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Guru gives

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 6

The guru gives spiritual insight to the disciple, and therefore the guru should be considered his master, life after life.
SB 6.7.21, Purport: In a song we sing every day, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, cakṣu-dāna dila yei, janme janme prabhu sei: the guru gives spiritual insight to the disciple, and therefore the guru should be considered his master, life after life. Under no circumstances should the guru be disrespected, but the demigods, being puffed up by their material possessions, were disrespectful to their guru. Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.17.27) advises, ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān nāvamanyeta karhicit/ na martya-buddhyāsūyeta: the ācārya should always be offered respectful obeisances; one should never envy the ācārya, considering him an ordinary human being.

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Unless you satisfy your teacher, or guru, very nicely, you cannot get the right knowledge. That is natural. If you receive your guru, give him very nice place, he can sit comfortably, and he's pleased with your behavior, then he can speak very frankly and very freely, which will be very much beneficial for you.
Lecture on SB 3.25.4 -- Bombay, November 4, 1974: So here we see, viduram prītaḥ. Vidura was hearing from Maitreya Ṛṣi, and Maitreya Ṛṣi was very much pleased. Prīti. Unless you satisfy your teacher, or guru, very nicely, you cannot get the right knowledge. That is natural. If you receive your guru, give him very nice place, he can sit comfortably, and he's pleased with your behavior, then he can speak very frankly and very freely, which will be very much beneficial for you. Therefore this word is... He was talking. He was preaching. He was giving instruction to Vidura, being pleased, prīti. Maitreya Ṛṣi was very much pleased. That is also recommended in the Śrīmad-Bhagavad-gītā: tad viddhi praṇipātena. Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā [Bg. 4.34]. Simply going and asking the spiritual master or guru, and not to accept his instructions, then don't waste your time. Don't waste your time. In a challenging spirit, if you go to a spiritual master, without any service, sevayā, and praṇipātena... Praṇipātena... Prakṛṣṭa-rūpeṇa nipāta. Nipāta means fall down, and pra means prakṛṣṭa-rūpa, sufficiently. No reservation. This knowledge, the transcendental knowledge, is based on this praṇipāta. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: [Bg. 18.66] "You just surrender unto Me." And similarly we have to surrender to Kṛṣṇa or His representative. So guru is representative, external representative.
Don't keep a guru as a fashion to satisfy your senses: "My dear guru, can you make some gold?" "Yes." "Oh, first-class guru." No. That is not guru. That is your flattery. You want something according to your order—"Guru, cure my disease," "Guru, give me some gold," "Guru, give me this. Show me some wonderful mystic power"—that is order supplier. No, guru is not order supplier. Guru can give you the way how to have mercy of Kṛṣṇa.
Lecture on SB 5.5.35 -- Vrndavana, November 22, 1976: So bhakti is uttama. When you are transcendental, above this darkness of material world, then you can accept the If you are actually interested in the uttama, something beyond this darkness of ignorance, then you accept one guru. Don't keep a guru as a fashion to satisfy your senses: "My dear guru, can you make some gold?" "Yes." "Oh, first-class guru." No. That is not guru. That is your flattery. You want something according to your order—"Guru, cure my disease," "Guru, give me some gold," "Guru, give me this. Show me some wonderful mystic power"—that is order supplier. No, guru is not order supplier. Guru can give you the way how to have mercy of Kṛṣṇa. That is guru. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ **. Bhagavat-prasāda. If you want mercy of Kṛṣṇa, then you have to satisfy the devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān nāvamanyeta karhicit [SB 11.17.27]. "Never become envious of guru." Yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā-deve tathā gurau [ŚU 6.23]. So this is the process. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21]. If you are actually interested something which is beyond this tama, this darkness of material world, then you require a guru. Otherwise it is not for you.
The sacred thread is the indication that he is twice-born. First of all he was born by the father and mother; now he has approached guru, and guru gives him initiation and sacred thread. That means he is under the care of guru.
Lecture on SB 7.12.4 -- Bombay, April 15, 1976: The sacred thread is the indication that he is twice-born. First of all he was born by the father and mother; now he has approached guru, and guru gives him initiation and sacred thread. That means he is under the care of guru. That is required. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda. Unless one takes shelter of ācārya, he is careless. Not careless; he is not taken care of. He is vagabond. If one does not take shelter of ācārya, then he is a vagabond. Therefore in India we see so many vagabonds: no employment, no caretaker, loitering in the street, playing at noontime, no engagement. This is the defect because we have lost our own culture.

