“My dear Lord, You are the supreme father, the supreme spiritual master and the supreme king. Therefore, You have the right to chastise all living entities whenever there is any discrepancy in their behavior. The father, the spiritual master and the supreme executive officer of the state are always well-wishers of their sons, their students and their citizens respectively. As such, the well-wishers have the right to chastise their dependents. By Your own desire You appear auspiciously on the earth in Your eternal varieties of forms; You come to glorify the earthly planet and specifically to chastise persons who are falsely claiming to be God. In the material world there is regular competition between different types of living entities to become supreme leaders of society, and after being frustrated in achieving the supreme positions of leadership, foolish persons claim to be God, the Supreme Personality. There are many such foolish personalities in this world, like me, but in due course of time, when they come to their senses, they surrender unto You and again engage themselves properly by rendering service unto You. And that is the purpose of Your chastising persons envious of You."
Spiritual master and chastisement
Expressions researched:
"chastise"
|"chastised"
|"chastisement"
|"chastises"
|"chastising"
|"spiritual master"
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 7
Because Kṛṣṇa was the well-wisher of the Pāṇḍavas, He also acted as guru by becoming the spiritual master of Arjuna. Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as his spiritual master (śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam (BG 2.7)), and Kṛṣṇa sometimes chastised him. For example, the Lord said, aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase: (BG 2.11) "while speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief." The Lord also said, kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ viṣame samupasthitam: "My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you?" Such was the intimate relationship between the Pāṇḍavas and Kṛṣṇa. In the same way, a pure devotee of the Lord is always with Kṛṣṇa through thick and thin; his way of life is Kṛṣṇa. This is the statement of the authority Śrī Nārada Muni.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, “My dear sir, kindly hear the reason. My spiritual master considered Me a fool, and therefore he chastised Me.
"Nimāi Paṇḍita alone has spoiled the entire country," they accused. “He wants to strike a caste brāhmaṇa. He has no fear of religious principles."
In those days also, the caste brāhmaṇas were very proud. They were not prepared to accept chastisement even from a teacher or spiritual master.
CC Madhya-lila
As the spiritual master chastises the disciple and teaches him the art of devotional service, so all the ecstatic symptoms of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu—including despondency, moroseness, humility, restlessness, joy, endurance and anger—instructed His body and mind. In this way, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu passed His time.
When Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya asked to see Kṛṣṇa at Kālīya-daha, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu mercifully slapped him, saying, “You are a learned scholar, but you have become a fool, being influenced by the statements of other fools.
Māyā is so strong that even a person like Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya, who was constantly staying with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, was influenced by the words of fools. He wanted to see Kṛṣṇa directly by going to Kālīya-daha, but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, being the original spiritual master, would not allow His servant to fall into such foolishness. He therefore chastised him, slapping him just to bring him to a real sense of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
“'When pure knowledge is beyond all material affinity but is not dedicated to the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Kṛṣṇa), it does not appear very beautiful, although it is knowledge without a material tinge. What, then, is the use of fruitive activities—which are naturally painful from the beginning and transient by nature—if they are not utilized for the devotional service of the Lord? How can they be very attractive?'"
