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By Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
The words 'Initiation' in the west and 'Diksha' in India are not synonymous. The words do not express
completely the same meaning. India's spiritual characteristics and cultures are intrinsically different from the
cultures prevalent in other countries in this world. Very often Indians find difficulty in using appropriate words to
express their thoughts in other languages. This is because of the prevalence of the materialistic way of thinking
in other countries outside India.
Even after about sixty years of independence, we are to face dominance of the western culture in India and day
by day the influence of foreign culture is increasing. To understand the implication of spiritual thoughts peculiar
to India, it seems necessary to introduce some words in their languages. As per English Oxford dictionary,
'Initiation' means: admitting or introducing somebody to membership of a group etc, often by means of a special
ceremony e.g. initiate somebody into a religious sect, secret society, etc. By the word 'initiation', externally it
seems to be at par with 'diksha' for mentioning the words group, religious sect and secret society. The
definition of 'diksha' is given in Hari-bhakti-vilas referring evidence from 'Vishnujamala':
divyam jnanam yato dadyat kuryat papasya samksayam
tasmat dikseti sa prokta desikais tattyakovidaih
'The procedure by which self-effulgent knowledge (Divine Knowledge) is conferred, eradicates the cause of all
sins and because of that it is stated as 'diksha' by the wise who have realized the Divinity.' In the word diksha,
the knowledge is divine and self-effulgent, which indicates that self-effulgent knowledge descends through the
bona fide channel from the Supreme Lord.
Sin is the cause of sufferings. Cause of sin is the desire for committing sin. Misconception of the self is the cause
of the desire for committing sin. Nescience is the cause of misconception of the self and aversion to the
Absolute Knowledge is the cause of nescience. So the root cause of sin is aversion to Sri Krishna, Who is All-
Existence, All-Knowledge and All-Bliss. This Divine Knowledge can only be imparted by a bona fide Guru, the
absolute-counterpart and grace-incarnate form of the Supreme Lord. This implication of diksha is not clearly
mentioned in the word initiation.
Divine knowledge descends to a completely surrendered soul through revelation. One who has got realization
of the Supreme Lord can impart that self-effulgent knowledge to others also, provided the aspirant has
complete submission to the Lord and His Absolute Counterpart the Guru. Conditioned souls of the world are not
eligible to impart or to get that Transcendental Divine Knowledge. The initiating Guru must have two
qualifications as mentioned in Mundaka Sruti. They are; (1) Srotriyam— Well-versed in Sruti sastras– the Vedas
and other allied scriptures, another interpretation of Srotriyam is– blessed by the descent of the Divine
knowledge through the bonafide channel and (2) Brahma-Nistham— must have realization of Divinity. Only
academic or theoretical knowledge is not sufficient, he must have practical realization also.
After eight million births we have got this precious human birth The Supreme Lord is pleased by creating human
beings because human beings have got the discriminating power between eternal and non-eternal, good
deeds and bad deeds and they have the capability to worship the Lord. Other living beings have not such a
conscience and discriminating power. So it is said 'Shubhasya shighram, ashubhasya kalaharanam'— when
there will be good desire, we should do it immediately, otherwise later there might be some hindrance and
obstacle to it, and when there is evil desire, you should wait and not do it immediately— this is Ravana's advice
to Lakshman. There is no guarantee our next life will be human. It is stated in the Gita (8.6):
yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.”
The aspiring devotee should have firm faith in God, the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. The Supreme Lord is One, He
cannot be many. Even a particle cannot be outside Krishna. He is the only sustainer and maintainer. By serving
Him we serve all. If we pour water at the root of the tree, all parts of the tree will be nourished, if we give food
to the stomach, all parts of the body will be nourished, like that we should have firm faith— by serving Him we
serve all. Without serving Him, Who is the Prime Cause of all causes, we can neither do any good to ourselves
nor to others and the valuable time of this precious human birth will be unnecessarily wasted. Krishna has
stated in the Gita (9.24) — 'aham hi sarva-yajnanam bhokta ca prabhur eva ca'— ‘I am the only enjoyer and the
only object of sacrifice.’ Srila Rupa Goswami has stated in 'Sri Laghubhagvatamrita'— 'Visnos tu trini rupani
purushakhyany atho viduh / ekam tu mahatah srashtri dvitiyam tv anda-samsthitam / tritiyam sarva-bhuta-
stham tani jnatva vimucyate'—Here in this world we see male and female living beings, but actual Purush (male)
is the Supreme Lord and all the living beings are the outcome of His energy (prakriti), tatastha sakti (marginal
potency). When we see the Supreme Lord as Purush (male) then we will be delivered from this maya and we
shall have no desire to enjoy this world. The aspirant should associate with bona fide sadhu to get firm faith in
God and worship God with different devotional forms to satisfy Him— mainly nine forms of devotion of which
Nama-sankirtan is the best. We are to accept that which is congenial for His service and give up that which is
prohibited like gambling, any kind of intoxication, illicit connection with women and eating meat. Harinam is
medicine, remedy of the disease and food should be Prasad— so that which cannot be offered to God, we
cannot take. This basis should be there before taking Harinam initiation. In addition we should observe
devotional vows like Ekadasi tithi, Janmashtami tithi, Advent Anniversary of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Narasingha
Chaturdasi, etc. We should wear Tulasi (holy basil) neck beads.
