CLAIM:
“Siddha-pranali is not necessary, since no guru can tell or give you these details. That is not the process Lord Caitanya taught. It is one’s choice.
The ekadasa-bhavas are simply a framework for developing one’s spiritual identity, so the guru’s role is to guide the person developing their identity using those parameters. These details are never imposed because the guru doesn’t know them – it is all based on the individual’s desires and awakening. The guru just makes sure the person is on the right track and isn’t deviating in any way.”
REPLY:
Wow…I am still pretty much shocked about what someone sent me here…this is from a well-known Vaishnava and book publisher and I really need to address the very offensive nature of these words…on several levels.
We will go step by step.
Siddha-pranali is not necessary
Well…that might be true if you are fortunate enough to realize your siddha deha directly by the mercy of Sri Si Radha and Krishna or by the mercy of the sweet Holy Name…but why not let Sri Gurudeva INTRODUCE us to the nature of our siddha deha? Later more on this point.
That is not the process Lord Caitanya taught
Really. Huh.
taeva gopī-bhāva, kari aṅgīkāra, rātri-dina cinte rādhā, kṛṣṇera vihara
siddha-dehe cinti kare, tāhāṅñi sevana, sakhī-bhāve pāya rādhā, kṛṣṇera caraṇa
(CC 2.6.228-229)
“You all must accept gopi-bhava, and day and night think about Radha-Krishna’s pastimes while mentally serving the Divine Couple in your siddha deha. By practicing raganuga-bhakti like this, you will definitely attain sakhi/gopi-bhava and the lotus feet of Radha-Krishna.”
It is true that Sriman Mahaprabhu never actually mentioned the words “siddha pranali”, but as often he entrusted the work to write on this matter to sadhus around him.
The first time the process of siddha pranali is mentioned anywhere in the canon of Gaudiya Vaishnava literature is in the famous paddhati of Srila Dhyanachandra Goswami, called Śrī Gaura-Govindārcana-Smaraṇa-Paddhatiḥ.
Among the five chief disciples of Śrī Vakreśvara Paṇḍita, Gopālaguru was the special object of Mahāprabhu’s mercy. He was the son of Murāri Paṇḍita, and his name was Makaradhvaja Paṇḍita, although Mahāprabhu called him Gopāla. When Śrī Gaura lived in Nīlācala, Gopāla engaged in His service. Even though he was still a child, he was very skillful in his sevā. The Lord showed very strong vātsalya affection for him, and personally gave him the title “Gopālaguru.”
Gopālaguru Gosvāmī became the ācārya of the Gambhīrā Maṭha, and when he became old, he wanted to arrange for someone to continue the worship of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kānta. To obtain a suitable sevaka, he offered a mental prayer to the lotus feet of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. One night, the Lord appeared to Gopālaguru and said, “Gopāla! The sevaka you seek will be the first person you see tomorrow morning. Accept him without hesitation. Like you, he will be learned in all the transcendental śāstras. He will preserve well the worship of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kānta and reveal my glories to the whole world.”
Hearing this order from Mahāprabhu in his dream, Gopālaguru became ecstatic. The next morning, after his morning duties, he went to his doorway. The first person he saw was a very peaceful young brāhmaṇa who had been standing there waiting to see him. When the youth approached, he offered daṇḍavats to Gopālaguru’s lotus feet. The Gosvāmī remembered his dream and blissfully offered the young man his blessings. Seeing his peaceful nature and absorption in kṛṣṇa-bhakti, Gopālaguru gave him mantra-dīkṣā, etc., and named him Śrī Dhyānacandra.
After receiving initiation, Śrīpāda Dhyānacandra served his guru with great devotion. Gopālaguru Prabhu engaged him in caring for Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kānta. After a short while in govinda-sevā, he received the dress of a Vaiṣṇava ascetic from his guru and was then ordered to visit Śrī Vṛndāvana-dhāma.
Anyone reading the paddhati of Śrīpāda Dhyānacandra will realize how authentic siddha pranali really is.
And by the way, siddha pranali is a very personal and intimate one and not meant for public consumption. It is a matter between Gurudeva and disciple.
No guru can tell or give you these details
This is the most offensive statement and we will shed some light on this matter soon because the author is not shy to repeat the same a while later.
The ekadasa-bhavas are simply a framework for developing one’s spiritual identity, so the guru’s role is to guide the person developing their identity using those parameters.
