Vyāsa-pūjā Lecture – [Hindi]

Prabhupāda: I can speak little bit in Hindi then you can… [Transl. Today all my disciples are celebrating the Vyāsa-pūjā-tithi. Vyāsa-pūjā-tithi, is the birthday of the spiritual master. The real guru is Vyāsadeva, Vedavyāsa, and through the disciplic succession of Vedavyāsa. Just like it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ [Bg 4.2] This Vedic knowledge is disseminated through the disciplic succession, not by any academic education and learning, through disciplic succession. Sa kāleneha yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa [Bg 4.2] If the disciplic succession is destroyed then this Vedic knowledge is destroyed. That is why Sanātana Gosvāmī has said,

avaiṣṇava-mukhodgīrṇaṁ
pūtaṁ hari-kathāmṛtam
śravaṇaṁ naiva kartavyaṁ
[Padma Purāṇa]

[One should not hear anything about Kṛṣṇa from a non-Vaiṣṇava. Milk touched by the lips of a serpent has a poisonous effect; similarly, talks about Kṛṣṇa given by a non-Vaiṣṇava are also poisonous.]

Those who are not followers of the Vaiṣṇava etiquette, we should not hear the topics of the Lord from their mouth. What is the fault in the topics of the Lord? Pūta hari-kathāmṛtam. He says, that Hari-kathā, is like nectar but despite being like nectar if one is not a Vaiṣṇava, then we should not hear from him. Sanātana Gosvāmī has forbidden this. Why? Sarpocchiṣṭaṁ payo yathā. Milk is nectar but if it is touched by the lips of a serpent then it is poison. And Śrīman Mahāprabhu has also said this, māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa [Cc Madhya 6.169]

The scriptures, the holy books, the Vedas-śruti. That is why the Vedic scriptures are called śruti. Śruti means we have to hear through the medium of disciplic succession only. The spiritual master instructs his disciple, the disciple in turn instructs his disciple and he in turn instructs his dispciples, this is called sampradāya. Brahma-sampradāya, Rudra-sampradāya and Sri-sampradāya, so there are similar sampradāyas. Kumāra-sampradāya. Sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te viphala mataḥ [Padma Purāṇa]. Those who do not follow any sampradāya and whimsically interpret Vedic literatures, they will be unsuccessful. That has no value.

So this Vyāsa-pūjā, that is we are in the lineage of Vyāsa sampradāya. Vyāsa’s disciple Nārada, Nārada’s disciple.. I am sorry!, Nārada’s disciple Vyāsadeva. And Vyāsadeva’s disciple is Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Similarly through disciplic succession, Madhvācārya, then in the Madhvācārya sampradāya, there was Mādhavendra Purī, then his disciple Īśvara Purī, his disciple Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, His disciples—the six Goswāmī’s—Śrī Rūpa, Sanātana, Bhaṭṭa Raghunātha. Similarly we are in this sampradāya, which is why our sampradāya is called Mādhva-Gauḍīya-sampradāya. The meaning of sampradāya is that the ācārya of the sampradāya does not talk nonsense. He speaks whatever he has heard through the guru-paramparā. So that is why the appearance day of the spiritual master is called Vyāsa-pūja, the real spiritual master is Vyāsadeva and this āśana [seat is called Vyāsāsana]. The spiritual master who comes in disciplic succession, he is welcomed to sit in this āśana. My disciples have organized the Vyāsa-pūjā today and they are worshipping. This does not mean, ahaṁgrahopāsanā: self-worship, that I have become God and I am getting them to worship me for showing off. This is not the case. The fact is, the scriptures say,

yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
[Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23]

To acquire this Vedic knowledge, there is only one way. Yasya deve parā bhaktir, that is to have unflinching faith in the Lord, transcendental faith and devotion, and just as we have transcendental faith on the Lord similarly transcendental faith on the spiritual master also.

yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau

This should be practiced and to teach that, we have to sit down and accept their worship so as to teach them. This is proper system. That is why the Vyāsa-pūjā celebration is conducted, they also worship and those who have faith in the ācārya, ācāryopāsanam. [Bg 13.9] The Supreme Lord Himself says in the scriptures that one should worship the ācārya. So all of you have so kindly come here, thank you. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we teach this all over the world, Vedic panthā: Vedic way of life, śrauta-panthā: the path of aural reception. Śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham [Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12].

To be firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth one must accept the path of hearing from authorities [śrauta-panthā]. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also says at the time of imparting knowledge to Rūpa Goswāmī, Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja. [Cc Madhya 19.151] Through the mercy of the spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa we get the seed of the creeper of devotional service. These are some conclusions. Therefore it is the duty of the disciple to celebrate the appearance day of the spiritual master [Vyāsa-pūjā], the spiritual master will teach. It is not that I want to increase my prestige by having them to worship me, this is not the case. So we have around one hundred two centers all over the world and all their offerings, a book has been printed, every year such a book is printed on the occasion of Vyāsa-pūjā to give the spiritual master. Śrīmān Brahmānanda Svāmī will read one or two offerings from that book. After that you can partake in the prasāda and be merciful.

Thank you very much!

This devotee is from Iran. We have got a centre there. His former name was Attar Miya. Now his name is Ātreya Ṛṣi]

Devotee: Jaya. [end]