Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.19.37~40 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Feb 12, 2026
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
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 1 Chapter 19 Verse 37.
ŚB 1.19.37
अत: पृच्छामि संसिद्धिं योगिनां परमं गुरुम् ।
पुरुषस्येह यत्कार्यं म्रियमाणस्य सर्वथा ॥ ३७ ॥
ataḥ pṛcchāmi saṁsiddhiṁ
yogināṁ paramaṁ gurum
puruṣasyeha yat kāryaṁ
mriyamāṇasya sarvathā
Synonyms
ataḥ — therefore; pṛcchāmi — beg to inquire; saṁsiddhim — the way of perfection; yoginām — of the saints; paramam — the supreme; gurum — the spiritual master; puruṣasya — of a person; iha — in this life; yat — whatever; kāryam — duty; mriyamāṇasya — of one who is going to die; sarvathā — in every way.
Translation
You are the spiritual master of great saints and devotees. I am therefore begging you to show the way of perfection for all persons, and especially for one who is about to die.
Purport
Unless one is perfectly anxious to inquire about the way of perfection, there is no necessity of approaching a spiritual master. A spiritual master is not a kind of decoration for a householder. Generally a fashionable materialist engages a so-called spiritual master without any profit. The pseudo spiritual master flatters the so-called disciple, and thereby both the master and his ward go to hell without a doubt. Mahārāja Parīkṣit is the right type of disciple because he puts forward questions vital to the interest of all men, particularly for the dying men. The question put forward by Mahārāja Parīkṣit is the basic principle of the complete thesis of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Now let us see how intelligently the great master replies.
ŚB 1.19.38
यच्छ्रोतव्यमथो जप्यं यत्कर्तव्यं नृभि: प्रभो ।
स्मर्तव्यं भजनीयं वा ब्रूहि यद्वा विपर्ययम् ॥ ३८ ॥
yac chrotavyam atho japyaṁ
yat kartavyaṁ nṛbhiḥ prabho
smartavyaṁ bhajanīyaṁ vā
brūhi yad vā viparyayam
Synonyms
yat — whatever; śrotavyam — worth hearing; atho — thereof; japyam — chanted; yat — what also; kartavyam — executed; nṛbhiḥ — by the people in general; prabho — O master; smartavyam — that which is remembered; bhajanīyam — worshipable; vā — either; brūhi — please explain; yad vā — what it may be; viparyayam — against the principle.
Translation
Please let me know what a man should hear, chant, remember and worship, and also what he should not do. Please explain all this to me.
ŚB 1.19.39
नूनं भगवतो ब्रह्मन् गृहेषु गृहमेधिनाम् ।
न लक्ष्यते ह्यवस्थानमपि गोदोहनं क्वचित् ॥ ३९ ॥
nūnaṁ bhagavato brahman
gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām
na lakṣyate hy avasthānam
api go-dohanaṁ kvacit
Synonyms
nūnam — because; bhagavataḥ — of you, who are powerful; brahman — O brāhmaṇa; gṛheṣu — in the houses; gṛha-medhinām — of the householders; na — not; lakṣyate — are seen; hi — exactly; avasthānam — staying in; api — even; go-dohanam — milking the cow; kvacit — rarely.
Translation
O powerful brāhmaṇa, it is said that you hardly stay in the houses of men long enough to milk a cow.
Purport
Saints and sages in the renounced order of life go to the houses of the householders at the time they milk the cows, early in the morning, and ask some quantity of milk for subsistence. A pound of milk fresh from the milk bag of a cow is sufficient to feed an adult with all vitamin values, and therefore saints and sages live only on milk. Even the poorest of the householders keep at least ten cows, each delivering twelve to twenty quarts of milk, and therefore no one hesitates to spare a few pounds of milk for the mendicants. It is the duty of householders to maintain the saints and sages, like the children. So a saint like Śukadeva Gosvāmī would hardly stay at the house of a householder for more than five minutes in the morning. In other words, such saints are very rarely seen in the houses of householders, and Mahārāja Parīkṣit therefore prayed to him to instruct him as soon as possible. The householders also should be intelligent enough to get some transcendental information from visiting sages. The householder should not foolishly ask a saint to deliver what is available in the market. That should be the reciprocal relation between the saints and the householders.
