Adi1.20

TEXT 20

granthera arambhe kari ’mangalacarana’

guru, vaisnava, bhagavan,--tinera smarana

SYNONYMS

granthera—of this book; arambhe—in the beginning; kari—I make; mangala-acarana—auspicious invocation; guru—the spiritual master; vaisnava—the devotees of the Lord; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; tinera—of these three; smarana—remembering.

TRANSLATION

In the beginning of this narration, simply by remembering the spiritual master, the devotees of the Lord, and the Personality of Godhead, I have invoked their benedictions.

Adi1.21

TEXT 21

tinera smarane haya vighna-vinasana

anayase haya nija vanchita-purana

SYNONYMS

tinera—of these three; smarane—by remembrance; haya—there is; vighna-vinasana—the destruction of all difficulties; anayase—very easily; haya—there is; nija—our own; vanchita—of the desired object; purana—fulfillment.

TRANSLATION

Such remembrance destroys all difficulties and very easily enables one to fulfill his own desires.

Adi1.22

TEXT 22

se mangalacarana haya tri-vidha prakara

vastu-nirdesa, asirvada, namaskara

SYNONYMS

se—that; mangala-acarana—auspicious invocation; haya—is; tri-vidha—three kinds; prakara—processes; vastu-nirdesa—defining the object; asih-vada—benedictions; namah-kara—obeisances.

TRANSLATION

The invocation involves three processes: defining the objective, offering benedictions and offering obeisances.

Adi1.23

TEXT 23

prathama dui sloke ista-deva-namaskara

samanya-visesa-rupe dui ta’ prakara

SYNONYMS

prathama—in the first; dui—two; sloke—verses; ista-deva—worshipable Deity; namaskara—obeisances; samanya—generally; visesa-rupe—and specifically; dui—two; ta’-certainly; prakara—ways.

TRANSLATION

The first two verses offer respectful obeisances, generally and specifically, to the Lord, who is the object of worship.

Adi1.24

TEXT 24

trtiya slokete kari vastura nirdesa

yaha ha-ite jani para-tattvera uddesa

SYNONYMS

trtiya slokete—in the third verse; kari—I make; vastura—of the object; nirdesa—indication; yaha ha-ite—from which; jani—I understand; para-tattvera—of the Absolute Truth; uddesa—identification.

TRANSLATION

In the third verse I indicate the Absolute Truth, who is the ultimate substance. With such a description, one can visualize the Supreme Truth.

Adi1.25

TEXT 25

caturtha slokete kari jagate asirvada

sarvatra magiye krsna-caitanya-prasada

SYNONYMS

caturtha—fourth; slokete—in the verse; kari—I make; jagate—for the world; asih-vada—benediction; sarvatra—everywhere; magiye—I am begging; krsna-caitanya—of Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu; prasada—the mercy.

TRANSLATION

In the fourth verse I have invoked the benediction of the Lord upon all the world, praying to Lord Caitanya for His mercy upon all.

Adi1.26

TEXT 26

sei sloke kahi bahyavatara-karana

panca sastha sloke kahi mula-prayojana

SYNONYMS

sei sloke—in that same verse; kahi—I tell; bahya—the external; avatara—for the incarnation of Lord Caitanya; karana—reason; panca—the fifth; sastha—and the sixth; sloke—in the verses; kahi—I tell; mula—the prime; prayojana—purpose.

TRANSLATION

In that verse I have also explained the external reason for Lord Caitanya’s incarnation. But in the fifth and sixth verses I have explained the prime reason for His advent.

Adi1.27

TEXT 27

ei chaya sloke kahi caitanyera tattva

ara panca sloke nityanandera mahattva

SYNONYMS

ei—these; chaya—six; sloke—in verses; kahi—I describe; caitanyera—of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu; tattva—truth; ara—further; panca sloke—in five verses; nityanandera—of Lord Nityananda; mahattva—the glory.