Completely wrong. Ekadasa-bhavas are not “simply” a framework, but eternal truths revealed to the sincere sadhaka by the genuine Sri Gurudeva. Yes, Sri Guru guides the sadhaka through the process of attaining svarupa siddhi, but he is much more than this. Certainly, Sri Gurudeva is not just there to “make sure the sadhaka is on the right track…” This is very offensive to the true role of our beloved Sri Gurudeva and sounds like Sri Gurudeva just plays a side role in the sadhaka´s journey to self-realization…but alas, that cannot be wrong any more.
Let us check what shastra says about the role of Sri Gurudeva.
In Śrīmad Bhāgavata, Śrī Kṛṣṇa has told Uddhava:
nṛ deham ādyaṁ sulabhaṁ sudurlabhaṁ
plavaṁ sukalpaṁ guru karṇa-dhāram
mayānukūlena nabhasvateritaṁ pumān
bhavābdhiṁ na taret sa ātma-hā
(Śrīmad Bhāgavata, 11.20.17)
“O Uddhava! This human body is the ādya, the root cause of all welfare, and sukalpa, expert in accomplishing its goal. The living entity attains this rarely attained human body, which is like an excellent boat with Śrī Gurudeva as its captain. On top of everything, I am providing favorable winds to steer it in the right direction. A person who does not endeavor to cross the ocean of material existence despite receiving this body is destroying himself.”
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavata 11.17.27, during the discussion concerning the nature of Śrī Gurudeva, svayaṁ bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa says more about this to his dear devotee Uddhava:
ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān nāvamanyeta karhicit |
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta sarva-devamayo guruḥ ||
The Lord said, “O Uddhava! You should know the ācārya, Śrī Gurudeva, to be myself, and no disrespect should ever be shown toward him. You should never be envious of him, judging him to be an ordinary man, because within Śrī Guru live all the gods.”
guru kṛṣṇa-rūpa hana śāstrera pramāṇe |
guru-rūpe kṛṣṇa kṛpā karena bhakta-gaṇe ||
“According to scripture, the guru is a form of Kṛṣṇa. In the form of guru, Kṛṣṇa gives his mercy to the devotees.”
(Caitanya-Caritāmṛta Ādi 1.45)
From all the śāstras it may be understood that Śrī Kṛṣṇa appears in the world as guru to extend his mercy to the devotees. Here that mercy blesses the sheltered disciple with the treasure of śrī-kṛṣṇa-bhajana and its fruit, the gift of prema. yo’ntar bahis tanu-bhṛtām aśubhaṁ vidhunvann ācārya-caittya-vapuṣā svagatiṁ vyanakti (Bhāg. 11.29.6). Śrī Uddhava said to Śrī Kṛṣṇa:
“O Lord! Externally, in the form of Śrī Guru giving philosophical instructions, and internally, as the Indwelling Guide urging him to do what is good and true, you drive away all worldly desires unfavorable to a person’s bhajana and reveal your true nature to him.”
Therefore, in the sense of him being worthy of honor, Śrī Gurudeva is like Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
But unlike Śrī Kṛṣṇa, he is not meant to be the ultimate object of one’s worship. Śrī Guru is the manifestation of God as a devotee.
yadyapi āmāra guru caitanyera dāsa |
tathāpi jāniye āmi tāṅhāra prakāśa ||
“Even though my guru is the servant of Śrī Caitanya, still I know him to be a manifesta-tion of God.” (CC. Ādi 1.44)
Śrī Gurudeva should be understood to be God appearing in the form of the highest devotee. This is the true nature of Śrī Guru.
In his Manaḥ-śikṣā, Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmipāda has written, śacī-sūnuṁ nandīśvara-pati-sūtatve guru-varaṁ mukunda-preṣṭhatve smara param ajasraṁ nanu manaḥ.
“O mind! Always meditate upon Śrī Gaurasundara, the son of Mother Śacī, as a form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and Śrī Gurudeva as the dearest of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s devotees.”
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda has also written in his Gurvaṣṭaka:
sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair uktas tathā bhāvyata eva sadbhiḥ |
kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam ||
“In all the scriptures Śrī Gurudeva is glorified as directly Śrī Hari, though in the form of one dear to Hari, and the great devotees contemplate him in that way. I sing the praises of the lotus feet of that guru.”
The meaning is that even though Śrī Gurudeva is visibly the most beloved devotee of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the disciple considers him to be a direct manifestation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Without this type of thinking by the disciple, there is a chance he will consider Śrī Guru to be an ordinary person, thus causing him to commit a great offense. Just like an elephant taking a bath and then blowing dust over himself, the disciple’s devotional practices become fruitless.