ŚB 1.19.40
सूत उवाच
एवमाभाषित: पृष्ट: स राज्ञा श्लक्ष्णया गिरा ।
प्रत्यभाषत धर्मज्ञो भगवान् बादरायणि: ॥ ४० ॥
sūta uvāca
evam ābhāṣitaḥ pṛṣṭaḥ
sa rājñā ślakṣṇayā girā
pratyabhāṣata dharma-jño
bhagavān bādarāyaṇiḥ
Synonyms
sūtaḥ uvāca — Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said; evam — thus; ābhāṣitaḥ — being spoken; pṛṣṭaḥ — and asked for; saḥ — he; rājñā — by the King; ślakṣṇayā — by sweet; girā — language; pratyabhāṣata — began to reply; dharma-jñaḥ — one who knows the principles of religion; bhagavān — the powerful personality; bādarāyaṇiḥ — son of Vyāsadeva.
Translation
Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said: The King thus spoke and questioned the sage, using sweet language. Then the great and powerful personality, the son of Vyāsadeva, who knew the principles of religion, began his reply.
Purport
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the First Canto, Nineteenth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “The Appearance of Śukadeva Gosvāmī.”
END OF THE FIRST CANTO
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, in this verse we see that Pariksit is talking about ‘paramaṁ guru’, the supreme Guru. And what does he ask the Guru? He asks about ‘saṁsiddhiṁ’, highest perfection. What should the person do, especially when he’s dying? So we know from Bhagavad Gita that one should approach with surrender and ‘pranipat’ and then one should ask questions, ‘pariprasna’. But of course there it doesn’t say what you should ask.
So Srila Prabhupada in introduction to Bhagavad Gita says, ‘everybody is asking questions, even the animals.’ But what are the animals asking for? So the little birds are asking the mother bird, ‘where is my food, where is my food?’ So all living entities, because they have a body, are asking questions concerning eating, sleeping, mating and defending, that’s their questions. And of course, human beings can ask the same questions. And for that purpose, we even have educational systems to answer the question. But what is the purpose of the educational systems? To get knowledge, so you can get a job, so you can get your eating, sleeping, mating and defending. So in this way people are asking these questions all the time and they are getting their answers.
So as Bhagavad Gita says we should ask questions, but questions should be different. How should they be different? They should not be about eating, sleeping, mating and defending. So what should they be about then? So Srila Prabhupada has also explained, yes, the human being can ask these questions, but the human being has higher intelligence, so he should ask other questions. Therefore, the human being should ask questions like, ‘Who am I? What is my identity? What is my goal? What’s the ultimate goal of life?’ And if we can define that ultimate goal of life, what is the method by which we can get to it? So this is the ultimate goal of the scriptures.
Of course, the scriptures also give information about how you can eat, sleep, mate and defend. And for that we have ‘Artha Sastras’ and ‘Dharma Sastras’. And large parts of Vedas such as Karma kanda and Smriti Sastras like Manu Smriti, they deal with this. And in fact we have a whole section of scripture called the Smriti, starting with Manu Smriti and Yajnavalkya Smriti etc., about 18 scriptures dealing with eating, sleeping, mating, defending and Varanashrama. And of course then we can ask the question, but why the Vedas that are supposed to be spiritual, why are they dealing with this? So not everybody is qualified to ask these highest questions. At the same time the Vedas realize, by supplying answers to eating, sleeping, mating and defending, simultaneously doing it in a certain way, eventually they will ask the questions.