General Lectures

The primary, first feature is guru, because guru gives the initiation to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That feature is represented by Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu.
Lecture Excerpt -- Montreal, July 27, 1968:
pañca-tattvātmakaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ
bhakta-rūpa svarūpakam
bhaktāvatāraṁ bhaktākhyaṁ
namāmi bhakta-śaktikam
So Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is full representation of Kṛṣṇa in six aspects. That is... In the beginning of Caitanya-caritāmṛta it has been explained, vande 'haṁ gurūn īśam īśāvatārakān īśa-bhaktān [Cc. Ādi 1.1], prakāśāṁś ca tac-chaktīḥ, like that. So the Supreme Personality of Godhead is principally not divided, but He is understood under six primary features. The primary, first feature is guru, because guru gives the initiation to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That feature is represented by Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. He is the original guru feature, and He is first manifested expansion of Kṛṣṇa.

Philosophy Discussions

Guru gives the torchlight, jñānāñjana śalākayā. What is that torchlight? By awakening his dormant knowledge. That is torch. Then he can see what is world.
Philosophy Discussion on Bertrand Russell:

Śyāmasundara: But how does someone prove that something exists beyond his..., beyond our senses?

Prabhupāda: That I have already explained. Just like child does not know. He simply sees the fan is running-superficially. But he does not know that there is electricity power, and there is a powerhouse. So that is lack of knowledge. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante [Bg. 7.19]. After many, many births, one comes to the real knowledge, and that is vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti [Bg. 7.19]. Then he knows that Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, is the original (indistinct). It is a question of knowing, and knowing through the direct current via media-guru. Otherwise he remains in darkness. Therefore guru-namastaya. Ajñāna timirāndasya. Everyone is blind by the darkness of ignorance. Jñānāñjana śalākayā. And the guru's business is to lighten ignorance, the śalāka. What is called, śalāka?

Devotee: Lamp.

Śyāmasundara: Torch.

Prabhupāda: Torch. Yes. Torchlight. The torchlight. Guru gives the torchlight, jñānāñjana śalākayā. What is that torchlight? By awakening his dormant knowledge. That is torch. Then he can see what is world.

Śyāmasundara: So the proof that one accepts for something which is beyond our sense is not necessarily scientific?

Prabhupāda: Not at all. What to speak of scientific, it is completely ignorant. There is no question of science. It is simply darkness.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

For brahma-jijñāsā one should make a guru, not for any material welfare. If I get some money, if some guru gives me some money, some gold, I think he is Bhagavān. That is foolishness. Nothing material will make you happy.
Room Conversation -- September 19, 1973, Bombay: Prabhupāda: You may be very rich man, you may have very rich connection or good apartment, but still, you cannot be happy because you are not this body. But they do not know. Therefore one should be inquisitiveness that "I want to be happy. I am arranging for my happiness with so many material paraphernalia, but still I am not happy." This inquiry should be there. That is called jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. And that is brahma-jijñāsā. So brahma-jijñāsā is not for everyone. Brahma-jijñāsā. And for brahma-jijñāsā one should make a guru, not for any material welfare. If I get some money, if some guru gives me some money, some gold, I think he is Bhagavān. Because I am attached to this gold and material things. That is not śreyas. But people like that. If somebody by miracles give you some money, some gold, they think, "Oh, here is God. Here is God, here is God." But that is not śreyas. And if gold is the standard of happiness, then... There are many persons, Birlas and others, they possess huge stock of gold. Does it mean that they will not die? They will not suffer from disease? But foolish persons, they think, "If I get some gold, then I'll be happy." And that is foolishness. Nothing material will make you happy. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, real happiness means to approach Him.
So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to stop death, live eternally with Kṛṣṇa, go back to home, back to Godhead. This is our movement. So our guru gives us this opportunity, no more death.
Room Conversation -- November 3, 1973, New Delhi: Prabhupāda: And from guru's side, it is advised, "Don't become guru if you cannot stop the death of your disciple." This is Bhāgavatam's statement. So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to stop death, live eternally with Kṛṣṇa, go back to home, back to Godhead. This is our movement. So our guru gives us this opportunity, no more death. Tyaktvā... After leaving this body, you don't accept any more material body. And if you don't accept material body, then there is no death. As soon as your spiritual, you remain in spiritual body, there is no death. There is no birth also. Death is concomitant where birth is there. If the death is stopped, then there is no birth. And if there is no birth, there is no disease, there is no old age. This is the process. So birth, death, old age, disease can be stopped only by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So if you don't like to be Kṛṣṇa conscious then what is the use of becoming your disciple, and if the guru, if he cannot stop your death, birth and death, then what is your becoming guru?

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

To consider guru's body as material, that is also wrong.
Morning Walk -- February 23, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Everyone knows that "Here is a stone statue." Then so many hundred and thousands of people are coming to worship that stone statue? Somebody can argue. The atheist will argue. And when... So... We have got millions of temples. Especially in South India and Jagannātha Purī and many where. So are they going, spending so much money to worship a statue? That is forbidden. Guruṣu nara-matiḥ. Guru should not be considered in that way. If he's actually guru.

Dr. Patel: Guru, guru's śakti on his disciples comes from...

Prabhupāda: The same.

Dr. Patel: ...either way. Where the śiṣya draws his power and guru gives it.

Prabhupāda: Yes, but if he has no power, how he can give?

Dr. Patel: But... That is what I say. So we have to take guru as God.

Prabhupāda: So therefore guru as God, not distinction that guru is so much God, and he is so much God.

Dr. Patel: I don't say distinction. I...

Prabhupāda: No, you said that distinction of body, distinction...

Dr. Patel: I did not say that. You have to understood it differently.

Prabhupāda: No, no. I am not. It is the guru principle we are talking. That is about guru.

Dr. Patel: I want to learn from you.

Prabhupāda: I am not guru. I am... I am... This is... The guru has no material body. Just like the statue is not material, similarly, guru's body is not material.

Dr. Patel: You say that those gurus who appear as material body, you are not to take it as a material body. Say that way. Because we are little...

Prabhupāda: No, no, no. Not to take it. It is actually. If it is material body, then how they are getting benefits? If it is a material body. The same example: if it is iron rod, how it is burning? It is fire. When there is burning, you must assume it is fire. Why do you take, "Oh, it is iron rod"? Phalena paricīyate. Phalena paricīyate. By the result you have to... Therefore it is said, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ **. We, we have no direct contact with Bhagavān, but guru, being representative of Bhagavān, if we satisfy guru, then Bhagavān becomes... Identical. Therefore it is warned: vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhiḥ. Similarly, vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhiḥ. "Here is a European Vaiṣṇava, he's Indian Vaiṣṇava, it is brāhmaṇa Vaiṣṇava and śūdra Vaiṣṇava." No. That is also, that is also offense.

Dr. Patel: That is wrong. Vaiṣṇava is Vaiṣṇava.

Prabhupāda: Similarly, to consider guru's body as material, that is also wrong.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Guru is traveling all over the world, "Take this science." If one is fortunate he can take.
Morning Walk -- May 28, 1976, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: When one is actually in service, then he comes to.... "So I have enjoyed. Now, no I don't want. Now I want Kṛṣṇa." That is voluntary.

Devotee (2): But is it the guru? Does the guru give him that sense?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Guru is traveling all over the world, "Take this science." If one is fortunate he can take.

Devotee (3): Those persons who are atheistic, they say that God is created out of a necessity, that people have a necessity to have their father image, so therefore they create religion. This is their basic philosophy, that man creates his own religion. He creates it out of necessity. He needs a father image, so therefore he creates the idea of God.

Prabhupāda: Created? What is that?

Devotee (3): No. They feel that we have created, man has created the idea of God out of necessity.

Devotee (4): The atheists are saying that man needs God although there is no God. They are insecure in this world.

Prabhupāda: What is God?

Devotee (3): They feel basically that it's an idea. God is an idea.

Prabhupāda: Why it is idea? Explain. What for this idea? Why this idea is necessary?

Devotee (1): Basically I think because in the Western countries there's no conception of God.

