What do we do when the maha-bhagavat Guru is not physically present in this world? Who will help us?
Ramanujacarya’s former name was Laksmana Desik. He was a schoolteacher. When he left home and came to his Guru, Yamunacarya, he found that he had already disappeared. From whom did he take diksa and harinama? Who gave him mantra and mala? Who gave him sannyasa? How was he able to progress? He accepted Yamunacarya as his Guru Maharaja.
Now, if anyone follows the example of Ramanujacarya, some people will call him a Ritvik. When Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja left this world, some of his disciples concluded that there were no qualified persons to give initiation in ISKCON, so they began the practice of taking so-called ‘Ritvik’ initiation from Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja, even in his physical absence. They did not accept higher guidance, became lost in their misconceptions, and insulted and made offenses towards other Vaisnavas. We see in the example of Ramanujacarya, that although he accepted Yamunacarya, who had physically departed, as his Gurudeva, he still took shelter of his senior godbrothers, served them each for six months, and studied the philosophy of his guru in their guidance. Yamunacarya had known about Ramanujacarya before his departure, and was eager to meet with him and accept him as his disciple, knowing he was qualified, and would be able to protect and expand his mission. He sent his disciples to attract and bring Ramanuja to him, but by the time Ramanujacarya came, Yamunacarya had already departed.
The maha-bhagavat Guru has the capacity to free the conditioned souls from their bondage to maya and samsara. What is the duty of disciples of a maha-bhagavat after his disappearance? A genuine disciple offers himself to his guru, and also offers whatever or whoever comes to him. One who is not on a liberated platform does not have the power to free other conditioned souls from material bondage. A disciple should therefore offer everyone who comes to him to his eternal divine master.
What is the nature of our faith? Do we see the guru-varga as spiritual or mundane, mortal or immortal? Do we have faith in their transcendence? Ramanujacarya had faith in the transcendental nature of his guru. He did not consider that his guru was a mundane mortal, who had died.
Laksman Desik arrived as a huge ceremony for Yamunacarya was going on. A procession was carrying him to the Kaveri. Laksman Desik came close and expressed his desire, “I wish to see the Sri Vigraha, the transcendental form of my Guru Maharaja.”
His Guru Maharaja had called him. He had sent him letters many times with Gosthi purna and other disciples. Yamunacarya instructed his disciples to somehow bring Laksman Desik to him. Gosthi Purna significantly carried Guru’s mercy and glories to Laksman Desik. Guru is not ordinary. Anyone that has affection for Guru, and has Guru’s blessings, will carry his mercy to others. This is the direct power of Guru working. The disciples are only Gurudeva’s messengers, or bearers of the mercy of their Gurudeva. A sincere and genuine disciple never proudly thinks, “I have done this great work. I am the doer.”
The mercy of Yamunacarya was brought to Laksman Desik by Gosthi Purna. When Laksman Desik finally saw his Guru, already in the state of samadhi, he saw that his thumb and first finger were extended, but the remaining three fingers were closed. Laksman Desik then promised, “I now take diksa and sannyasa from you.” One of Yamunacarya’s fingers opened.
“I will publish your books on bhakti and distribute them everywhere.”
The second finger opened.“I will establish Vaisnava dharma everywhere, as well as take care of all temples.”
The third finger opened.
How can you think Guru to be mundane? Now, whose disciple was Ramanujacarya? He was the disciple of Yamunacarya. Similarly, Srila Gurudeva offered the respectful and faithful persons that came to him to Rupa Gosvami’s lotus and said to them, “You are a Rupanuga.” He offered his followers to his own Guru-pada-padma, to Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, to Bhaktivinoda Thakura and the whole Rupanuga guru parampara. Is this Ritvik? Are we Ritviks? Is Gurudeva also a Ritvik?
Vaisnava philosophy is eternal. The Guru-varga is eternally present and they accept the worship of those who have proper respect and faith. A sadhaka cannot be saved by taking shelter of an ordinary person, who is not liberated and is not in control of his senses. Such persons may be one’s guides, but they cannot be called sad-guru. Sad-guru protects those who take shelter of them and has faith.
