Attaining Deathlessness by Initiation

The human life is a special facility given by God for the living entity who is caught up in the cycle of birth and to become liberated from that precarious position. No matter how much entangled one may be within this spider web of material nature, if he takes seriously to the bhakti yoga path he can in this one lifetime be delivered back to his original deathless identity in the spiritual world. The first step for the person who wants this deliverance is to accept a spiritual master. This point has been established as follows by Srila Rupa Goswami, the greatest authority on the science of self-realization, in his most famous self-realization guidebook, the Bhakti-Rasamrita Sindhu:

adau gurvasrayam

"To attain the liberated self-realization platform, the very first step is that one must accept a guru, a spiritual master."

The acceptance of the spiritual master is marked by the initiation ceremony. At the time of initiation the disciple vows to chant at least 16 rounds daily of the Hare Krishna mantra and to strictly follow the regulative principles: no illicit sex, no intoxication, no meat eating, and no gambling.

Here in Sofia on Saturday 31 March 2007 I accepted two very sincere souls, a husband and wife, as my disciples. At the time of initiation we give each initiate a new name, a spiritual name by which they will be known for the rest of their lives. The husband was given the name Narada Muni Das, and the wife was given the name Naradi Devi Dasi. Narada Muni is the name of great sage who travels all over the universe spreading the Hare Krishna Mantra. When he assumed the a feminine form for understanding the conjugal pastimes of Lord Krishna he was known as Naradi. If the disciples faithfully honors the vows taken at the time of initiation, their eternal state of deathlessness is attained on that very day.

Sankarshan Das Accepts Disciples in Sofia, Bulgaria

Sankarshan Das Accepts Disciples in Sofia, Bulgaria

Answers According to the Vedic Version

Question: Meaning of Dharma...

I beg you to explain the meaning of the Sanskrit word Dharma. Does it mean religion only?

With best regards,

Damodar

Answer: Intrinsic Nature...

Dharma means that which cannot be separated from a thing, i.e. its intrinsic nature. Just like the dharma of water is liquidity.

The dharma of the living being is to serve. He cannot avoid this nature. If he has no one else to serve, he will keep a dog for serving the dog. The perfection of dharma is to serve that person by whom serving we can automatically serve everyone. That person is God.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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