There are two kinds of Guru— (1) 'So-called guru' who initiates to get worldly benefits for himself and his
disciples. A bona fide Guru does not think himself as Guru while giving mantra to disciples. Outwardly it is seen
that somebody is giving mantra and instruction and some persons are taking mantra for worship of God. But
actually a real Guru never makes disciples with the ego of being Guru. He always serves his object of worship.
Krishna is highly satisfied if those conditioned souls who are averse to Him, accept rules and regulations to
serve Him. This kind of showing the actual path of eternal welfare to the aspirants is the greatest service of Sri
Krishna. An outside person, by seeing the ceremony, may think that one is giving the mantra as Guru and
another is receiving the mantra as disciple. However the true eternal servant of Krishna, wherever he may be,
his ultimate goal is to serve Krishna and His devotees. He has no any other ulterior motives. There is a gulf of
difference between a bona fide Guru and a pseudo guru— the first is serving Krishna, his target is to satiate
Krishna and the pseudo guru’s motive is to get mundane non-eternal benefit.
Those who give mantra with mundane ulterior motives are to suffer for the sinful acts of the disciples because
they are not doing it for the Supreme Lord's satisfaction. But the surrendered souls who are giving mantra as
per direction of Guru and Gauranga for Their satisfaction, cannot get the fruits of the sinful actions of the so-
called disciples. God is Omniscient and the controller of the fruits of actions. Nobody can deceive Him.
Conditioned souls who are entangled by illusory energy are unable to remove their non-eternal desires imbibed
in their hearts after passing through numerous births. It is not possible for them to remove the previous bad
impressions by their own efforts. But if they take shelter to the lotus feet of a bona fide Guru without
deceitfulness, by Guru's grace their spiritual life will be successful. Even Krishna has given a warning in the Gita
(9.30), 'api cet su-duracaro bhajate mam ananya-bhak / sadhur eva sa mantavyah samyag vyavasito hi sah'—
Even if one (a devotee of the Lord) commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service,
he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated. This verse shows how much love Lord Gauranga
Krishna has got for the neophyte devotees who want to worship Him sincerely from the core of their hearts.
The Lord has directed his personal associate Arjuna to declare with pledge in the whole universe to all other
forms of worshippers, Karmi, Jnani, Yogi etc. and worshippers of the demigods that His worshipper will never be
ruined, instead he will become a great saint at the earliest and he will get eternal bliss. In this connection this
is to be seriously noted that offence of a hypocrite will never be forgiven, because his prayer to the Lord is only
an outward show, he cheats himself and cheats others. He does not want eternal welfare. A deceitful person is
ever doomed.
It is already stated earlier, 'Shubhasya Shighram, ashubhasya kalaharanam'. There is no guarantee that we
shall get a human birth after our present birth. Why should we take the risk? At least if you do worship
sincerely for some years in the company of Sadhus, the association will not go in vain. That good impression
sometimes may not remain permanently— but the momentum of good ideas in the heart will come again with
greater velocity. So it is better to start bhajan immediately rather than not doing anything. Take absolute
shelter and pray to Nityananda Prabhu and Gauranga Mahaprabhu. They have come to rescue all and give the
highest Krishna prema to all, without consideration. Utter their names and pray to Them. It is the nature of
Supreme Lord to rescue the surrendered souls. He has said in the Gita (6.40), 'Na hi kalyana krit kascid
durgatim tata gacchati'— 'A sincere soul will never be deceived.'
