Srimad Bhagavatam 2.4.1 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | 17 June 2026
jaya rādhā-mādhava kuñja-vihārī
gopījana-vallabha giri-vara-dhārī
yaśodā-nandana vraja-jana-rañjana
yamunā-tīra-vana-cārī
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Jaya Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda
Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 2 Chapter 4 Verse 1.
ŚB 2.4.1
सूत उवाच
वैयासकेरिति वचस्तत्त्वनिश्चयमात्मन: ।
उपधार्य मतिं कृष्णे औत्तरेय: सतीं व्यधात् ॥ १ ॥
sūta uvāca
vaiyāsaker iti vacas
tattva-niścayam ātmanaḥ
upadhārya matiṁ kṛṣṇe
auttareyaḥ satīṁ vyadhāt
Synonyms
sūtaḥ uvāca — Sūta Gosvāmī said; vaiyāsakeḥ — of Śukadeva Gosvāmī; iti — thus; vacaḥ — speeches; tattva-niścayam — that which verifies the truth; ātmanaḥ — in the self; upadhārya — just having realized; matim — concentration of the mind; kṛṣṇe — unto Lord Kṛṣṇa; auttareyaḥ — the son of Uttarā; satīm — chaste; vyadhāt — applied.
Translation
Sūta Gosvāmī said: Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the son of Uttarā, after hearing the speeches of Śukadeva Gosvāmī, which were all about the truth of the self, applied his concentration faithfully upon Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Purport
The word satīm is very significant. This means “existing” and “chaste.” And both imports are perfectly applicable in the case of Mahārāja Parīkṣit. The whole Vedic adventure is to draw one’s attention entirely unto the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa without any diversion, as instructed in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15). Fortunately Mahārāja Parīkṣit had already been attracted to the Lord from the very beginning of his body, in the womb of his mother. In the womb of his mother he was struck by the brahmāstra atomic bomb released by Aśvatthāmā, but by the grace of the Lord he was saved from being burnt by the fiery weapon, and since then the King continuously concentrated his mind upon Lord Kṛṣṇa, which made him perfectly chaste in devotional service. So by natural sequence he was a chaste devotee of the Lord, and when he further heard from Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī that one should worship the Lord only and no one else, even though full of all desires or desireless, his natural affection for Kṛṣṇa was strengthened. We have already discussed these topics.
To become a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, two things are very much essential, namely having a chance to be born in the family of a devotee and having the blessings of a bona fide spiritual master. By the grace of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Parīkṣit Mahārāja had both opportunities. He was born in a family of such devotees as the Pāṇḍavas, and just to continue the dynasty of the Pāṇḍavas and show them special favor, the Lord specifically saved Mahārāja Parīkṣit, who later on, by the arrangement of the Lord, was cursed by the boy of a brāhmaṇa and was able to get the association of such a spiritual master as Śukadeva Gosvāmī. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that a fortunate person, by the mercy of the spiritual master and Lord Kṛṣṇa, achieves the path of devotional service. This was perfectly applicable in the case of Mahārāja Parīkṣit. By way of being born in a family of devotees, he automatically came in touch with Kṛṣṇa, and after being so contacted he constantly remembered Him. Consequently Lord Kṛṣṇa gave the King a further chance for development in devotional service by introducing him to Śukadeva Gosvāmī, a stalwart devotee of the Lord with perfect knowledge in self-realization. And by hearing from a bona fide spiritual master, he was perfectly able to concentrate his chaste mind further upon Lord Kṛṣṇa, as a matter of course.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, this verse describes Parikshit Maharaj. And what did he do? He concentrated his mind on Krishna. So, already he’s following the instructions given by Sukadeva Goswami. And here as Prabhupada points out in the commentary, his mind was pure, satīṁ modifies matiṁ. So, he had a pure mind. And thus, he could concentrate very nicely on Krishna. So, an impure mind means that one has many material attachments and thoughts. And if these are very strong, you cannot concentrate on the Lord at all. Of course, Krishna is very merciful and even if you do have material thoughts, the Lord allows one to practice bhakti and get some results. And therefore, the Bhagavatam defines the qualification for bhakti as having a taste for hearing about Krishna without too much material attachment, but it doesn’t say no material attachment. In fact it says the opposite, you shouldn’t be too detached also. If you are very attached, at the best we will be doing karma yoga. If you are too detached, you do jnana and yoga. So we can have attachment but not too much. And then by the process of bhakti the mind becomes pure, he gets rid of all these material desires and one can concentrate on the Lord more.
