Special Note in favour of your question:
You have written in your letter that – “I know Babaji Maharaj’s straightforward attitude and neutrality. So please convey my question to Śrīla Maharaj. Because Babaji Maharaj always tries to remove any confusion in our devotional society regarding pure Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.”
We are very very happy to see your open-heart discussion on this topic of “dīkṣā”.
Really so, if he can make a little bit compromise with maya, then he can enjoy huge popularity very easily, but he never tries to do so, he never wants to cheat us by sweet representation of those false philosophical vichars. Now try to think what a great sacrifice it is. Then you can never become angry with Baba Maharaj.
Below you will find Srila Babaji Maharajs answers regarding your questions on the topic of “Diksa”–
All glories to Śrī Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga
Emotion is not devotion
Gauḍīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda Paramahaṁsa Guru said that –“A man devoid of ānugatya is just like a beast (or more than that).” Really so, because a crazy bonded soul can come down to any level to fulfill his self-interest, but a beast cannot come to such a low level. Degradation of humanity is really a matter of great regret. Please remember that emotion is not devotion. Emotion can bring demotion in your life, but devotion can bring promotion in your life.
Whom you can accept as your guru (preceptor)? The Prabhupāda used to say that – “I can submit unto the Lotus feet of such a guru (Sad Guru) who can arrange absolute mangal in my life.” If you can accept a fallen soul as your Idealism in your life, then what you can expect in your bhajan life! Really, I am very very happy to see that at least you have strong faith in me and about my neutral position, which is really rare. Most of the people misunderstand me, which is quite natural, because Bhagavan (or guru-Vaiṣṇava, dhāma, nāma, līlā, etc.) can reserve the right of not being exposed to our sense organs. You all are my dear children, so how I can approve your jumping into fire. You are requested to go through a series of my previous hari-kathās, especially on the topic of “The Prabhupāda and His unique Ācāryaship” (many hari-kathās, each kathā duration 2 hours), then you can realize what is called absolute Ācāryaship in true sense. You have seen me always standing on the neutral platform of the absolute balance to protect and preserve Bhakti Siddhānta Vani Vaibhava. For so long I used to guide people unto the Lotus feet of Śrīla Bhakti Kumud Shanta Gosvāmī Maharaj or Śrīla Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Gosvāmī Maharaj or Śrīla Bhakti Vedanta Vaman Gosvāmī Maharaj or Śrīla Bhakti Ballabaha Tirtha Gosvāmī Maharaj or Śrīla Bhakti Vijñānan Bharati Gosvāmī Maharaj or Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Sagara Maharaj etc., all about whom I was over sanguine about their genuinity, because except that I have no idea about others, but if you know someone who is just satisfied with all the qualities according to the standard of a genuine Ācāryaship (as you are hearing absolute hari–kathā from me), then you can take the responsibility to guide others, at least those who are really interested to take shelter unto the Lotus feet of a bonafide Sad Guru, I have no objection in it. You know it very well that I am not speaking anything out of jealousy. The same question I wanted to put in front of Śrīla Bhakti Vijana Bharati Gosvāmī Maharaj 15 years back at Śrī Caitanya Gauḍīya Math Kolkata branch, that – “To whom I can send those new comers after speaking hari-kathā in front of them as per all your standing instruction to me?” Because some acaryas were still alive at that time, but their surrounding situation where not good at all for others (for those newcomers, because they can misunderstand). Śrīla Bhakti Vignana Bharati Gosvāmī Maharaj could not give any answer to me (at that time Śrīla Maharaj was not acting as ācārya). Śrīla Saccidananda Bhaktivinod Ṭhākura also expressed the same concern long ago—around 150 years back. He told that – “Oh men! Don’t become busy to accept a guru, don’t take any hasty decision, better you can wait and watch for the kṛpā of Śrī Balarāma Nityānanda Prabhu. If you are genuine about your prayer and demand to get a bonafide Sad Guru in your life, then be sure that Śrī Balarāma Nityānanda can manifest Himself in front of you as Sad Gurudeva automatically, no doubt in it, so please do not sacrifice your valuable life here and there in the name of accepting guru-caraṇa in your life”.
From Śrīmad Bhāgavataṁ we know the following śloka –
gurur na sa syāt sva-jano na sa syāt
pitā na sa syāj jananī na sā syāt
daivaṁ na tat syān na patiś ca sa syān
na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum (ŚB 5.5.18)
He is not guru, he is not relative, he is not father, she is not mother, he is not swami, he is not God, who cannot protect me from the repeated cycle of birth and death.
Now my question is that – If you are already standing on a neutral platform (I mean devoid of any party colour or any ism or any biasness), then please confirm that – “Whether you are feeling complete satisfaction and fearlessness in your life or not?”
The Prabhupāda used to say – “
“Śrī Gauḍīya Math cannot have and actually does not have anything in common with those, who duplicitously join Gauḍīya Math with a motive to misuse Divine Knowledge for the service of their own selfish ends. Feigned dīkṣā and obtainment of Divine Knowledge are never one and the same. Śrī Caitanya and His sincere Devotees are eternally present in Śrī Gauḍīya Math. All those owlish persons who are incapable of seeing the light are called Māyāvādīs, karmis and wayward Non-Devotees.”
—from the letter by Śrīla Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura; October 20,1928
Gauḍīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda Paramahaṁsa Jagad Guru said that—“By the procedure of so called dīkṣā one cannot get any right in Bhagavat seva in true sense, only can develop some sukṛti.” The actual meaning of dīkṣā is to develop divya jñāna, if not so, then only some sukṛti can drive that jīvātmā, of course if there is some duplicity and aparādha then the situation will be horrible. In the following śloka Srīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains dīkṣā in his Bhakti-sandarbha (283):
divyaṁ jñānaṁ yato dadyāt kuryāt pāpasya saṅkṣayam
tasmāt dīkṣeti sā proktā deśikais tattva-kovidaiḥ
“Dīkṣā is the process by which one can awaken his transcendental knowledge and vanquish all reactions caused by all those sinful activities done forever. A person expert in the study of the revealed scriptures knows this process as dīkṣā.”
Long ago at the time of Śrīla Guru Maharaj’s manifesting līlā some Russian Devotees wanted to give Hāriṇam dīkṣā to others just by the help of playing a recorder voice of Śrīla Paramahaṁsa Jagad Guru Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvāmī Maharaj, but as and when the news came in the ear of my Guru Maharaj, then he immediately wanted to put objection against this procedure of ṛtvik-dīkṣā. He wanted to confirm that physical presence of Śrī Gurudeva and śiṣya (disciple) is a must.
Paramhamsa Jagad Guru Śrī Shankar Bhagavan told to Parvati Devi Ma that –
From Ādi Purāṇa–
guravo bahavaḥ santi śiṣya- vittāpahārakaḥ
durlabhaù sad-gurur devī śiṣya- santāpaharakaḥ (Purāṇa-vakya)
[Lord Śiva to Pārvatī:] Many ‘gurus’ take advantage of their disciples and plunder them. They exploit their disciples and use them to amass wealth, but a guru who can remove the miseries of his disciples is very rare.
Also, a quotation of Pancharatra found quoted in Hari Bhakti Vilas–
avaiṣṇavopadiṣṭena mantreṇa nirayaṁ vrajet
punaś ca vidhinā samyag grāhayed vaiṣṇavād guroḥ (HBV 4.144)
One goes to hell if he accepts mantra from a Non-Vaisnava Guru. Therefore, according to the rules of śāstra, one must take shelter (mantra) again from a Vaiṣṇava Guru according to scriptural injunctions.
Again, from Mahābhārata Udoyaga-parva we can see that Pitamaha Bhīṣma Deva who is one of those twelve Mahājanas has said that—
guror apy avaliptasya
kāryākāryam ajānataḥ
utpatha-pratipannasya
parityāgo vidhīyate (Mahābhārata, Udyoga-parva 179.25)
“One should not be hesitant in reprimanding the guru because: “It is one’s duty to give up a guru who cannot teach the disciple what he should do and what he should not do, and who takes the wrong path, either because of bad association or because he is opposed to Vaiṣṇavas.”
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has advised that such a useless guru, a family priest acting as guru, should be given up, and that the proper, bona-fide guru should be accepted.
Again, from Śrī Hari Bhakti vilas we can find the following siddhānta vichar—
yo bokti nayarohita manyana shrinoti yah
toubhou narakam ghorom brajatah klamkshyam
Who is going to violate the scriptural injunction to give mantra upadeśa (or śāstra upadeśa) to others who or who is going to accept those illegal upadeśa—both of them can go to hell forever to suffer severe punishment.
Again, from Vāyu Purāṇa we can find the following śloka regarding the actual symptom of an ācārya —
acinoti yah śāstrartham ācāre sthāpayaty api
svayaṁ-acarate yasmād ācārya stena kīrtitaḥ
(Manu-saṁhitā)
The ācārya is thus called because he has studied and understood the meaning of the scriptures, to establishes those meaning of śāstra in his own acaraṇa and can help others to accept the perfect acaraṇa in their life and he practices what he preaches.
So, the real symptom of an ācārya is lying with the fact that how best possible way he can help others to get established in the acaranā of Bhagavat-dharma by showing his own unlimited nonstop bhagavat-seva mood. So surely there cannot be any contradiction regarding the most vital issue of accepting Guru (the preceptor in our life), because life is very unstable, any time we can go away from this material world. The Prabhupāda used to say that logical interpretation cannot stand in the way of that absolute truth.” But the most vital problem in our life is that we can never stop argument, we can never stop expressing doubt and suspicion etc. So that is the reason for why the absolute truth is beyond our reach forever. Not only that but also, we can see the following śloka from –Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā
ajñaś cāśraddadhānaś ca
saṁśayātmā vinaśyati
nāyaṁ loko ’sti na paro
na sukhaṁ saṁśayātmanaḥ (Bg. 4.40)
But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures & and do not trust those sadhus expressing the inner meaning of the śāstra through their pravachan and acaraṇa, they do not attain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next.
After traveling all around Śrī Vrindavan dhāma The Prabhupāda was bound to express his own direct feeling with great regret that –“I could not find even a single Vaiṣṇava (of that standard) here.” So, do you think that Śrīla Prabhupāda was proud enough to pass this kind of remark? Just before Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s appearance on this earth there was total darkness all around the world (go through Śrī Chaitanya Bhagavat to know all in detail). There was no symptom of Kṛṣṇa Bhakti all around the world. It is clearly written in Śrī Chaitanya Bhagavat that Advaita Gosai, Śrīvas Paṇḍit and all other Vaiṣṇavas they all used to express deep concern at that time about the dirty situation prevailing. Do you think all their great concern about the then time situation – all are false? After that viśuddha bhagavad bhakti dhara was installed by Śrīman Mahāprabhu and all of His pārṣadas. Again, deep darkness was visible all along the horizon of this pure bhakti field on the earth. Then again viśhuddha bhagavad bhakti dhara was re-established by Śrīla Saccidananda Bhaktivinod Ṭhākura who is known as the Bhagirat of śuddha bhagavad bhakti dhara and at the same time this śhuddha bhagavat bhakti dhara was extremely expanded by Gauḍīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda Paramahaṁsa Jagad Guru and his eternal pārṣadas (as was confirmed by Śrīla Prabhupāda according to his meeting with Pancha Tattva and Gauḍīya-guru-varga during the time of his shatta koti nāma yajña periode at Braja pattyan (Śrī Caitanya Math – Śrī Chandra Shekar Acharya bhavan, Śrī Dhāma Mayapur). As per śāstra vichar again we can see that after the departure of those Mahājanas again a deep darkness is supposed to grasp the whole devotional field, no doubt in it. But surely that doesn’t mean that Bhaktivinod Dhara can get lost, because this is the great assurance given by Śrīla Prabhupāda that— “Śrī Bhaktivinod Dhara can never get lost.” So just like the Phalgu river at Gaya dhāma somehow water can be found under the layer of sand very secretly. So, truth is truth, nothing will go or come if you start agitation against that absolute truth. So, if you unable to accept this siddhānta vichar, if you think that this is surely not that dark period, then please wait and watch the situation, that can be your privilege. This much I can say, nothing more. My Guru pada-padma repeatedly ordered me to follow Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda Paramahamsa Jagat Guru and all his siddhānta vichars, because those all are absolute siddhānta vichars in the line of Bhaktivinod Dhara, so I don’t think it necessary to quote any outside thing. Śrīla Prabhupāda is the endless ocean of siddhānta vichar, so he is called “Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda”. So, I don’t know the reason for why you all like to put pressure on me to quote those unstable vichars of other so called ācāryas. I have no right to put pressure on you to go through my speeches and writings. You are always free to choose your actual medicine. Always try to remember that this is the question of the survival of our real self. So, no politics or no party colour or any ism or biasness can stand in the way of that absolute truth. I think so. Now let me know what is your opinion?
From Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā we know the following ślokas.
ajñaś cāśraddadhānaś ca
saṁśayātmā vinaśyati
nāyaṁ loko ’sti na paro
na sukhaṁ saṁśayātmanaḥ (Bg. 4.40)
But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures & do not trust those sadhus expressing the inner meaning of the śāstra through their pravachan and acaraṇa, they do not attain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next.
yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya
vartate kāma-kārataḥ
na sa siddhim avāpnoti
na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim (Bg. 16.23)
He who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination.
tasmāc chāstraṁ pramāṇaṁ te
kāryākārya-vyavasthitau
jñātvā śāstra-vidhānoktaṁ
karma kartum ihārhasi (Bg. 16.24)
One should therefore understand what is duty and what is not duty by the regulations of the scriptures. Knowing such rules and regulations, one should act accordingly so that he may gradually be elevated.
From Hari bhakti vilas we can also see the following śloka quoted from Tattva sagar—
yathā kāncanatāṁ yāti kāṁsyaṁ rasa-vidhānataḥ
tathā dīkṣā-vidhānena dvijatvaṁ jāyate nṛṇām
“As bell metal is turned to gold when mixed with mercury in an alchemical process, so one who is properly trained and initiated by a bona fide spiritual master immediately becomes a brāhmaṇa.”
If my submission is complete unto the Lotus feet of sad Gurudeva at the time of dīkṣā, then no problem can stand. Because whatever shortage can be there in me, cannot put any problem in my bhajan life, due to my cent percent Śaraṇāgati unto the Lotus feet of Sad Gurudeva. From Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta we have the evidence in favour of this vichar –
dīkṣā-kāle bhakta kare ātma-samarpaṇa-
sei-kāle kṛṣṇa tāre kare ātma-sama tare
“At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Krishna accepts him to be as good as Himself.”
sei deha kare tāra cid-ānanda-maya
aprākṛta-dehe tāṅra caraṇa bhajaya
“Then the devotee’s body is thus transformed into spiritual existence, and by that transcendental body, can render service to the lotus feet of the Lord.”
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya 4.192-93)
As per different scriptural evidences like Śrīmad Bhāgavataṁ or Pancharatra, Mahābhārata etc. dīkṣā is a must in our life, but surely from a right source. A right person who is already developing tattva jiggyasa (self-interrogation) can take dīkṣā with an absolute motive to get divya jñāna. Śrīla Raghunatha Das Gosvāmīpad also has confirmed this point in his Manaḥ Śikṣā 1st śloka—
gurau goṣṭhe goṣṭhālayiṣu sujane bhū-sura-gaṇe
sva-mantre śrī-nāmni vraja-nava-yuva-dvandva-śaraṇe
sadā dambhaṁ hitvā kuru ratim apūrvām atitarāṁ
aye svāntar bhrātaś caṭubhir abhiyāce dhṛta-padaḥ
(Manaḥ Śikṣā – Verse 1)
“O my brother mind, with these pleasing words, I grasp your feet and pray to you – always abandon pride and develop great and unparalleled attachment to the guru and those residing inside Braja dhāma, and those cowherd folk that reside there, and also those devotees and brāhmaṇas and the Holy Names and Mantra received, and the shelter of the ever-youthful Divine Couple of Vraja (Śrī Śrī Rādhā Govinda)
But Śrīla Parīkṣit Maharaj was not initiated as such in his life. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that his bhagavat kathā śravaṇa from the Lotus mouth of Paramahaṁsa Acharyavarya Śrīla Sukadeva Gosvāmī (the great Paramahaṁsa Jagat Guru) was no less than dīkṣā, in fact it was more than dīkṣā. So, he was successful to achieve his svarūpa siddhi. To develop absolute sambandha jñāna with Bhagavan is the real meaning of dīkṣā, that he already had by hearing bhagavat kathā which is non-different from Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. We know the following śloka—
Śrī Brahmaji said,
yo mantraù sa guruù sakshad, yo guruù sa hariù svayam
gurur yasya bhavet tushtas, tasya tusto hari svayam
(Vamana kalpa, Śrī Hari Bhakti Vilas 4.353)
“The dīkṣā mantra is identical to the guru and the guru is identical to Śrī Hari Himself. There is no difference whatsoever between mantra, guru and Hari. If guru is satisfied then Śrī Hari is automatically satisfied.”
But this is really very rare case. Also, Śrīla Saccidananda Bhaktivinod Ṭhākura has written the following absolute siddhānta vichar in the commentary of the following śloka of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta—
dīkṣā-puraścaryā-vidhi apekṣā nā kare
jihvā-sparśe ā-caṇḍāla sabāre uddhāre (C.c. Madhya 15.108)
“One does not have to undergo initiation or execute the activities required before initiation. One simply has to vibrate the holy name with his lips. Thus, even a man in the lowest class [caṇḍāla] can be delivered.
This is also really very very rare case. According to previous very good pure saṁskāra if someone develops strong faith in Śrī Harināma , then in that case be sure that Śrī Harināma Himself can give the complete benefit in our bhajan life which is supposed to be achieved through dīkṣā procedure, so in that case no need of dīkṣā. Because we know the absolute power (secrecy) of srī kṛṣṇa nāma mahā-mantra from Śrī Caitanya Bhagavat Adi 7/73
kṛṣṇa-mantra haite habe saṁsāra-mocana
kṛṣṇa-nāma haite pābe kṛṣṇera caraṇa
“Simply by chanting the mantra of Kṛṣṇa one can obtain freedom from material existence. Indeed, simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra one will be able to attain the Lotus feet of the Lord.
We know some very exclusive or rare cases where we can see that only through sat-saṅga many where successful to attain the Lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. From Śrīmad Bhāgavataṁ we know that—
Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa speaking to Uddhava –
māyādyair navabhis tattvaiḥ
sa vikāra-mayo virāṭ
nirmito dṛśyate yatra
sa-citke bhuvana-trayam (ŚB 12.11.5)
The universal form [virāṭ] of the Personality of Godhead includes the nine basic elements of creation, starting with the unmanifest nature, and their subsequent transformations. Once this universal form is instilled with consciousness, the three planetary systems become visible within it.
sat-saṅgena hi daiteyā
yātudhānā mṛgāḥ khagāḥ
gandharvāpsaraso nāgāḥ
siddhāś cāraṇa-guhyakāḥ
vidyādharā manuṣyeṣu
vaiśyāḥ śūdrāḥ striyo ’ntya-jāḥ
rajas-tamaḥ-prakṛtayas
tasmiṁs tasmin yuge yuge
bahavo mat-padaṁ prāptās
tvāṣṭra-kāyādhavādayaḥ
vṛṣaparvā balir bāṇo
mayaś cātha vibhīṣaṇaḥ
sugrīvo hanumān ṛkṣo
gajo gṛdhro vaṇikpathaḥ
vyādhaḥ kubjā vraje gopyo
yajña-patnyas tathāpare (ŚB 11.12.3-6)
In every yuga many living entities entangled in the modes of passion and ignorance gained the association of My devotees. Thus, such living entities as the Daityas, Rākṣasas, birds, beasts, Gandharvas, Apsarās, Nāgas, Siddhas, Cāraṇas, Guhyakas and Vidyādharas, as well as such lower-class human beings as the vaiśyas, śūdras, women and others, were able to achieve My supreme abode. Vṛtrāsura, Prahlāda Mahārāja and others like them also achieved My abode by association with My devotees, as did personalities such as Vṛṣaparvā, Bali Mahārāja, Bāṇāsura, Maya, Vibhīṣaṇa, Sugrīva, Hanumān, Jāmbavān, Gajendra, Jaṭāyu, Tulādhāra, Dharma-vyādha, Kubjā, the gopīs in Vṛndāvana and the wives of the brāhmaṇas who were performing sacrifice.
te nādhīta-śruti-gaṇā
nopāsita-mahattamāḥ
avratātapta-tapasaḥ
mat-saṅgān mām upāgatāḥ (ŚB 11.12.7)
Those persons I have mentioned did not undergo serious studies of the Vedic literature, nor did they worship great saintly persons, nor did they execute severe vows or austerities. Simply by association with Me and My devotees, they achieved Me.
So, time to time what all I told through my hari-kathā about actual dīkṣā or about the latest situation of our devotional field all are my practical feelings, not at all superficial or superfluous. Only I can put a guarantee in front of you all with full confidence that if you are not getting any such Sad Guru in your life who is decorated with all those absolute qualities – which all an ācārya must have, then only by hearing those absolute hari-kathās like fire you can make huge progress in your devotional field, provided you are very simple hearted and sincere enough and devoid of duplicity or any party colour or any ism etc. Direct association of guru-Vaiṣṇava is also very urgent, but if this is not possible, then those living example of such firing hari-kathā can protect you, I can promise you that way, so your determination of avoiding any kind of asat-saṅga in the form of any party colour or any ism or any biasness can surely give you protection in your bhajan life. It is known to everybody that I never want to become guru, because I think you all are my guru. Hope you doubt is over forever.
Gaura Hari Hari Bol