Further Intimate Understanding of Srila Prabhupada

It is especially important for disciples not to try to second-guess their guru.  I remember in the beginning days at 26 Second Avenue, devotees sometimes wondered, when does Prabhupada actually talk to Krishna?  Maybe he does it in his sleep.  For awhile, there was even speculation whether Prabhupada was even actually Krishna Himself. 

The disciple can only understand things rightly when they are explained by the acarya according to sastra and sadhu.  It is stated in the Caitanya-caritamrta, “Although I know that my spiritual master is a servitor of Sri Caitanya, I know him also as a plenary manifestation of the Lord.”  (CC Adi 1.44)

Interpretations on the position of the spiritual master are probably inevitable though.  I remember once hearing some devotees talking about japa.  One devotee said that we should chant very intently and call out to Krishna.  Japa, when done rightly, is an intense experience either of love of God, or of aspiring for love of God. 

But another devotee countered this by saying, “I’ve heard Srila Prabhupada chanting japa on a tape.  I don’t mean to speculate on the mind of the acarya, but his voice sounds very regular and not particularly emotional.”

This is an example of someone making a judgement based on external perception of the guru’s activities.  He heard the guru’s voice and decided that he wasn’t chanting Hare Krishna with much emotion.  From that, he concluded that he was chanting “like Prabhupada.”

We do not know how Prabhupada chants, although we can hear the sound of his chanting.  Neither do we know what he thinks about when he chants.  He was not obliged to reveal these things to us.  He sometimes quoted Jesus Christ’s statement, “There are many things I have to tell you, but you cannot bear to hear them now.”  Prabhupada said, “Yes, the acarya knows things, but he does not tell everything to the disciples.”