Mādhurya Kādambinī – Sri Visvanatha Cakravartipada

Commentaries by Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa’s Mahānta Paṇḍita Śrī Ananta Dās Bābājī Mahārāja
Translation by Advaita das

tataś cāśrita guru-caraṇasya tasya jijñāsyamāṇasya sadācārasya tacchikṣayaiva sajātīyāśaya snigdha-bhaktyabhijña sādhu-saṅga bhāgyodayaḥ

TRANSLATION:

After attaining faith, one takes shelter of a Guru and inquires about the rules and regulations of the devotional process. By following them, one gets the fortune of associating with soft-hearted realized sādhus endowed with a similar mood.

Pīyūṣa kaṇā explanation:

After śraddhā, the author now explains the stage of sādhu-saṅga. After attaining śraddhā, one takes the shelter of the guru and gets initiated by him. Then one starts devotion and takes instructions about its different rules and regulations. Śrīmad Jīva Gosvāmīpāda says in his commentary of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.4.15), ādau prathame sādhu saṅga śāstra śravaṇa dvārā śraddhā tad artha viśvāsaḥ. tataḥ prathamānantaraṁ dvitīyaḥ sādhu saṅgo bhajana rīti śikṣā nibandhanaḥ “First one attains faith by the association of sādhus and by hearing scriptures from them. Then realizing devotion as one’s sole duty, one takes the shelter of a bonafide Guru, getting instructions about the various devotional practices.” The Bhāgavata (11.3.21) says:

tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam
śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam

“Therefore, a person anxious to know the supreme welfare of a living entity will take the shelter of a guru. The guru should be expert in explaining the Vedic scriptures and the scriptures revealing the essence of Vedas like the Bhāgavatam and others. He should have transcendental realization of the Personality of Godhead as well, meaning he should be devoted to Him.”

Without being expert in scriptures, he cannot remove the doubts of a disciple. If his faith is weak and he is not absorbed in the Absolute Truth he cannot infuse the disciple with spiritual realization. He should be free from lust, anger, and so on and should thus be in a state of supreme peace. The purport is that whoever gains faith through the grace of a saint and desires to take shelter of a bonafide Guru, should seek a saint with the following qualifications—
1) He should be fully versed in the Vedas and in scriptures that outline the Vedic purport, like the devotional scripture Śrīmad Bhāgavata. He should be able to destroy the disciple’s doubts with firm logic.
2) He should have firm faith and be fixed in his worship of the Lord, which has given him realisations of the Lord.
3) He should have received the mercy-potency of the Lord which has given him transcendental realisations and he should similarly be able to infuse that power within his disciples.
4) He should not be overcome by lust, anger and greed.

Any saint who has such qualifications is a bonafide Guru. On the other hand if a person wants to become a Guru without having the above qualifications, he may have many other qualifications like a high birth, but he cannot be considered a bonafide Guru.   yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vetta, sei guru’ hoy, “One can be guru if one is the knower of all truths about Śrī Kṛṣṇa.”
(Cai.-caritāmṛta, Madhya 8/128)

From the holy mouth of Śrīman Mahāprabhu it is thus learned that the only qualification for a bonafide Guru is that he knows the truth about Kṛṣṇa. The dīkṣā mantra received by the grace of such a great soul, who knows the Kṛṣṇa-science, contains the seed of the greatest goal the soul can achieve, the first beginning of the attainment of the Personality of Godhead. The purpose of initiation is that one day the aspirant is blessed with the great fortune of love of God.
Śrīmad Rūpa Gosvāmī says about initiation: guru-pādaśraya tasmāt kṛṣṇa dīkṣādī śikṣāṇam viśrambhena guroḥ sevā “Taking shelter of the guru, taking initiation from him by accepting kṛṣṇa-mantra, taking instructions about bhāgavata-dharma and serving the Guru with confidence—all these are included in guru-pādāśraya.” Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja has also said: guru padāśraya, dīkṣā, gurura sevana (C.C.) This means that before initiation, the disciple should stay for some time near his guru serving him with body, mind and words for his satisfaction. This is called gurūpasatti. In this way the guru and disciple both can test each other’s nature. Another valuable result of this is that through such unmotivated service to the saints, the guru automatically melts with compassion towards the disciple. Satisfied with his service, the lotus feet of Śrī Guru melt with compassion and as a fruit of this compassion initiation is attained, the supreme attainment for a disciple. Otherwise, without this process, there are chances of obstacles in devotion for both the guru and disciple. If the guru is not endowed with a Vaiṣṇava mentality the disciple has to face obstacles and if the disciple is not sincerely following a bona fide guru, then the guru has to bear the consequences.
And then dīkṣā. Initiation is a process by which a bona fide guru mercifully offers to the Lord the spirit of a disciple who has forgotten his own eternal form. By this process the guru loosens the knot of māyā and gives him the chance to taste the mellows of divine bhakti. In this way a disciple surrenders himself to the lotus feet of Śrī Hari. The knowledge of his being an eternal servant of the Lord awakens, making him qualified for service. śāstras say:

divyaṁ jñānaṁ yato dadyāt kuryāt pāpasya saṅkṣayam
tasmād dīkṣeti sā proktā deśikais tattva-kovidaiḥ