We cannot see God walking before us; we see Him in His Deity form, but does that mean He does not exist and that we should not offer obeisance to Him? Should we not do arati of Him and offer Him bhoga? Just as Bhagavan is present in His form as the Deity, so Guru’s presence in his murti after his departure and we can take shelter of him in that form. Also, we can take shelter of Sri Guru by serving and reading his books and classes. Not only this, but the disciples of the Maha-bhagavata are our guardians as well. They take care of us and carry us to the lotus feet of sad-guru. This is Vaisnavism.
If any soul is collected and offered to a maha-bhagavata guru, then with the mercy of that maha-bhagavat guru, they will gain realization and cross beyond maya. Ordinary persons that do not have relation or faith with the Guru-varga say, “You are mine. You are my follower. You are my family member.” They arrest people and tie them up like demons such as Ravana. They are not Guru. They are not trnad api sunica. They are not humble. They do not pray:
ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram patitam mam visame bhavambudhau krpaya tava pada-pankaja- sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya
Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya 20.32, Siksastaka 5
[“My dear Nanda-nandana, I am fallen in the ocean of material existence; please accept me as a particle of dust from Your lotus feet.”] Why do we not offer those that come to us to Gurudeva? Why do we try to keep them captive and try to drink their blood? To offer jivas to Guru-pada-padma is such a beautiful offering. Gurudeva will be so pleased by such an offering. Acarya Ramanuja showed this in his life. We see that Srila Prabhupada Sarasvati Thakura accepted sannyasa from a picture of his Guru Maharaja, after he had physically departed. Srila Rupa Gosvami came to Mahaprabhu in Jagannatha Puri and associated with the Lord and the Vaisnavas such as Advaita Prabhu, Nityananda Prabhu, Haridasa Thakura. Mahaprabhu requested the Vaisnavas, “Rupa has no knowledge. He has a desire for bhakti-rasa but he does not understand everything. He is like a small baby. All of you please bless him so that he will be able to understand bhakti-rasa.” Then He told Rupa Gosvami to offer obeisance to all the Vaisnavas and pray to them. Acarya Ramanuja taught Vaisnava philosophy and the rules of Vaisnavism. After the samadhi ceremony of his Guru was finished, he went to all his godbrothers, many of whom were grhastas and he served them and worshiped them. This is called parakiya bhajana, not Ritvik. These two ideas are very different. If I take shelter anywhere, then hear the glories of Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, and all the Gosvamis; and I read the Guru-vargas’ literature; and my heart is attracted to them and I accept them as my guardian and have the strong desire to accept what they are giving, even though they are not physically present, then this is called parakiya bhajana. Parakiya does not mean: I have something, but am not pleased with it, and therefore I steal and acquire that of another. Disciples of many different Vaisnavas came to Jiva Gosvami. He never said, “You are my disciples.” But they all respected him like their Guru. Disciples of many other Gurus came to Srila Gurudeva, but he never told anyone to re-take diksa and harinama from him. They stayed with him and he taught them everything. Did they not respect him? They respected him no less than their own Guru. But now, a bogus philosophy with bogus followers is prevalent. Now people say, “No. Now that you have come to me, you must give up everything from your past. I am a maha-bhagavata. I am a senior authority. Everyone else is junior and kanistha.” If you are insulting others like this, then you have not even gained entrance in to Vaisnavism. Vaisnavas never taunt, insult, abuse, or torment anyone. They are not envious. This is banned. If you cannot respect any Vaisnava or Guru, then you cannot be counted as a member of the Vaisnava family. You are rejected. Mahaprabhu’s order is:kahare na kare ninda, `krsna krsna' bale ajaya caitanya sei jinibeka hele
—Caitanya-Bhagavat, Madhya, 10.312
[“One who chants the names of Krsna without blaspheming anyone will easily conquer the unconquerable Lord Caitanya.”] It is not your duty to insult others. Someone may be a rascal, but it is not your duty to point this out or correct him. Your duty is to perform krsna-bhajana and krsna-seva, and if anyone comes near you, help them to do the same. This is service to God, not service to them personally. However, if you teach them only, “He is bad. He is stupid. He is useless,” then you are bogus. God has not given you permission to give judgment. How can you know what is favorable and what is unfavorable? If you have knowledge of what is good, you will automatically understand what is bad. If you have knowledge of only bad things, you will not understand good things and your destination