I really think all those wonderful verses clearly show us the very important role of Sri Gurudeva and it is not difficult to understand that Sri Gurudeva is not just “there to guide a sadhaka”…without the mercy of Sri Gurudeva there is no journey of ANY sadhaka at all.
And by the way, NOTHING in bhakti is by “choice”. EVERYTHING is given, starting with…yes…the bhakti-lata-bija. Given by whom? Yes…by Sri Gurudeva…
brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru krsna prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija
(CC)
“By the causeless mercy of guru and Krsna, the devotional practitioner can receive the seed of bhakti.”
CAUSELESS mercy…not by choice…it is GIVEN to us out of mercy and we can accept that wonderful gift.
Especially on the path of raganuga-bhakti, causeless mercy is the only factor.
krsna-tad-bhakta-karunya-matra-labhaika-hetuka \
pusti-margataya kaiscid iyam rāgānugocyate
(BRS 1.2.309)
“The mercy of Krsna and His devotees is the only cause of attaining raganuga-bhakti. Some call this type of devotion pusti-marga.”
So, back to the outrageous claim No guru can tell or give you these details:
Since the author is very fond of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, we may quote the following:
When testing a disciple’s natural inclinations, Gurudeva observes if he has the exact qualifications for serving in the śṛṅgāra-rasa, and informs him of his siddha-mañjarī-svarūpa (perfected form as a mañjarī) amongst Śrī Lalitā’s associates within Śrī Rādhā’s group. Then he will establish a mutual relationship between the sādhaka’s ekādaśa–bhāva and the sādhya (goal) of aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā. The name of the sādhaka’s siddha–deha, the form, qualities and service will be properly revealed.
(Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Śrī Harinama Cintamani)
So, the sadhaka approaches Sri Gurudeva and Sri Gurudeva introduces us to our desired siddha deha.
These details are never imposed because the guru doesn’t know them
Who said ever anything about imposing something on a sadhaka? Why would a genuine Gurudeva impose the ekadasa-bhavas on a sadhaka? It is the sadhaka who approaches a certain Gurudeva BECAUSE the sadhaka desires a suitable siddha deha and Sri Gurudeva reveals this siddha deha to the sadhaka.
Because the guru doesn’t know them
So here our author is cleverer than Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur in saying that Sri Gurudeva doesn´t know the details of the desired siddha deha…how can Sri Gurudeva then INTRODUCE the sadhaka to it?
It is now time to check the qualities of a genuine Gurudeva:
The scriptures have described the characteristics of a sad-guru as follows:
- He has unwavering faith and devotion, and as a result of his bhagavad-bhajana and the mercy of his own guru, he has direct experience of God.
- He is conversant with the Vedas and the bhakti-śāstras, such as Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, that express the correct meaning of the Vedas. He is competent in using the arguments given in scripture to dispel the doubts of his disciples.
- He has direct perception of Śrī Kṛṣṇa because he has received the Lord’s mercy, and he can infuse his disciples with that mercy and leading them onto the path of bhakti.
- He is not under the control of lust, anger, greed, etc…
Please let us consider point 3. “Direct perception of Sri Krishna”. Most certainly a genuine Gueudeva is able to KNOW the details of the sadhaka´s siddha deha because he is in DIRECT contact with Krishna and Krishna reveals the siddha deha to Sri Gurudeva (because Sri Gurudeva is qualified to receive that direct information due to the strength of his bhajan). Then Sri Gurudeva transmits this wonderful information to the sadhaka.
It is Krishna Who bestows the suitable siddha deha, not Sri Gurudeva (and Guru NEVER imposes anything). But without Sri Gurudeva it is extremely difficult to receive that information directly.
tvaṁ bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita-hṛt-saroja
āsse śrutekṣita-patho nanu nātha puṁsām
yad-yad-dhiyā ta urugāya vibhāvayanti
tat-tad-vapuḥ praṇayase sad-anugrahāya
(Srimad Bhagavatam 3.9.11)
“O Lord! You, who are approached by being heard about, seen and directly served, enter and remain in the lotus of your devotee’s hearts infused with bhakti-yoga. Much praised Lord! By your mercy, you bestow to them spiritual bodies appropriate to the mood they cultivate during sādhana.” (reading of Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipada)
There can be no doubt that a genuine Gurudeva is certainly capable of “knowing these details” and bestowing these wonderful details upon the qualified sadhaka.
Amrita-Tarangini 