TOP
The words 'Initiation' in the west and 'Diksha' in India are not synonymous. The words do not express
completely the same meaning. India's spiritual characteristics and cultures are intrinsically different from the
cultures prevalent in other countries in this world. Very often Indians find difficulty in using appropriate words to
express their thoughts in other languages. This is because of the prevalence of the materialistic way of thinking
in other countries outside India.
Even after about sixty years of independence, we are to face dominance of the western culture in India and day
by day the influence of foreign culture is increasing. To understand the implication of spiritual thoughts peculiar
to India, it seems necessary to introduce some words in their languages. As per English Oxford dictionary,
'Initiation' means: admitting or introducing somebody to membership of a group etc, often by means of a special
ceremony e.g. initiate somebody into a religious sect, secret society, etc. By the word 'initiation', externally it
seems to be at par with 'diksha' for mentioning the words group, religious sect and secret society. The
definition of 'diksha' is given in Hari-bhakti-vilas referring evidence from 'Vishnujamala':
divyam jnanam yato dadyat kuryat papasya samksayam
tasmat dikseti sa prokta desikais tattyakovidaih
'The procedure by which self-effulgent knowledge (Divine Knowledge) is conferred, eradicates the cause of all
sins and because of that it is stated as 'diksha' by the wise who have realized the Divinity.' In the word diksha,
the knowledge is divine and self-effulgent, which indicates that self-effulgent knowledge descends through the
bona fide channel from the Supreme Lord.
Sin is the cause of sufferings. Cause of sin is the desire for committing sin. Misconception of the self is the cause
of the desire for committing sin. Nescience is the cause of misconception of the self and aversion to the
Absolute Knowledge is the cause of nescience. So the root cause of sin is aversion to Sri Krishna, Who is All-
Existence, All-Knowledge and All-Bliss. This Divine Knowledge can only be imparted by a bona fide Guru, the
absolute-counterpart and grace-incarnate form of the Supreme Lord. This implication of diksha is not clearly
mentioned in the word initiation.
Divine knowledge descends to a completely surrendered soul through revelation. One who has got realization
of the Supreme Lord can impart that self-effulgent knowledge to others also, provided the aspirant has
complete submission to the Lord and His Absolute Counterpart the Guru. Conditioned souls of the world are not
eligible to impart or to get that Transcendental Divine Knowledge. The initiating Guru must have two
qualifications as mentioned in Mundaka Sruti. They are; (1) Srotriyam— Well-versed in Sruti sastras– the Vedas
and other allied scriptures, another interpretation of Srotriyam is– blessed by the descent of the Divine
knowledge through the bonafide channel and (2) Brahma-Nistham— must have realization of Divinity. Only
academic or theoretical knowledge is not sufficient, he must have practical realization also.
After eight million births we have got this precious human birth The Supreme Lord is pleased by creating human
beings because human beings have got the discriminating power between eternal and non-eternal, good
deeds and bad deeds and they have the capability to worship the Lord. Other living beings have not such a
conscience and discriminating power. So it is said 'Shubhasya shighram, ashubhasya kalaharanam'— when
there will be good desire, we should do it immediately, otherwise later there might be some hindrance and
obstacle to it, and when there is evil desire, you should wait and not do it immediately— this is Ravana's advice
to Lakshman. There is no guarantee our next life will be human. It is stated in the Gita (8.6):
yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.”
The aspiring devotee should have firm faith in God, the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. The Supreme Lord is One, He
cannot be many. Even a particle cannot be outside Krishna. He is the only sustainer and maintainer. By serving
Him we serve all. If we pour water at the root of the tree, all parts of the tree will be nourished, if we give food
to the stomach, all parts of the body will be nourished, like that we should have firm faith— by serving Him we
serve all. Without serving Him, Who is the Prime Cause of all causes, we can neither do any good to ourselves
nor to others and the valuable time of this precious human birth will be unnecessarily wasted. Krishna has
stated in the Gita (9.24) — 'aham hi sarva-yajnanam bhokta ca prabhur eva ca'— ‘I am the only enjoyer and the
only object of sacrifice.’ Srila Rupa Goswami has stated in 'Sri Laghubhagvatamrita'— 'Visnos tu trini rupani
purushakhyany atho viduh / ekam tu mahatah srashtri dvitiyam tv anda-samsthitam / tritiyam sarva-bhuta-
stham tani jnatva vimucyate'—Here in this world we see male and female living beings, but actual Purush (male)
is the Supreme Lord and all the living beings are the outcome of His energy (prakriti), tatastha sakti (marginal
potency). When we see the Supreme Lord as Purush (male) then we will be delivered from this maya and we
shall have no desire to enjoy this world. The aspirant should associate with bona fide sadhu to get firm faith in
God and worship God with different devotional forms to satisfy Him— mainly nine forms of devotion of which
Nama-sankirtan is the best. We are to accept that which is congenial for His service and give up that which is
prohibited like gambling, any kind of intoxication, illicit connection with women and eating meat. Harinam is
medicine, remedy of the disease and food should be Prasad— so that which cannot be offered to God, we
cannot take. This basis should be there before taking Harinam initiation. In addition we should observe
devotional vows like Ekadasi tithi, Janmashtami tithi, Advent Anniversary of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Narasingha
Chaturdasi, etc. We should wear Tulasi (holy basil) neck beads.
