Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya 15.108

diksha-purascarya-vidhi apeksha na kare

jihva-sparse a-candala sabare uddhare

SYNONYMS

diksha -- initiation; purascarya -- activities before initiation; vidhi -- regulative principles; apeksha -- reliance on; na -- not; kare -- does; jihva -- the tongue; sparse -- by touching; a-candala -- even the lowest of men, the candala; sabare -- everyone; uddhare -- delivers.

TRANSLATION

"One does not have to undergo initiation or execute the activities required before initiation. One simply has to vibrate the holy name with his lips. Thus even a man in the lowest class [candala] can be delivered.

PURPORT

Srila Jiva Gosvami explains diksha in his Bhakti-sandarbha (283):

divyam jnanam yato dadyat kuryat papasya sankshayam

tasmat diksheti sa prokta desikais tattva-kovidaih

"Diksha is the process by which one can awaken his transcendental knowledge and vanquish all reactions caused by sinful activity. A person expert in the study of the revealed scriptures knows this process as diksha." The regulative principles of diksha are explained in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa (2.3-4) and the Bhakti-sandarbha (283). As stated:

dvijanam anupetanam svakarmadhyayanadishu

yathadhikaro nastiha syac copanayanad anu

tathatradikshitanam tu mantra-devarcanadishu

nadhikaro 'sty atah kuryad atmanam siva-samstutam

"Even though born in a brahmana family, one cannot engage in Vedic rituals without being initiated and having a sacred thread. Although born in a brahmana family, one becomes a brahmana only after initiation and the sacred thread ceremony. Unless one is initiated as a brahmana, one cannot worship the holy name properly."

According to the Vaishnava regulative principles, one must be initiated as a brahmana. The Hari-bhakti-vilasa (2.6) quotes the following injunction from the Vishnu-yamala:

adikshitasya vamoru kritam sarvam nirarthakam

pasu-yonim avapnoti diksha-virahito janah

"'Unless one is initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, all his devotional activities are useless. A person who is not properly initiated can descend again into the animal species.'"

Hari-bhakti-vilasa (2.10) further quotes:

ato gurum pranamyaivam sarva-svam vinivedya ca

grihniyad vaishnavam mantram diksha-purvam vidhanatah

"'It is the duty of every human being to surrender to a bona fide spiritual master. Giving him everything -- body, mind and intelligence -- one must take Vaishnava initiation from him.'"

The Bhakti-sandarbha (298) gives the following quotation from the Tattva-sagara:

yatha kancanatam yati kamsyam rasa-vidhanatah

tatha diksha-vidhanena dvijatvam jayate nrinam

"'By chemical manipulation, bell metal is turned into gold when touched by mercury; similarly, when a person is properly initiated, he can acquire the qualities of a brahmana.'"

The Hari-bhakti-vilasa (17.11-12), in discussing the purascarya process, quotes the following verses from the Agastya-samhita:

puja traikaliki nityam japas tarpanam eva ca

homo brahmana-bhuktis ca purascaranam ucyate

guror labdhasya mantrasya prasadena yatha-vidhi

pancangopasana-siddhyai puras caitad vidhiyate

"'In the morning, afternoon and evening one should worship the Deity, chant the Hare Krishna mantra, offer oblations, perform a fire sacrifice and feed the brahmanas. These five activities constitute purascarya. To attain full success when taking initiation from the spiritual master, one should first perform these purascarya processes.'"

The word purah means "before," and carya means "activities." Due to the necessity of these activities, we do not immediately initiate disciples in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. For six months, a candidate for initiation must first attend arati and classes in the sastras, practice the regulative principles and associate with other devotees. When one is actually advanced in the purascarya-vidhi, he is recommended by the local temple president for initiation. It is not that anyone can be suddenly initiated without meeting the requirements. When one is further advanced by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra sixteen rounds daily, following the regulative principles and attending classes, he receives the sacred thread (brahminical recognition) after the second six months.

In the Hari-bhakti-vilasa (17.4-5, 7) it is stated:

vina yena na siddhah syan mantro varsha-satair api

kritena yena labhate sadhako vanchitam phalam

purascarana-sampanno mantro hi phala-dhayakah

atah purashkriyam kuryat mantra-vit siddhi-kankshaya

purashkriya hi mantranam pradhanam viryam ucyate

virya-hino yatha dehi sarva-karmasu na kshamah

purascarana-hino hi tatha mantrah prakirtitah

"Without performing the purascarya activities, one cannot become perfect even by chanting this mantra for hundreds of years. But one who has undergone the purascarya-vidhi process can attain success very easily. If one wishes to perfect his initiation, he must first undergo the purascarya activities. The purascarya process is the life force by which one is successful in chanting the mantra. Without the life force, one cannot do anything; similarly, without the life force of purascarya-vidhi, no mantra can be perfected."