TRANSLATION

In these six verses I have described the truth about Lord Caitanya, whereas in the next five I have described the glory of Lord Nityananda.

Adi1.28

TEXT 28

ara dui sloke advaita-tattvakhyana

ara eka sloke panca-tattvera vyakhyana

SYNONYMS

ara—further; dui sloke—in two verses; advaita—of Sri Advaita Prabhu; tattva—of the truth; akhyana—description; ara—further; eka sloke—in one verse; panca-tattvera—of the Panca-tattva; vyakhyana—explanation.

TRANSLATION

The next two verses describe the truth of Advaita Prabhu, and the following verse describes the Panca-tattva [the Lord, His plenary portion, His incarnation, His energies and His devotees].

Adi1.29

TEXT 29

ei caudda sloke kari mangalacarana

tanhi madhye kahi saba vastu-nirupana

SYNONYMS

ei caudda sloke—in these fourteen verses; kari—I make; mangala-acarana—auspicious invocation; tanhi—therefore in that; madhye—within; kahi—I speak; saba—all; vastu—object; nirupana—description.

TRANSLATION

These fourteen verses, therefore, offer auspicious invocations and describe the Supreme Truth.

Adi1.30

TEXT 30

saba srota-vaisnavere kari’ namaskara

ei saba slokera kari artha-vicara

SYNONYMS

saba—all; srota—hearers or audience; vaisnavere—unto the Vaisnavas; kari’-offering; namaskara—obeisances; ei saba slokera—of all these (fourteen) verses; kari—I make; artha—of the meaning; vicara—analysis.

TRANSLATION

I offer my obeisances unto all my Vaisnava readers as I begin to explain the intricacies of all these verses.

Adi1.31

TEXT 31

sakala vaisnava, suna kari’ eka-mana

caitanya-krsnera sastra-mata-nirupana

SYNONYMS

sakala—all; vaisnava—O devotees of the Lord; suna—please hear; kari’-making; eka-mana—rapt attention; caitanya—Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu; krsnera—of Lord Sri Krsna; sastra—scriptural reference; mata—according to; nirupana—decision.

TRANSLATION

I request all my Vaisnava readers to read and hear with rapt attention this narration of Sri Krsna Caitanya as inculcated in the revealed scriptures.

PURPORT

Lord Caitanya is the Absolute Truth, Krsna Himself. This is substantiated by evidence from the authentic spiritual scriptures. Sometimes people accept a man as God on the basis of their whimsical sentiments and without reference to the revealed scriptures, but the author of Caitanya-caritamrta proves all his statements by citing the sastras. Thus he establishes that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Adi1.32

TEXT 32

krsna, guru, bhakta, sakti, avatara, prakasa

krsna ei chaya-rupe karena vilasa

SYNONYMS

krsna—the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna; guru—the spiritual masters; bhakta—the devotees; sakti—the potencies; avatara—the incarnations; prakasa—plenary portions; krsna—Lord Krsna; ei chaya-rupe—in these six features; karena vilasa—enjoys.

TRANSLATION

Lord Krsna enjoys by manifesting Himself as the spiritual masters, the devotees, the diverse energies, the incarnations and the plenary portions. They are all six in one.

Adi1.33

TEXT 33

ei chaya tattvera kari carana vandana

prathame samanye kari mangalacarana

SYNONYMS

ei—these; chaya—six; tattvera—of these expansions; kari—I make; carana—the lotus feet; vandana—prayers; prathame—at first; samanye—in general; kari—I make; mangala-acarana—auspicious invocation.

TRANSLATION

I therefore worship the lotus feet of these six diversities of the one truth by invoking their benedictions.

Adi1.34

TEXT 34

vande gurun isa-bhaktan

isam isavatarakan

tat-prakasams ca tac-chaktih

krsna-caitanya-samjnakam

SYNONYMS

vande—I offer respectful obeisances; gurun—unto the spiritual masters; isa-bhaktan—unto the devotees of the Supreme Lord; isam—unto the Supreme Lord; isa-avatarakan—unto the incarnations of the Supreme Lord; tat—of the Supreme Lord; prakasan—unto the manifestations; ca—and; tat—of the Supreme Lord; saktih—unto the potencies; krsna-caitanya—Sri Krsna Caitanya; samjnakam—named.

