Authority of the spiritual master

Expressions researched:
"authority of the spiritual master"

SB Canto 3

Glorification of the Lord is not a product of research, but the result of hearing submissively from the authority of the spiritual master.

SB 3.6.36, Purport:

Maitreya's statement is that in order to avoid unchaste conscious activities, he was trying to describe the unlimited glories of the Lord, although he did not have the ability to describe them perfectly. This glorification of the Lord is not a product of research, but the result of hearing submissively from the authority of the spiritual master. It is also not possible to repeat all that one has heard from his spiritual master, but one can narrate as far as possible by one's honest endeavor. It does not matter whether the Lord's glories are fully explained or not. One must attempt to engage one's bodily, mental and verbal activities in the transcendental glorification of the Lord, otherwise such activities will remain unchaste and impure. The existence of the conditioned soul can be purified only by the method of engaging mind and speech in the service of the Lord. The tridaṇḍi-sannyāsī of the Vaiṣṇava school accepts three rods, representing the vow to engage in the service of the Lord with body, mind and speech, whereas the ekadaṇḍi-sannyāsī takes the vow to become one with the Supreme. Since the Lord is the Absolute, there is no distinction between Him and His glories. The glories of the Lord as chanted by the Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī are as substantial as the Lord Himself, and thus while glorifying the Lord the devotee becomes one with Him in transcendental interest, although he remains eternally a transcendental servitor. This simultaneously one and different position of the devotee makes him eternally purified, and thus his life becomes a complete success.

Nectar of Devotion

In the neophyte stage of devotion one must follow all the principles, regulated by the authority of the spiritual master.

Nectar of Devotion 14:

This does not mean, however, that we should give up the principles of discharging devotional service or neglect abiding by the rules and regulations prescribed therein. In the neophyte stage of devotion one must follow all the principles, regulated by the authority of the spiritual master. The acceptance and rejection of things should always be in pursuance of the devotional principles; not that one can independently manufacture some idea of what should be accepted or rejected. The spiritual master as the visible manifestation of Kṛṣṇa is necessary, therefore, to direct the devotee on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

General Lectures

śiṣya means one who accepts the authority of the spiritual master.

Lecture -- Hawaii, March 23, 1969:

"If one were to begin to study ISKCON techniques, what would he have to give up?" Give up... Give up means... First give up is that "I am this material body." The nonsense idea that "I am this body," that is the root of all misunderstanding. So he has to give up this bodily consciousness. That is naturally. That is the beginning of teachings of Kåñëa consciousness. The Bhagavad-gétä teaches Arjuna. Arjuna was overwhelmed of family affection, that "How can I fight with my members of the family? They are my brothers..." So this conception, bodily conception, was first of all eradicated in the Bhagavad-gétä. He lectured... Arjuna was talking, arguing with Kåñëa, that "If I kill my family, male members, the female members will be without husband, and they will be polluted, and there will be unwanted children and this on...," so many, as far as one can, materialistic person can think. So he was talking like that as very man of wisdom. So Kåñëa first of all chastised him—not in the beginning, because in the beginning there was friendly talk, but when Arjuna surrendered unto Kåñëa that "You don't take me as Your friend. I accept You as my spiritual master. So You teach me." This relationship of spiritual master and student... The student is called çiñya. Çiñya, the Sanskrit word çiñya, this word comes from the root ças. Ças means ruling. From ças, the çästra. Çästra means authoritative books. They have been derived. And çastra. Çastra means weapons, armaments. That is called çastra. Just like sword, guns, they are called çastra. These two things are rulings. The state has got lawbooks, authoritative books, and one who does not obey the lawbooks, then the next word is gun and sword. This, these two words, means to accept authority. So çiñya means one who accepts the authority of the spiritual master. He voluntarily accepts the rulings or the punishment of the spiritual master. That is called çiñya. One voluntarily agrees to the spiritual master... This initiation is going on. This is the beginning of voluntary acceptance of the spiritual master. That means he agrees that he will abide by the orders of the spiritual master. This is called acceptance of spiritual master. Çiñya. Çiñya means voluntarily accepting the ruling.