Discipleship
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 2
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Renunciation Through Wisdom
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
Conversations and Morning Walks
1971 Conversations and Morning Walks
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: ...therefore he very intelligently appointed Kṛṣṇa as his spiritual master. Because everyone is in perplexity about the problem of life. So this very thing happened to Arjuna, and he wanted to go to spiritual master for solution. And the supreme spiritual master was present before him; therefore he submitted: śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam [Bg. 2.7]. Kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ...
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-saṁmūḍha-cetāḥ, yac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ brūhi tan me.
Prabhupāda: Yac chreyaḥ syāt, yac chreyaḥ syāt tat brūhi me niścitam. So the spiritual master's duty is how to benefit the disciple, śreyaḥ. What is the translation?
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: "Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me."
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. So because he accepted discipleship, so He immediately chastised him that "You rascal, you are talking like a very learned man, but you are on the platform of bodily conception of life, the platform of the animals."Prabhupāda: Anyone who understands Kṛṣṇa perfectly, he is guru. Just like Arjuna is our guru, but he's a gṛhastha, he's a soldier, he's a kṣatriya. He's neither brāhmaṇa nor sannyāsī nor Vedantist, nothing of the sort. But he knows Kṛṣṇa. Therefore he is guru. So gṛhastha (Hindi). Śravaṇam, this is the first step of bhakti. Hear about Kṛṣṇa from the right source. Otherwise you will be misguided. Therefore Kṛṣṇa recommends, tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā [Bg. 4.34]. You have to go to a person where you can surrender. (Hindi)
Guest (3): How to...?
Prabhupāda: That we have to test, whether I can surrender to him. That we have to behave with him. Therefore according to system, one has to study that "Whether I can surrender to him?" If you think that "No, I know better than him," don't accept a formal guru. That is mistake. And guru also will see, "He's appealing to me, he is going to accept my discipleship, let me see whether he is qualified." Then there should be guru and śiṣya, not that as a fashion. Like Arjuna, Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as guru after talking with Him. Find out that verse, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam.
Guest (3): Pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ.
Prabhupāda: When he was convinced that "I do not find anyone else to give me instruction," then he surrendered.Correspondence
1968 Correspondence
Page Title: | Discipleship |
Compiler: | Labangalatika |
Created: | 13 of Feb, 2009 |
Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=1, CC=0, OB=1, Lec=4, Con=2, Let=1 |
No. of Quotes: | 9 |