Guardiões da Devoção
Finding Our Spiritual Fortune
by Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja
Devotee: So this book, Sri Guru and His Grace, what should be the scope of that book according to you?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Ultimately it will come to Krsna. Krsna is the Guru, who can remove all our doubts and satisfy all of our inquiries. It is through Him. Who can clear all the doubts we may have? Doubt after doubt, one doubt may go and thousands of doubts may come.
bhidyate hrdaya-granthis
chidyante sarva-samsayahWho can clear all the suspicions in our mind? It is He, Sri Guru. In this way it will come. Its birth is in intellectualism and its goal is transcendental.
The birth and the destination - that will come to meet together. The birth is also from the potency, and after moving the whole infinite, it will come again into the potency. The infinite in finite, finite infinite. The affectionate connection of the finite with the infinite helps him to live in infinite. All the finite backed by infinite, may be infinite. It depends on the backing . Our Guru Maharaj gave an example: if a poor girl is married to a prince, she had nothing, but by her friendly, affectionate relationship with the prince, now she is turned into a princess. One who had nothing, only by her friendly relationship she gets command over so many things. A jiva's resources may increase in that way.
Intrinsically, the jiva has nothing. He is only a point of the point of the point, but coming in affectionate connection with the Absolute - he gets the facility of all advantages of life of the Absolute. Through affection , he or she is in possession of the Whole.
angangi-bhavam ajnatva
katham samarthya-nirnayaWe cannot ascertain anyone's potency or power without considering their relationships, friendly relationships. Israel is a small country and Russia can conquer it in five minutes, but America is there. So the connection of the friends, not only the estimation of a particular thing, but the estimation of the friend's circle, that is all important.
angangi-bhavam ajnatva
katham samarthya-nirnaya
pasya tittibha-matrena
samudro vyakuli-krtah
(Hitopadesa, 2..146)These is one Indian book similar to Aesops Fables, where pandit, Vishnu Sharma has written this sloka: angangi-bhavam ajnatva. That a person and his friend and friend of his friend, without the calculation of this atmosphere, circumstance, we should not estimate the power of a particular person. He has given an example how tittibha, the smallest bird, he could disturb and highly control the whole ocean. The bird went to his master, he went to his master and in this way they connected with Garuda, the servant, bird-carrier of Krsna. Garuda came to back the small bird and by his threatening the ocean, "I shall drink you until finished!" the ocean came to submit to the small bird, because of the friendly associaton.
Devotee: Guru Maharaj, can you explain the meaning of diksa?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: The explanation is given in the sastra:
divyam jnanam yato dadyat kuryat papasya samksayam
tasmad dikseti sa prokta desikais tattva-kovidaihThe scholars of the department have explained the meaning of diksa in this way: Diksa is a process through which the transcendental knowledge is imparted towards the disciple, by the preceptor, and all his previous bad tendencies are cast aside. That is normal, diksa, in general. Previous commitments are all cleared and there is light of a new life. New life in relationship with the transcendental substance. A process by which he is given the noble connection with the absolute center and at the same time his previous commitments are all finished. That has been called diksa. It is an awakenment, an inner awakenment of life. Divyam-jnanam it is there, it is suppressed, but that is uncovered. Diksa means the discovering of one's inner wealth and also relief from the outward obligations. With inner awakenment, the outer commitments vanish.
When you reach home, your other engagements for your comforts are all cut off and you find your full sympathetic, necessary comforts there. So, for your own comfort you must have connection with various things outside, but coming home all these are unnecessary, only the home comfort remains. Generally, in a foreign land, we seek comfort and it is supplied, in the hotel, but when we reach home, the hotel comforts are of no more use. "I have got my home here. Here is my home."
As a minor you were taken away from your native place and you are in another's house. But if you can come to know, "there was my father's and mother's house," if you come in that connection and you go there, they can recognize - "Oh, my boy! You were stolen when you were young. We can understand from your face all these things. I am your mother, I am your father, I am your sister!" Then the hotel no longer has utility. "I have found my home." Something like that. Back to God, back to home. With the inner awakenment of the soul he finds his comfortable home and outward links, connections dispenses. That is diksa.
Devotee: If siksa also gives Divine Knowledge then what is the difference?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Diksa is the main formula and to work out that formular is mainly there and other things are necessary also to substantiate it, to help it. They are all parts and parcels of diksa. They are already in that formula. "It should be this, it should be that," all the directions are there. But how to substantiate that? Then it will come in details, so many things, sravanam, kirtanam, smarana, vandana, all these things, a thousand things may be necessary.
If a General invades another country, he will chalk out the program. "This way we shall go and attack, we shall have to do this." But practically, when going to do that, so many things come in the way and we have to solve that and march on. The whole plan is to go home from the foreign land. "In this way you can go there." And to substantiate that in practice - so many things may be necessary. But mainly, if you want to go home, you will have to go from here to there, there to there, place to place. Your home is there and the description of the home is there, and where you are, it is also there. And through this process you can reach your home. This is chalked out in the plan. And practically you have to do that. First you are to hire a rikshaw, then go to the station, then go to the airport, then to get a ticket for the plane. In this way so many things are necessary. Divya jnana. From the partial knowledge we are to reach to the final knowledge. This is final. Our home destination, the final prospect.