First 14 min Srila Gurudeva is reading from Srimad-Bhagavatam SB 8.15.18 upto verse 28:
Gour Govinda Swami:
Disciple means under discipline. If guru showers his mercy on his disciple by inflicting very severe discipline on him, and if the disciple accepts it with pleasure, without grumbling, and serves guru, he gets mercy. One should not do anything that would bring displeasure to guru. That is sat-śiṣya. In spite of all sorts of punishments, discipline, and chastisement inflicted on him, he accepts and tolerates it with pleasure.
He doesn't act in any way that will create displeasure to guru. Such a person is a sat-śiṣya and gets the mercy of guru. Kāya-mana-vākya — a person who serves guru and pleases him with his mind, body and speech, with his wealth, with his merit, and with his intelligence, achieves the supreme perfection.
How can we get the mercy of Bhagavān? It is said, guru-kṛpā hi kevalam — guru's mercy is everything. The bona fide guru, spiritual master, sad-guru, is a gaura-priya-jana — a very dear devotee of Gaurāṅga. He is mukunda-preṣṭha, an intimate, confidential associate of Bhagavān Mukunda. This is guru-tattva.
If such a guru is pleased with a disciple, then Kṛṣṇa is pleased. This is the only way to please Kṛṣṇa:
yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ’pi
(Śrī Gurvāṣṭaka, verse 8)
If the guru is displeased, then everything is finished. No one can protect you. You have no place to go. Even Lord Hari or Kṛṣṇa cannot protect you.
So, guru should be pleased. That is guru-kṛpā hi kevalam. The mercy of guru is so powerful:
mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ
paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande
śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
(C.C. Madhya 17.80)
By the mercy of the guru, even a dumb man can become the greatest orator, and even a lame man can cross mountains.
If someone is fortunate and pleases guru through service — guru-śuśrūṣayā — he receives such spiritual power. This is spiritual power, spiritual strength — the strength of Balarām. "Bala" means "strong". Balabhadra Balarāma is very strong. He has great spiritual strength.
That strength comes to us by the mercy of guru. Guru is the manifestation of Balarām, Nityānanda Rāma. That is guru-tattva. Without the mercy of guru, no one can get such strength, and no one can make any advancement on the spiritual path — bhakti-patha.
Even when the Supreme Personality of Godhead comes, He also accepts a guru. Why does He do so? There is no need for Him to accept a guru. He does so to teach us.
In the Bhagavad-gītā (4.11), Kṛṣṇa says:
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ
(BG 4.11)
“O Pārtha, O son of Kuntī, Arjuna, everyone follows My path in all respects.”
Therefore, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead comes, He accepts a guru. Otherwise, the common people will never accept a guru. When Mahāprabhu came, He accepted a guru. Kṛṣṇa and Balarām accepted Sāndīpani Muni as guru. They were students, brahmacārīs, in Sāndīpani Muni’s āśrama.
Sudāmā Vipra was also a student at the same time when Kṛṣṇa and Balarām were students, so they were friends from boyhood. When Sudāmā Vipra came to Dvārakā, Kṛṣṇa remembered those days in the guru’s āśrama and said:
sa vai sat-karmaṇāṁ sākṣād
dvijatir iha saṁbhavaḥ
ādyo ’ṅga yatrāśramiṇāṁ
yathāham jñāna-do guruḥ
(SB 10.80.32)
“My dear friend, he who gives a person his physical birth is his first spiritual master, and he who initiates him as a twice-born brāhmaṇa and engages him in religious duties is indeed more directly his spiritual master. But the person who bestows transcendental knowledge upon the members of all the spiritual orders of society is one’s ultimate spiritual master. Indeed, he is as good as My own self.”
In this material world, the father is one of the gurus, because by the mercy of the father we have gotten this human body. So, the father is the first guru. One should accept the guru’s order as it is. Don’t add any deliberation to it — nirvicāra-graha. Accept it as it is and execute it immediately. Then you will get mercy.
The example is Paraśurāma. Paraśurāma’s father Jamadagni said, “Chop off the head of your mother Reṇukā.” So immediately Paraśurāma chopped off her head with his axe. He didn’t think, he didn’t add any deliberation, “Oh, I’ll kill my mother? I will commit such a great offence, mātṛ-hatyā?” Immediately he chopped off her head. And he is an incarnation of the Lord.
Devotee: At what stage in our devotional life can we follow such an order? An ordinary devotee cannot do so.
Gour Govinda Swami: You should follow guru’s instruction at any stage. Then you will get his mercy.
Devotee: But when the devotee is full of doubts and his heart is not clean, then how can he follow?
Gour Govinda Swami: Who will clarify those doubts? Only guru can clarify doubts —
sarva-saṁśaya-saṁchettā nālaso gurur āhṛtaḥ (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 1.46)
Devotee: But can the devotee see guru?
Gour Govinda Swami: He cannot see guru. How can he see guru with defective vision?
Devotee: Then how can he follow guru’s orders?
Gour Govinda Swami: Therefore, we say, kṛṣṇa-kṛpā ei guru mile — pray to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is there in the heart as caitya-guru, Paramātmā. When one cries in one’s heart, “How can I accept the lotus feet of my guru? I don’t know who is my guru. O Kṛṣṇa, please help me. I want to serve You. I am Your servant. But without guru I can’t serve You.” If someone cries before Kṛṣṇa in this way, then Kṛṣṇa makes arrangement.
By the arrangement of Paramātmā — Kṛṣṇa — Dhruva met his guru. That is the only process. Therefore, we say that by the arrangement of Kṛṣṇa one will get a bona fide guru. Otherwise, by your own arrangement, you cannot get.
When you accept such a bona fide guru — sad-guru — then everything is finished. Whatever the guru says, do it blindly. Don’t add any deliberation. That is for your spiritual benefit. If you add some deliberation, then you cannot get the mercy of guru. You cannot get the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.
An example is Lord Rāma. Daśaratha ordered Lord Rāma to go to the forest for fourteen years. Immediately He executed that order. He didn’t ask, “What is my fault? I would have been king, why should I go?” He didn’t ask anything. Immediately, without adding any deliberation to it, He executed the order of His father and went to the forest.
When Bharata came and heard about everything, he could understand that it was the politics of his mother Kaikeyī. So Bharata went to meet Rāma and requested Him, “Please come back. I cannot sit on the throne. The throne belongs to You. I am Your servant. I am not king. I won’t be king. This is all politics of my mother Kaikeyī.”
Lord Rāma wouldn’t return. He said, “Bharata, you should understand that whatever is gurujana’s order, one should follow it, execute it as it is, without adding any deliberation to it. That is beneficial to you and to Me.” Lord Rāma said like that.
Kṛṣṇa told Sudāmā Vipra:
sa vai sat-karmaṇāṁ sākṣād
dvijater iha saṁbhavaḥ
ādyo ’ṅga yatrāśramiṇāṁ
yathāham jñāna-do guruḥ
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.80.32)
“In the material world, he from whom the jīva gets a human body — that father — is the first guru. He is gurujana. Later, one goes to gurukula and accepts a spiritual master who imparts Vedic knowledge to him — jñāna-daḥ. That is the second guru. And that guru is as good as Myself.”
Also, Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā:
ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān
nāvamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta
sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ
(BG 11.29, quoted also in SB 11.17.27)
“One should know the ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.”
Kṛṣṇa says to Uddhava in the Eleventh Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.17.27):
ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān nāvamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ
“That ācārya is as good as Myself. One should not think him an ordinary human being. Sarva-deva-mayaḥ — all the demigods reside within his body. He should be worshiped just as Kṛṣṇa is worshiped.”
Kṛṣṇa further explains the position of the guru:
sa vai sat-karmaṇāṁ sākṣād
dvijater iha saṁbhavaḥ
ādyo ’ṅga yatrāśramiṇāṁ
yathāham jñāna-do guruḥ
(SB 10.80.32)
“Whoever imparts this transcendental knowledge to the members of the āśrama is My representative. He is as worshipable as I am.”
Kṛṣṇa then told Uddhava:
nāno artha-kovida brāhmaṇā
varṇāśrama-vatām iha
ye mayā gurunā vācā
taranty añjo bhavārṇavam
(SB 10.80.33–34)
“O my dear friend Sudāmā Vipra, in this human society, one who is intelligent should follow the orders of the spiritual master without any deliberation. Then he will very easily cross over this dreadful ocean of material existence.”
Kṛṣṇa also says:
nāhaṁ ijyā-prajātibhyaṁ
tapasopasamenavā
tuṣyeyaṁ sarva-bhūtātmā
guru-śuśrūṣayā yathā
(SB 10.80.34)
“I am not so pleased with one who strictly follows brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, or sannyāsa-dharma, or with someone who performs austerities or rituals, as I am with one who renders unalloyed service to guru — guru-śuśrūṣayā.”