TRANSLATION

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the spiritual masters, the devotees of the Lord, the Lord’s incarnations, His plenary portions, His energies, and the primeval Lord Himself, Sri Krsna Caitanya.

PURPORT

Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami has composed this Sanskrit verse for the beginning of his book, and now he will explain it in detail. He offers his respectful obeisances to the six principles of the Absolute Truth. Gurun is plural in number because anyone who gives spiritual instructions based on the revealed scriptures is accepted as a spiritual master. Although others give help in showing the way to beginners, the guru who first initiates one with the maha-mantra is to be known as the initiator, and the saints who give instructions for progressive advancement in Krsna consciousness are called instructing spiritual masters. The initiating and instructing spiritual masters are equal and identical manifestations of Krsna, although they have different dealings. Their function is to guide the conditioned souls back home, back to Godhead. Therefore Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami accepted Nityananda Prabhu and the six Gosvamis in the category of guru.

Isa-bhaktan refers to the devotees of the Lord like Sri Srivasa and all other such followers, who are the energy of the Lord and are qualitatively nondifferent from Him. Isavatarakan refers to acaryas like Advaita Prabhu, who is an avatara of the Lord. Tat-prakasan indicates the direct manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nityananda Prabhu, and the initiating spiritual master. Tac-chaktih refers to the spiritual energies (saktis) of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Gadadhara, Damodara and Jagadananda belong to this category of internal energy.

The six principles are differently manifested but all equally worshipable. Krsnadasa Kaviraja begins by offering his obeisances unto them to teach us the method of worshiping Lord Caitanya. The external potency of Godhead, called maya, can never associate with the Lord, just as darkness cannot remain in the presence of light; yet darkness, being but an illusory and temporary covering of light, has no existence independent of light.

Adi1.35

TEXT 35

mantra-guru ara yata siksa-guru-gana

tanhara carana age kariye vandana

SYNONYMS

mantra-guru—the initiating spiritual master; ara—and also; yata—as many (as there are); siksa-guru-gana—all the instructing spiritual masters; tanhara—of all of them; carana—unto the lotus feet; age—at first; kariye—I offer; vandana—respectful obeisances.

TRANSLATION

I first offer my respectful obeisances at the lotus feet of my initiating spiritual master and all my instructing spiritual masters.

PURPORT

Srila Jiva Gosvami, in his thesis Bhakti-sandarbha (202), has stated that uncontaminated devotional service is the objective of pure Vaisnavas and that one has to execute such service in the association of other devotees. By associating with devotees of Lord Krsna, one develops a sense of Krsna consciousness and thus becomes inclined toward the loving service of the Lord. This is the process of approaching the Supreme Lord by gradual appreciation in devotional service. If one desires unalloyed devotional service, one must associate with devotees of Sri Krsna, for by such association only can a conditioned soul achieve a taste for transcendental love and thus revive his eternal relationship with Godhead in a specific manifestation and in terms of the specific transcendental mellow (rasa) that one has eternally inherent in him.

If one develops love for Krsna by Krsna conscious activities, one can know the Supreme Absolute Truth, but he who tries to understand God simply by logical arguments will not succeed, nor will he get a taste for unalloyed devotion. The secret is that one must submissively listen to those who know perfectly the science of God, and one must begin the mode of service regulated by the preceptor. A devotee already attracted by the name, form, qualities, etc., of the Supreme Lord may be directed to his specific manner of devotional service; he need not waste time in approaching the Lord through logic. The expert spiritual master knows well how to engage his disciple’s energy in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and thus he engages a devotee in a specific devotional service according to his special tendency. A devotee must have only one initiating spiritual master because in the scriptures acceptance of more than one is always forbidden. There is no limit, however, to the number of instructing spiritual masters one may accept. Generally a spiritual master who constantly instructs a disciple in spiritual science becomes his initiating spiritual master later on.

