Śrī Guru’s Only Pleasure _

Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami Mahārāja

The Spiritual Master Comes with the Prema-bhakti-sūtra

The guru comes down to this material world, holding a rope in his hand. One end of the rope is tied to the lotus feet of Kåñëa in Goloka Våndävana, and he comes here with the other end. It is known as the prema-bhakti-sütra, the rope of prema-bhakti. We are singing in the Çré Guru-vandana prayer, prema-bhakti jähä hoite, avidyä vinäça jäte. “Prema-bhakti emanates from him and he destroys ignorance. Indeed, unless you have developed premabhakti, some ignorance will still be there. Kåñëa is bound up by that pure love.

A Bona Fide Guru Is Established in Prema-bhakti

kåñëa—sürya-sama; mäyä haya andhakära yähäì kåñëa, tähäì nähi mäyära adhikära

“Kåñëa is compared to sunshine, and mäyä to darkness. Wherever there is sunshine, there cannot be darkness.” (Caitanya-caritämåta, Madhya-lélä 22.31)

As soon as one takes to Kåñëa consciousness, the darkness of illusion will immediately vanish. Kåñëa is the spiritual sun, whereas mäyä is andhakära, darkness. So ignorance is darkness and enlightenment by knowledge is light. So if you can attain Kåñëa then there will be no question of mäyä or ignorance at all. But how can you achieve Kåñëa without prema since He is only bound up by prema?

What Is Good Fortune?

How can you repay what the sädhu-guru has done for you? You cannot. You have been suffering and suffering for so many thousands of lives:

brahmäëòa bhramite kona bhägyavän jéva guru-kåñëa-prasäde päya bhakti-latä-béja

“After having wandered for countless births throughout the whole universe, a soul who is fortunate receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service by the combined mercy of both Kåñëa and the spiritual master.” (Caitanya-caritämåta, Madhya-lélä 19.151)

According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kåñëa. By His and the spiritual master’s mercy, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.

‘Bhägyavän’ means fortunate. A soul who meets a guru is a fortunate soul. That is good fortune. To meet the King or Queen of England, or the Prime Minister of some state and fulfill some material desires is not good fortune. Up until now you were unhappy, distressed, but now you will become happy. That is the good fortune that is wanted. What sort of happiness is it? It is not material happiness, which is temporary and has unlimited misery as its outcome. It is eternal happiness. No more misery

or unhappiness. Meeting one’s spiritual master is completely spiritual. The guru expects that his disciples make advancement in bhakti and thereby give him transcendental pleasure. So I hope you will all make advancement on this path of prema-bhakti. That will make me happy!