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          |  |  In ten short years, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta 
            Swami Prabhupad inundated the world with Krishna consciousness. 
            In the following excerpt from one of his essays, he smashes the sectarian 
            misconception that the Spiritual Master is limited to a particular 
            person, form, or institution, and establishes the universal conception 
            of Guru. This lecture was originally published in The 
            Harmonist in 1936, on the Advent Day of His Divine Grace Om 
            Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta 
            Saraswati Thakur. It was reprinted as the Preface to Srila 
            Sridhar Maharaj's book, Sri 
            Guru and His Grace, in 1983. |   
          | Preface |   
          |  |  
              "In 
            the revealed scriptures it is declared that the Spiritual Master should 
            be worshipped like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and this injunction 
            is obeyed by pure devotees of the Lord. The Spiritual Master is the 
            most confidential servant of the Lord. Thus let us offer our respectful 
            obeisances unto the lotus feet of our Spiritual Master."saksad-dharitvena 
                samasta-sastrairuktas tatha-bhavyata eva sadbhih
 kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya
 vande guroh sri-caranaravindam
  Gentlemen, 
              on behalf of the members of the Bombay branch of the Gaudiya Math, 
              let me welcome you all because you have so kindly joined us tonight 
              in our congregational offerings of homage to the lotus feet of the 
              world teacher, Acharyadev, who is the founder of this Gaudiya Mission 
              and is the President-Acharya of Sri Sri Visva Vaishnava Raja Sabha 
              -- I mean my eternal Divine Master, Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya, 
              Sri Srimad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaj. 
              Sixty-two 
              years ago, on this auspicious day, the Acharyadev made his appearance 
              by the call of Thakur Bhaktivinoda 
              at Sri Ksetra, Jagannath Dham at Puri. 
              Gentlemen, 
              the offering of such an homage as has been arranged this evening 
              to the Acharyadev is not a sectarian concern, for when we speak 
              of the fundamental principle of Gurudev or Acharyadev, we speak 
              of something that is of universal application. There does not arise 
              any question of discriminating my Guru from yours or anyone else's. 
              There is only one Guru, who appears in an infinity of forms to teach 
              you, me and all others. In the Mundaka Upanishad 
              [1.2.12] it is said: 
              
              "In 
            order to learn the transcendental science, one must approach the bona 
            fide Spiritual Master in disciplic succession, 
            who is fixed in the Absolute Truth." 
                tad-vijnartham sa gurum evabhigacchetsamit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham
  Thus 
              it has been enjoined herewith that in order to receive that transcendental 
              knowledge, one must approach the Guru. Therefore, if the Absolute 
              Truth is one -- about which we think there is no difference of opinion 
              -- the Guru cannot be two. The Acharyadev to whom we have assembled 
              tonight to offer our humble homage is not the Guru of a sectarian 
              institution or one out of many differing exponents of the truth. 
              On the contrary, he is the jagad-guru, 
              or the Guru of all of us; the only difference is that some obey 
              him wholeheartedly, while others do not obey him directly. In the 
              Bhagavatam [11.17.27] it is said: 
              
              "One 
            should understand the Spiritual Master to be as good as I am," said 
            the Blessed Lord. "Nobody should be jealous of the Spiritual Master 
            or think of him as an ordinary man, because the Spiritual Master is 
            the sum total of all demigods." That is, the Acharya has been identified 
            with God Himself. He has nothing to do with the affairs of this mundane 
            world. He appears before us to reveal the light of the Vedas and to 
            bestow upon us the blessing of full-fledged freedom, after which we 
            should hanker at every step of our life's journey. 
                acaryam mam vijaniyan / navamanyeta karhicitna martya-buddhyasuyeta / sarva-deva mayo guruh
  The 
              transcendental knowledge of the Vedas was first uttered by God to 
              Brahma, the creator of this particular universe. From Brahma the 
              knowledge descended to Narada, from Narada to Vyasadeva, from Vyasadeva 
              to Madhva, and in this process of disciplic succession the transcendental 
              knowledge was transmitted by one disciple to another until it reached 
              Lord Gauranga, Sri Krishna Chaitanya, 
              who posed as the disciple and successor of Sri Isvara Puri. The 
              present Acharyadev is the tenth disciplic representative from Sri 
              Rupa Goswami, the original representative of Lord Chaitanya who 
              preached this transcendental tradition in its fullness. The knowledge 
              that we receive from our Gurudev is not different from that imparted 
              by God Himself and the succession of the Acharyas in the preceptorial 
              line of Brahma. We adore this auspicious day as "Sri Vyasa-Puja-Tithi" 
              because the Acharya is the living representative of Vyasadeva, the 
              divine compiler of the Vedas, Puranas, Bhagavad 
              Gita, Mahabharat, and Srimad Bhagavatam. 
              
