Pure Line:
Disciples, Quarrels, and Prasadam

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
4 December 2014

Some gurus give initiation out of affection, some gurus give initiation out of greed, but both such gurus and their disciples are going to hell. A Guru always thinks about their disciple's spiritual matter, but some make disciples thinking, "The disciple will serve me because I am the guru." When this guru-abhiman, acharya-abhiman comes, it is very bad. It is written in Hari-bhakti-vilas:

স্নেহাদ্বা লোভতো বাপি যো গৃহ্ণীয়াদ্দীক্ষয়া
তস্মিন্ গুরৌ সশিষ্যেতু দেবতাশাপ আপতেৎ

snehadva lobhato bapi yo grhniyad-diksaya
tasmin gurau sasisyetu devatasapa apatet

Hari-bhakti-vilas, 2.5

"Both the guru who gives initiation out of affection or greed and their disciple get a curse from the demigods and go to hell."

যো বক্তি ন্যায়রহিতমন্যায়েন শৃণোতি যঃ
তাবুভৌ নরকং ঘোরং ব্রজতঃ কালমক্ষয়ং

yo vakti nyaya-rahitam-nyayena srnoti yah
tabubhau narakam ghoram vrajatah kalamaksayam

Sri Narada-pancha-ratra, cited in Hari-bhakti-vilas, 1.62

"If one is an acharya and does not give class and do kirtan according to the scriptures, but instead does what goes against the scriptures, both the speaker and the listener will go to hell."

বৃক্ষসম ক্ষমাগুণ করবি সাধন ।
প্রতিহিংসা ত্যজি অন্যে করবি পালন ॥

vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji' anye karabi palana

Practise tolerance like a tree. Stop ill-treating others and nurture them instead.

They can give galagal [গালগাল, chastisement] to me, but I cannot give galagal to them—somebody can use bad language for me, but I cannot use bad language for them because it is not Vaishnavism to do so.

জীবন-নির্ব্বাহে আনে উদ্বেগ না দিবে ।
পর-উপকারে নিজ-সুখ পাসরিবে ॥

jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

Do not trouble others for your own upkeep, and forget your own happiness in the course of helping others.

"For my own happiness and enjoyment I will not give any anxiety to others; I will not be the cause of anxiety for anyone. For others' benefit, I must renounce, must throw my own happiness and everything into the Ganges."

Pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana (giving up vengeance, nurture others): there was one Vasudev Vipra who had leprosy. How much he tolerated! You say I am tolerating so much, but how much Vasudev Vipra tolerated! Insects would fall out of his sores, and he would pick them up and put back inside his sores, thinking, "Oh, it is very hungry! It is happy and satisfied here."

It is Param Guru Maharaj's advice: when you serve prasadam to devotees, you must be like a mother. When a mother feeds her baby, she feeds it from the spoon, with a handkerchief, with so much care. I am not telling you to do like that (with a spoon and handkerchief), it is not necessary, but I am watching here how they serve prasadam, and I see there is no love and affection...

We are always taking but not giving, that is the problem. A sadhu is now a Kali-yuga brahmin—always takes but does not give. It is necessary for our spiritual life to give nourishment to others. Somebody can use bad language, but we will not do that in return, it is not our religion. We joined the Krishna consciousness line, and our line must be very pure—we will be most humble, most tolerant, and give all honour to others. It is very important. When you cut a branch of a tree, the tree does not say anything. Instead, it gives shelter to you—when you are in the sun and feel hot, the tree gives you shadow. We must also be and think like that.

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