One who serves guru with kāyena, manasā, vācā — body, mind, and words — and uses whatever intelligence, wealth, or ability he has solely for the pleasure of guru, becomes very dear to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore it is said:
yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ’pi
(Śrī Gurvāṣṭaka, verse 8)
Kṛṣṇa and Balarām were disciples of Sāndīpani Muni. They served their guru to set the example for others. One day there was no fuel in the āśrama. Gurumātā said, “Oh boys, there is no firewood. The food cannot be cooked. Go to the forest and fetch dry wood.”
So Kṛṣṇa and Balarām went to the forest with an axe to collect firewood. Although by Their mere will millions of logs could have appeared, they chose to personally follow the order of their guru. This is the mood of a true disciple.
While in the forest, a terrible storm came — torrential rain, thunder, and lightning. The earth was flooded, and it was a pitch-dark night. The two boys couldn’t return. Sāndīpani Muni stayed awake the whole night, anxious for them. At dawn, he found Kṛṣṇa and Balarām standing under a tree, trembling like ordinary boys.
Sāndīpani Muni was deeply moved and said:
aho bata putrakā yūyam
asmad-arthe ’ti-duḥkhitāḥ
ātmā vai prāṇināṁ preṣṭhas
tam anādṛtya mat-parāḥ
(SB 10.80.40)
“O my dear boys, the body is very dear to everyone, yet for my sake you have endured so much pain. You are true disciples — sat-śiṣya.”
And it is said further:
etad eva hi sac-chiṣyaiḥ
kartavyaṁ guru-niṣkṛtam
yad vai viśuddha-bhāvena
sarvārthātmarpanaṁ gurau
(SB 10.80.41)
“This is the duty of a true disciple — to dedicate everything to the spiritual master with a pure heart.”
In the Āditya Purāṇa it is said:
harau ruṣṭe guruḥ trātā
gurau ruṣṭe na kaścana
tasmāt sarva-prayatnena
guruṁ eva prasādayet
“If Lord Hari is displeased, the guru can still protect you. But if the guru is displeased, no one — not even Hari — can save you. Therefore, one must serve and please the guru at any cost.”
The Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa says:
upadeṣṭāram āmnāya-
gataṁ pariharanti ye
tān mṛtān api kravyādāḥ
kṛta-ghnān nopabhuñjate
bodhaḥ kaluṣitas tena
daurātmyaṁ prakaṭīkṛtam
guruḥ yena parityaktaḥ
tena tyaktaḥ purā hariḥ
One who rejects a bona fide guru coming in āmnāya-paramparā — even after accepting him — is a kṛta-ghna, an ungrateful wretch. When he dies, even vultures will not eat his flesh. If someone is rejected by guru, it means he has already been rejected by Lord Hari. Whatever knowledge he had becomes polluted and useless.
Devotee: Can the disciple rectify the situation?
Gour Govinda Swami: If he is intelligent.
Devotee: Because there was one case when Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta rejected one of his disciples. Later, that disciple returned, and Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta said, “I don’t accept you. Go to my disciples. If they accept you, then you may do some service.” He went to the sannyāsī-disciples of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta, and they accepted him.
Gour Govinda Swami: Yes. Because if you serve the guru’s dear disciples and they become pleased, they may request the guru, “He is now repentant. He is crying. He has rectified himself.” Then guru may accept him again. If guru accepts him, then he is accepted by Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise, not. This is the process.
The Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa says:
pratipādya guruṁ yas tu
mohād vipratipadyate
sa kalpa-koṭiṁ narake
pacyate puruṣādhamaḥ
If someone once says, “You are my guru. I have accepted your divine grace as guru,” but later, out of delusion, he rejects that same guru, he becomes a narādhama — the lowest of men. Such a person will suffer in naraka, hell, for millions and millions of years.
Similarly, the Ananta-saṁhitā states:
adhikṣipya guruṁ mohāt
puruṣaṁ pravadanti ye
śūkaratvaṁ bhavatyeva
teṣāṁ janma-śateṣv api
Those who have accepted a guru, but out of ignorance or delusion begin to criticize, chastise, or call him names — treating him as an ordinary human being — commit a grievous offense. For hundreds of lifetimes, they must take birth as hogs and eat stool.