So, in this way the system of Varanashrama is superior to other social systems, because at least the goal is tending towards spirituality, even though it is not directly spiritual. However, the human being is such that, in Kali Yuga especially, that they may get so involved with this eating, sleeping, mating, defending, procreation etc., and ultimately Varanashrama, if you are following the Vedas, that they forget the ultimate goal. So though Vedas, Upanishads, Smritis are dealing with all of this in a scripture, Bhagavatam then says, forget all of this. But then people will say, how can we forget this is a scripture? If we don’t follow this, we are not following Vedic culture. But Bhagavatam clearly says, ‘tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ’, giving up your Dharma, your Varanashrama system is a Brahmanic, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Sudra, if you worship the Lord, there is no sin incurred by not following those other instructions, you worship the Lord, it is a higher principle. So in this sense, the Bhagavatam is quite revolutionary because it is willing to reject the instructions of other scriptures in favour of Bhakti.
So Bhagavatam also says, if you do not have that faith in the process of Bhakti to deliver the highest goal, then you should perform Varanashramic duties. And when you develop that faith in the topics of the Lord, if you develop the idea that surrender is the highest principle, then you can readily give up all these other duties. Of course, this is very simply stated at the end of Bhagavad Gita, give up all Dharmas and just surrender to me and you are free from all sin. Whatever positive features are gained through the performance of Dharma and Varanashrama and following the Vedas is surpassed by what is achieved by Bhakti. If we do not have faith in the principle, no, we shouldn’t do Bhakti at all, go back to Varanashrama.
So these are very bold statements. Nevertheless, that’s the real conclusion of Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam.
Of course, Chaitanya Caritamrita, which is also Bhagavatam, goes a little bit further even. And Lord Chaitanya is particularly emphasizing the power of the name. And thus, yes, this Dharma etc. ok, is not essential. And he states this several times discussing with Ramananda and discussing with the followers of Madhvacharya etc. But he even goes a step further. He says you can chant the holy name, you can get the highest perfection and you don’t even need Diksha, Pancharatra. So this is very surprising. Of course, it also says the same thing in the Bhagavatam. Anyone, even the Swapacha, the dog-eater, if he chants the holy name once purely, he’s superior to a Brahmana. And to chant the holy name does not require Diksha at all. So, in other words, Bhagavatam and Chaitanya Caritamrita are making a principle superior to all the other previous scriptures, that is Vedas, Upanishads, Smritis etc. and even Pancharatra.
So, of course, people will ask, how can you reject scripture because it says Sruti, Smriti, Purana, Pancharatra etc. if you don’t have these things, you cannot do Bhakti. So, by saying that the holy name is independent even of Diksha etc. and that we don’t have to follow Varanashrama, tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ etc., this does not mean that we purposely reject everything, but we don’t take them as absolute. So generally, if we follow the example of Lord Chaitanya’s followers, they did not generally reject Varanashrama or Pancharatra etc., they accepted it to the extent it was favourable for their surrender to Krishna. So, they followed the rules and regulations to the extent that it did not contradict the highest principles of Bhakti. So, why they had to follow it all? One answer is, they don’t like to disturb other people. This is how, to prevent criticism, you are completely non-Vedic, you are Mlecchas or whatever, to some extent their appearance is, they are following rules. Or others who are Vaishnavas say, you are not a real Vaishnava because you are not following Pancharatra rules, so they take initiation. So to that extent, they follow some rules.
The other reason of course is that, because we have a material body, we do have to follow rules. So, if we go even to the most, not primitive, but societies living in the jungle or whatever, they still have rules. And why do they have these rules? There are rules for cleanliness, rules for eating, rules for social interaction, so that they can survive, get along together and prosper. So of course, this is eating, sleeping, mating, defending rules. So, because we have material bodies, because we are living in a society, we also have to eat, sleep, mate and defend to some degree, except the Paramhamsas. So, for the followers of Lord Chaitanya then, they followed the rules as much as possible, because if they were Brahmanas, they had an occupation by which they could support their body and their families, if they are Kshatriya, they followed those rules to support their family and themselves. But those who became devotees and followers of Lord Chaitanya, who were not in the Varanashrama system, they were not expected to follow.
