Question:
What is the need to be initiated, considering that it is the chanting of Kṛṣṇa’s names that can fully reawaken our connection with the Lord. After all, Caitanya Mahāprabhu says:
“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 can be delivered.” (CC Madhya 15.108)
Answer by Romapada Swami:
This question is elegantly addressed in detail by Sivarama Svami in his book Nava-vraja-mahimā — Volume Eight, Part One pp. 177-178 – as follows.
The conclusion of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and great souls is that the holy name, the bestower of liberation and of love for God, is so powerful that anyone who chants it can feel an immediate effect.
The mahā-mantra is Kṛṣṇa Himself; therefore, chanting the mantra does not depend upon initiation, pious activities, or preparatory rites. Being fully independent, it acts according to its own sweet will.
(For example, Rāmārcana-candrikā states: “O best of the brāhmaṇas, 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.” (As cited in Bhakti-sandarbha, Anuccheda 284)
Yes, these glories of the holy name are factual, but they do not apply to everyone automatically. Sadly, the vast majority of us distance ourselves from the holy name’s glories by our offences.
We are, by and large, riddled with bad habits from former lives, which makes for chanting that is slow to clear away impurities, not to mention reveal the holy name’s full splendor.
For this reason great sages like Nārada Muni have made initiation and Deity worship prerequisites by which we can get quick relief from bad habits, bodily identification, and the enjoying spirit.
Once, Lord Nārāyaṇa instructed Nārada on the benefits of Deity worship. At that time the Lord stressed the power of the päïcarätrika system to free conditioned souls from persistent impurities.
The Lord said, “O sage! My devotee who worships My Deity form according to the rules and regulations never meets, even in dream, any troubles or obstacles but becomes completely fearless.” (Padma Purāṇa, as cited in Bhakti-sandarbha, Anuccheda 284.)
By the process of initiation we establish a relationship with Kṛṣṇa through our connection with the spiritual master, which is then further fortified by worship of the Lord in His Deity form.
In addition to freeing us from sinful reactions, initiation is said to awaken our transcendental knowledge with mantras describing the Lord’s form, helping to solidify our relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
To get the most benefit from nāma-saṅkīrtana, scriptures enjoin that we surrender to a spiritual master, accept initiation from him, receive dīkṣā-mantras, and worship the Deity of the Lord.
Technically, liberated souls may be free from the necessity to accept initiation, but conditioned souls are not. By Deity worship our Kṛṣṇa consciousness grows, as does the quality of our chanting.
The more purified we are of bodily attachment, the more we realize our identities as Lord Kṛṣṇa’s servants, and at the stage of liberation we realize our eternal spiritual identities (svarūpa).
At that stage of transcendence, our chanting of the mahā-mantra is at last freed from any taint of material contamination and displays the wonderful qualities that scriptures and saints incessantly praise.
In spite of hearing all these arguments, we may insist, “But scriptures say that chanting is not dependent upon initiation. Why can’t we simply go on chanting without initiation and still attain perfection?”
The answer is that while scriptures have described the absolute power of the holy name, great sages have explained how that power can be accessed through a process that includes initiation and Deity worship.
These two statements are not mutually exclusive, but complementary aspects of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s inviolable will, which He Himself voiced: “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master.
“Enquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you [through the process of initiation], because they have seen the truth.” (Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.34. The Sanskrit to this verse includes the word upadekṣyanti, which Śrīla Prabhupāda renders into English in his word-for-word translation as “they will initiate.”)
The process, given by Nārada and others, of receiving initiation and worshipping the Deity is the method whereby conditioned souls of this world can get the full benefit of chanting Kṛṣṇa’s holy names.
Those who follow these instructions reap favorable results, those who do not, struggle and fail. In this regard, Bhūmi-devī says to King Pṛthu, “A foolish person who, through mental speculation —
“Manufactures his own ways and means and does not recognize the authority of the sages who lay down unimpeachable directions is simply unsuccessful again and again in his attempts.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.18.5)
Although these answers should satisfy sincere enquiries, a final and conclusive piece of evidence in support of the necessity for initiation is found in the example of our self-realized ācāryas and of the Lord.
Vaiṣṇava history records that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, before They went to gurukula, accepted initiation from Garga Muni, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu received initiation from Īśvara Purī in Gayā.
The followers of Lord Caitanya, many of whom are His eternal companions, who are doubtlessly above the regulations governing conditioned souls, all took initiation and worshipped Deities.
This consistent precedent leads us to conclude that our liberated predecessors were convinced of the benefits that initiation would bestow upon them and upon their followers, including us.
Now let us return to the topic of the guru’s offence: initiating unqualified disciples. We have already shown that initiation is not a trifling affair but a momentous occasion in the life of a disciple.
Service to the spiritual master literally opens the gates of Goloka to the disciple (mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ). But if he allows unworthy candidates to enter, he is punished for his negligence. (SB 5.5.2.)
Why would a mature Vaiṣṇava knowingly accept unqualified disciples? Such conduct is not found in liberated gurus who are above the four material defects, including cheating and illusion.
But conditioned souls who are not spiritually powerful, or who are overburdened by the sins of their disciples, may very well succumb to the allurements of their post — greed, adoration, and distinction.
Anyone, initiating gurus included, who hears and chants without trying to give up offences becomes attached to sense gratification. To such gurus, disciples are natural, submissive, and favored objects.
(Śrīla Prabhupāda paraphrases Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura’s detailed analysis of what happens when we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa without trying to give up offences in the purport to Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 19.160. The reader would do well to carefully study this purport.)
The temptation to collect disciples and benefit from monetary gifts and adoring worshippers blinds such gurus from seeing their proper duty: to elevate followers through supervised spiritual education.
Upon careful analysis, it is clear that such deviant spiritual masters include in their offences more than merely transgressing the law of the disciplic succession regarding who is qualified for initiation.
Such offences not only feed the cheating propensity of unfit disciples by failing to guide them to the actual goal of spiritual life, but also sow seeds of doubt in qualified disciples who see through the charade.
Finally, by setting a bad example these gurus bring disrepute upon the institutions of which they are a part, upon the disciplic succession as a whole, upon their own spiritual masters, and ultimately upon Kṛṣṇa.
In Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s words: “To initiate a faithless person is an abominable offence, and the spiritual master who gives initiation to a faithless person for material benefit goes to hell.” (Hari-nāma-cintāmaṇi 10).
Swami, Sivarama. Nava-vraja-mahimā — Volume Eight, Part One (Nava-vraja-mahimā Volume Eight) (pp. 177-178). Lāl Publishing, Hungary. Kindle Edition.
