Become 100% Convinced that Krishna is God

If you want to qualify yourself to escape this material existence, you must become 100% convinced first that God exists and second that Krishna is God. Just as the inhabitants of the spiritual world are 100% dedicated to Krishna, you must also become 100% dedicated to Krishna. Until you reach the point of 100% conviction you are not qualified to return to your original home in the spiritual world. Therefore you must take developing this complete, total conviction as the number one priority of your life. This is real intelligence. By hearing from and serving the bona fide spiritual master you gain the necessary conviction for qualifying yourself to enter the spiritual world.

Krishna Is Indeed God Himself

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Question: Can Only a Sannyasi Initiate Disciples?

Yesterday I had an argument with my co-devotee in our local ISKCON temple. He said that a disciple must take initiation only from spiritual master who is a sannyasi, a non-married spiritual master who is in the renounced order. I had a disagreement with this point with him because as per our scriptures a disciple can take initiation from any guru who has been initiated by Srila Prabhupada irrespective of his being married or not. Our discussion led to controversy. Please kindly me enlighten regarding this point.

Thank you,
Hare Krishna,
Radha Ramana

Answer: Anyone Who Knows Krishna Science Can Be Guru

Thank you very much for standing up for the truth. It is problematic that devotees in our movement are not being properly trained in our philosophy. This is certainly a defect of our society which needs to be corrected. Regarding his argument, we can say this:

If this devotee is right that a married man cannot be a guru, it looks like Lord Krishna made a big mistake because when He accepted a married man, Sandipani Muni, as His spiritual master.

And if this devotee is right it looks like there are mistakes in the authoritative scriptures as well, because according to the Vedic scriptures the spiritual master can have a wife (guru-patni). The following verse often quoted by Srila Prabhupada lists the seven mothers:

ādau mātā guru-patnī
brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā
dhenur dhātrī tathā pṛthvī
sapteti mātarī smṛta

(1) the real mother
(2) the wife of the spiritual master
(3) the wife of a brahmana
(4) the wife of the king
(5) the cow
(6) the nurse
(7) the earth

And if this devotee is right it looks like Srila Prabhupada is also wrong, because Srila Prabhupada describes in his purport to Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila, Chapter 4, Text 111 that according to the pancaratra injunction, in the past only a householder brahmana could initiate disciples and others could not. Prabhupada explains that the supreme authority, Lord Caitanya, understood the weakness in society of maintaining that only householders brahmanas could take disciples. Prabhupada concludes that therefore Lord Caitanya taught the principle that it does not matter whether the spiritual master is a grihastha (householder), a sannyasi or even a sudra. A spiritual master simply must be conversant in the essence of the scriptures; he must understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So if this devotee is right, Krishna is wrong, the Vedic scriptures are wrong, Lord Caitanya is wrong, and Srila Prabhupada is wrong. In conclusion, if this devotee is right, we should all abandon all of these authorities and instead become followers of this devotee who has concluded with his fertile imagination that only sannyasis can accept disciples.

For your information, both a sannyasi spiritual master and a married man spiritual master can be addressed as "Srila Gurudeva" and/or "Guru Maharaja” by his disciples and followers.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari