Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja

The Appearance Day of Our Beloved Spiritual Master
His Divine Grace Om Viṣṇupāda
Paramahamsa Parivrājakācārya Aṣṭottara-śata Śrī Śrīmad
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
FOUNDER-ĀCĀRYA OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS

oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
śrī-caitanya-mano-‘bhīṣṭaṁ
sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale
svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ
dadāti sva-padāntikam

I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him. When will Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?
(BG Introduction)

nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesha-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine

I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krishna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet. Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Chaitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.

So this movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that you already know, that this is a most essential, most important movement to the human society. Last night the Ambassador of India, His Excellency Rasgotra, he was present here. He also appreciated that this movement is very important movement, and he was very pleased that I have done so much. So this movement will go on. Nobody can stop.
So this Vyāsa–pūjā ceremony means to offer our thanks to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because He is the original guru. As we receive this message through paramparā system from Kṛṣṇa to Brahmā, Brahmā to Nārada, Nārada to Vyāsadeva, Vyāsadeva to Madhvācārya, in this way, Mādhavendra Purī, then Īśvara Purī, then Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then six Gosvāmīs, then others, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī, Gaura Kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī. Then we have taken.
So this . . . as we are come to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness understanding through this long paramparā, similarly, in the Vyāsa–pūjā ceremony, whatever respect, honor and presentation you give, that goes to Kṛṣṇa through that paramparā system, from down. As it is received through the paramparā system, so similarly, your offerings also goes through this paramparā system to the Supreme…..
When Kṛṣṇa sees that a living entity is very anxious to understand Him or to revive his Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then Kṛṣṇa gives him all opportunity, especially by manifesting Himself as the spiritual master. Antar bahiḥ. The spiritual master is therefore Kṛṣṇa’s manifestation, Kṛṣṇa’s mercy manifestation to help a person to develop his Kṛṣṇa consciousness. From within He’s helping. Therefore He’s called caitya-guru, and from without, He sends His representative to help how to become advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
(730822 – Lecture Festival Appearance Day, Sri Vyasa-puja – London)

So that perfect knowledge can come from God. And one who distributes that knowledge exactly as God has said, he is perfect. Just like a post peon comes and delivers you, say, one hundred dollars. So he is not delivering that one hundred dollars. Your friend has sent you one hundred dollars, and his business is to hand over that one hundred dollars as it is, without any change, without taking one dollar from it, no, or adding. No addition, no subtraction. His honesty, his perfection, is that he delivers you that hundred dollars which is sent by your friend. That is his honest . . . perfection. He may be imperfect in so many other ways, but when he does his business perfectly, he is perfect. Similarly, our this Vyāsa–pūjā means we receive perfect knowledge from Kṛṣṇa through the agency of spiritual master.
So this Vyāsa–pūjā means one day in a year, on the birthday of the spiritual master, because he is representative of Vyāsa—he is delivering the same knowledge which has come down by disciplic succession without any change—he is offered the respect. This is called Vyāsa–pūjā. And the spiritual master receives all honor, all contribution, on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not for his person. Just like in our country when there was British rule, there was a viceroy, a king’s representative. So naturally, when viceroy used to go to some meeting, many people used to present valuable jewels, valuable, because just to honor him. But the law was that not a single of the jewels or contribution the viceroy could touch. It was going to the royal treasury. The viceroy could accept on behalf of the king all contribution, but it goes to the king.
Similarly, this day, Vyāsa–pūjā day, whatever honor, contribution and feelings is being offered to the spiritual master, it is . . . again, as we have received the knowledge from upwards, similarly, this respect also goes from downward to the upward. This is the process. So as the spiritual master is teacher of the student, he has to teach the disciple how to send back his respect and contribution to God. This is called Vyāsa–pūjā.
(720902 – Lecture Festival Sri Vyasa-puja – New Vrindaban, USA)