One should always remember that a person who is reluctant to accept a spiritual master and be initiated is sure to be baffled in his endeavor to go back to Godhead. One who is not properly initiated may present himself as a great devotee, but in fact he is sure to encounter many stumbling blocks on his path of progress toward spiritual realization, with the result that he must continue his term of material existence without relief. Such a helpless person is compared to a ship without a rudder, for such a ship can never reach its destination. It is imperative, therefore, that one accept a spiritual master if he at all desires to gain the favor of the Lord. The service of the spiritual master is essential. If there is no chance to serve the spiritual master directly, a devotee should serve him by remembering his instructions. There is no difference between the spiritual master’s instructions and the spiritual master himself. In his absence, therefore, his words of direction should be the pride of the disciple. If one thinks that he is above consulting anyone else, including a spiritual master, he is at once an offender at the lotus feet of the Lord. Such an offender can never go back to Godhead. It is imperative that a serious person accept a bona fide spiritual master in terms of the sastric injunctions. Sri Jiva Gosvami advises that one not accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social and ecclesiastical conventions. One should simply try to find a genuinely qualified spiritual master for actual advancement in spiritual understanding.

Adi1.36

TEXT 36

sri-rupa, sanatana, bhatta-raghunatha

sri-jiva, gopala-bhatta, dasa-raghunatha

SYNONYMS

sri-rupa—Srila Rupa Gosvami; sanatana—Sanatana Gosvami; bhatta-raghunatha—Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami; sri-jiva—Srila Jiva Gosvami; gopala-bhatta—Gopala Bhatta Gosvami; dasa-raghunatha—Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami.

TRANSLATION

The instructing spiritual masters are Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Bhatta Raghunatha, Sri Jiva Gosvami, Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami.

Adi1.37

TEXT 37

ei chaya guru--siksa-guru ye amara

tan’-sabara pada-padme koti namaskara

SYNONYMS

ei—these; chaya—six; guru—spiritual masters; siksa-guru—instructing spiritual masters; ye—who are; amara—my; tan’-sabara—of all of them; pada-padme—unto the lotus feet; koti—ten million; namaskara—respectful obeisances.

TRANSLATION

These six are my instructing spiritual masters, and therefore I offer millions of respectful obeisances unto their lotus feet.

PURPORT

By accepting the six Gosvamis as his instructing spiritual masters, the author specifically makes it clear that one should not be recognized as a Gaudiya Vaisnava if he is not obedient to them.

Adi1.38

TEXT 38

bhagavanera bhakta yata srivasa pradhana

tan’-sabhara pada-padme sahasra pranama

SYNONYMS

bhagavanera—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; bhakta—the devotees; yata—as many (as there are); srivasa pradhana—headed by Sri Srivasa; tan’-sabhara—of all of them; pada-padme—unto the lotus feet; sahasra—thousands; pranama—respectful obeisances.

TRANSLATION

There are innumerable devotees of the Lord, of whom Srivasa Thakura is the foremost. I offer my respectful obeisances thousands of times unto their lotus feet.

Adi1.39

TEXT 39

advaita acarya--prabhura amsa-avatara

tanra pada-padme koti pranati amara

SYNONYMS

advaita acarya—Advaita Acarya; prabhura—of the Supreme Lord; amsa—partial; avatara—incarnation; tanra—of Him; pada-padme—unto the lotus feet; koti—ten million; pranati—respectful obeisances; amara—my.

TRANSLATION

Advaita Acarya is the Lord’s partial incarnation, and therefore I offer my obeisances millions of times at His lotus feet.

Adi1.40

TEXT 40

nityananda-raya--prabhura svarupa-prakasa

tanra pada-padma vando yanra muni dasa

SYNONYMS

nityananda-raya—Lord Nityananda; prabhura—of the Supreme Lord; sva-rupa-prakasa—personal manifestation; tanra—of Him; pada-padma—unto the lotus feet; vando—I offer respectful obeisances; yanra—of whom; muni—I am; dasa—the servant.

TRANSLATION

Srila Nityananda Rama is the plenary manifestation of the Lord, and I have been initiated by Him. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto His lotus feet.

Adi1.41

TEXT 41

gadadhara-panditadi--prabhura nija-sakti

tan’-sabara carane mora sahasra pranati

SYNONYMS

gadadhara-pandita-adi—headed by Sri Gadadhara Pandita; prabhura—of the Supreme Lord; nija-sakti—internal potencies; tan’-sabara—of all of them; carane—unto the lotus feet; mora—my; sahasra—thousands; pranati—respectful obeisances.

TRANSLATION

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the internal potencies of the Lord, of whom Sri Gadadhara Prabhu is the foremost.

Adi1.42

TEXT 42

sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu svayam-bhagavan

tanhara padaravinde ananta pranama

SYNONYMS

sri-krsna-caitanya—Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu; prabhu—the Supreme Lord; svayam-bhagavan—is the original Personality of Godhead; tanhara—His; pada-aravinde—unto the lotus feet; ananta—innumerable; pranama—respectful obeisances.

TRANSLATION

Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Personality of Godhead Himself, and therefore I offer innumerable prostrations at His lotus feet.

Adi1.43

TEXT 43

savarane prabhure kariya namaskara

ei chaya tenho yaiche--kariye vicara

SYNONYMS

sa-avarane—along with His associates; prabhure—unto Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; kariya—having made; namaskara—respectful obeisances; ei—these; chaya—six; tenho—He; yaiche—what they are like; kariye—I make; vicara—discussion.

TRANSLATION

Having offered obeisances unto the Lord and all His associates, I shall now try to explain these six diversities in one.

PURPORT

There are many unalloyed devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all of whom are considered associates surrounding the Lord. Krsna should be worshiped with His devotees. The diverse principles are therefore the eternal paraphernalia through which the Absolute Truth can be approached.

Adi1.44

TEXT 44

yadyapi amara guru--caitanyera dasa

tathapi janiye ami tanhara prakasa

SYNONYMS

yadyapi—even though; amara—my; guru—spiritual master; caitanyera—of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu; dasa—the servitor; tathapi—still; janiye—know; ami—I; tanhara—of the Lord; prakasa—direct manifestation.

TRANSLATION

Although I know that my spiritual master is a servitor of Sri Caitanya, I know Him also as a plenary manifestation of the Lord.

PURPORT

Every living entity is essentially a servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the spiritual master is also His servant. Still, the spiritual master is a direct manifestation of the Lord. With this conviction, a disciple can advance in Krsna consciousness. The spiritual master is nondifferent from Krsna because he is a manifestation of Krsna.

Lord Nityananda, who is Balarama Himself, the first direct manifestation or expansion of Krsna, is the original spiritual master. He helps Lord Krsna in His pastimes, and He is a servant of the Lord.

Every living entity is eternally a servant of Sri Krsna Caitanya; therefore the spiritual master cannot be other than a servant of Lord Caitanya. The spiritual master’s eternal occupation is to expand the service of the Lord by training disciples in a service attitude. A spiritual master never poses as the Supreme Lord Himself; he is considered a representative of the Lord. The revealed scriptures prohibit one’s pretending to be God, but a bona fide spiritual master is a most faithful and confidential servant of the Lord and therefore deserves as much respect as Krsna.

Adi1.45

TEXT 45

guru krsna-rupa hana sastrera pramane

guru-rupe krsna krpa karena bhakta-gane

SYNONYMS

guru—the spiritual master; krsna-rupa—as good as Krsna; hana—is; sastrera—of revealed scriptures; pramane—by the evidence; guru-rupe—in the form of the spiritual master; krsna—Lord Sri Krsna; krpa—mercy; karena—distributes; bhakta-gane—unto His devotees.

TRANSLATION

According to the deliberate opinion of all revealed scriptures, the spiritual master is nondifferent from Krsna. Lord Krsna in the form of the spiritual master delivers His devotees.

PURPORT

The relationship of a disciple with his spiritual master is as good as his relationship with the Supreme Lord. A spiritual master always represents himself as the humblest servitor of the Personality of Godhead, but the disciple must look upon him as the manifested representation of Godhead.

Adi1.46

TEXT 46

acaryam mam vijaniyan

navamanyeta karhicit

na martya-buddhyasuyeta

sarva-deva-mayo guruh

SYNONYMS

acaryam—the spiritual master; mam—Myself; vijaniyat—one should know; na avamanyeta—one should never disrespect; karhicit—at any time; na—never; martya-buddhya—with the idea of his being an ordinary man; asuyeta—one should be envious; sarva-deva—of all demigods; mayah—representative; guruh—the spiritual master.

TRANSLATION

“One should know the acarya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.”

PURPORT

This is a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.17.27) spoken by Lord Krsna when He was questioned by Uddhava regarding the four social and spiritual orders of society. He was specifically instructing how a brahmacari should behave under the care of a spiritual master. A spiritual master is not an enjoyer of facilities offered by his disciples. He is like a parent. Without the attentive service of his parents, a child cannot grow to manhood; similarly, without the care of the spiritual master one cannot rise to the plane of transcendental service.

The spiritual master is also called acarya, or a transcendental professor of spiritual science. The Manu-samhita (2.140) explains the duties of an acarya, describing that a bona fide spiritual master accepts charge of disciples, teaches them the Vedic knowledge with all its intricacies, and gives them their second birth. The ceremony performed to initiate a disciple into the study of spiritual science is called upaniti, or the function that brings one nearer to the spiritual master. One who cannot be brought nearer to a spiritual master cannot have a sacred thread, and thus he is indicated to be a sudra. The sacred thread on the body of a brahmana, ksatriya or vaisya is a symbol of initiation by the spiritual master; it is worth nothing if worn merely to boast of high parentage. The duty of the spiritual master is to initiate a disciple with the sacred thread ceremony, and after this samskara, or purificatory process, the spiritual master actually begins to teach the disciple about the Vedas. A person born a sudra is not barred from such spiritual initiation, provided he is approved by the spiritual master, who is duly authorized to award a disciple the right to be a brahmana if he finds him perfectly qualified. In the Vayu Purana an acarya is defined as one who knows the import of all Vedic literature, explains the purpose of the Vedas, abides by their rules and regulations, and teaches his disciples to act in the same way.

Only out of His immense compassion does the Personality of Godhead reveal Himself as the spiritual master. Therefore in the dealings of an acarya there are no activities but those of transcendental loving service to the Lord. He is the Supreme Personality of Servitor Godhead. It is worthwhile to take shelter of such a steady devotee, who is called asraya-vigraha, or the manifestation or form of the Lord of whom one must take shelter.

If one poses himself as an acarya but does not have an attitude of servitorship to the Lord, he must be considered an offender, and this offensive attitude disqualifies him from being an acarya. The bona fide spiritual master always engages in unalloyed devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By this test he is known to be a direct manifestation of the Lord and a genuine representative of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. Such a spiritual master is known as acaryadeva. Influenced by an envious temperament and dissatisfied because of an attitude of sense gratification, mundaners criticize a real acarya. In fact, however, a bona fide acarya is nondifferent from the Personality of Godhead, and therefore to envy such an acarya is to envy the Personality of Godhead Himself. This will produce an effect subversive of transcendental realization.

As mentioned previously, a disciple should always respect the spiritual master as a manifestation of Sri Krsna, but at the same time one should always remember that a spiritual master is never authorized to imitate the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. False spiritual masters pose themselves as identical with Sri Krsna in every respect to exploit the sentiments of their disciples, but such impersonalists can only mislead their disciples, for their ultimate aim is to become one with the Lord. This is against the principles of the devotional cult.

The real Vedic philosophy is acintya-bhedabheda-tattva, which establishes everything to be simultaneously one with and different from the Personality of Godhead. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami confirms that this is the real position of a bona fide spiritual master and says that one should always think of the spiritual master in terms of his intimate relationship with Mukunda (Sri Krsna). Srila Jiva Gosvami, in his Bhakti-sandarbha (213), has clearly defined that a pure devotee’s observation of the spiritual master and Lord Siva as one with the Personality of Godhead exists in terms of their being very dear to the Lord, not identical with Him in all respects. Following in the footsteps of Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and Srila Jiva Gosvami, later acaryas like Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura have confirmed the same truths. In his prayers to the spiritual master, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura confirms that all the revealed scriptures accept the spiritual master to be identical with the Personality of Godhead because he is a very dear and confidential servant of the Lord. Gaudiya Vaisnavas therefore worship Srila Gurudeva (the spiritual master) in the light of his being the servitor of the Personality of Godhead. In all the ancient scriptures of devotional service and in the more recent songs of Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and other unalloyed Vaisnavas, the spiritual master is always considered either one of the confidential associates of Srimati Radharani or a manifested representation of Srila Nityananda Prabhu.

Adi1.47

TEXT 47

siksa-guruke ta’ jani krsnera svarupa

antaryami, bhakta-srestha,--ei dui rupa

SYNONYMS

siksa-guruke—the spiritual master who instructs; ta’-indeed; jani—I know; krsnera—of Krsna; sva-rupa—the direct representative; antaryami—the indwelling Supersoul; bhakta-srestha—the best devotee; ei—these; dui—two; rupa—forms.

TRANSLATION

One should know the instructing spiritual master to be the Personality of Krsna. Lord Krsna manifests Himself as the Supersoul and as the greatest devotee of the Lord.

PURPORT

Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami states that the instructing spiritual master is a bona fide representative of Sri Krsna. Sri Krsna Himself teaches us as the instructing spiritual master from within and without. From within He teaches as Paramatma, our constant companion, and from without He teaches from the Bhagavad-gita as the instructing spiritual master. There are two kinds of instructing spiritual masters. One is the liberated person fully absorbed in meditation in devotional service, and the other is he who invokes the disciple’s spiritual consciousness by means of relevant instructions. Thus the instructions in the science of devotion are differentiated in terms of the objective and subjective ways of understanding. The acarya in the true sense of the term, who is authorized to deliver Krsna, enriches the disciple with full spiritual knowledge and thus awakens him to the activities of devotional service.

When by learning from the self-realized spiritual master one actually engages himself in the service of Lord Visnu, functional devotional service begins. The procedures of this devotional service are known as abhidheya, or actions one is dutybound to perform. Our only shelter is the Supreme Lord, and one who teaches how to approach Krsna is the functioning form of the Personality of Godhead. There is no difference between the shelter-giving Supreme Lord and the initiating and instructing spiritual masters. If one foolishly discriminates between them, he commits an offense in the discharge of devotional service.

Srila Sanatana Gosvami is the ideal spiritual master, for he delivers one the shelter of the lotus feet of Madana-mohana. Even though one may be unable to travel on the field of Vrndavana due to forgetfulness of his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he can get an adequate opportunity to stay in Vrndavana and derive all spiritual benefits by the mercy of Sanatana Gosvami. Sri Govindaji acts exactly like the siksa-guru (instructing spiritual master) by teaching Arjuna the Bhagavad-gita. He is the original preceptor, for He gives us instructions and an opportunity to serve Him. The initiating spiritual master is a personal manifestation of Srila Madana-mohana vigraha, whereas the instructing spiritual master is a personal representative of Srila Govindadeva vigraha. Both of these Deities are worshiped at Vrndavana. Srila Gopinatha is the ultimate attraction in spiritual realization.