There are two kinds of Guru— (1) 'So-called guru' who initiates to get worldly benefits for himself and his
disciples. A bona fide Guru does not think himself as Guru while giving mantra to disciples. Outwardly it is seen
that somebody is giving mantra and instruction and some persons are taking mantra for worship of God. But
actually a real Guru never makes disciples with the ego of being Guru. He always serves his object of worship.
Krishna is highly satisfied if those conditioned souls who are averse to Him, accept rules and regulations to
serve Him. This kind of showing the actual path of eternal welfare to the aspirants is the greatest service of Sri
Krishna. An outside person, by seeing the ceremony, may think that one is giving the mantra as Guru and
another is receiving the mantra as disciple. However the true eternal servant of Krishna, wherever he may be,
his ultimate goal is to serve Krishna and His devotees. He has no any other ulterior motives. There is a gulf of
difference between a bona fide Guru and a pseudo guru— the first is serving Krishna, his target is to satiate
Krishna and the pseudo guru’s motive is to get mundane non-eternal benefit.
Those who give mantra with mundane ulterior motives are to suffer for the sinful acts of the disciples because
they are not doing it for the Supreme Lord's satisfaction. But the surrendered souls who are giving mantra as
per direction of Guru and Gauranga for Their satisfaction, cannot get the fruits of the sinful actions of the so-
called disciples. God is Omniscient and the controller of the fruits of actions. Nobody can deceive Him.
Conditioned souls who are entangled by illusory energy are unable to remove their non-eternal desires imbibed
in their hearts after passing through numerous births. It is not possible for them to remove the previous bad
impressions by their own efforts. But if they take shelter to the lotus feet of a bona fide Guru without
deceitfulness, by Guru's grace their spiritual life will be successful. Even Krishna has given a warning in the Gita
(9.30), 'api cet su-duracaro bhajate mam ananya-bhak / sadhur eva sa mantavyah samyag vyavasito hi sah'—
Even if one (a devotee of the Lord) commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service,
he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated. This verse shows how much love Lord Gauranga
Krishna has got for the neophyte devotees who want to worship Him sincerely from the core of their hearts.
The Lord has directed his personal associate Arjuna to declare with pledge in the whole universe to all other
forms of worshippers, Karmi, Jnani, Yogi etc. and worshippers of the demigods that His worshipper will never be
ruined, instead he will become a great saint at the earliest and he will get eternal bliss. In this connection this
is to be seriously noted that offence of a hypocrite will never be forgiven, because his prayer to the Lord is only
an outward show, he cheats himself and cheats others. He does not want eternal welfare. A deceitful person is
ever doomed.
It is already stated earlier, 'Shubhasya Shighram, ashubhasya kalaharanam'. There is no guarantee that we
shall get a human birth after our present birth. Why should we take the risk? At least if you do worship
sincerely for some years in the company of Sadhus, the association will not go in vain. That good impression
sometimes may not remain permanently— but the momentum of good ideas in the heart will come again with
greater velocity. So it is better to start bhajan immediately rather than not doing anything. Take absolute
shelter and pray to Nityananda Prabhu and Gauranga Mahaprabhu. They have come to rescue all and give the
highest Krishna prema to all, without consideration. Utter their names and pray to Them. It is the nature of
Supreme Lord to rescue the surrendered souls. He has said in the Gita (6.40), 'Na hi kalyana krit kascid
durgatim tata gacchati'— 'A sincere soul will never be deceived.'
TOP