And thus we have Haridasa Thakur, so they didn’t say, oh, now you have to practice the Varanashrama system and become a Vaisya or a Brahmana or whatever, no, they didn’t do that at all. So, therefore, the associates we can say technically, theoretically reject everything except Bhakti, hearing, chanting, remembering etc. still if it’s convenient then you follow these rules in order to maintain your body and interact socially with family and society. So, the devotee will understand this and therefore he will never let the main principle of bhakti be contaminated. So, this ‘saṁsiddhiṁ’ or the highest perfection is emphasized by Bhagavatam, Chaitanya Caritamrta, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And thus the guru should teach this. And though everyone is involved in other questions, if they are qualified, then they will ask questions about this highest goal, not about the other things.
And thus, in the first line of the purport, Prabhupada says, unless one is perfectly anxious to inquire about the way of perfection, there is no necessity of approaching a spiritual master.
So he says, spiritual master is not a kind of decoration for a householder. Now of course, decoration means the guru is not really essential for your goals in life. Or you will use the guru in order to advance in artha, dharma, kama, etc. So, as far as true devotees, those followers in Srila Prabhupada’s movement, then they should not ask these questions to gurus. But everyday people ask these questions. So everyday I get questions, when am I going to get another job? When am I going to get married? When am I going to have a child? When will I get a promotion? When will I get an opportunity to go to overseas? What should I study in university? Which house should I buy? What’s a good date for moving into my house? So, 99% of the questions are like that. So, in this way, we can ask all these questions, maybe we get answers, but we’re missing the whole point of having a guru. So that is made very clear here. The guru also is not advertising him as a person all-knowledgeable of such matters.
What does Bhagavad Gita say? His qualification is he knows tattva. Of course, Lord Chaitanya says the same thing, ‘anybody who knows Krishna tattva, then he becomes guru.’
So, to approach for other tattvas is useless. For such answers, you go to material gurus.
So, we see here that Pariksit Maharaj is asking the proper question. We see in Chaitanya Caritamrita, Rupa and Sanatana, they go to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and they ask the proper question. So that is the true goal of approaching a guru. And the guru should answer such questions, not other questions.
So we see that Pariksit asks this question and Sukadeva Goswami, he answers, not just that question, but in the highest manner. So, there are various levels of attraction. Of course, elementary level is, get out of the material world, stop the birth and death, ok, Liberation. Next is, okay, we get out of the material world, we should realize the Lord. But if it is general realization of the Lord, it may be Paramatma. So then the highest realization is, how to get to Bhagavan. What is the method by which we can realize Bhagavan? But Sukadeva Goswami goes further.
As is mentioned here in the first canto, the highest form of Bhagavan is Krishna. And therefore, Sukadeva Goswami advises that you should do Bhakti to realize Krishna, highest form. But he goes further than that also. So, he says, you realize Krishna in Vrindavan. And he goes further than that. And he says, you realize the love of Radha Krishna in Vrindavan, that is the highest, highest, highest, highest perfection of all. Of course, that last goal is not explicitly stated in Bhagavatam. But it is explicitly stated in Chaitanya Caritamrita. So though Jiva Goswami concludes that the highest proof is Bhagavatam, actually even higher than that is Caitanya Caritamrita. In other words, Caitanya Caritamrita presents the essence of Bhagavatam. And therefore Prabhupada says that Caitanya Caritamrita is the post graduate work, PhD.
OK. Hare Krsna!
Q & A:
1.) Maharaj you explained regarding this Bhagavatam and [Not clear] and one should enquire about this highest perfection. Also we can say that this holy name doesn’t need anything, no need Diksha also. See, in the beginning, our ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada introduced the holy name, but he also introduced initiation. Is it to simply encourage them so that they can advance?
