When we wish to be blessed with the benefit of devotional practice and we desire to take shelter of Sri Gurudev it is absolutely necessary that we commit ourselves at the feet of asadguru alone.

When the Gurudev-potency awakens within a saint he becomes a sadguru. This Gurudev-potency awakens within a saint in the following way. He should have purified his heart through devotional  practice. Bhakti awakens in him and he gains beautiful saintly qualities such as compassion and kindness. His heart melts when he sees the agony of the materially bound souls. By instructing devotional practice to these human beings he destroys their miserable condition and is extremely anxious to bless them by giving them the relish ofbhakti ras.

By the Lord’s wish the Gurudev-potency emanates from Him and appears within the heart of such a bhakti siddha great saint.

 

When we covet devotion for the Supreme Lord, we are blessed by taking shelter of such a qualified sadguru. Srimad-Bhâgavatam has described the characteristics of such asadguru –

 

“Therefore a person who inquires about the highest welfare should take shelter  of  asadguru,

who is expert in the Word (Vedic scriptures) and is ‘ realized in the Supreme Being’ .

He also has to be free from lust and greed.”    

– (S.B.11.3.21)

 

Sridhar Swâmi writes in his commentary on this verse: That the sadguru is ‘expert in the Word’ means that he is learned in Vedic literature and knows of the Truth. If he is not, then he cannot remove the doubts of the disciples who take his shelter. Then again he has to be ‘realized in the Supreme Being’, which means that He is a devotee, or that He is endowed with transcendental realizations about Sri Krishna. Otherwise he cannot inspire his disciple with bhajan-realizations.”

 

The question may arise,

“We may be able to discern whether the Spiritual Master is expert in the Word by seeing and hearing from him about the scriptures, but how will we know if he is realized in the Supreme Being?”

The answer to this is, he should be upâsantasraya, or devoid of lust, anger and greed. When bhakti enlightens a heart, the darkness of lust and greed  cannot  shroud  it.  

Therefore the characteristics of a sadguru  given by the shâstras  are as follows :

 

1)     He has realizations about Sri Bhagavân due to his solid faith and firm perseverance inbhajan. He has attained the grace of his own Gurudev by being similarly devoted to his lotus feet.

 

2)    He is well-versed in the Vedas and in bhakti-scriptures that highlight the true Vedic purport such as Srimad-Bhâgavatam. Thus he can wipe out the doubts of  his disciples.

 

3)   Because he has transcendental realizations about Sri Krishna he has attained His mercy. Thus he has become so powerful that he is able to bring the disciple on to the pathof bhakti and infuse this power within him.

 

4)   He is not overcome by vices like lust and greed.

 

Later on we shall describe these characteristics more in detail

 

A saint who is endowed with such qualities and who has parental love for his disciples can attain the position of a sadguru. Such a sadguru is able to obliterate various obstacles that may hinder the disciple in his bhajan. He can bless the disciple with prem and bring him to the lotus feet of Sri Krishna. On the other hand, a person who desires to become famous as a Gurudev may have many virtues, like high birth etc., yet if he does not have the above mentioned characteristics he will not be counted as a sadguru. Therefore if we are sincere and are eager to do Sri Krishna-bhajan we should unto a saint who is endowed with the right qualities, receive initiation in Sri Krishna-mantra and learn bhajan from him.

 

(written Sri Srimat Ananta das Babaji)