The Urdhvāmnāya Tantra declares that as long as Gurudeva is not pleased, the disciple should serve him with all means, at any cost. When guru is pleased, then the Supreme Lord is pleased — Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, all the devas, ṛṣis, and yogīs are pleased. At that moment, all sinful reactions are destroyed.
Again, Kṛṣṇa says:
ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān
nāvamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta
sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.17.27)
“One should know the ācārya as My very self and never disrespect him in any way. One should not think of him as an ordinary mortal, for the guru is the representative of all the demigods.”
If someone considers the ācārya an ordinary person, if they regard mantras as mere letters, or if they think that the deity (vigraha) is just stone or metal, such a person is a pāṣaṇḍī — an offender. Pāṣaṇḍī narakī saḥ — such a person must go to hell.
By such offences, all of one’s mantras, knowledge, and sādhana become polluted. Such a person cannot attain any spiritual perfection. This is guru-tattva.
Who cannot be a disciple? The Ananta-saṁhitā says:
akṛtyebhyo 'nivāryaś ca
guru-śikṣā-sahiṣṇavaḥ
evaṁ-bhūtaḥ parityājyaḥ
śiṣyatve nopakalpitaḥ
One who is incorrigible, who cannot be corrected, and who cannot tolerate the discipline of guru, must be rejected. Such a person is unfit to be a disciple. Disciple means under discipline.
Devotee: If the guru does not chastise the disciple, does that mean he is ignoring him?
Gour Govinda Swami: He is cheating him.
Devotee: Cheating?
Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, vañcanā. The chastisement given by guru is actually his mercy.
Devotee: If there is no chastisement, and the guru ignores the disciple?
Gour Govinda Swami: Guru knows that the disciple is not worthy of receiving mercy. Instead, he deserves to be cheated. A sādhu has two tools — kṛpā and vañcanā — mercy and cheating.
The Viṣṇu-smṛti describes the duty of a disciple:
na guror apriyaṁ kuryāt
taditāḥ pīḍito ’pi vā
nāvamanyeta tad-vākyaṁ
nāpriyaṁ hi samācaret
ācāryasya priyaṁ kuryāt
prāṇair api dhanair api
karmanā manasā vācā
sa yāti paramāṁ gatim
A disciple should never act in a way that displeases the guru — even if the guru chastises or punishes him. He should never disobey or disregard the guru’s words. One should do what is pleasing to the guru — even at the cost of one’s life, wealth, body, mind, and words. Then he attains the supreme goal.
Disciple means under discipline. If the guru bestows his mercy in the form of strict discipline or punishment, and the disciple accepts it with pleasure, without grumbling, and continues to serve, he receives true mercy.
Such a disciple never acts in a way that displeases the guru. Despite punishment or chastisement, he tolerates everything and remains faithful. This is the quality of a sat-śiṣya — a genuine disciple. Such a disciple attains the mercy of guru.
Kāya-mana-vākya — one who serves and pleases guru with body, mind, and words; with his wealth, merit, and intelligence — attains the supreme perfection.
Guru-kṛpā is so powerful. That’s why we sing:
yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ’pi
(Śrī Gurv-aṣṭaka, verse 8)
By the mercy of the guru, one receives the mercy of Bhagavān. Without that mercy, there is no advancement on the spiritual path. All success comes only by guru-kṛpā.
We also sing:
mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ
paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande
śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
One who receives the guru’s mercy, who pleases the guru, gets all spiritual strength. Even if he is dumb and cannot speak, he becomes an eloquent speaker of transcendental knowledge. If he is crippled, he can cross mountains. That is the power of guru-kṛpā.
Devotee: You were speaking about guru’s chastisement.
Gour Govinda Swami: Chastisement means the guru gets angry. There is the example of Advaita Ācārya. He knew that Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Still, Advaita Ācārya was a disciple of Mādhavendra Purī, which made him a godbrother of Īśvara Purī, Mahāprabhu’s guru.
Because of this, Mahāprabhu respected him as gurujana. He never chastised him — that is the etiquette. But Advaita Ācārya thought, “Mahāprabhu is not chastising me. Then how can I receive His mercy? He is simply showing affection, patting me on the back. But unless He becomes angry and chastises me, I cannot get His mercy.”
So, he deliberately began reading Yoga-vāsiṣṭha, a māyāvāda scripture, loudly so Mahāprabhu could hear. Hearing this, Mahāprabhu shouted, “Hey! Who is that rascal?” Then Advaita Ācārya danced in joy: “Ah! Now I have received Mahāprabhu’s mercy!”