Of course, we see that Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, when he traces our parampara, he doesn’t even mention Diksha [Laughs]. So, he traces Siksha parampara. Of course, that does not mean that all the persons mentioned there did not have Diksha. No, they had Diksha also, but he doesn’t trace a parampara that way. So, as I mentioned, yes, Bhagavatam says, you can reject all Dharma and just do Bhakti, but then nevertheless, most of the people did follow Dharma to some degree. So, in the same way, because we are Vaishnavas, we should follow Pancharatra and take Diksha according to that method. But then, we have these statements, Harinam does not depend on Diksha, to indicate that it’s even higher.
Of course, Pancharatra and Diksha are related to the Archana Marga, which we follow, but then we have Bhagavatam Marga, the path of Bhagavatam, which is Bhakti and Nama Sankirtan. We also do that. And of the two, this is higher. Of course, unlike Dharma and Varnashram and all that, Pancharatra and Deity Worship is one of the direct angas of Bhakti. And Archana, of course, is one of the five principal Angas of Bhakti. So, if you want to do Archana as one of your practices of Sadhana Bhakti, then you have to follow Pancharatra and take Diksha. But technically, if you didn’t want to do Archana, then you wouldn’t need it. Well, then we say, well, why Lord Caitanya took Diksha? Why Nityananda took Diksha? We see Nityananda never doing Archana or whatever. So, then again, the reason is that it is not to prevent, or to prevent, so that people cannot criticize [Laughs]. You are not a Vaishnava. A conventional Vaishnava. So, therefore, we can say, 99% of the followers of Lord Caitanya did take Diksha. But we see in Lord Caitanya’s teachings, in Caitanya’s Caritamrta, he hardly ever mentions it [Laughs]. He never says, chant Harinam and take Diksha. He just says chant the holy name, finished. He also didn’t give Diksha to anybody [Laughs]. And even Rupa and Sanatana didn’t take Diksha. They never gave Diksha to anybody. And Haridas Thakur, there’s one place that he said he didn’t take Diksha, but usually we said he didn’t take Diksha. And he never gave Diksha to anybody. Just everyone should chant the holy name.
Of course, some people do emphasize Diksha, for getting the Krishna Mantra, to use in Raganuga Bhakti. And thus, for some lines of the Gaudiyas, they do emphasize Diksha for that reason. But Prabhupada really didn’t emphasize Raganuga, so that cannot be a good reason for us [Laughs]. Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also mentions, actually the one who takes shelter is superior to the one who takes shelter of Diksha. For those who do not have full faith in the holy name, let them take Diksha. Of course, this does not mean we should not accept Guru. We should accept Siksha. So we have Nama Sankirtan, its one of the main anga. Sadhu sanga is another element. Hearing is another element. So those elements definitely we do, even with Naam.
We will also see, even in Bhagavatam, it very rarely mentions Diksha. Yes. Dhruva got Mantra, so he had Diksha. And in 11th Canto, there is a mention in some place when they are talking about Pancharatra. But otherwise, they do not really get into Diksha.
2.) See, we are living in a society. And it is because of the society which is very much known in the outside world. But when you will preach this kind of things in the outside world.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Preach what?
Devotee : Preach this, you know, no need Diksha, you just chant Holy Name, everything. People might not take it very, you know, what kind of philosophy you are following. They might not take this, you know, that straight way, you know, no need Diksha and just chant Holy Name is everything. No. People might say, you know, are you having…
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : So therefore, as I said, Lord Caitanya took Diksha and Nithyananda took Diksha. But when Lord Caitanya preaches, he never says that. harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam, that’s all he says.
Devotee : [Not clear]
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : [Not clear] So in other words, Lord Caitanya… Lord Caitanya is emphasizing Nama. Not that we reject Diksha. We do accept it. But it is always secondary. If you want do archana then you take.
3.) Maharaj, when Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nithyananda Prabhu took initiation, what kind of initiation should we understand, Maharaj?
