Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja

YOU CANNOT BLUFF GURU

(Murwillumbah, Australia, January 24, 2001)

[A lecture given on Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja's Appearance Day]

I have previously explained about the duties of disciples. I explained that guru-nistha is the backbone of bhakti. Without
guru-nistha, no one can have any kind of devotion. One may have taken initiation, but if there is no nistha, he is inferior to a
person who has not taken initiation and has not had a fire sacrifice, but is actually following.
I have seen and realized this. There was a disciple of Paramapujyapada Srauti Maharaja named Narayana prabhu, who was
totally surrendered to our Guru Maharaja. He was serving by his mind, intelligence, and by all the limbs of his body. He
was always living with our Gurudeva, hearing hari-katha, and fully accepting all his instructions. We all gave so much
honor to him. I especially have so much love and honor for him, as do Paramapujyapada Vamana Maharaja,
Paramapujyapada Trivikrama Maharaja, and all others. Why? He is not initiated, but he is more than initiated. He is a real
siksa disciple. Sincerity and obedience are the main principles.
On the contrary, I see so many who, as Syamarani has told, are covering what is there in their hearts. [Please see the end
of this lecture for details] They think, "My Gurudeva doesn't know anything; he is foolish. I can cheat him." They don't say
this directly, but they think in this way. They think they can bluff Maharaja or any pure devotee, but a pure devotee cannot
be bluffed. He who can control Krsna - how can you bluff him? If he is really Guru, he can never be cheated or bluffed.
You should know the identity of Guru. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami has written in his Mana Siksa prayers, "Nadharmam
nadharmam srutigana. O mind, you should always consider that Sri Sacinandana, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is actually
Brajendranandana Syamasundara, and He is actually Guru." Raya Ramananda told Mahaprabhu, "I am only your
instrument. What I am speaking is only by your inspiration. You are speaking. The mouth is mine, but actually everything
is being said by you."
One may say, "I want to serve Mahaprabhu like the gopis: He is my beloved Mahaprabhu, and I am His beloved." Can we
do this or not? This is sahajiya. This is called gauranga-nagari-bhava, and it is apa-siddhanta, against conclusive
philosophical truth. We should not think in this way. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Guru, and we should do whatever He orders.
One day Vallabha Bhatta said to Advaita Acarya, "Why do you loudly chant Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna Hare
Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare? Every living entity is female and considers Krsna her husband. It is
the duty of a chaste wife, devoted to her husband, not to utter her husband's name, but all of you chant the name of Krsna.
How can this be called a religious principle?"
Advaita Acarya responded, "In front of you is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the personification of religious principles. You
should ask Him, for He will give you the proper answer." Hearing this, Mahaprabhu said, "My dear Vallabha Bhatta, you
do not know religious principles. Actually, the first duty of a chaste woman is to carry out the order of her husband. The
order of Krsna is to chant His name incessantly. Therefore one who is chaste and adherent to the husband, Krsna, must
chant the Lord's name, for she cannot deny the husband's order. Following this religious principle, a pure devotee of Krsna
always chants the holy name. As a result of this, he gets the fruit of ecstatic love for Krsna. My husband has ordered me to
chant this. He has said, 'You should do this, and that will make Me happy.' I must make Him happy. I should serve Him."
Hearing this, Vallabha Bhatta could not say a word.
Previous to this, Vallabha Bhatta had told Mahaprabhu, "I have tried to describe elaborately the meaning of Krsna's holy
name. Kindly hear the explanation."

Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied, "I do not accept many different meanings for the holy name of Krsna. I know only that
Krsna is Syamasundara and Yasodanandana. That's all I know. The only purport of the holy name of Krsna is that He is
dark blue like a tamala tree and is the son of mother Yasoda. This is the conclusion of all the revealed scriptures. I
conclusively know these two names, Syamasundara and Yasodanandana. I do not understand any other meanings, nor have
I the capacity to understand them."
Whatever Vallabha Bhatta said, Mahaprabhu simply replied in such away that he became speechless. He wanted to defeat
Mahaprabhu and show his own glory. He wanted to show, "How qualified I am. How learned I am." But Caitanya
Mahaprabhu is jagad- guru. Therefore, whatever He has ordered and whatever He has taught - we should try to follow
totally.
Mahaprabhu has told us, "You should chant Krsna's name. Hare Krsna." Actually Krsna has ordered this in the shape of
Mahaprabhu, and therefore we must follow. Understand that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Guru. He is Krsna Himself, with the
mood of Radhika. It is very important to know this. Does anyone know anything in this world that can cover the knowledge
of Mahaprabhu? Can anything be hidden from Him? Those who have this Guru, Mahaprabhu, in their hearts cannot be
cheated or bluffed. Never, Those who try to bluff them will be bluffed. We should not try to cheat Guru or Vaisnavas. All
Vaisnavas are Guru, and to do what they want is bhakti.
We should try to know the desire of Gurudeva. One who understands the Guru's desires, both internally and externally, is
called a sevaka. Someone else may receive an order and have difficulty in obeying. He will say, "Oh Gurudeva, how can I
do this?" "Go and bring a glass of water." "Gurudeva, if there is no water, what should I do? Should I wash the glass or
not? Should I bring hot water or cold?" This person is not a sevaka. Moreover, if one directly refuses to obey the order, he
is not a sevaka, but a baka, crane. We should try to be sevakas in the real sense - like Govinda, like Srila Jiva Gosvami, like
Sri Syamananda prabhu, Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, and Srinivasa Acarya. We should become a sevaka like Prabhupada
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, who was the sevaka of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja. We should be a
disciple like my Gurudeva. He took his life and soul in his hands to fulfill the desire of his Gurudeva.
In this way, if you want to have bhakti, you should have nistha, and then Krsna's mercy will come to you.
All the sastras have given so much glorification of Sri Gurudeva. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has written Sri
Guruvastakam. In this he has truly glorified Gurudeva, from first verse to the last. I explained something about these slokas
in Germany, especially samsara davanala lidha loka tranaya karunya ghanaghanatvam. Krsna's condensed mercy is
Gurudeva. What is he doing? Sri vigraharadana nitya nana. He is always serving Sri Vigraha, Krsna Himself and Radha
Herself. He always directly serves the Deity by making preparations, performing arcana, and he is always engaged in
sravanam, kirtana, smaranam, and so on. He offers four kinds of naivedya, bhoga, to Krsna, and he honors that prasadam
along with all the devotees. He does not take prasadam alone. Sri Radhika madhavayor apara. He is always very lolu,
greedy, to taste the entirety of the guna, rupa, nama - the qualities, form and names of Radha and Krsna. Moreover,
nikunjajurno rati-keli-siddhai. This sloka reveals the very confidential character of Gurudeva, and this is why it is said
further, saksadharitvena. He is not Hari, but he is haritvena. All the qualities of Hari are embodied in him. He is not Krsna
and he is not Mahaprabhu, but all the qualities of Krsna and Mahaprabhu are directly in him. He is the eternal, very high
class of confidential servant of Radha and Krsna.
Many devotees have asked, "If a guru is initiating a disciple, will that same guru be received in the next birth, or some other
guru?" If the guru is not bona fide, if he has not realized his constitutional form, and if he is not an uttama-adhikari, then he
may change. Krsna will arrange for that. If he is a kanistha adhikari, like a padapradarsaka-guru, not realized, he will be
changed. A bona fide guru will not be changed. He will help his sincere disciples anywhere and in any way.
He has so many 'sets of clothing.' He may sometimes change his garments, but his personality stays the same. Caitanya
Mahaprabhu came, but He was Lord Krsna. Sri Gadadhara Pandita was in that form, but he was the same Radhika.
Similarly, Guru is the same. Guru is one. He may change - sometimes shaving, sometimes in a white garment, sometimes in
a sannyasa garment - but the personality is the same.
Try to understand what I am telling you. One cannot serve Radhika in a male form. Therefore, when Gurudeva is serving
Conjugal Radha-Krsna, he will be in a gopi form. That is why it is stated in the guru-mantra, krsnanandaya dhimahi, and

pracodayat. The disciple is praying, "Be merciful and manifest how you are serving Krsna and Srimati Radhika." He may
then reveal himself. Otherwise, it is very hard to know all these things.
Narada sometimes comes as Madhumangala, but his soul is the same. He comes in so many forms, as Srivasa Pandita, as
Naradiya-gopi, and so many others. If anyone has realized who is Gurudeva, if Gurudeva has manifested to that disciple, he
will not change. That same guru will help you. Don't be disturbed by the garment.
If one is really Guru, even if he is a madyama-uttama, then the power of Krsna or Mahaprabhu will act in him because he is
a representative. Krsna has sent him. He has managed.
If an ordinary person, like a kula-guru, family guru, is not qualified, but his disciple has the idea that, "My guru is Krsna",
and that disciple has worldly desires, his worldly desire will be fulfilled. How? Because he is thinking that his gurudeva is
Krsna, if his desires are not fulfilled, the blame will come to Krsna. Krsna must therefore fulfill those desires. The disciple
should be sincere even if he has a kula-guru. If there is no sincerity, he will achieve nothing. Srila Sanatana Gosvami has
written that even if one worships a dry straw, thinking that it is Krsna, he will get some benefit.
Somehow you should try to obey Guru and Vaisnavas. Honor all Vaisnavas, otherwise you cannot serve Gurudeva. He will
not be happy.
Vicitra dasi: If Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura has so many disciples, and some may not have
completed their progress to become self-realized, who will they be with in their next life?
Srila Narayana Maharaja: Srila Prabhupada will come. Somehow, in any form, he will come. This is explained in Sri
Brihad Bhagavatamrta. Gopa-kumara's Guru kept coming back to him, here and there, in different lives. At last he said,
"My heartly blessings to you. You should at once go to Goloka Vrndavana." Gopa-kumara then saw, "At once I'm going
going; I'm going."
[Syamarani dasi cited an instance from three years before. At that time, during Vraja Mandala parikrama, Srila Narayana
Maharaja told the visiting devotes: "I know which of you are writing 'prema' letters to each other. If you come to me and
tell me about your problem of lust, then I will help you and save you from it. If you do not come and tell me, you will
become more and more entangled in it, and you will go to hell. I know everything that is going on in your mind. If a
Vaisnava does not know everything in your mind, he is not a Vaisnava."
Another instance took place in France, in the next year. During a class on guru-tattva, Srila Maharaja said, "Srila Rupa
Gosvami has written, "Visrambena gurau-seva." This means 'service to Gurudeva with intimacy.' What is the meaning of
intimacy? We can open our hearts to Gurudeva. In the West, if one goes to the bathroom, he may become naked at the time
of taking bath. In Indian culture we don't do this, but now Indians are following the Westerners. Be that as it may, if you are
seeing yourself in a mirror at that time, there is no harm if you are naked because there is no other person to see you. The
mirror is not a person. Gurudeva should be seen in this way. He is like a mirror - a bosom friend. We can open our heart
fully and give it to Gurudeva so that he may read it. There is nothing to conceal from him. If you are concealing anything
from him, it is duplicity: "How are you?" "Okay." "Any problem?" "Nothing" The disciple is not revealing that he is
making love with a girlfriend or anyone else. The effect of this will be an atom bomb. In the beginning it seems like nothing
- nothing. One may think, "Oh, Gurudeva should not know all these things. Otherwise he will chastise me and make some
problem for me." However, this neglect of Gurudeva will be like a hole in a needle that becomes large enough for an
elephant to pass through. Don't do this."]