Adi-lila, Chapter 1 43

manifestation of the Lord. With this conviction, a disciple can advance in Krsna con-
sciousness. The spiritual master is nondifferent from Krsna because he is a mani-
festation of Krsna.

Lord Nityananda, who is Balarama Himself, the first direct manifestation or
expansion of Krsna, is the original spiritual master. He helps Lord Krsna in His
pastimes, and He is a servant of the Lord.

Every living entity is eternally a servant of Sri Krsna Caitanya; therefore the
spiritual master cannot be other than a servant of Lord Caitanya. The spiritual
master’s eternal occupation is to expand the service of the Lord by training disciples
in a service attitude. A spiritual master never poses as the Supreme Lord Himself;
he is considered a representative of the Lord. The revealed scriptures prohibit one’s
pretending to be God, but a bona fide spiritual master is a most faithful and con-
fidential servant of the Lord and therefore deserves as much respect as Krsna.

TEXT 45

OF FWA VA ANCHA HITT |
QRACA SH FA] SCAR SHAT i 8e I

guru krsna-rupa hana sastrera pramane
guru-riipe krsna krpa karena bhakta-gane

SYNONYMS

guru—the spiritual master; krsma-ripa—as good as Krsna; hana—is; sastrera—of
revealed scriptures; pramdne—by the evidence; guru-ripe—in the form of the spiritual
master; krsaa—Lord Sri Kesna; krpd—mercy; karena—distributes; bhakta-gane—unto
His devotees.
TRANSLATION

According to the deliberate opinion of all revealed scriptures, the spiritual master
is nondifferent from Krsna. Lord Krsna in the form of the spiritual master delivers’
His devotees.

PURPORT

The relationship of a disciple with his spiritual master is as good as his relationship
with the Supreme Lord. A spiritual master always represents himself as the humblest
servitor of the Personality of Godhead, but the disciple must look upon him as the
manifested representation of Godhead.

TEXT 46

Bipree ate fawtrlataraas sferos |
A MSVTRTACIS ATCHAACA Vs | By I

acaryam mam vijaniyan
navamanyeta karhicit
