Utter Helplessness is the Greatest Asset

Sometimes one's circumstances become so overwhelming and bewildering that one goes into a a state of total, complete anxiety, which can even culminate in a nervous breakdown. This is what happened to Arjuna at the beginning of the battle of Kurukshetra. At such times one may feel himself to be the most cursed and unfortunate person in the whole world. However, those who are blessed with transcendental knowledge understand that such times are the greatest asset, the greatest blessing because they enable one to call out to the Lord with feelings of utter helplessness, like a child desperately crying for its mother. Such feelings of total dependence on the kindness of the Lord are most advantageous for one's spiritual advancement because they attract and capture the mercy of the Lord.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Why Not Directly Worship Krishna?

You wrote

"The spiritual master never accepts worship on his behalf. He only accepts it on behalf of his spiritual master, who accepts it on behalf of his spiritual master, etc., etc., all they way back to Krishna."

My question is: Why worship guru, why not directly Krishna since the direct way is much better than the long indirect way?

Regards,
V.J.

Answer: Indirect is the Direct Way

If you want to understand Krishna directly, then why do you approach Him indirectly through your imperfect mental speculation? You should instead approach Him directly through His words, which are perfectly presented in the scriptures. This is the real meaning of direct approach. Mental speculation is indirect and imperfect, whereas hearing the words of sastra (scripture) is direct and perfect.

By approaching Lord Krishna directly in the scriptures you will find this instruction, which He imparts in the Adi Purana:

ye me bhakta-janāḥ pārtha
na me bhaktāś ca te janāḥ
mad-bhaktānāṁ ca ye bhaktās
te me bhakta-tamā matāh

"My dear Arjuna, those who are My direct devotees are actually not My devotees, but those who are the devotees of My devotee are factually My devotees."

So if you truly approach Krishna directly by taking His words as Absolute Truth, He will reroute you to re-approach Him properly by coming to Him through the transparent via medium of the bona fide spiritual master. This is the system that Krishna has established. Because His devotees are so very dear to Him, He does not want to be worshipped alone. He wants to be worshipped through the medium of His devotees.

He confirms in the Bhagavad-gita that the only way to understand the science of the Bhagavad-gita is the through the system of disciplic succession. In other words, to properly understand Krishna we must hear about Him from His devotee.

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam
imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ

"This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way."

Mental speculation will never allow us to perfectly understand Him. We must read what Lord Krishna has stated in the scriptures, that He is telling us to approach Him through the medium of His devotee. In this way we will achieve true direct access to Him.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari