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cryera mata yei, sei mata sratra j laghi cale, sei ta asra
The order of the spiritual master is the activeprinciple in
spiritual life. Anyone who disobeysthe order of the spiritual
master immediatelybecomes useless. (Cc. di 12.10)
Similarly, it is stated in the Raghu-vaa:sa uruvn mtari
bhrgavea
pitur niyogt prahta dviad-vat
pratyaghd agraja-sana tadj gur hy avicray
Being ordered by his father, Parasuram killedhis mother, Renuka,
just as if she were anenemy. When Lakshman, the younger brotherof
Lord Ramachandra, heard of this, Heimmediately engaged Himself in
the service ofHis elder brother and accepted His orders. Theorder
of the spiritual master must be obeyedwithout consideration. (verse
14.46, quoted inCc. madhya 10.145)
Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode has described that
there are two types of disciples, the antarmukha-iyas and the
bahirmukha-iyas. Antarmukhaliterally means inward-facing. It refers
tosomeone who is introspective. Bahirmukhaliterally means
outward-facing, and refers tosomeone who is absorbed in external
things.
Antarmukha-iyas are desirous of bringingpleasure to their guru.
Their focus is on followingthe gurus instructions. The
antarmukha-iyas practice gopayed gurum tmana. Theykeep their guru
and their relationship with
him confidential. An antarmukha-iya is notinterested in
advertising himself as a discipleof his guru, but prefers to follow
the gurusinstructions. His meditation is to try tounderstand what
will please his guru. Theantarmukha-iya is anartha-mukta-avasth,
heis free from anarthas. His vision of guru isknown as
sevya-darana. He sees that gurushould be served and pleased.
InHari-bhakti-vilsa, verse 2.147, SrilaSanatan Goswami quotes
Sammohana-tantra:
gopayed devatm i gopayed gurum tmanagopayec ca nija mantra
gopayen nija-mlikm
One should hide ones ia-deva, one should hideones guru, one
should hide ones mantra, andone should hide onesjapa-ml.
Wise persons keep their valuables in aconfidential place.
Similarly, an intelligent sdhakadoes not advertise his or her guru,
nor do theybroadcast themselves as disciples of their
guru.Considering themselves as low, fallen, and unfitto be
considered disciples, sincere devotees donot want to advertise who
their guru is.
Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami hasillustrated the mood of a
devotee and disciple:
jagi mdhi haite mui se ppihapurera ka haite mui se laghiha
I am more sinful than Jagai and Madhai and even
lower than the worms in stool. (Cc. di 5.205)Similarly, Thakur
Bhaktivinode has stated:
garhita cre, rahilma maji,n karinu sdhu-saga
laye sdhu-vea, ne upadei,e baa myra raga
Remaining absorbed in abominable activities, Inever kept company
with sadhus. Now I adopt thegarb of a sadhu and act out the role of
instructingothers. This is mys big joke. (aragati 7.3)
Although Thakur Bhaktivinode had so muchassociation with
elevated vaiavas, includinghis ik-guru Jagannath Das Babaji
Maharaja,he did not flaunt that. Rather, he consideredthat, n
karinu sdhu-saga I have never hadassociation with sadhus.
The essential principle in being a disciple isto follow the
order of the guru. Srila KrishnadasKaviraj Goswami has
described:
Hide Your Guru
Excerpted from Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu issue 16
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2 Hide Your GuruBahirmukha-iyas are disciples who practice
the opposite of gopayed gurum tmana. Theyare absorbed in
advertising their guru and inmaking a show of themselves as being
big orintimate disciples. Such a disciple is also knownas
guru-giri, or one who makes a business outof guru and ones
relationship with guru.
They are not absorbed in the inner intention ofguru. Srila
Bhaktivinode Thakur has describedpersons who act on such an
external platform asdharmadhvajs (religion flag-wavers),
meaningthose who make a hypocritical or pretentiousshow of
religiosity.
Following the logic of tmavan manyate jagat(everyone thinks like
I do), the bahirmukha-iyasconsider that their guru thinks like they
do.Because they are motivated by the desires forfame and adoration
they think that their guru
also wants such things. The bahirmukha-iyasare
anartha-yukta-avasth, they have anarthas,material desires, in their
hearts. Because of thoseanarthas they only see guru in terms of
theirown pleasure. This vision is known as bhogya-darana. They
think that making a big show ofdevotion will impress their guru and
enablethem to come close to their guru. Their idea ofguru-bhakti is
to loudly proclaim to the world,mr guru jagad-guru My guru is the
best orthe only one and any other guru is lesser. They
think that such publicizing will please theirguru. Neglecting or
minimizing their gurusinstruction regarding the worship of
Krishna,the bahirmukha-iyas place more emphasis onworshiping their
spiritual master.
In the histories of all the major religions ofthe world it is
commonly seen that the followersprefer to worship the guru,
prophet, or founderrather than follow the instructions of
thatprophet to worship the Lord (who is unseen andunknown to them).
Srila Prabhupada addressed
this topic on a morning walk in Bombay on 29
March 1974 when some devotees mentionedto him that some of the
followers of SwamiNarayan were chanting the name of their
guruinstead of Krishnas name:
Devotee: In England they are chanting, SwamiNarayan, not
Krishna.Prabhupada: Just see.
Indian man (1): No, they are also ka-bhaktas.Devotee: How are
they, if they are chantingSwami Narayans name?Indian man (1): They
actually work for theKrishna only, and they...Prabhupada: No, no.
Krishna recommendsstra, harer nma, harer nma, harer nmaivakevalam.
So why they should chant SwamiNarayan? ... In the Bhagavad-gt it is
said,satata krtayanto mm Krishna. Why shouldone chant any other
name? Krishna says
satata krtayanto mm. Hare Krishna. Not anyother name.... But
they are chanting SwamiNarayan. Theyre saying Swami Narayan
isbetter than Krishna. What kind of preaching isthis? ... This is
nonsense. People will go to thetemple and the preacher will say
that SwamiNarayans name should be chanted....Indian man (2): Swami
is their guru andNarayan is God, so both, Prabhupadaand Krishna,
Prabhupada and Krishna,Prabhupada Krishna...Prabhupada: But that
does not mean they
should chant [like that]. Just like, we arenot instructing our
disciples to chant myname, Bhaktivedanta Swami, BhaktivedantaSwami.
No. Theyre chanting Hare Krishna.hari-tvena samasta-strair ukta
Guru isrespected as good as Krishna. But that doesnot mean I shall
teach them to go and chant myname, Bhaktivedanta Swami,
BhaktivedantaSwami, Bhaktivedanta Swami. What is this?We are
teaching, Chant Hare Krishna.Harernma, harer nma... Srila
Prabhupada morning walk, 29 March
1974, Bombay.