will be degraded. First one needs the positive, then you will be strong and have willpower. You will naturally have no taste for bad things. First is bhakti, then virakti—detachment. If there is virakti first, then results will not be permanent. It will be phalgu vairagya and markat vairagya—false renunciation. First, have attachment to God, then you will give up what is unfavorable. This is the process of Vaisnavism. Ramanujacarya, therefore, stayed with his godbrothers and served them for six months each. After this period, he had learnt Vaisnava philosophy, and he fully manifested as a maha-bhagavata. He respected his godbrothers. Why? They had love and respect for Guru. By serving one’s godbrothers, Gurudeva is pleased. Gurudeva says, “My disciple is not serving anyone else. He is staying in the protection of this family.” If one leaves Guru then he will become hopeless. Some Godbrothers, after the disappearance of their Guru Maharaja, had lost heart. Ramanujacarya went to all of them, collecting them and keeping them on the right path. What path? Guru-seva. This is the most important thing for the disciple. It is very easy to crush and reject someone that does wrong. But why not collect, include, and bring him near with love and affection, giving him the chance to do guru-seva. We must sincerely perform guru-seva and encourage him to also serve Guru and the whole parampara. Then that person will surely become the object of everyone’s affection and his life will be good. Acarya Ramanuja helped everyone. Then, on the disappearance day of his Guru Maharaja, the Vaisnavas assembled and gave him, not blessings, not mercy, but respect. “Oh,” they said, “you truly have love for Guru Maharaja. You bring everyone close to him. You are the authority of everyone. You are now the next Acarya. You are Ramanujacarya.” It was at this time that his name was no longer Laksman Desik, but he was accepted as Ramanujacarya. Acarya Ramanuja continued to serve. He had many disciples and he told them, “By hook or crook, you must serve Guru and God.” The temple was old and broken. There were no rooms for the sadhus. There was also not enough space in general. The sadhus were suffering. Seeing this, Ramanujacarya sent some disciples to the king to ask for some funds to repair the temple, serve the Deity, print books, and serve the Vaisnavas. They went to the king, but the king said, “I have nothing. I will not give you anything. I shall not support sadhus. They are bogus, for they do not work. I will give them nothing.” When Ramanujacarya heard that the king’s response was such, he imparted yoga-vidya to three of his prominent disciples. To one disciple, he gave vision that could penetrate through anything, even solid objects. To the second disciple, he gave the ability to make his body very small like a fly or mosquito. To the third disciple he gave the ability to traverse through the air or walk on top of water. He sent these three disciples to the king’s palace to steal from him. One disciple, with his excellent vision, located the treasury of the king. The one that could make himself very small went inside and opened the treasury. The last one brought the wealth out, carrying it over the moat that surrounded the palace to Ramanujacarya. With this wealth, 108 Visnu temples were constructed in South India. Because of this, it became known as Vaikunth-puram or Visnu-tirtha, the abode of Lord Visnu. Now the devotees, sadhus, and pujaris had no problems. The next time the king went to his storehouse, he found that it was empty and lamented. After all this, before he departed, Ramanujacarya called his disciples. He said, “I am going with a boat in to the ocean. Come with me.” He took the three of them far into the ocean and then said, “I will now send your souls to Vaikuntha; but your bodies will drown here.” Just see. How is Guru? How are his disciples? Who understands this? Ramanujacarya left his disciples in the ocean and thus killed the three of them. They did not ask, “Gurudeva what are our faults? What have we done wrong? Why are you killing us?” Nor did they think of fighting their Guru. Ramanujacarya told them, “I do not want that after I leave this world, you misuse these powers I have given you, for you would be destroyed and go to hell. I taught you these things for the service of Bhagavan and Guru; not any other purpose.” Ramanujacarya thus sent his three dear disciples to Vaikuntha even before he went there. Whatever the Guru does is good for us. Whatever pleases him is the pleasure of the true disciple. Whatever is his desire, that is also the true disciple’s desire. Nowadays, many persons learn many things from Guru and Vaisnavas. Then, a little later, they become very proud. They destroy their own lives and the lives of others. They then make relationship with mundane people and go far away from Gurudeva. They start to think that they are more exalted than their Guru and the Vaisnavas. They think themselves to be the doer. They