So in the purport, Prabhupada explains that Parikshit had the advantage of being born in a family of devotees. And thus in young age, he also heard about Krishna. So, in this way, he already had some advantage because he was a devotee of sorts and got the mercy of Krishna. But then Prabhupada also mentions, then he got the mercy of Sukadeva Goswami. And he refers to a verse in Caitanya Caritamrta. It says that, if you get the mercy of Guru and Krishna, you get the seed of bhakti. So, he got the mercy of Krishna, because he was saved by Krishna and he had the association of great devotees plus he got the mercy of Sukadeva Goswami. So Sukadeva Goswami was his spiritual master. So therefore, the injunction is we get the mercy of Krishna, we also have to get the mercy of a spiritual master.
But how was Sukadeva Goswami’s mercy manifested? How did he plant the seed of bhakti? What is the answer? He taught Bhagavatam. That was the seed of bhakti. So, in other words, Sukadeva Goswami was not a Diksha Guru. He was a Siksha Guru. And Sukadeva Goswami never gave any Diksha to Parikshit Maharaj. But he is very famous because he got exalted Guru, Sukadeva Goswami. So, when we hear the word Guru or Spiritual Master, it does not necessarily mean a Diksha Guru. And in most cases, in Bhagavatam especially, it refers to a Siksha Guru.
So, Prabhupada talks about the bona fide Spiritual Master. So, in this case, he was a bona fide Siksha Guru. This does not deny or rule out that one should take Diksha. But it does show the emphasis given to the teachings or the Siksha. So, we get the mercy and we get the deliverance by teachings. That is, of course, natural in one sense, because when we hear the word Guru, its general meaning is teacher. So, the question will arise, okay, I have a Siksha Guru, I get teachings, so what does the Diksha Guru teach? And the answer is, of course, the Diksha Guru can also be teaching, he can be Siksha Guru also. But why do we distinguish him and call him a Diksha Guru and not a Siksha Guru? And, even if he didn’t teach, he would still be called a Diksha Guru.
So, what is he teaching then, if he doesn’t teach? So, of course, that may be theoretical, but there are cases like that. For instance, Lord Caitanya took Diksha. But, He didn’t stay very long with His Guru, maybe a one day or two days, and then he was off to Bengal again [Laughs]. Of course, He also got some teachings there to chant the holy name. But what made His Guru a Diksha Guru then? So, what was the difference? He didn’t even get a name. He had the same name when He returned [Laughs]. Probably, He didn’t even get beads even [Laughs]. So, what made his Guru a Diksha Guru? And He got a mantra from His Guru, that was the Diksha. So it’s described not in Caitanya Caritamrta but I think in Caitanya Bhagavat, He got a ten syllable Krishna mantra. So this was not Hare Krishna. How many syllables is Hare Krishna? [Laughs]. Sixteen. So, it can’t be that mantra. So, what was it? Lord Caitanya never told anybody. So, it was not something we use in Kirtan. It was not something He used in preaching. And He never gave that mantra to anybody. He didn’t give Diksha to anybody. But nevertheless, the Guru gave Him that mantra. So, he was called His Diksha Guru. So, even if he doesn’t teach, he is called a Diksha Guru if he gives the mantra. So, even giving the mantra is a type of teaching because it’s non-different from Krishna. So, also, it is divya jnanam.
