Pradyumna Dāsa Adhikārī

We offer our most respectful obeisances unto the holy lotus feet of His Divine Grace Tridanḍi Gosvami Sri Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja who is a true and bona fide spiritual master because he is following exactly in the line of disciplic succession from his own beloved spiritual master His Divine Grace Tridanḍi Gosvami Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Gosvami Maharaja is addressed in prayer as Rūpanuga, or true follower of Rūpa Gosvami. We find a reference of an incident in the biography of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu that shows that Srila Rūpa Gosvami knew the mind of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and this was confirmed by the Lord Himself. The disciplic succession is such that the knowledge and the experience of consciousness of Krsna which is passed down, if heard correctly without deviation, remains true and eternally correct. Due to the potency of the disciplic succession, our most beloved spiritual guide and master, Srila Prabhupada, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja, does now possess the knowledge of the mind of Lord Caitanya. The position of the spiritual master is that by passing down the scriptural instructions of the Supreme Lord and by practicing them at every moment with His whole self, He teaches us how to respond to the desire and will of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This is the meaning of the disciplic succession. Although we have experience of the knowledge of different meanings of various books and different religious secular communities and organizations, the disciplic succession of knowledge is certainly not merely the passing down of an intellectual understanding of different meanings or procedures for executing rituals, but while including this knowledge, its primary aim is to pass down an actual experience of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So with the help of the scriptures and information from the heart, we have been trying to properly ascertain the correct position and importance of being a student of the bona fide spiritual master. What does the spiritual master offer that cannot be found at the marketplace? That is the eternal consciousness of the desire and wish of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, humbly serving Him, without any care for whatever position we may be placed in birth after birth. So we are prepared to offer our most respectful and humble complete obeisances unto the lotus feet of our spiritual master, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, for birth after birth after birth of eager and true devotional service.

Pradyumna Dasa Adhikari

(ISKCON Boston)