This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.5.12). Even after writing many Vedic literatures, Vyāsadeva felt very morose. Therefore his spiritual master, Nāradadeva, told him that he could be happy by writing about the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Up to that time, Śrīla Vyāsadeva had written the karma-kāṇḍa and jñāna-kāṇḍa sections of the Vedas, but he had not written about upāsanā-kāṇḍa, or bhakti. Thus his spiritual master, Nārada, chastised him and advised him to write about the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore Vyāsadeva began writing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Actually, even thinking of the demigods cannot compare with thinking of Kṛṣṇa. It is warned in the vaiṣṇava-tantra that one who puts Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa or Kṛṣṇa on the same level as the demigods is called a pāṣaṇḍī, or rascal. On hearing this question from Mahārāja Parīkṣit, Śukadeva Gosvāmī replied, "My dear King, your question is already answered, even before this incident." Because Parīkṣit Mahārāja wanted to clear up the situation, his spiritual master answered him very intelligently, "Why are you again asking about the same subject matter which has already been explained to you? Why are you so forgetful?" A spiritual master is always in the superior position, so he has the right to chastise his disciple in this way. Śukadeva Gosvāmī knew that Mahārāja Parīkṣit asked the question not for his own understanding but as a warning to the future innocent people who might think others to be equal to Kṛṣṇa.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So He has come down. He has come down. He will teach Arjuna that "You are so family-wise attached." Then He will teach. From the Second Chapter He will begin the teaching. Prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase. Aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase (BG 2.11). When Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa, that "I am now puzzled, what to do. So I know I am puzzled, I am kṣatriya. It is my duty to fight, but I am hesitating. So it is very embarrassing puzzle. Therefore I am surrendering unto You." Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam (BG 2.7). "I am becoming Your disciple, not friend. Now let us talk as master and disciple, not as friend and friend." So when he accepted Kṛṣṇa as the master. Kṛṣṇa is always master, but it is simply acceptance. So at that time Kṛṣṇa will speak, aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase (BG 2.11), that "You are..." gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ. Paṇḍita. "You are posing yourself..." He will speak so many things. That is like paṇḍita, learned. It is very nice thing. "Kṛṣṇa..." Arjuna is saying that "How can I kill my kinsmen? There is my grandfather, there is my teacher, there are my kinsmen." It is not bad. For worldly men this is very nice consideration, that "I am not going to kill my kinsmen." That is a very good consideration. Prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase (BG 2.11). But spiritually, it is ignorance, it is foolishness. Materially, it may be very nice thing, he's talking very nice. Therefore the first chastisement was... Kṛṣṇa took the position of spiritual master. So spiritual master has the right to chastise the disciple. So immediately he chastised. Aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase: (BG 2.11) "My dear Arjuna, you are talking, you are lamenting so badly, and at the same time you are talking just like a very learned man."
So to save time, to save trouble one has to accept the authority, actual authority. This is the Vedic process. And therefore Veda says, tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). Tad vijñānārtham, in order to learn that transcendental science, one has to accept guru. Gurum eva, certainly, one must. Otherwise there is no possibility. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is accepted here as the spiritual master of Arjuna, and as the spiritual master or father or teacher has got right to chastise his son or disciple... A son is never dissatisfied when father chastises. That is the etiquette everywhere. Even the father is sometimes violent, the child or the son tolerates. A typical example is Prahlāda Mahārāja. Innocent child, Kṛṣṇa consciousness child, but father torturing. He never says anything. "All right." Similarly Kṛṣṇa, just after taking the position of the spiritual master, is designating Arjuna as a grand fool.
So Kṛṣṇa is chastising Arjuna because he has accepted, he's becoming His disciple, so the spiritual master has the right to chastise the disciple for right direction like the teacher, like the father. Similarly, although Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna are friends, but Arjuna has accepted Him as spiritual master. There should not be any compromising words as it is done between friend and friend. The right things must be said that "You are wrong. Don't talk nonsense. Talking like very learned man but you do not know anything." "Why I do not know?"
So here Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna that... Because he has accepted the leadership of Kṛṣṇa, therefore Kṛṣṇa is chastising him in this way. He is chastising in this way, that Arjuna was talking with Kṛṣṇa as friends. So friends means equal status, but he gave up that status. He took the status of a disciple. A disciple means who voluntarily agrees to be disciplined by the spiritual master. When one becomes disciple, he cannot disobey the order of the spiritual master. Śiṣya. Śiṣya, this word, comes from the root śās-dhātu, means "I accept your ruling." So previously Arjuna has accepted, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam: (BG 2.7) "I am now surrendered to You, and I agree voluntarily to accept Your ruling." This is the relationship between the spiritual master and the disciple. So we have got ten kinds of offenses in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. So the first offense is guror avajñā, means to disobey the orders of guru, spiritual master. One cannot disobey the orders of guru. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, although He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, he also says, guru more mūrkha dekhi' karila śāsana: (CC Adi 7.71) "My guru, My spiritual master, saw Me a fool, and therefore he has chastised Me." So therefore Kṛṣṇa... Because Arjuna has accepted Kṛṣṇa as guru, therefore He is chastising him that "You are lamenting on a subject matter which is not done by any learned man." That means "You are not a learned man. You are fool."
Therefore Kṛṣṇa is considered to be the highest perfectional personality, and Arjuna selected Him as the spiritual master. Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam: (BG 2.7) "My dear Kṛṣṇa, we are talking on the platform of friendship." That will not make a solution. Because friendly talks, sometimes they are not taken seriously, friendly talks. But when there is talk between the spiritual master and disciple, there is some discipline and there is some gravity. So Arjuna created that gravity and discipline. He accepted Kṛṣṇa as the spiritual master.
And as soon as Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as the spiritual master, so as master, He at once chastised him in these words,
- aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ
- prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase
- gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca
- nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ
- (BG 2.11)
"My dear Arjuna, you are posing yourself as a very great learned man, but I see that you are fool number one. You are fool number one." Why? "Now, because you are lamenting for things which are not to be lamented." This was the first answer of Kṛṣṇa. So a person like Arjuna, he was not an ordinary person; still, in the eyes of the perfect personality, he happened to be a fool.
"My dear Arjuna, you are talking very nice nicely, just like a very advanced learned man. But you are talking on the bodily platform—all nonsense." "I am father of this, oh, they are my relatives, they are my this, they are my this, how can I kill, how can I do, I cannot." The whole atmosphere consciousness is body. Therefore Kṛṣṇa, just after Arjuna accepting him his spiritual master, he's immediately chastising him as a master chastises his disciple: "You nonsense, you are talking very wisely as if you know so many things. But your position is this body."
The translation reads, "The Blessed Lord said, While speaking learned words..." Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as the spiritual master. First of all he was talking just like friends, but when he saw that by friendly talkings the problem which was present before him, that cannot be solved, therefore he accepted Kṛṣṇa as the spiritual master, and the spiritual master, Kṛṣṇa, first of all chastised him in this way, that aśocyān anvaśocas tvam: (BG 2.11) "You are lamenting on the subject matter which is not object of lamentation." Aśocyān. Aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś... "But you are talking like a very learned scholar." So He mildly rebuked him that "This kind of lamentation is not done by paṇḍita, by learned scholar." That means "You are rascal number one. You are fool. You are talking like learned scholar, but you are a fool."
When Kṛṣṇa began speaking Bhagavad-gītā and Arjuna accepted to become His disciple, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam... (BG 2.7) when he said... So Arjuna was bewildered whether he would fight in the battle or not. So the question was not solved by friendly discussion. Therefore Arjuna surrendered to Kṛṣṇa as a śiṣya, as disciple, not as friend.
So as spiritual master, as teacher, immediately Kṛṣṇa chastised Arjuna, aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase: (BG 2.11) "You are talking like a very learned man, but you are lamenting on a subject matter on which no paṇḍita, learned man, laments." Gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ. He very mildly chastised. Indirectly He said that "You are not paṇḍita; you are a fool, those who are learned, they do not consider this body as very important." They are paṇḍita.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
He first... Because Arjuna accepted Him a his spiritual master. In the beginning he was talking like friend, but when the questions were not solved, Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as his spiritual master, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam (BG 2.7). At that time, when Kṛṣṇa was accepted by Arjuna as his spiritual master, He first of all chastised him. He said, aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase (BG 2.11). Because Kṛṣṇa..., Arjuna was talking as a family man, so therefore He first of all chastised him that "You are talking from a low-grade platform, but you are talking just like a learned man. You are not learned." Gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ. "You are not talking like a learned man." That means Kṛṣṇa indirectly said that "You are a fool. You do not know what is your identification."
| Page Title: | Spiritual master and chastisement |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika |
| Created: | 26 of Nov, 2009 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=1, CC=5, OB=2, Lec=14, Con=6, Let=3 |
| No. of Quotes: | 31 |