feet I have
surrendered (Narottama takes shelter of you). [Now your
fame shall be spread all
over the three worlds]
O gurudeva! Your mercy is the essence of my existence
1.68
Gurudeva! Kåpä-Bindu Diyä, Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura (SGG
p. 23)
gurudeva!
kåpä-bindu diyä, kara ei däse, tåëäpekñä ati héna
sakala sahane, bala diyä kara,
nija-mäne spåhä-héna (1)
Gurudeva! Give me a drop of mercy – make this servant more
humble than a blade
of grass. Give me the strength to tolerate all
eventualities. Let me not hanker for my
own honor and fame.
sakale sammäna, karite çakati,
deha nätha! yathäyatha
tabe ta’ gäiba, harinäma sukhe,
aparädha ha’be hata (2)
Give me the power to honor all living entities according to
what they are due (and
all Vaiñëavas as befitting their platform). Then I will be
able to chant the holy names
blissfully, and all my offenses will be vanquished!
kabe hena kåpä, labhiyä e jana,
kåtärtha haibe nätha!
çakti-buddhi-héna, ämi ati déna,
kara more ätma-sätha (3)
O my master! When will I be benedicted with your mercy and
finally be successful
in my life? I am so fallen that I have no strength or intelligence.
Kindly take me into
your association.
yogyatä-vicäre, kichu nähi päi,
tomära karuëä sära
karuëä nä haile, kändiyä kändiyä,
präëa nä räkhiba ära (4)
If I examine myself, I find no good qualities; Your mercy
is the essence of my existence.
If you are not merciful, then bitterly weeping I will no
longer maintain my life.
Thus ends the 1st chapter –
Guru tattva
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My
humble salutations to the lotus feet of Swami jis great Devotees , Philosophic
Scholars, Purebhakti dot com for
the collection)
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