So yes, this is Pancharatric initiation. In the sense, they got a Pancharatric Krishna Mantra. I think they got a 10 syllable Krishna Mantra. Of course, if we go to Pancharatra, it is not just getting mantra, there is pancha samskara. And there is quite elaborate ceremony attached to that, we say, Diksha. And we will find that even the Sri Vaishnavas today follow that system. But ultimately the essence is to get the mantra. And that is how Diksha is defined in Bhakti Sandarbha of Jiva Goswami. If you don’t get the mantra, it is not Diksha. You can get the four other samskaras, but if you don’t get the mantra, you are not qualified for deity worship. So Lord Caitanya, Nithyananda, Advaita, okay they took Diksha, they got the mantra, but rest they didn’t do at all. They didn’t even get name. Lord Caitanya didn’t get a name, Nithyananda didn’t get a name. They just kept their own name. They got the mantra, so that was Diksha. So they simplified it. The whole process made it. Okay, are they following Pancharatra? Kind of yes [Laughs]. Simplified it. And why? Because prominence is for Nama Sankirtan. So basically our main sadhana is chanting Hare Krishna, not chanting your deity mantras, for us. For others, maybe in Raghunuga Bhakti you are chanting this other mantra also. Gopu Kumar chanted that other mantra also, but for us it is Nama Sankirtan. So we don’t make a vow you have to chant your, you know, Kama-gayatri and your 18 syllable Krishna mantra 1000 times each day or, you know [Laughs], do this on your mala [Laughs] 10 times, 30 times is sufficient. And mainly we are concentrating on Hare Krishna. So then the guru who can instruct you how to chant Hare Krishna properly, the Siksha Guru, he is the one who is your main guru, not your Diksha Guru, the one who gives you the mantra even [Laughs].
4.) So Maharaj, when Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and Srila Prabhupada, then the present Acharya continued with the Harinam Diksha. So can we understand this? Yes, this was started just the new devotees who come to the movement, they keep, they are attached to senior Vaishnavas or advanced Vaishnavas and they feel the part of this movement. That’s why this was done, Harinam Diksha?
Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. Who’s translating? Somebody? Yeah. So, if we look at the origins of what Srila Prabhupada did, it can be traced to Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. So, he had a ceremony called Namdaan, giving the name. So that is very similar to what we get, what we call first initiation, but he never called it Diksha. And even today, they don’t call that Diksha at all. Diksha means getting your Krishna Mantra, which is afterwards, and that’s of course scriptural. Of course, we can say that if we are following Pancha-samskara, Pancaratra or Diksha, getting a name like Krishna Das or Gaur Das or whatever, that is part of Pancaratric Diksha, along with getting the mantra. So therefore, there is a little bit, one-fifth of Diksha in our Harinam [Laughs] ceremony [Laughs] . And then two parts, that is mantra and Yaga, which is the deity worship, in what we call second initiation. So, the three parts, one part is Tilak, which we get, we just don’t have a ceremony, we do it only when we first meet the devotees [Laughs]. So, we have the Tilak already. And the fifth Samskara is Tapa, to get branded, which we don’t do at all. So therefore, this first ceremony, which we call Harinam Diksha, technically, scripturally, it’s probably not proper, in the sense that it’s, you don’t need Diksha for Harinam, and nobody has ever used that term in the Gaudiya Sampradaya [Laughs]. But it is one fifth of the Pancharatric Diksha that we get a name during first initiation. However, if we take initiation in a very general way, Prabhupada says initiation means to take Krishna consciousness seriously [Laughs]. In other words, initiation means an introduction. So, of course, that’s not the scriptural definition, but this is, we say, an English general definition of initiation. We’re initiated into starting our university course [Laughs]. Like that. We could use it in that way. So, Prabhupada says that’s the real initiation, the ceremony is secondary [Laughs]. He says [Laughs]. So, because this first ceremony is largely concerned with vows, and vows to chant Hare Krishna, then, of course, that’s much more important than chanting our Kama-gayatri, ten-syllable or eighteen-syllable Krishna mantra. So therefore, in that sense, it’s more important for us.