So, the technical definition of Diksha is to give Divya jnanam. But of course, the Siksha Guru also gives divya jnanam. So, the difference is that in Diksha, the divya jnanam is in the mantra itself, that’s what the teaching is giving. So, that is the distinguishing factor between a Diksha Guru and a Siksha Guru. So, in Bhagavatam, we don’t see exchange of these mantras. Of course, when we talk about this type of Diksha, we are talking about Vaishnava Diksha, which is Pancharatrika. And, a lot of the Diksha in the Bhagavatam and other ancient works is not even Pancharatrika, it’s Vedic. So, Krishna got His mantra, Vedic mantra from His father in Mathura. And this entitled Him to study the Vedas. Then He went off and studied under Sandipani Muni. So, that is Vedic Diksha, usually done by the father. But, when we talk about Diksha, we are not talking about that Diksha. We are talking about Vaishnava Diksha. So, that involves giving a Vaishnava Mantra.
In Brhad Bhagavatamrta, Gopa Kumar also had a Diksha Guru, who gave him a ten-syllable Diksha Mantra of Krishna. Which seems to be the same mantra that Lord Caitanya got [Laughs]. And what happened? He simply gave him the Mantra. He didn’t give him any teachings. He didn’t give a name, nothing. So, in any case, he..
[Not audible – Technical issue].
We are sensitive enough to receive that mercy, which means if we have faith and we do have some devotion, then we are capable of absorbing that knowledge properly. Guru and Krishna plant the seed of Bhakti, so they give the essential teachings and inspiration for us. And that Guru is Siksha Guru or Diksha Guru or both. But the seed will not grow if it falls on barren land. So, to accept that mercy, to accept those teachings, we do need some initial faith. And once we get that mercy, then we have to do something with it.
So, once you get the seed, what happens? Does it grow on its own? Yeah, to some degree. But Lord Caitanya says you have to cultivate that seed and water it properly and make it grow. Otherwise, it doesn’t grow properly. So, then the responsibility of the devotee, once he gets the mercy, is to do some activity to make the seed grow. So, to think I just need mercy, that’s all. No [Laughs]. Or to think I got initiation, so that’s it. No. So, we have to follow the instructions. The mercy is given, instructions are given to follow. So, we need the mercy, we have to have some effort on our part also. And in that way, the seed will grow. Hare Krishna!
Q & A :
1.) Maharaj, we see that in the beginning of ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada was so much emphasizing on Diksha, almost he initiated all of his disciples. May be but very few of his disciples got his personal association like teaching. Maximum it depended on Diksha only. But they took one instruction and they expanded the instructions, we see in ISKCON. But then, right now see, when you see the Bhagavatam, Bhagavatam is more on teaching. But where as Srila Prabhupada was more on Diksha. So, how do we balance both things?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So, I don’t think it is correct to say that Prabhupada put more emphasis on Diksha. Because he spent so much time writing books. And this emphasis in carrying on the Sampradaya is to preserve the teachings. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur of course, put some emphasis on this Diksha and made a whole ceremony. But he also says that one who takes shelter of the holy name is better than one who has Diksha [Laughs]. So, he often didn’t emphasize that everybody had to have Diksha. Of course, when he says Diksha, he means second initiation. So, of course, we find some emphasis is there because Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur gave Diksha, Prabhupada gave Diksha, but we should not overemphasize. So, may be the reason for the emphasis upon the Diksha is because it’s an easy solution to a problem. It’s a way of separating serious devotee from non-serious devotee. But also, in doing so, it becomes a little bit artificial. And the original function and meaning of Diksha also becomes lost in that process.
Devotee: During initiation, there is a vow, there is a commitment to a spiritual master. But when this initiation is not there, that kind of things, rituals, it’s not there anymore. There is no commitment.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So, we make vows in ISKCON, but it’s not universal. So, even in Gaudiya Math, it’s very, you don’t see much vow there. And it seems Lord Caitanya, Nityananda no vows [Laughs]. Gopa Kumar no vows [Laughs]. So it’s not an essential part of Diksha. So, there is nothing wrong with vows. But they could equally apply to Siksha. If you want, you can have vows at Siksha. So, it’s not something that differentiates Siksha from Diksha, vows.
Devotee: In Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s time, Nityananda Prabhu’s time, you mentioned that there is no ceremony called initiation ceremony, something like that. It’s not there. And later on, I think Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur only, he only started, initiating these kind of things. It’s only because of, you know, to increase the faith or the faith in the system, as well as, you know, to make the, organize everything so that, you know, the devotee becomes more and more serious. Because, because previously, you know, name also was not given. But Bhaktisiddhanta started these kind of things. It’s only to, you know, so that movement can go on in future also.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So, we can use the Diksha for other things, but when we do that, we may lose the original meaning. Well, we may think like that, but actually, even in ISKCON, very few people understand what Diksha is. And of course, we emphasize first initiation more than second initiation, but actually, initiation is getting those mantras, which is second. So, our whole meaning of Diksha becomes different. So, that’s also okay, but in doing so, then we should not confuse the two terminologies, because they are using it in a different way in Caitanya Caritamrta and other Gaudiya literature from what we are using it. So, they talk about Diksha, they are talking about something completely different from what we are doing [Laughs]. Of course, we could also think of other ways in which we can preach and expand and whatever and set standards without having to use the word Diksha. We could do that also. There’s no problem in doing that. It’s just an organizational mechanism. And in fact, we’ve already done that in some degree when we have these things like the, we call it the Prabhupada Asraya and all these other things, it’s also a formalization. It’s not there in scripture, but it’s useful for putting people at certain levels. So, that was the original function also of Bhaktisiddhanta’s first initiation, which he didn’t call initiation. It was just giving the holy name. So, it’s very similar to our system with up to Prabhupada asraya [Laughs]. So in that process also, then they’re getting mercy of Guru. They’re planting the seed of Bhakti. But it is done without a Diksha Guru [Laughs], whole system [Laughs].
Devotee: Maharaj, see, problem is that, we see, ISKCON as an organization when we see, as an organization. To bring everyone together as an organization, we need some system also, you know. Yeah, when you see the seven purpose of teaching as Caitanya Mahaprabhu is there.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah.
Devotee: And also, when you go together as an organization, those who are in the organization need commitment. But that commitment will come when they’re following the same purpose, follow the same person. But when we say, you know, these teachings, teaching is everything, no Diksha, nothing is necessary. But whatever, you know, different groups go in different direction. Different groups goes in different direction.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah.
Devotee: And then movement breaks there.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, so that’s the problem with Diksha. You get different groups and they go in different directions with the Diksha Gurus, isn’t it? This is the problem. We have the parallel lines of authority coming out. So then the Diksha Guru is more important than the ISKCON and authority of the GBC. And whatever the Diksha Guru says you follow, you ignore everybody else. So that’s also a problem of Diksha itself within ISKCON [Laughs]. So that was a problem. And that’s why we had a whole committee that met for 10 years. And we came out with this paper and it was a disciple course. All this came out because there’s a problem with Diksha Gurus. It gets too much.
Devotee: Maharaj, in that paper, that line of authority, everything is very clear, that what is the role of Diksha Guru, what is the role of Siksha Guru, what is the role of management.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah. And everybody should understand it. Yeah.
Devotee: It’s very clear.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah. So everybody takes the course also before initiation. But still their mind doesn’t change and they end up doing the same thing. Isn’t it? So we still get complaints even today [Laughs].
