By Narasimha das
25 December 2024
Recently someone suggested in a forum of devotees that Srila Prabhupada was under the maya-shakti, and thus, like all conditioned souls, was ignorant (or not fully aware) of past, present, and future. This person insinuated that Prabhupada couldn’t have known in 1977 that his appointment of “diksa-gurus” or “regular gurus” would lead to scandal and chaos. In other words, this man suggested that, unlike famous liberated devotees and great saints like Narada Muni who are well-known as being tri-kala-jna, Srila Prabhupada was ignorant of certain facts and realities and, in fact, lacked the discretion to understand that appointing upstarts as diksha-gurus was a bad idea. Another former disciple, a “woke” professor of Hinduism at Harvard University, promotes similar misconceptions, suggesting that the self-realized spiritual master might speak improperly sometimes due to his being under the influence of parochialism or provincialism and/or cultural bias.
As Lord Krishna often plays the part of an ordinary man when He comes to the material world, so do His great devotees, who play their parts perfectly. Lord Chaitanya sometimes presented Himself as a simple, dull man who was only qualified to chant Hare Krishna and nothing more. But intelligent sadhus, like Prakashananda Sarasvati, although an impersonalist at the time of his first meeting with the Lord, did not take literally the Lord’s words or self-deprecation. Similarly, despite Srila Prabhupada’s humility and unassuming nature, many non-devotees and neophyte devotees recognized, to some extent, Srila Prabhupada’s all-cognizance–due to their non-envious nature, Krishna’s mercy, and Srila Prabhupada’s personal effulgence.
The following statements from Nectar of Devotion should clear up misunderstandings and doubts in this regard:
Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 22:
52. All-Cognizant:
“Any person who can understand the feelings of all persons and incidents in all places and at all times is called all-cognizant.” (Nectar of Devotion, page 184)
In Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 25, (Devotees of Krishna), under the heading “Eternal Perfection”, Srila Prabhupada states:
“It is described that Krishna, the enemy of Kamsa, has 64 transcendental qualities, and all the ever-liberated souls who accompany the Lord have the first 55 of the qualities, without any doubt. Such devotees are related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in any of the five transcendental mellows—namely neutrality, servitorship, friendship, parenthood, and conjugal love. These relationships with the Lord are eternal, and therefore nitya-siddha devotees do not have to strive to attain perfection by executing regulative principles. They are eternally qualified to serve Krishna.”
Srila Prabhupada has warned: “Familiarity breeds contempt”. Those who associated with Srila Prabhupada briefly or occasionally (or only through his vani and worship) have related many experiences that indicate or confirm Srila Prabhupada’s all-knowing nature. Case in point: recently I was wondering how to counteract these misconceptions regarding guru-tattva and Srila Prabhupada, and then almost immediately, without my trying, I blindly opened someone else’s Nectar of Devotion to the pertinent passages. Our personal experiences with Srila Prabhupada are valuable for others to hear only if they confirm the version of shastra. Srila Prabhupada has explained that educated devotees and pandits are known as shastra-chaksu: “those who see through the eyes or scripture.”
[Please note: Those who see through the eyes of scripture have one opinion. Similarly, those who accept the orders and conclusions of the spiritual master have only one opinion, whereas those who speculate or try to promote their own interpretations have many differing and contradictory opinions that are sometimes quite absurd.]
“Some of the disciples strictly accepted the orders of the acharya and others deviated, independently concocting their own opinions under the spell of daivi-maya.” (Sri Chaitanya-caritamrita Adi. 12.9)
“This verse describes the beginning of a schism. When disciples do not stick to the principle of accepting the order of their spiritual master, immediately there are two opinions. Any opinion different from the opinion of the spiritual master is useless. One cannot infiltrate materially concocted ideas into spiritual advancement. That is deviation. There is no scope for adjusting spiritual advancement to material ideas.” (Cc. Adi. 12.9, Purport)
“This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.” (Bhagavad-gita 7.14)
Srila Prabhupada didn’t need to practice sadhana-bhakti to cross beyond the three modes of material nature and transcend illusion. He is a nitya-siddha, shaktavesa who was predicted by many great devotees, by scripture, and by Lord Chaitanya Himself.