5.) So Maharaj we see there is no commitment, till the time the person is taking vow of following the [Not clear] who is going to get initiated, then he has to read books and follow the four regulative principles, those vows he takes. So, that makes it more important, important than any other aspect of the initiation ceremony in that?
Of course we see in traditional pancha samskara there is no vow, nothing. It is just these other five things. But it is up to the guru to judge the person if he is qualified, which would mean he would be following vows already [Laughs]. Yeah, so therefore in one sense we are making vows but actually he should already be following the vows, isn’t it? It’s not you are going to follow the vows afterwards, you are already following it [Laughs], even when you say the vows [Laughs]. So therefore the person is qualified because he is up to a certain level. But even apart from any first initiation or second initiation, there is no rule that you could not take vows. You could take vows at any time you want. So many people are making vratas, vratas, vratas making vows.
6.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. So Maharaj, as we understand that Srila Prabhupada is the founder Acharya and by going by his definition of first initiation, like you are saying that Prabhupada means that it is systematically beginning the spiritual life or formally beginning the spiritual life.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Yeah.
Devotee : So if we see it in that context and because he is the founder and he is laying the foundational principles, so can we say that in ISKCON initiation is compulsory because that is when, I mean going by his definitions, not like what is there, you know the details what you were discussing but just by sticking to what he is defining initiation.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Yeah.
Devotee : So can we say that is mandatory in ISKCON?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Yes. So we say yes because he established it. Even there he was quite flexible. Sometimes first and second he did together [Laughs]. Sometimes first initiation he would just mail a name to you, mail some beads, that was it. Yeah. So we can say that but then we should make clear that this is quite different from when Caitanya Caritamrta or Bhagavatam is talking about diksha. It is a different meaning. So when it is said that Lord Caitanya took diksha and got initiation, it doesn’t mean Harinama, doesn’t mean that ceremony at all. It simply means he got the 10 syllable Krishna mantra, that’s it. So when it talks in Chaitanya Caritamrta that this person took diksha from that person, it is talking about that. It is not talking about any first initiation, nothing. And when Bhakti Sandarbha talks about diksha, it is the mantra, that 10 syllable, 18 syllable Krishna mantra. Of course there is another diksha that is Vedic diksha, that is Upanayanam. But usually when talking about diksha, we are talking about Vaishnava diksha and that means Pancharatric diksha with the mantra but generally we don’t even do the other ceremonies, just get the mantra. In one letter then Prabhupada says, actually second initiation is real initiation. So that is true because that is the scriptural definition of diksha, you get your Krishna mantra.
But in another letter he says, first initiation is more important [Laughs]. So that is true, it is not the scriptural definition, chanting the holy name is more important for us, so in that sense it is more important [Laughs]. But see, there were no two initiations previously. And when they use the term in Pancharatra or even in Chaitanya Caritamrta, it means getting the mantra. And it doesn’t even mean getting the Brahma-gayatri, only the Krishna mantra. So the other one is Vedic diksha, completely separate. We are talking about Vaishnava diksha.
7.) But I think this context when Lord Caitanya says, by my order all of you should become a Guru, what should be the right understanding? He says everybody should become a Guru. So what is the meaning of the Guru that he talks about?
Oh yeah, whether you are a Vipra or if you know Krishna Tattva, you are a Guru. So of course, it could be any of three, Prabhupada says, vartma-pradarśaka-guru, one who just introduces you to chanting Hare Krishna and whatever, there is the Siksha Guru who gives you significant teachings, and there is the Diksha Guru who gives you the diksha mantra. So it could be any of those.
8.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, what we are following that is not Siksha Parampara or Diksha Parampara, we are telling that this is Bhagavata Parampara. So how can we understand that?
Bhagavata Parampara is same as Siksha, yeah. We see that Sukadeva taught Parikshit, that was not Diksha, that was Siksha. Narada Muni teaches Vyasa, that is Siksha, not Diksha. In fact, all the conversations are all Siksha in the Bhagavatam.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!