There are many such examples. When Mahāprabhu was staying in Purī, every year devotees from Gauḍadeśa would come for Ratha-yātrā and stay for four months. Śivānanda Sena led the party and arranged everything — accommodation, prasādam, and supplies for the journey.
Once, Nityānanda Prabhu came along. At one point, the group reached a stop. Śivānanda told them, “Everything’s arranged, you go ahead. I’ll catch up after settling the ferry fees.”
When Nityānanda Prabhu arrived at the spot, He saw the arrangement wasn’t good. He became angry: “Where is Śivānanda Sena? What kind of arrangement is this? There's no proper place to sit or rest. Let his son die!”
Śivānanda’s wife, who was there with her young children, heard this and began to cry. “Avadhūta Nityānanda Prabhu has said our son will die!” she sobbed.
Śivānanda came and saw her crying. “Why are you crying?” he asked. She said, “Avadhūta has cursed our child to die.”
Śivānanda became angry with her. “You foolish woman! That is His mercy! Why are you crying like a fool?” Then he went to see Nityānanda Prabhu.
As soon as he approached, Nityānanda Prabhu kicked him. “You rascal!” Śivānanda immediately began to dance. “Oh! Such mercy I’ve received today!”
This is real mercy — vaiṣṇava, sādhu, or guru-inflicted chastisement is kṛpā, not punishment.
Another example is Nārada Muni. He cursed the two sons of Kuvera — Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva. “You rascals! What are you doing here in the heavenly planets, shamelessly enjoying with heavenly girls in a drunken stupor?” Nārada cursed them.
Then Narada Muni cursed successive offending sons:
“You go! You don’t deserve to remain here. Fall down into the material world and become pigs.” So they became two Arjuna trees. For 36,000 years, they remained as trees in a king’s courtyard. But that curse was a blessing: if they had lived 36,000 lifetimes, they might not have received Kṛṣṇa—yet in one life, they did.
Devotee: Advaita Ācārya’s behavior doesn’t seem like a good example to imitate.
Gour Govinda Swami: You’re right—it’s not something to intentionally emulate. One should not deliberately provoke the guru for mercy. However, when a sādhu‑guru‑vaiṣṇava chastises, that chastisement itself is mercy. One must accept it gracefully, thinking, “I’m fortunate to have received mercy today.”
Devotee: So a neophyte shouldn’t foolishly think, “I'll do something to provoke guru’s mercy”?
Gour Govinda Swami: Exactly. Don’t imitate Advaita Ācārya. He did that because he felt spiritually starving—he was the godbrother of Mahāprabhu’s guru, so he was not being chastised and thus felt deprived of mercy blessings.
Devotee: Sometimes when a sādhu-guru chastises a disciple, others misunderstand it.
Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, they can become offensive. They fail to recognize such dealings as the mercy of the guru toward the disciple. As the śāstra says: vaiṣṇavera kṛiyā-mudrā vijñeha na bujhaya—even a scholar (vijñeha) cannot understand the vaiṣṇava’s actions, since they’re not material, but spiritual.
Devotee: You once mentioned a story in Caitanya‑caritāmṛta about a devotee living lavishly.
Gour Govinda Swami: Yes—that story is about Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi. Outwardly, he appeared as a materialist, even outwardly “cheats” with gloss and vanity. But in reality, he was a maha‑bhāgavata. Mukunda Datta told Gadādhara Paṇḍit: “Let us go see Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi—he’s a great devotee.”
When Gadādhara Paṇḍit visited, he saw Puṇḍarīka richly adorned—gold rings, plush cushions, chewing paan, spitting into a golden pot. He thought, “How can he be a great devotee, when he looks like a sensualist!” But Mukunda saw his thoughts and recited this verse from the Śrīmad‑Bhāgavatam (3.2.23):
aho bakīyaṁ stanākala-kutaṁ
jighāṁsayapyayad apy asadhvi
lebhe gatim dhatry‑ucitam tato ’nyam
karṇa vā dayālūṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajema
This verse describes how Putanā, though a demoness, attained the position of mother by offering breast milk to baby Kṛṣṇa—even though she meant to kill Him. Her service earned her a divine position. Hearing this, Puṇḍarīka was overwhelmed and became ecstatic—he cried, collapsed, rolled on the ground, scattering everything. Gadādhara realized his mistake in judging him. Thinking to remove this offense, he took mantra from Puṇḍarīka—making him his guru—and thus that offense was removed.