           |   
          | Knowledge 
            through surrender |   
          |  | We 
            cannot know anything of the transcendental region by our limited, 
            perverted method of observation and experiment. But all of us can 
            lend our eager ears for the aural reception of the transcendental 
            sound transmitted from that region to this, through the unadulterated 
            medium of Sri Gurudev or Sri Vyasadeva. Therefore, gentlemen, we should 
            surrender ourselves today at the feet of the representative of Sri 
            Vyasadeva for the elimination of all our differences bred by our unsubmissive 
            attitude. It is accordingly said in the Bhagavad 
            Gita [4.34]:  
              "Just 
            approach the wise and bona fide Spiritual Master. Surrender unto him 
            first, and try to understand him by inquiries and service. Such a 
            wise Spiritual Master will enlighten you with transcendental knowledge, 
            for he has already known the Absolute Truth." 
                tad viddhi pranipatena / pariprasnena sevayaupadeksyanti te jnanam / jnaninas tattva darsinah
  To 
              receive transcendental knowledge, we must completely surrender ourselves 
              to the real Acharya in a spirit of ardent inquiry and service. Actual 
              performance of service to the Absolute under the guidance of the 
              Acharya is the only vehicle by which we can assimilate transcendental 
              knowledge. Today's meeting for offering our humble services and 
              homage to the feet of the Acharyadev will enable us to be favored 
              with the capacity of assimilating the transcendental knowledge so 
              kindly transmitted by him to all persons without distinction. 
              Gentlemen, 
              although it is imperfectly that we have been enabled, by his grace, 
              to understand the sublime messages of our Acharyadev, we must admit 
              that we have realized definitely that the divine message from his 
              holy lips is the congenial thing for suffering humanity. All of 
              us should hear him patiently. If we listen to the transcendental 
              sound without unnecessary opposition, he will surely have mercy 
              upon us. The Acharya's message is to take us back to our original 
              home, back to God. Let me repeat, therefore, that we should hear 
              him patiently, follow him in the measure of our conviction and bow 
              down at his lotus feet for releasing us from our present causeless 
              unwillingness for serving the Absolute and all souls. 
              Sitting 
              at the feet of the Acharyadev, let us try to understand from this 
              transcendental source of knowledge what we are, what is this universe, 
              what is God, and what is our relationship with Him. The message 
              of Lord Chaitanya is the message for the living entities and the 
              message of the living world. Lord Chaitanya did not bother himself 
              for the upliftment of this dead world, which is suitably named Martyaloka, 
              the world where everything is destined to die. He appeared before 
              us four hundred and fifty years ago to tell us something of the 
              transcendental universe, where everything is permanent and everything 
              is for the service of the Absolute. But recently Lord Chaitanya 
              has been misrepresented by some unscrupulous persons, and the highest 
              philosophy of the Lord has been misinterpreted to be the cult of 
              the lowest type of society. We are glad to announce tonight that 
              our Acharyadev, with his usual kindness, saved us from this horrible 
              type of degradation, and therefore we bow down at his lotus feet 
              with all humility. 
              We 
              are happy that we have been relieved of this horrible type of malady 
              by the mercy of His Divine Grace. He is our eye-opener, our eternal 
              father, our eternal preceptor and our eternal guide. Let us therefore 
              bow down at his lotus feet on this auspicious day. 
              Gentlemen, 
              although we are like ignorant children in the knowledge of Transcendence, 
              still, my Gurudev has kindled a small fire within us to dissipate 
              the invincible darkness of empirical knowledge. We are now so much 
              on the safe side that no amount of philosophical argument by the 
              empiric schools of thought can deviate us an inch from the position 
              of our eternal dependence on the lotus feet of His Divine Grace. 
              
              Gentlemen, 
              had he not appeared before us to deliver us from the thralldom of 
              this gross, worldly delusion, surely we should have remained for 
              lives and ages in the darkness of helpless captivity. Had he not 
              appeared before us, we would not have been able to understand the 
              eternal truth of the sublime teaching of Lord Chaitanya. 
              Personally, 
              I have no hope for any direct service of the coming crores of births 
              in the sojourn of my life, but I am confident that some day or other 
              I shall be delivered from this mire of delusion in which I am at 
              present so deeply sunk. Therefore let me with all my earnestness 
              pray at the lotus feet of my Divine Master to allow me to suffer 
              the lot for which I am destined due to my past misdoings, but to 
              let me have this power of recollection: that I am nothing but a 
              tiny servant of the Almighty Absolute Godhead, realized through 
              the unflinching mercy of my Divine Master. Let me therefore bow 
              down at his lotus feet with all the humility at my command. 
              Abhay 
              Charan Das - For Members of Sri Gaudiya Math, Bombay.
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