In his Bhakti-sandarbha (283-84), Srila Jiva Gosvami describes the importance of Deity worship and initiation (diksha) as follows:

avasyakatvam nasti, tad vinapi saranapattyadinam ekatarenapi purushartha-siddher abhihitatvat, tathapi sri-naradadi-vartmanusaradbhih sri-bhagavata saha sambandha-visesham diksha-vidhanena sri-guru-carana-sampaditam cikirshadbhih kritayam dikshayam arcanam avasyam kriyetaiva.

yadyapi svarupato nasti, tathapi prayah svabhavato dehadi-sambandhena kadarya-silanam vikshipta-cittanam jananam tat-tat-sankoci-karanaya srimad-rishi-prabhritibhir atrarcana-marge kvacit kvacit kacit kacin maryada sthapitasti.

"It is Srimad-Bhagavatam's opinion that the process of Deity worship is not actually necessary, just as the specific prescriptions of the Pancaratra and other scriptures do not have to be followed. The Bhagavatam enjoins that even without practicing Deity worship one can achieve the complete success of human life by any of the other devotional processes, such as simply offering oneself at the Lord's feet for His protection. Nonetheless, Vaishnavas following the path of Sri Narada and his successors endeavor to establish a personal relationship with the Lord by receiving the grace of a bona fide spiritual master through initiation, and in this tradition the devotees are obliged at the time of initiation to begin engaging in Deity worship.

"Although Deity worship is not essential, the material conditioning of most candidates for devotional service requires that they engage in this activity. When we consider their bodily and mental conditions, we find that the character of such candidates is impure and their minds are agitated. Therefore, to rectify this material conditioning the great sage Narada and others have at different times recommended various kinds of regulations for Deity worship."

Similarly, the Ramarcana-candrika states:

vinaiva diksham viprendra purascaryam vinaiva hi

vinaiva nyasa-vidhina japa-matrena siddhi-da

"O best of the brahmanas, even without initiation, preliminary purification or acceptance of the renounced order, one can attain perfection in devotional service simply by chanting the Lord's holy name."

In other words, the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra is so powerful that it does not depend on official initiation, but if one is initiated and engages in pancaratra-vidhi (Deity worship), his Krishna consciousness will awaken very soon, and his identification with the material world will be vanquished. The more one is freed from material identification, the more one can realize that the spirit soul is qualitatively as good as the Supreme Soul. At such a time, when one is situated on the absolute platform, one can understand that the holy name of the Lord and the Lord Himself are identical. At that stage of realization, the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Krishna mantra, cannot be identified with any material sound. If one accepts the Hare Krishna maha-mantra as a material vibration, he falls down. One should worship and chant the holy name of the Lord by accepting it as the Lord Himself. One should therefore be initiated properly according to revealed scriptures under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master. Although chanting the holy name is good for both the conditioned and liberated soul, it is especially beneficial to the conditioned soul because by chanting it one is liberated. When a person who chants the holy name is liberated, he attains the ultimate perfection by returning home, back to Godhead. In the words of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita (Adi 7.73):

krishna-mantra haite habe samsara-mocana

krishna-nama haite pabe krishnera carana

"Simply by chanting the holy name of Krishna one can obtain freedom from material existence. Indeed, simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra one will be able to see the lotus feet of the Lord."

The offenseless chanting of the holy name does not depend on the initiation process. Although initiation may depend on purascarya or purascarana, the actual chanting of the holy name does not depend on purascarya-vidhi, or the regulative principles. If one chants the holy name even once without committing an offense, he attains all success. During the chanting of the holy name, the tongue must work. Simply by chanting the holy name, one is immediately delivered. The tongue is sevonmukha-jihva -- it is controlled by service. One whose tongue is engaged in tasting material things and also talking about them cannot use the tongue for absolute realization.

atah sri-krishna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih

sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah

[BRS. 1.2.234]

"With the material senses one cannot understand the transcendental holy name of the Lord or His form, activities and pastimes. But when one actually engages in devotional service, utilizing the tongue, the Lord is revealed." As it is said in the Caitanya-caritamrita (Madhya 17.134):

ataeva krishnera 'nama', 'deha', 'vilasa',

prakritendriya-grahya nahe, haya sva-prakasa

"The holy name of Krishna, His body and His pastimes cannot be understood by the blunt material senses. They are manifested independently."

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness