Entourage

Here's another excerpt from the book

"Sri Guru and His Grace," 

by
Srila Bhakti Rakshak Shridhara deva 
Goswami Maharaja

 

 compiled, edited and published by 

His Holiness Bhakti Sudhir Goswami 

and B. V.  Mahayogi, Editor-in-Chief at Guardian of Devotion Press, 1984.

Kṛṣṇa is Not Alone

Kṛṣṇa is not alone. A king is always present with his entourage, his great establishment. If one is really to approach the king, it must be done through the proper channel. 

Kṛṣṇa is always surrounded by a big hierarchy, a big bureaucracy, and one cannot approach Kṛṣṇa directly. 

Krishna and associates, artist's depiction.

He whose approach is real must select a proper channel. He cannot but praise those devotees and revere them for their magnanimity. 

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, parikrama, braja-mandal, 1932

It is only by their help that we can get the nearness of Kṛṣṇa. Should we think it possible that one can take a jump across the whole system and approach the king? It is unreal.

Royal guard, China, terracotta soldiers of Chu 200 B.C.

Someone may be externally engaged in such a way that apparently he is a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa, but if he eliminates the devotees, that devotion has not taken real shape; it is a vague thing. 

Mirabai

He is far away from Kṛṣṇa. Suppose we take as an example the highest peak in the Himalayas, Mount Everest. 

We can see Mount Everest from far off. But to approach Mount Everest, we must pass through so many closer mountain peaks. 

When our approach to Mount Everest is genuine, we cannot avoid discovering the name and characteristic of other peaks surrounding Mount Everest. But from far off we can see only Mount Everest and not the other peaks surrounding it. 

So, when we say that our connection is with Kṛṣṇa alone, then we are far off. 

Mirabai

If we are to actually approach the king, we must approach him through his entourage. If we are actually to approach Everest, we cannot but have a connection with the nearer peaks surrounding that highest peak. So, if we are practically engaged in approaching Kṛṣṇa, our approach will be realistic only when we are engaged with the many devotees in different departments of service to Kṛṣṇa.

The real test of devotion

I noted when we were preaching in South India, that whenever any gentleman who was a renowned devotee in a particular place approached our Guru Mahārāj, Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur Prabhupād, he used to ask such men, “Under whose guidance does your devotional service to Kṛṣṇa go on?” Generally they used to say, “No, no, I am directly concerned with Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Rāma.” Then, when they went away, we heard our Guru Mahārāj say, “He has no devotion.” 

That person was dismissed as an imitation devotee. That is a vague kind of devotion. It has not taken any particular shape because he is ignoring the āśraya, the shelter-giving devotees in the positions surrounding the Lord. That is the great test of devotion.

Otherwise, without taking shelter of a devotee, if one shows great devotion, what is his motive? Generally they think, “We want liberation, not the service of Kṛṣṇa. To earn liberation, we are accepting the devotion of Kṛṣṇa.” That is a lower form of worship—worldly worship—not real worship in the transcendental plane. That is not eternal, but temporary. 

"to earn liberation is a lower form of worship"

Devotion to the Lord must not be subservient to any other aim of life. The desire for liberation is one criterion of an imitation devotee, and another criterion is the neglect of elevated devotees. When the Lord alone is being worshipped, that is also false. These two kinds of apparent devotional practices which are generally seen in the world may be dismissed. But the world does not get any news of all these things.

Just as in the beginning one sees the forest from a distance, but in the end he enters the inner circle of the forest, so from far off Kṛṣṇa alone appears to be the āśraya, the giver of shelter,

 but when we approach Kṛṣṇa more closely, we will find our shelter among his devotees. Our real shelter is found within His inner circle of servitors, not with Kṛṣṇa directly.

Inner circle of servitors, artist's conception

We are of a vitiated nature, but there are those who under no circumstances deviate from Kṛṣṇa. 

They are the eternal paraphernalia of the Lord. They are not like us; they are eternally connected with Kṛṣṇa, but we are sometimes coming and going away; we are unreliable servitors. That is our position, so we cannot claim the same position as the absolute servitors of the Lord. 

Under their guidance we can be given the chance of service, so we must accept that position. 

We are recruits, we are not amongst the permanent servitors of Kṛṣṇa. We must perform our service under a bona fide superior. 

The new followers must be gradually accommodated under some bona fide, permanent servitors in the land of Kṛṣṇa.