Prabhupāda: They.... Those who have no conception, that is another thing. But those who talk of God, that there is God or there is no God, what is the conception of God? That is.... Why do they say there is no God? Why do they say there is God? Somebody accept there is God. Somebody does not accept. So, there are two causes.

Hari-śauri: The basic principle is that God is there, so you either accept or reject Him.

Prabhupāda: Yes. (laughs) One is doubtful or one is convinced. God is there. One is doubtful, he says "There is no God." My question is why the question of God is there?
Where is that Nityānanda-vaṁśa? Fight between Jagāi-Mādhāi and Nityānanda. That is Nityānanda-vaṁśa, simply taking advantage of coming from Nityānanda-vaṁśa, "I have become guru, give me your money," and sit down. "Let me enjoy life with my wife and children." That kind of Nityānanda-vaṁśa will not help.
Room Conversation on New York court case -- November 2, 1976, Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: The gosvāmīs, they are śrī-caitanya-kṛpā-bharau. Now prove! They are descendants, now prove: come forward. Śrī-caitanya-kṛpā-bharau. Simply sitting at home. And in Bengal there is Nityānanda-vaṁśa. What is Nityānanda-vaṁśa? Nityānanda went forward before Jagāi-Mādhāi and He was hurt. Blood came out. Where is that Nityānanda-vaṁśa? Fight between Jagāi-Mādhāi and Nityānanda. That is Nityānanda-vaṁśa, simply taking advantage of coming from Nityānanda-vaṁśa, "I have become guru, give me your money," and sit down. "Let me enjoy life with my wife and children." That kind of Nityānanda-vaṁśa will not help. Come forward to fight. This fighting is now here. You can show the newspaper clipping. (Hindi) big arrangement to fight this. First of all they thought that so many swamis and yogis come, all rascals, they stay for some time and go away. Even Vivekananda. (laughter) So this is not a bogus movement, it is taking stand. So now they are threatened and they are combining together especially the Christian... (Hindi) But in each heading there is Kṛṣṇa. [break] ...bring various charges against our...

Guest: Mind control, brainwashing.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

By fortune he gets a guru. And by the instruction of guru he gets Kṛṣṇa. So to create fortune we have to take this regulative principle, to become fortunate that someday he'll be able to meet somebody who is real guru and who will give him real guidance. "Man is the architect of his own fortune."
Room Conversation With Son (Vrindavan De) -- July 5, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But it says, guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya, bhakti-latā-bīja [Cc. Madhya 19.151]. So it's fortunate because the guru gives the...

Prabhupāda: So that fortune is... By fortune he gets a guru. And by the instruction of guru he gets Kṛṣṇa. So to create fortune we have to take this regulative principle, to become fortunate that someday he'll be able to meet somebody who is real guru and who will give him real guidance. "Man is the architect of his own fortune." Therefore pious activities and other things, yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-kriyā, these things are recommended, to acquire the qualities of brāhmaṇa. These things are required. If he remains like animal, that fortune will never come. This is the architecture. So that fortune begins when he enters the varṇāśrama-dharma, four varṇas and four āśramas. That is a easiest way. Fortune does not come that "This is very important. Man is the architect of his own fortune." He must accept some process to become fortunate. And if you want to become fortunate through the rich man, you should enter... (microphone moving) ...just like businessman... (microphone moving) And without doing something, how you can get fortune? That is now... There is no such program. The program is just a animal program: eating, sleeping, mating and defend. Therefore Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so important, to give them the fortune, not immediately but our immediate future, by acting in this way, he'll be fortunate.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But we have to show the example of how to act.

Prabhupāda: That is there, the rules and regulations. This Deity worship is accepting regulative principle, abide by the orders of guru. That is there. This is the process. Just like all our disciples, they write that "We have got now life." Because they are trying to follow, they are getting-gradually, gradually.

ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
[Cc. Madhya 19.151]
mālī hañā kare sei bīja āropaṇa
śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana
[Cc. Madhya 19.152]
It is like a creeper. So you get the seed from guru and sow it and regularly pour water. That watering is śravaṇa-kīrtana. Śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana. How simplified.
Page Title:Guru gives
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Kanupriya
Created:19 of Nov, 2008
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=1, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=5, Con=6, Let=0
No. of Quotes:12