Hare Krsna,
The greatest fortune of one’s existence (both material and spiritual) is to attain shelter at the lotus feet of a spiritual master who is a pure devotee of the Supreme Lord Krsna. The greatest misfortune is to neglect the instructions of one’s spiritual master. In fact, one of the ten offenses to the Holy Name is disobeying the instructions of the spiritual master.
Why is spiritual master given so much importance? This is because the spiritual master is considered nondifferent from Krsna. Lord Krsna is the form of the spiritual master delivers His devotees. (CC Adi 1.45). The importance of spiritual master exists in all faiths. Vedic culture has various spiritual master (Gurun); Christians follow Lord Jesus as their spiritual master; Muslims consider Prophet Mohammed their spiritual master; Buddhists to Lord Buddha, and so on. No bonafide religion is devoid of the mercy of spiritual masters. The Supreme Lord is so kind to His living entities who are struggling in this material ocean that He sends His bonafide representatives to reclaim the fallen souls.
One of the reasons we conditioned souls are in this material world is because of our forgetfulness of Krsna. Therefore the spiritual masters appear to remind us of our eternal relationship with Krsna. They remind us that we are the eternal servant of Krsna. It is a matter of great fortune to find such a spiritual master who reconnects us back with Krsna. A spiritual master is like a law enforcement official who finds a lost child and takes him/her back home, back to his/her loving parents.
brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
“Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.” (CC Madhya 19.151)
““If the conditioned soul engages in the service of the Lord and simultaneously carries out the orders of his spiritual master and serves him, he can get out of the clutches of māyā and become eligible for shelter at Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.” (CC Madhya 22.25)
Who is a bonafide spiritual master?
“kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya | yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya”
“Whether one is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī or a śūdra — regardless of what he is — he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa.” (CC Madhya 8.128)
In Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote,
“kṛṣṇa se tomāra, kṛṣṇa dite pāro, tomāra śakati ache āmi to’ kāṅgala, ‘kṛṣṇa’ ‘kṛṣṇa’ boli’, dhāi tava pāche pāche”
“Krsna is yours. You have the power to give Him to me. I am simply your servant running behind you shouting, “Krsna! Krsna!”
We must therefore aspire to surrender unto the lotus feet of a bona fide spiritual master. If we are initiated, we must serve him with all humility and surrender. If we are not initiated yet, we must intensely pray to Krsna to reveal our diksa-guru (initiating spiritual master) to us.
Fortunately for all the devotees in ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada is our param-siksa-guru.
“As the Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and the preeminent teacher and ultimate authority within our society, Srila Prabhupada has a unique relationship with every ISKCON devotee.
Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the original guru whose Divine Grace descends through the medium of the Guru Parampara. As such, a devotee is ultimately delivered by Sri Krishna acting through a combination of various manifestations of His mercy. These include, but are not limited to, the chaitya guru, Srila Prabhupada, the Guru Parampara, one’s diksha guru, other siksha gurus, the Holy Name, sastra, and the nine processes of devotional service.
Within these cooperative elements, Srila Prabhupada, as the Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, is the preeminent shiksha-guru for all members of ISKCON. All members of ISKCON, for all generations, are encouraged to seek shelter of Srila Prabhupada. All members of ISKCON are entitled and encouraged to have a personal relationship with Srila Prabhupada through his books, teachings, service, and his ISKCON society.” (ISKCON GBC Statement on Srila Prabhupada’s Preeminent Position)
The two most beautiful bhajans we sing in ISKCON temples are Sri Guru Astaka and Sri Guru Vandana. Some of my favorite verses of these songs are:
“The lotus feet of our spiritual master are the only way by which we can attain pure devotional service. I bow to his lotus feet with great awe and reverence. By his grace one can cross the ocean of material suffering and obtain the mercy of Krsna. My only wish is to have my consciousness purified by the words emanating from his lotus mouth. Attachment to his lotus feet is the perfection that fulfills all desires. He opens my darkened eyes and fills my heart with transcendental knowledge. He is my Lord birth after birth. From him ecstatic prema emanates; by him ignorance is destroyed. The Vedic scriptures sing of his character. Our spiritual master is the ocean of mercy, the friend of the poor, and the lord and master of the devotees. O Lokanatha Goswami! O master! Be merciful unto me. Give me the shade of your lotus feet. Your fame is spread all over the three worlds.” (Sri Guru Vandana)
“The spiritual master is receiving benediction from the ocean of mercy. Just as a cloud pours water on a forest fire to extinguish it, so the spiritual master delivers the materially afflicted world by extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is an ocean of auspicious qualities.” (Sri Guru Astaka 1)
“By the mercy of the spiritual master one receives the benediction of Kṛṣṇa. Without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement. Therefore, I should always remember and praise the spiritual master. At least three times a day I should offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master.” (Sri Guru Astaka 8)
Therefore, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami starts his narration of Sri Caitanya Caritamrta by offering obeisances to all the spiritual masters, the devotees of the Lord, the Lord’s incarnations, His plenary portions, His energies and the primeval Lord Himself, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.
vande gurūn īśa-bhaktān | īśam īśāvatārakān | tat-prakāśāṁś ca tac-chaktīḥ | kṛṣṇa-caitanya-saṁjñakam
(CC Adi 1.1)
I therefore end this forum post by expressing my immense gratitude to Srila Prabhupada, his dear disciples, our predecessor acaryas, and all the Vaisnava devotees of the Lord.
vancha-kalpatarubhyash cha
kripa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaishnavebhyo namo namaha
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees and can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.”
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 