Initiation of Ambarīṣa dāsa – June 3, 1975, Honolulu

So don't accept Hare Krsna mantra as a counteracting agent

Prabhupada: ...material benefit, subha-kriya. So the initiation is not like that, that "I am taking to the process of chanting Hare Krsna mantra for some material benefit." No. Because people become religious mostly for material benefit.

Artaḥ means distress, and artha-arthi means one who is in need of money. Generally... Just like in Christian church, they go to the church for some material benefit: "O God, give us our daily bread," asking some material benefit. Similarly, Hindus also, they go to the temple, pray to the Lord, "My Lord, I am very much distressed. I have no money. Kindly give some money." So harinama, chanting of Hare Krsna mantra, should not be taken like that, that "I am chanting Hare Krsna mantra so that my material condition will improve." Not like that. Chanting of Hare Krsna mantra means to come in contact with the Supreme Lord and increase my love for Him. That is the point. Prema pumartho mahan. So if we think that it is subha-kriya-subha-kriya means something auspicious-no; that is also offense. We have already described so many offenses; this is also one of offense.

And next offense is namno balad yasya hi papa-buddhiḥ [Padma Purana Brahma-khanḍa 25.16]. Anyone who thinks that "I shall counteract the resultant action of my sinful life by chanting, atonement," prayascitta... Just like one…, somebody commits some sinful activity, and according to different sastra, scripture, there are atonement. Just like in Christian religion, if they admit, then it is all right. No. Harinama should not be taken like that, to counteract my sinful activities, or, "Because I am chanting Hare Krsna mantra I can go on committing all kinds of sinful activities. It will be neutralized by my chanting." This is offense. Namno balad yasya hi papa-buddhiḥ. Papa-buddhiḥ means the desire for committing sinful activities.

The sinful activities are summarized in four principles: no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no gambling, no intoxication. If I think, "Now I am initiated, I am chanting Hare Krsna mantra, even if I commit some sinful activity it will be counteracted, because harinama is so strong that immediately it vanquishes the resultant action of all sinful..." That's a fact. But if I think, "Now I have got an instrument to counteract my sinful activities, so let me go on committing sinful activity and then chant Hare Krsna; it will be neutralized," this is the most grievous offense. Namno balad yasya hi papa-buddhiḥ.

[aside:] You should sit properly. Not like that. Mother should take care.

So don't accept Hare Krsna mantra as a counteracting agent. No. The... We have to come to the pure chanting. Of course, in the beginning, because we do not know, we may commit offenses. But by chanting, chanting, as we become purified, we must have our aim to become offenseless. Nama-aparadha. Nama-aparadha. In the beginning we should not give up chanting, even there is offenses, because by chanting, chanting, we shall be purified. So if one is able to chant Hare Krsna mantra without any offenses, he becomes immediately liberated. This is the result. He is mukta-purusa, liberated person. He is chanting Hare Krsna mantra without any offense. And when pure chanting will be there, then he awakens his original dormant love of Krsna. This is the result. In this way.

Another offense is to explain the glories of Hare Krsna mantra to a person who is not interested. That is also offense. One who is not interested, if I glorify, "You chant like this; you'll be this, this..." Of course, sometimes we have to do that, but that is forbidden. Because he has no respect for Hare Krsna mantra, so there is no need. We have to chant ourself offenselessly, and if somebody hears my offenseless chanting, it will gradually be effective for the persons who are hearing. Sravanam kirtanam [SB 7.5.23].

The process is one should chant and one should hear. That we follow. Somebody leads by chanting, and others follow. So if the chanter is pure, then the chanting will be effective. If the chanter is impure, then it will not be effective. But still we should go on.

And another thing is that while chanting Hare Krsna mantra, if we are still attached to material attraction, that is also offense. The whole process is to become disgusted with material things. Vita-raga. Krsna consciousness movement means we, all conditioned soul, we have come to this material world just to enjoy sense gratification independently. This is our main disease. Everyone in this material world is trying his best how to satisfy the senses. This is the material disease. And Krsna consciousness movement means how to cure this material disease and go back to home, back to Godhead. Unless we cure our material disease, it is not possible to go back to home, back to Godhead. So we must be disinfected. This is the real process. So we have to taste it. Bhaktiḥ paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra syat [SB 11.2.42]. Advancement of material... And devotional service means proportionately we become detached to material attraction.

So this our process is adau gurvasrayam [Bhakti-rasamrta sindhu 1.1.74]. To accept this Krsna consciousness movement means first of all to accept guru. Adau gurvasrayam. Sad-dharma-prcchat. Then inquiry from guru. The disciple should be intelligent enough to inquire from the spiritual master how to become advanced. So to become advanced means sadhu-marganu gamanam, to follow the acaryas. That is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita: acarya-upasanam [Bg 13.8]. Acarya. Our this Vedic principle is to follow the acarya. And if we have taken shelter of a bona fide acarya, and if we are sincere to follow the instruction of acarya, then our life is successful. This is the process, acarya upasanam.

So this initiation means the beginning of acarya upasanam. Just like Arjuna submitted to Krsna when he was puzzled whether he would fight or not. Then he took shelter of Krsna as guru. Krsna was with him, but He was like friend. So friendly talks sometime does not become very serious. But talks between the spiritual master and disciple is serious. A friend can deny to accept the instruction of the other friend, but a disciple cannot deny. That will be guror avajna [Padma Purana]. Therefore Arjuna submitted himself, that "Now I become Your disciple. You guide me." Sisyas te 'hamsadhi mam tvam prapannam [Bg 2.7]:

"I become Your disciple; kindly instruct me. I am fully surrendered to You." So this is, initiation means... Regular meaning is also, initiation, "something to begin." This is beginning of spiritual life. Without initiation, there is no beginning of spiritual life. You can talk... Just like Arjuna and Krsna was talking. That is another thing. But when Arjuna submitted and Krsna instructed him, that is serious.

So this initiation means to submit, fully accepting the spiritual master, and to follow his instruction. And spiritual master's instruction means Krsna's instruction. But you should come through the spiritual master. The electric powerhouse is Krsna, but the current comes through some channel. So spiritual master personally hasn't got to give you any instruction. His business is to carry the instruction of Krsna and deliver it to the disciple. This is spiritual master. He does not invent anything. He does not say, "In my opinion," "I think," "Perhaps," "It may be," just like the modern scientist, philosopher says. No. This is not our process. We say everything definitely. How I can say definitely? Because I have heard it from Krsna. The example I have given: The child, he asks his father, "Father, what is this?" Father says, "My dear child, it is called microphone." So he understands this instrument is called microphone. So next time, when he says, "This is microphone," that is correct. Although he is child-he has no knowledge-but when he says that "This is microphone," it is correct. This is the process. He is a child. He does not know what it is. But the father has said; he has taken it. And then he is correct.

Similarly, the spiritual master, he... Everyone can become spiritual master if he presents the instruction as it is. Not that "I am now advanced. I can change the process what I received from spiritual master." That is rascaldom. No. You cannot change. You cannot improve. That is rascaldom. A spiritual master also does not change the words of Krsna and makes any improvement upon it. Improvement... There is no question of improvement. But sometimes, according to time, circumstances, country, candidate, there is some trick or some ways just to... Real business is one must take to Krsna consciousness. That is real business. So sometimes we have to adopt some means which will help us to distribute the Krsna consciousness movement. That is different thing. But on principle we cannot change the words. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says in his commentary on Bhagavad-gita upon the verse,

In that connection he explains that "Whatever I have heard from my guru, from my spiritual master, to execute, that is my life and soul. I do not mind even if I am not liberated; still, I shall go on executing the will of my spiritual master." We also sing every day. I do not know whether you understand it. What is that? Guru-mukha-padma-vakya [Sri Guru-vandana 2]. Huh?

Devotee: Cittete kariya aikya.

Prabhupada: Ara na kariha mane asa. This is our process. Whatever we have heard from our spiritual master… Spiritual master gives specific order to some specific disciple, and the disciple also will take it as seriously as life and soul. Then it is perfect. From my personal instance I can explain to you it is my duty, that I am not very wonderful man, but I have tried to execute the order of my spiritual master. Whatever little success you can credit, that is my only qualification. That's all. I never... Just like the other day I was telling you that my Guru Maharaja hinted that "If you get some money, you publish book." So from the very beginning, I am trying that. So this is specific. Other, following rules and regulations, that is all right. But a specific.

So this bona fide spiritual master knows what can be executed by a particular disciple. And the disciple also should take a particular instruction from the guru, and you should try to execute it. Then he is successful. This is the success. Yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau [Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23].

This is Vedic instruction. A person who has got unflinching faith in Krsna and similar unflinching faith in guru, yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau, to him, tasyaite kathita hy arthaḥ prakasante, to such person the Vedic knowledge becomes revealed immediately. It is very difficult to, I mean to say, assimilate the Vedic instruction. But if one has got unflinching faith in Krsna and guru, the Vedic knowledge automatically becomes revealed. This is the system. Then you can understand. Just like big, big scholar, big, big leaders. Take for example our big political leader, Gandhi. He says that "I don't believe that there was any person ever living as Krsna." He said that. Just see. Such a big leader, and he is known to be very pious man, but he could not understand Krsna. Although he was lecturing on Bhagavad-gita, and people knew that Gandhi's life and soul is Bhagavad-gita, but the result is that he does not understand Krsna. Just see.

So you cannot enter into the Vedic literature unless you go to the parampara system. It will remain always blocked. This is one example of a big politician. And big scholar, Dr. Radhakrishnan, he, while commenting on the verse man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg 18.65], he says that it is not to Krsna the person. Just see. He's a big scholar. He is known as a very big scholar, philosopher-he also does not understand Krsna. And Bhagavad-gita means Krsna. Krsna is speaking. But these people do not understand what is Krsna. Then what will they speak? This is going on all over the world-in the Western world and in the Eastern world. So you cannot understand the Vedic literature unless you understand through the parampara system. You may be very big man, you may be very big scholar, but the meaning or the purpose of the Bhagavad-gita will be sealed.

I have given this example: Just like you are asking for honey, and I give you a bottle of honey. And you think that "I have now got the honey. Now let me lick up the bottle." So honey is there in his hand, but he does not know how to taste it. He is licking on the bottle. So how he will taste it? So licking of the bottle of honey is not tasting. The contents, the honey, real honey, if it is open, and if you take, then you will get taste. So to whom it is open? It is open to the bona fide disciple by the bona fide spiritual master. Otherwise, you go on for millions of years licking on the honey bottle, you'll never taste what is honey. This is a good example. Don't think, "Now I have got the bottle of honey, let me lick it up." So go on for hundreds and thousands of years licking up, but you will never know what is honey. This is the process. It must be opened by the authorized person, and you must really taste it; then you will understand what is honey when you taste it.

Similarly, Krsna says, evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo [Bg 4.2]. This prescription is already there. And Krsna selected Arjuna: "My dear Arjuna, I shall speak to you the whole philosophy which I instructed to sun-god." "Why You are prepared to instruct me?" Krsna says, bhakto 'si, "Because you are My devotee; therefore I shall explain to you." Krsna…, Arjuna was a family man, grhastha, a politician. He was not a Vedanti. He was not a big scholar in Vedanta. Ksatriya. He knew how to fight, how to fight with enemies. This much qualification he had. Although he was born in royal family, but he was not a Vedanti or vast scholar in Vedic literature. No. But he was bhakta. That is the qualification. He was a devotee. Therefore Krsna said, "I will speak to you Bhagavad-gita, and you will understand the mystery of it because you are My devotee." This is the qualification.

So this Vedic literature, either you take Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavata or any… Unless you have taken the purport of the Vedic literature through the disciplic succession, you will never understand it. It will remain a mystery, like the honey within the bottle. So the initiation means to learn how to open the bottle. This is initiation. That trick or that craftsmanship you have to learn from the guru, the spiritual master. Therefore, adau gurvasrayam. If you are serious about understanding spiritual life and executing, then the first business is initiation, taking shelter of a bona fide spiritual master. This is our process.

Now you can perform yajna. [break] ...spiritual name is Ambarisa dasa. Ambarisa.

Devotee: Ambarisa?

Prabhupada: Yes. Maharaja Ambarisa. He was king and great devotee. Hare Krsna. [break] …find out [indistinct], and then you shall go. [end]