Caitanya Mahāprabhu has asked everyone to become guru. Everyone. Because there is need of guru. The world is full of rascals; therefore there is need of so many gurus to teach them. But what is that qualification of the guru? How everyone can become guru? This may be the question, next question. Because Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa (CC Madhya 7.128). Ei deśa means wherever you are living you become a guru and deliver them. Suppose you are living in a small neighborhood, you can become a guru of that neighborhood and deliver them. “How it is possible? I have no education. I have no knowledge. How I can become guru and deliver them?” Caitanya Mahāprabhu said it is not at all difficult. Yāre dekha tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). This is your qualification. If you simply deliver the message given by Kṛṣṇa, you become guru. Kṛṣṇa said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). You preach, you request everyone, “Sir, you surrender to Kṛṣṇa,” you become guru. Very simple thing. Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). You say that “You become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, you offer obeisances. Here is a temple; here is Kṛṣṇa. Please come here. You offer your obeisances, and if you can, you offer patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ (BG 9.26). You don’t offer . . .” But it is very simple thing. Anyone can secure a little flower, a little fruit, a little water. It is not at all difficult. So this is the guru’s qualification. Guru does not show any magic or produce some wonderful things then he becomes guru.
So practically I have done this. People are giving me credit that I have done miracles, but my miracle is that I carried the message of Caitanya Mahāprabhu: yāre dekha tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). So this is the secrecy. So any one of you, you can become guru. It is not that I am an extraordinary man, an extraordinary god coming from some mysterious place. It is not that—it is very simple thing. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa. So I request you, follow the Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s instruction that you also, you become a guru at your home. It is not that you have to make a gigantic show of becoming guru. The father has to become guru, the mother has to become guru. Actually, in the śāstra it is said one should not become father, one should not become mother if he does not become a guru to his children.
(760819 – Lecture Festival Appearance Day, Sri Vyasa-puja – Hyderabad)

So the spiritual master’s duty is to save the living entities who are so much embarrassed by the forest fire. That is the duty of spiritual master.
Saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka: The whole world is blazing, and just like in the blazing fire of the forest, the animals are going here and there, and some of them are dying, the whole world is like that. And how that blazing fire can be extinguished?
You cannot send there this fire brigade, or you cannot get some pots of water and try to extinguish that wide fire. It is not possible. Then how to extinguish it? The extinguishing is possible when there is cloud overhead and there is incessant pouring of water. Then the forest fire extinguished. No artificial means, no scientific means. Fire brigade or this fire extinguisher, we have invented so many things, but when there is forest fire all these things are nonsense; nothing can be used.
The only use, means, is when there is pouring, incessant pouring of water from the cloud. But, that is made of God. That is not in your hand. You cannot produce cloud. Some arrangement of God’s arrangement, the cloud, is there. Ghanāghanatvam. The example is given, “Charitable just like the cloud.” Why this example is given? When cloud pours water, it is so sufficient that there is no comparison. But if you want to pour water, a bucketful of water, how long you will do it?
The spiritual master means he must be just like the cloud. How it is possible? It is possible. It is possible in this way, provided he follows the disciplic succession of spiritual master. Then it is possible. He must inherit the power from the superior source. Then it is possible that by his teaching, by his lessons, the forest fire which is burning within our heart, it can be extinguished, and the person who receives such spiritual instruction bona-fidely, he becomes satisfied. This is the process. So:

saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka-

trāṇāya kāruṇya-ghanāghanatvam

prāptasya kalyāṇa-guṇārṇavasya

vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam

Now, this spiritual master’s succession is not very difficult. Of course, my students, they offer me so much respect, but all these respects are due to my spiritual master. I am nothing. I am just like peon. Just like peon delivers one letter. He is not responsible for what is written in that letter.
He simply delivers. But a peon’s duty is that he must sincerely carry out the order of the postmaster and deliver the letter to the proper person. That is their duty. Similarly, this paramparā system is like that. Every one of us should become a spiritual master, because the world is in blazing fire.
And so today, this Nandotsava day, fortunately, seventy-three years ago I was born on this date. So this date, Nandotsava, is also a very fortunate occasion, because after Kṛṣṇa’s birth, Mahārāja Nanda, the father of Kṛṣṇa, he celebrated an utsava, a ceremony, and this day is called Nandotsava.
(680817 – Lecture Festival Appearance Day, Sri Vyasa-puja – Montreal)

Srila Prabhupada Lecture