2.) Maharaj, yes, there have to be lot of safeguards and we need to understand everything in perspective. But we also see that Srila Prabhupada is our Samsthapaka Acharya, he is the Founder Acharya and he established ISKCON and he saw that this institution should continue for another ten thousand years and he set up different systems and this is one of them. So we see it as a system that is established in ISKCON by Srila Prabhupada. Of course, that system has to be implemented in the right spirit with the proper safeguards and with all the concerns that all have. But I’m sure Prabhupada establishing it, because in Prabhupada’s time, whatever little understanding I have, Prabhupada usually would inspire devotees who take up Krishna consciousness to take initiation. Very few examples were there where Prabhupada said, you know, you can just continue chanting. So I think that is where the whole legacy is from. That’s how it has perpetuated in ISKCON. Because that is what the proper disciples saw things happening in ISKCON and that’s what they took it forward.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah.
Devotee: But of course, the concern which you, which you’re raising and many devotees raise, those concerns are also real. So Prabhupada’s system, Prabhupada’s movement, with the proper safeguards and proper understanding, I think that is how it should go forward Maharaj?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah. So it is a little controversial, what did Prabhupada want if he established Diksha Gurus, etc. So originally they said, okay, we have Diksha in ISKCON, we have GBCs and we have Diksha Gurus, and then the Diksha Gurus will be like Prabhupada, because that’s what Prabhupada did. So we do like that. And they tried and it failed. So the system got revised. So it’s not exactly like Prabhupada anymore. It’s a little bit different. But even though we’ve revised several steps in the future [Laughs], up until now, still the problem remains. So the problem is loyalty to Guru, Diksha Guru, over loyalty to ISKCON. But if we ask carefully, is that what Prabhupada wanted when he made Diksha Gurus at all? Then we have to say no. So his concept of Diksha Guru must be something different from what we’re doing present. Every time there’s a bureau meeting, then Lokanath Swami says, Guru-groupism, big problem [Laughs]. Groupism, Guru-groupism, big problem in ISKCON [Laughs]. So how to balance Prabhupada as the Founder Acharya and the GBC he established as a managerial system and the Diksha Guru, that’s the whole problem. And at the present, somehow, even if the Diksha Guru is not at fault, the disciples will take the Diksha Guru as the absolute authority, not Prabhupada or the GBC. So that’s, that’s the problem. If we go back to the original definition, it’s the one who gives you the Diksha mantra, that’s it. So then it wouldn’t be so important. But they give that Guru more importance than Prabhupada. So this is the problem.
Devotee: So basically, Maharaj, you mentioned initially that the system that after Prabhupada left, people could not, devotees could not really handle that system and there were many problems. So of course, we have seen that ISKCON also really matured over a period of time. Now there are so much system for sannyasa and so much system for Guru and now so much system for initiation as well. So of course, I understand that we are all evolving in that sense. This problem of managerial line and the spiritual line. Actually, Maharaj, in our case, we see in ISKCON, we don’t really have an isolated Diksha Guru. We don’t have, we don’t see a system or we don’t see an isolated Diksha Guru who will just give Diksha and not be present without Siksha in our disciples’ life.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, we find, but if they are giving Siksha, it is minimal. So many disciples complain, our Diksha Gurus are not giving us any instructions. That’s a complaint. I never talk to him, I never can write to him, never get a reply and because he got thousands of disciples. So, you know, if everybody is writing everyday, then what do you do? You can’t do anything. So there is a problem there even, that they are giving sufficient guidance. Because if you have, well, even in school, what’s the limit for teacher to student? What’s the ratio?
Devotee: Thirty, forty.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, so generally our Diksha Gurus have thousands. How much they can educate them? Technically, you know, okay, so give a lecture and everybody can hear it, but how they’re responding, how they understand it, we don’t know. So it is limited how much teaching the Diksha Gurus who have thousands, if they have only a few disciples, fine, they’re staying there, no problem. But in ISKCON, it’s not like that. Generally, most of the Gurus have at least a thousand or more. When you get, like, even a few hundred, it becomes difficult, what to speak of thousands. So even that teaching function becomes limited.
Devotee: Actually, Maharaj, this point of resolving one’s issues in Krishna Consciousness, in my understanding, is not done by… In my own personal example, sometimes Diksha Guru helps and sometimes Siksha Guru helps, but then there are so many other devotees on the way who actually give practical help. So that person may not necessarily be the Siksha Guru or the Diksha Guru. One who’s actually hand-holding and helping the disciple or the devotee to come up in Krishna Consciousness.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah. So they’re another type of Siksha Guru.
Devotee: We have a third category Maharaj.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: They’re another Siksha Guru.
Devotee: Okay.
Devotees: [Laugh].
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: [Laughs]. So you can have many Siksha Gurus.
Devotee: What we see in ISKCON Maharaj, is that there are some very prominent and very wonderful speakers and many, many devotees are listening to them and they consider them as their Siksha Gurus. So they will, you know, hear online, youtube lectures, that’s how it is. Ground level, there is some other devotee who’s taking, helping them. And then the third person is the Diksha Guru. So this is a kind of a triangle kind of system. And Maharaj, I’ve also noticed that most of the times it is the managerial authority who actually engages them in Krishna Consciousness.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Of course, of course.
Devotee: And they are actually the one at times who also take personal care and…
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Of course, of course. But who gets the respect?
Devotee: Who doesn’t… Maharaj, not even recognition. The respect will come after recognition.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: No, the respect goes to the Diksha Guru and nobody else [Laughs]. That’s the problem also [Laughs]. So we won’t, we listen to the Diksha Guru, we won’t listen to anybody else ultimately, even though everybody else is doing all the work. That’s also a problem [Laughs]. And of course, in Caitanya Caritamrta, there it’s very clear that the Siksha Guru, Diksha Guru get equal respect. They’re equally powerful. They function equally. However, in ISKCON, it doesn’t function like that. That’s why we get this problem of Guru-groupism, according to not Siksha Gurus, but Diksha Gurus [Laughs].
3.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. So Maharaj, just to sum up and to check if my understanding is proper. So Maharaj, you mentioned that Diksha as such refers to the second initiation when we talk about NOD or other scriptures or Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So actually, the disciple who wants to get Diksha should be focusing on second initiation, like first initiation is not so much counted. Diksha a person gets as per NOD is when he gets the second initiation. Is that correct, Maharaj?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, but in ISKCON, our idea is quite different [Laughs]. We put more emphasis upon first initiation. There’s an interesting conversation of Prabhupada around two letters. And in one he says, second initiation more important. That’s the real initiation. Of course, it is strictly true. Another letter he says, first initiation more important. So then people are really confused by that [Laughs]. Which is true? So, second initiation is the real initiation. It is the only initiation for Bhaktisiddhanta. And the first thing was not called initiation at all. We call it first initiation. And then we put more importance on that, than on initiation itself. So this is very confusing in one sense. But it’s also true that first initiation is more important because we’re encouraged to chant the holy name. And you get beads and you know like this and you take vows, etc. So for most devotees, it is more, more, let’s say, functional and inspirational than the second one. Because they get the mantras and they don’t understand what the mantras are at all. So, you know [Laughs], they don’t chant that much anyway. So mainly you’re chanting 16 rounds and whatever, that’s our main sadhana. So in that sense, the first one is more important. But technically, it’s not Diksha apart from the fact we get the name, which is part of Diksha, but not the main part.
We can say that our Diksha is divided into two parts. First and second, of which the major part actually is the mantra in second. And the first, may be we call Diksha because you get a name, which is also part of Pancharatrika Diksha. But if you don’t get the mantra, you can’t do Deity worship anyway. So technically, it’s not the main function of Diksha. As we see with Lord Caitanya, He didn’t get a name, but He got mantra. That was Diksha. But then the whole question arises, why is the Diksha Guru so important? Why does he get so much emphasis? Because our main efforts are put into Nama Sankirtana, chanting the holy name and reading the scriptures [Laughs], which is technically got nothing to do with our Diksha mantra [Laughs].
Devotee: So, Maharaj, can we say that, it is okay to take Diksha with, you know, like earliest with whichever Guru is available and possible and we get Diksha and we focus more on the preaching services rather than like, Maharaj, when we preach, we find that some devotees, they find some Guru who’s in the US. You know, never met, just heard and then he decides that, okay, I’ll take initiation from him or some Gurus have waiting period of five years, seven years. And then they are so much into that, that like… and Maharaj, like there is no discussion which happens with us. They would just come randomly and tell, okay, so I have decided my Guru is so and so person. And then they are in such long waiting period because when that Guru will come to India, what is the procedure of initiation and all? So, it becomes very difficult for us to tell them, don’t wait and to tell them like, because then it will be like you are promoting somebody and putting down someone.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah. Well, there’s an interesting story. I don’t know how true it is. But then with Prabhupada and the Gurus, when he started appointing Gurus, then the idea is that you just take the Diksha Guru who’s in your area. So, therefore, he made Gurus for this area of the world or the Diksha Guru here, Diksha for America, for Europe, for far East, for this area. So, you just take the Diksha from whoever’s in your area, finished [Laughs]. So, that’s one concept. Of course, then other people will say, no, you have to take it from your heart, whoever you’re attracted to, like this. So, then you go all the way around the world to find a Guru or whatever like that. So, that’s another idea.
But then someone said, actually, Prabhupada was not too much interested in the whole thing. It’s just more whoever in the area, you get the Diksha from there. It’s more like a formality than a spiritual, real spiritual connection. That was what somebody says [Laughs], which makes it a little more convenient. The reason for also the complication and let’s say waiting a long period of time is often because those Gurus, those Diksha Gurus realized after a certain point of time that they initiate all these people, but then they disappear. So, better wait a long time and see that they’re serious. So, that’s why they make them wait a long time because they do initiate a lot of people, and then they’re not visible anymore after two or three years. So, what this means is that, they take initiation and they come up to the standards. But after they get initiation, they find it difficult, and they have to go back to a lower level. So, artificially, they’ll come up to meet the standard, then they go back like this. So, nothing wrong with those devotees also, but may be they should not endeavor to go artificially high and then disappear after some time. Stay at a certain level and continue your service. So, that’s why it may be also a little bit of a, may be, let’s say, pressurized or whatever into getting initiation and coming up to a certain standard when may be they’re not even qualified or capable of doing that in the long term. But because it is a standard, they feel they have to come up with a standard. So, again, it’s kind of material in one sense. This is a title, so to speak, and you got the title, so therefore you’re a devotee, but then you can’t maintain. It’s kind of a material.
In Europe, Parambhakti, who is in Florence temple, he made a presentation to show that, actually, we’re overemphasizing that level of Diksha, and that’s why the people go away, because they’re actually may be not qualified for it, but they have to come up to that standard. So, he says, the solution is to have a lower level where people are recognized as serious devotees, even if they’re not following everything perfectly, whatever like that, and that can be their level, and they shouldn’t be forced to come up to a higher standard. And that could be their recognized position in ISKCON, at a lower level, but we accept it also. So, he said, make a new level, and that way you won’t have people aspiring for something and then disappearing [Laughs].
Devotee: So, may be Maharaj, for Srila Prabhupada, that lower level would be this first initiation, because he was also preaching to all the Westerners.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, like that, yeah, yeah. Oh, even Bhaktisiddhanta, same. His was quite liberal, more than even ours [Laughs]. By getting that kind of ceremony, whatever it was, Nama-dana or whatever, very informal, whatever it was, at least they’re considered part of the group. But the standards were even low, chant four rounds or whatever, like that, even nowadays in Gaudiya Math, same thing.
Hare Krishna!
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!