Explosion-Proof Soul

While finalizing our air travel arrangements for our upcoming around-the-world lecture tour, we were informed that there was a terrorist plot to commit mass murder upon air travelers by causing a series of mid-air explosions on different jetliners flying over the Atlantic ocean from Britain to the USA. Such news is not at all surprising for those who are learned in the Vedic wisdom. That the material world is a dangerous place is confirmed as follows in the Srimad Bhagavatam:

samasrita ye pada-pallava-plavam
mahat-padam punya-yaso murareh
bhavambudhir vatsa-padam param padam
padam padam yad vipadam na tesam

"For those who have accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Murari, the enemy of the Mura demon, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf's hoof-print. Their goal is param padam, Vaikuntha, the place where there are no material miseries, not the place where there is danger at every step." Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.58

By shelter of Lord Krishna we can easily cross over this dangerous place. Indeed this now-more-than-ever dangerous world becomes reduced to insignificancy for those who fully place themselves at the Lord's lotus feet.

The fact remains that the time of my death can not and will not be determined by a terrorist. The time of my death remains always under the control of God. There is a very nice Bengali saying in this connection:

rakhe krsna mare ke
mare krsna rakhe ke

"If Lord Krishna protects a person, who can kill him? And if Krishna desires to kill someone, who can protect him?"

So a devotee has nothing to be afraid of. He executes due caution to protect himself from danger, while understanding fully well that ultimately everything is in the hands of Krishna. A devotee feels always safe and secure knowing that Krishna, the Supreme Controller, is always protecting his explosion-proof soul.

Questions and Answers

When Does the Spiritual Master Take Complete Responsibility...

I have a small doubt regarding accepting a Spiritual Master.

In ISKCON, a person who is interested to take diksha (initiation) from a Guru, should first of all take shelter from him and then slowly proceed towards taking diksha. When exactly, does the Spiritual Master take the complete responsibility of his disciple, at the time of giving shelter or at the time of giving diksha?

Your servant in Krishna Consciousness,

manoj kumar

When the Disciple Surrenders...

In the Bhagavad-gita Arjuna submits himself unto Lord Sri Krishna as follows:

karpanya-dosopahata-svabhavah
prcchami tvam dharma-sammudha-cetah
yac chreyah syan niscitam bruhi tan me
sisyas te 'ham sadhi mam tvam prapannam

"Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of miserly weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me for certain what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me."
Bhagavad-gita 2.7

Here we see the mood of full surrender to the spiritual master. When the disciple is like this, the spiritual master can take full responsibility for delivering his disciple back to home, back to Godhead.

The spiritual master takes responsibility for delivering the disciple according to the degree of surrender of that disciple. One's degree of surrender is a matter of the heart. It is not a matter of merely sitting for an initiation ceremony.

The answer in short is that the spiritual master takes responsibility when the disciple surrenders.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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