Text 108] Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya Offers Prasada to the Lord 55

Hari-bhakti-vildsa (2.10) further quotes:

ato gurum pranamyaivam
sarva-svam vinivedya ca
grhniyad vaisnavam mantram
diksd-pirvam vidhanatah
“It is the duty of every human being to surrender to a bona fide spiritual master.
Giving him everything —body, mind and intelligence —one must take a Vaisnava
initiation from him.”

The Bhakti-sandarbha (298) gives the following quotation from the Tattva-

sagara:
yatha kaficanatam yati
kasyam rasa-vidhanatah
tatha diksa-vidhanena
dvijatvarh jayate nrnam
“By chemical manipulation, bell metal is turned into gold when touched by mer-
cury; similarly, when a person is properly initiated, he can acquire the qualities of
a brahmana.”
The Hari-bhakti-vilasa (17.11,12) in discussing the purascaryd process, quotes
the following verses from Agastya-samhita:
puja traikaliki nityam
japas tarpanam eva ca
homo brahmana-bhuktis ca
purascaranam ucyate
guror labdhasya mantrasya
prasadena yathd-vidhi
paficangopasana-siddhyai
puras caitad vidhiyate
“In the morning, afternoon and evening, one should worship the Deity, chant the
Hare Krsna mantra, offer oblations, perform a fire sacrifice, and feed the
brahmanas. These five activities constitute purascarya. To attain full success when
taking initiation from the spiritual master, one should first perform these
purascarya processes.”

The word purah means “before” and caryé means “activities.” Due to the
necessity of these activities, we do not immediately initiate disciples in the Inter-
national Society for Krishna Consciousness. For six months, a candidate for initia-
tion must first attend drati and classes in the sastras, practice the regulative prin-