reproduce collected words of the Gosvamis and then say that they are the writers. They do not mention Guru’s name, nor the names of the Gosvamis. On the first page, they write their own names and say, “This work is mine.” Ramanujacarya taught that it is better to die than to become like this. krsna-bhakta—niskama, ata eva 'santa' bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami, sakali 'asanta' —Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 19.149 [“Because a devotee of Sri Krsna is free of desire, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jnanis desire liberation, and yogis desire material opulence; therefore they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful.”] When bhukti, mukti, or siddhi comes, most become uncontrolled. Many devotees and brahmacaris come to Guru with a humble mood, and Guru and Vaisnavas teach them everything and they become gurus. But now the so-called acaryas and so-called gurus kick everyone and neglect all etiquette. They announce their own names with titles and decorations like 1008 parivrajakacarya Gosvami. This is not Vaisvavism. Gopala Bhatta Gosvami put Sanatana Gosvami’s name on his compilations of sastra. Jiva Gosvami collected everything, but put the name of Rupa Gosvami. My Guru Maharaja researched and compiled all the works of Param Gurudeva, but if you look you will not find his name anywhere there. He did not allow this. He did everything in the Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti, but mention of his name is not prevalent. He would give Srila Gurudeva’s or someone else’s name. To say that because Guru is not physically present one cannot be a guru-bhakta is an idea against Vaisvavism. Krsna left the planet 5000 year ago. Does this mean one cannot be a krsna-bhakta? If my Gurudeva is not present, but I am following him, then I am a guru-bhakta. This, however, is not preached. No one says this. They say, “You are my disciple.” This is the business of cheaters. These people are cheating conditioned souls. Anything that comes must be offered to the maha-bhagavata guru. Sarvasvam gurave dadyat—it is absolutely necessary to offer everything to the maha-bhagavata guru. Acarya Ramanuja did this. One time, someone came to Acarya Ramanuja and asked, “Will you give me diksa?” “Yes,” Acarya Ramanuja said. He gave him diksa and afterwards told his new disciple. “Do not speak this mantra to anyone.” “Gurudeva,” the disciple asked, “If I tell someone, what will happen?” “The mantra will leave you and you will go to hell.” “What will happen to those who hear the mantra?” “They will go to Vaikuntha.” The new disciple thought, “Vah! This is good.” He climbed a pedestal that was in a big market place and called everyone to hear him. He said, “I will now give a very good announcement. Everyone, please hear this mantra and chant it, and you shall all go to Vaikuntha.” It was a big, busy market place, and many people gathered. The new disciple said the mantra and everyone repeated after him. Immediately everyone felt very happy. They forgot about their shops and their shopping. Just then, Acarya Ramanuja came. “What are you doing?” he asked his new disciple. “What is the problem Gurudeva?” said the disciple. “You said that I will go to hell if I tell others the mantra. So let me go to hell alone, while everyone here goes to Vaikuntha. This is good for everyone and good for me also.” If someone with an open heart has good things, he will distribute them. But faith is needed. This person thought, “My Gurudeva said they will go to Vaikuntha, therefore it must be so.” Ramanujacarya said, “Yes, but will you stop now or not?” “Does this please you or not?” asked the disciple humbly. “Are you happy that they will all go to Vaikuntha?” “Yes,” said Ramanujacarya. “I like this. But you should do everything under my guidance with my permission.” Mahaprabhu said:yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna'-upadesa amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei desa
—Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya, 7.128
[“Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Sri Krsna. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.”] Tell anyone you see, “Bolo, Hare Krsna!” This is help for the jivas. Will you be guru? No. When they all chant harinama, they will be your guru. In other words, all those who chant harinama will be my family, friends, and brothers. But if I am a miser, I will not tell anyone to chant the names of Hari, then I remain an orphan. If everyone chants harinama, then I have a big family. All will be my gurus; my guardians. I will be very happy then. There will be no problems. Mahaprabhu taught this. The mayavadis were envious of Ramanujacarya and wanted to kill him, for by his influence, all people were becoming Vaisnavas. They could not tolerate this. Ramanuja taught that in Kali yuga, many raksalas take birth in brahmana families and they will be mayavadis and advaitavadis—the agents of destruction. One king had a daughter that had been possessed by a brahma-raksasa. His daughter and the whole family were suffering greatly because of this. The king called his guru, the present Sankaracarya, leader of the Mayavadis, to come. Sankaracarya chanted gayatri and many mantras, but with the voice of the girl, the brahma-raksasa said, “You think you are brahma? I will kill you!” The girl, possessed by the ghost, attacked Sankaracarya, and he ran in fear. The king pleaded with the brahma-raksasa and asked him how he would ever leave his daughter. The brahma-raksasa revealed that there was a great Vaisnava present on the planet. “His name is Ramanujacarya,” he said. “Call him and give me his caranamrta. If you do this, I will get liberation and leave forever. Do not call these bogus mayavadis.” They called Ramanujacarya, and as soon as he arrived, the brahma-raksasa, via the body of the king’s daughter, offered sastanga-dandavata-pranama. Ramanujacarya’s feet were washed and his caranamrta was given into the mouth of the girl and then the brahma-raksasa was liberated from that condition. Before he left, he said, “In my previous life I criticized the Vaisnavas, therefore I fell into this horrible condition.” After this, the daughter of the king took diksa from Ramanujacarya. The whole royal family became Vaisnavas. One state away, in the jurisdiction of another king, the mayavadis made a nefarious program. They told the king that Ramanuja was cheating everyone and converting them from Siva worshipers to Vaisnavas. “He says he is Laksman,” they said, “He is bogus.” Together with the king, they made a plot to kill Acarya Ramanuja. They sent a letter that requested his audience in a public debate. They thought, “What is a Vaisnava? By just giving someone diksa, harinama, tilaka, mala, and the sacred thread, and telling him he is the pujari or the Deities’ cook, he cannot become a brahmana. A brahmana is a brahmana, how could anyone else be a brahmana? This is bogus.” To present their arguments such as these, they called for a meeting. Acarya Ramanuja however, did not go. Kuresa went instead in the evening. At the meeting, Kuresa defeated everyone soundly. However, they forcibly plucked out his eyes, unable to tolerate their loss. They threw him from a cliff and were sure he was dead. But Kuresa was praying, “Oh Gurudeva, please allow me to serve you. I have no other desire than this. I do not know God. I do not know anybody. I know only you. If you like, you may protect me, and if you like, let me die.” Miraculously, Kuresa did not die from the fall. He got up and did kirtana of his Guru Maharaja’s name. After a long time, he somehow came to the village that Ramanujacarya was preaching in. When he met with Ramanujacarya, Ramanujacarya embraced him and he was blessed with new sight—caksu-dana dila jei janme janme prabhu sei
From that time, the Mayavadis were very afraid. Now, with greater force, Ramanujacarya preached everywhere and defeated the Mayavadis. He would change them and give them diksa. As a young boy, Ramanujacarya’s former guru, the Mayavadi Yadava Prakasa, also tried to kill him. But by the mercy of Bharadvaja, Ranganatha, he was protected. When someone desires to do bhajana and enter the family of God, then many problems come in his life. But one must be strong and maintain fixed faith in God. If one does this then all problems will fly into the sky. The coming of this disturbance is necessary. Without this, the sadhaka cannot progress. In continuous happiness and comfort, bhajana cannot be performed, for that is actually enjoyment. In order to cross maya, one must follow the philosophy of our Acaryas. Towards the end of his manifest pastimes, Ramanujacarya had tens of thousands of disciples. He wondered what to do about this. He manifested a deity of himself and established it in the Sri Rangam Temple. The devotees of that temple still offer bhoga to that deity and ask him questions. To this day, puja is first done to Acarya Ramanuja and then to Sri Ranganatha. If you see his deity you can understand for yourself that he is directly present there, helping everyone. Today, we pray to Ramanujacarya for guru-nistha and to be engaged in guru-seva. Before departing, Ramanujacarya called his disciples and gave 108 instructions. Many times, Srila Gurudeva gave class on these instructions. If this advice is not followed, then one will not be able to understand Vaisnavism. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada, Param Gurudeva, and Srila Gurudeva collected this advice of Ramanujacarya and revealed it to us. The advice of the acarya is non-different from his blessings and mercy. If we accept the Acarya’s instructions then his mercy will come to us. Following these 108 instructions of Ramanujacarya you will make you very strong in bhakti. Gaura-premanande! Hari Haribol! Hari-katha spoken by Sripada Premananda Prabhu; rendition by Rasik Mohan Das This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.