“Knowers of the scriptures say that initiation means the process of receiving divine knowledge by which sins are destroyed.” Divine knowledge means the knowledge of the Supreme Lord. The mantras of initiation reveal that knowledge and one’s specific relation with the Lord. Śrīman Mahāprabhu personally proclaimed—

dīkṣā kāle bhakta kore ātma samarpaṇa;
sei kāle kṛṣṇa tāre koren ātma sama
sei deha koren tār cidānandamoy;
aprākṛta dehe tār caraṇa bhajoy

“At the time of initiation the devotee surrenders himself; at that time Kṛṣṇa makes him equal to Himself. He makes the devotee’s body transcendental so that he can serve His lotus feet in a spiritual body.” (C.C.)
After initiation, one learns from the bonafide Guru how to worship the Lord and  how to follow rules of propriety (sadācāra).
After this one starts serving the guru with deep affection and faith. Before receiving initiation the greatest goal for the aspirant disciple was the attainment of that initiation, which is the fruit of the Guru’s grace, and after initiation the fruit of service becomes to tread the path of sādhana without any obstacles and to become blessed with the swift attainment of prema bhakti.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has said viśrambhena guroḥ sevā (serve the Guru with faith). What is that faith like?
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī has written about Guru-service in his Sārārtha Darśinī-commentary of the Bhāgavata (4.28.34) sutān hitveti pativratā patyur iva guroḥ sevāyāṁ pravṛttaḥ śiṣyaḥ śravaṇa kīrtanādīnyapi bhogān tad utthāna premānandān api gṛhān tad ucita vivikta sthalam api naivāpekṣate. śrī guru sevayaiva sukhena sarva sādhya siddhyartham ityupadeśa vyañjitaḥ……..guru sevāyā eva vedena sarvādhikasyoktatvāt. –
“A devoted and chaste wife, while absorbed in the service of her husband, does not care even for her son. Similarly, a disciple deeply absorbed in the service of the guru does not depend on hearing and chanting, knowing that by guru-sevā he can easily attain complete perfection in devotion. Just as a devoted wife does not want any sense enjoyment and home comfort, so too, a disciple completely absorbed in guru-sevā does not seek even divine bliss arising out of hearing and chanting nor even seek secluded places suitable to bhajana. That is the instruction in this verse. In the Vedas also the service of the Guru is proclaimed as supreme.”

Śrīla Narottama Ṭhākura has said, śrī guru caraṇe rati, ei se uttamā gati, ye prasāde pūre sarva āśā:

“Attachment to the lotus feet of the guru is the supreme goal for a disciple, who attains all kinds of perfection by his guru’s mercy.”

Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmī has said in Bhakti-Sandarbha: tatra yadyapi śaraṇāpattyaiva sarvaṁ sidhyati……tathāpi vaiśiṣṭya lipuḥ śaktaś cet tataḥ bhagavac-chāstropdeṣṭrṇāṁ bhagavanmantropadeṣṭṛṇāṁ vā śrī guru-caraṇānāṁ nityam eva viśeṣataḥ sevāṁ kuryāt. tat prasādo hi sva sva nānā pratīkāra-dustyajyānartha hānau parama bhagavat prasāda siddhau ca mūlam.

“One can attain all perfection by śaraṇāgati, but if one is still desirous of especially relishing the mellow of devotion, then, if able, one should specifically constantly serve the śikṣā-guru, who teaches the śāstras related to the Lord, and the dīkṣā-guru, the giver of the mantras of the Lord. Only by the guru’s mercy can one please the Lord and be freed from anarthas, which are difficult to give up even by all other means. Thus, satisfaction of the guru is the main cause of attaining divine love and divine service.”

All these statements praise the faithful and steady service of the Guru.
After taking shelter of a bonafide guru, one gets instructions about the various rules and regulations of the devotional process (sadācāra). Finally he gets the fortune to associate with soft-hearted realized sādhus endowed with a similar mood of devotion. When a sādhaka is thus blessed with a life full of devotion, he should, after taking shelter of the feet of Śrī Guru, certainly associate with bonafide mahā bhāgavata Vaiṣṇavas. Their example should be the framework for one’s devotional life. Serving them and associating with them makes the sādhaka’s attachment to bhajana firm. Śrīmat Rūpa Gosvāmī has said svajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare “There are different moods in devotion as aiśvarya, mādhurya, dāsya, sakhya, and so forth. A devotee should associate with the sādhus having a similar mood as him. Moreover, that sādhu should be more advanced and realized than oneself and should be always affectionate due to his soft-hearted merciful nature. The association of such a mahā-bhāgavata shows great fortune on a sādhaka devotee. A devotee can easily relish the mellow of devotion by seeing him, touching him, speaking with him, and hearing hari-kathā from him. The Guru therefore instructs his disciple to associate with such sādhus, so that he can become blessed.