What does a spiritual master give to a surrendered soul?
The spiritual master gives a surrendered soul the spiritual name. The spiritual master is nondifferent from the Supreme Lord and personifies devotional service. We should never disregard the spiritual master or consider him an ordinary human being. If we disregard the spiritual master, we commit a grave offense. Similarly, there is no difference between the transcendental sound vibration and the transcendental Lord. Krsna’s holy name and Krsna Himself are nondifferent. The holy name is not a product of the material world. The holy name is not an object of our vision; rather he is the seer.
Only a bonafide spiritual master who is dear to Krsna can bestow Krsna on others. Krsna-katha should be heard only from the Vaishnava spiritual master. No one but devotees can speak about the Lord. If we approach karmis, jyanis, yogis, or world teachers to hear something, they will only discuss Maya. They accept neither the Lord’s eternal existence nor the fact that the Lord is eternal and full of eternal knowledge and bliss. Such people consider both the Lord’s incarnations and the spiritual master to be mortal beings.
A spiritual master awards his surrendered disciples Krsna’s holy name and the mantras in relation to Krsna. Krsna-mantras are topmost. There is no mantra as powerful as a krsna-mantra. If we learn to chant these krsna-mantras perfectly, all our mental speculation will be destroyed. As long as we consider our spiritual master an ordinary being, we will not be able to understand the holy name’s glories. We will not become spiritually successful if we consider Sri Chaitanyadeva an ordinary human being. Simply by the spiritual master’s mercy can we understand the glories of Sri Gaurasundara and Vraja-dhama.
The spiritual master has an eternal kunja on the shore of Sri Radha Kunda. There he has bound Krsna by the power of his service. Simply by his mercy we can attain the shelter of Govardhana Hill. Govardhana Hill is another form of Krsna. If we are filled with mental speculation we will see Govardhana only as a stone mountain. But the place, where Vrshbhanu’s daughter enjoys Her pastimes, is not an ordinary place, made of clay in this world. It is transcendental and decorated with spiritual gems. It is by our spiritual master’s mercy that we can aspire to attain the intimate sevice of Sri Radha-Madhava.
All our inauspiciousness is destroyed and our auspiciousness created simply by the spiritual master’s mercy. It is impossible to know Krsna either by sinful endeavor or worldly morality. We can understand Him only through pure devotional service. It is possible to learn to practice this pure devotion only by the spiritual master’s mercy.
Krsna-katha is certainly an invaluable asset. Actually, it is the only asset as we attempt to progress on the path leading to Goloka. Krsna-katha is non-different from Krsna Himself. Any topic not related to Krsna is actually useless. Therefore, Krsna-katha should be preached extensively in this world. We can hear topics about Krsna or Vaikuntha from the lotus mouth of the spiritual master who is a resident of Vraja. At present, we spend our time thinking about our body, which is a bag of bones and flesh, and have given up topics about Krsna. Therefore, we identify with material objects and do not attain self-realization.