OFFENCES   TO  SRI GURU   

       ALL Glories to HDG Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Goswami Maharaj

       ALL  Glories  to  HDG Srila Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada       

The offence to the spiritual master is the third in the list of offences to the Holy name.  Sriman Mahaprabhu has clarified that the   guru as one who knows the science of Krishna Consciousness. The qualities  of such a spiritual master is that he is always engaged in the service of the service of the Supreme Lord  ,free from material  desires  with understanding that the Holy name of Krishna is non different  from Him while  being  completely engaged in chanting the name  .He  further gives  instructions to others on the glories of chanting of the Holy name  . The Vedas  define the guru as srotiyam brahma nistham  .He who is unalloyed in his service to the Supreme Lord Krishna   while realizing that the aspect of the divine form of Krishna is highest above the lower stages of Brahman and the Supersoul in the heart. The other quality of guru or sabde pare cha nisnatam   meaning he who has understood the purport of the scriptures by his realization in the chanting of the Holy name and by which there fore  he gives instruction to all of  the way to attain the goal of life . In short ,one should accept a guru without material desires who is known as by his full surrender to SriKrishna .In contrast, one who aspires for material assets and averse to the service of the Lord yet aspiring for the lofty seat of the guru become implicated in having committed the above third offence. They are disqualified naturally. Further they are those aspirants who claim that knowledge of yoga is the highest stage while the chanting of the name are considered secondary or simply a rung in the stages are unfit to be gurus. For they are acting in opposition to their guru, the  merciful bestower of the name and hence are offenders. Actually ,all those who stray from the instructions of guru by carelessly  thinking the path of knowledge as being  superior are all offenders. The Vedas declare: tatguruvijnartham sagurum evabhigacchet or as the verse in the Bhagavatam :tasmad guru prapdyeta jnanam sreyam uttamam

To cross this huge ocean of transmigration after having obtained this valuable human body which can be compared to a boat but without the guru as captain it will not be possible to cross over to the other side to safety. There are then others being very proud of their high birth who dare to initiate  or seemingly seen to instruct those pure Vaishnava devotees from a seemingly lower caste .Although this is not an offence as Society always lauds those of the higher birth still it is never the actual spiritual criteria. As Mahaprabhu has remarked even one of  Sudra  birth if he is established in the science of God is considered a  guru. One who is very egoistic about his high birth usually become implicated in offences to his guru. As by the prayer of queen Kunti janmaisvarya srutasribih edhamanamadah puman

meaning :one who is is proud of their birth ,opulence ,scholarship and wealth will not be able to realize the Supreme Lord due to their offences. Those who concoct their own set  of regulations against the norm set up by the bona fide succession are all offenders. Just as those who claim to be in the lineage of  the perfected Jagganath Babaji but  has deviated from the pure devotional path by  indulging in singing songs tainted from  the  actual devotional mellows , or having  changed  the Holy name to suit themselves while preaching to others in that fashion are all offenders without doubt. These people persist in saying they are following the perfected souls but are simply straying further away from the spiritual path by their offences. They  refuse to heed good advice as the nature of offences is that you keep  straying away. Even repeated advice is not of use to them because of the bad association they are keeping. They are indignant that they understand everything  perfectly but unfortunately they do not.

Srutismrti puranadi pancharatrikaviddim bina

By their non adherence to revealed scriptures though the may attempt to show a degree of emotion in their apparent feigned moods of ecstasy, it is just an hypocritical attempt to gather prestige because of their deviance from pure devotional service. In Kayalla ,East Bengal these types of worship are going on due to offences against guru. To think the guru is an ordinary man is an offence. To think that one can neglect one's guru by egoistic mood will  never bring any spiritual fruit. Those who try to ascend the spiritual ladder by their own limited intelligence and knowledge are doomed to fail. The devotee of the Lord does not belong to such a category of aspirants .Knowing the trifling nature of material intelligence he surrenders to the spiritual master in the actual descending process of accepting real knowledge from him through the  disciplic succession .Such a person who has faith in  the  solid guru in this way is not implicated by the third offence. In short ,surrender to the bona fide guru and elevated Vaishnavas is most important for attainiment not otherwise.