Revealing the Truest Meaning of Disciple, He Concealed His Aspect as Guru

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Our Gurudev has manifested before our eyes that he is nondifferent from the form and personality of our Param Gurudev by living his life according to his Gurudev's ideals and conduct. He never made his own presence known because he always made his Gurudev's presence and honor as a flag of glories to fly high, never letting them become dull or fade from our memory.  

There is a line in Param Gurudev's stavakam: Guru pankti surakshan yatna param. It says that by accepting the responsibility of becoming guru, he has well protected our guru-parampara. 

Param Gurudev and so also our Guru Mahārāja performed this divine pastime of always remaining a disciple by keeping this ideal before the world. It is our Gurudev's specialty that he demonstrated in his life that only the best disciple can become the best guru. So our Guru Mahārāja is Jagadguru, a great Vaiṣṇava and an Ācārya who is worshipable by the whole world. But we see that in his conduct as Ācārya, he kept the meaning of the word guru concealed and instead manifested the real meaning and the glories of the word disciple. Gurudev is such an ideal Ācārya who is an ideal disciple because he gave all the credit and honor to his Gurudev spreading his glories like sunlight in the world.  

In Hari-bhakti-vilāsa it is said never to disregard or disrespect Gurudev's vāṇī nor perform such actions that would displease Gurudev even if it would require you to face a great many hardships, difficulties, or distresses. Our Guru Mahārāja's nature is constricted and shy in the sense that he would not let his glories spread around; hence his god-brothers played many pastimes with him to bring out his glories to light. Within this dynamic also came objections that said he is not maintaining the maṭha well, but he faced all the challenges and criticisms with utmost patience and courage with the thought that if he resigns from the post it will amount to disrespect to his Gurudev's orders. He carried on his assigned duties exclusively to please Gurudeva. 

Gurudeva said that vaiṣṇavas are chastising me for my eternal welfare so that I perform my duties more diligently and efficiently. He never spoke a word against them nor allowed anyone to take any action against any of his godbrothers.  He would humbly pray to his godbrothers that you all please bestow your mercy upon me so that I may perform my duties well. 

This is like when Śrī Akiñcana Kṛṣṇadas Babajī Mahārāja wrote in reply to his god-brother's insulting letters that "You are my real well-wishers because you are making me aware of my defects and faults and giving me a good opportunity to purify myself and to correct myself, and for this, I will be ever grateful to you." Śrīla Gurudev and also Param Gurudev nurtured similar thoughts like Kṛṣṇadas Babajī Mahārāja and continued their services unhindered by so many false allegations. They never saw any faults or defects in others' behavior, thus never criticized or blamed them and instead saw their qualities and praised them.  

Gurudev would always say, "Don't blame others for your own suffering. You are reaping the fruits of your own past actions and others are only instrumental."  So Gurudev never criticized or disrespected anyone who caused distress to him by their false allegations and criticisms, nor did he give up his services and responsibilities. Gurudev demonstrated an ideal disciple's conduct by remaining fixed and determined in guru-sevā and never deterred from it. At the same time, he did not keep any hostile mentality related to anyone concerned. 

—Sri Bhakti Kinkar Damodar Mahārāj


Translated from Hindi to English. Excerpted from a talk on April 17, 2020, Srila Gurudev's 3rd disappearance anniversary. Source is here.






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