Text 157] The Lord Instructs Srila Rapa Gosvami 339
SYNONYMS

yadi—if; vaisnava-aparadha—an offense at the feet of a Vaisnava; uthe—
arises; hati—an elephant; mata—mad; upa4de —uproots; va—or; chinde —breaks;
tara—of the creeper; sukhi’—shriveling up; yaya—goes; pata—the leaf.

TRANSLATION

“If the devotee commits an offense at the feet of a Vaisnava while cultivat-
ing the creeper of devotional service in the material world, his offense is com-
pared to a mad elephant that uproots the creeper and breaks it. In this way the
leaves of the creeper are dried up.

PURPORT
One’s devotional attitude increases in the association of a Vaisnava.
tandera carana sevi bhakta-sane vasa
janame janame haya, ei abhilasa
By his personal example, Narottama dasa Thakura stresses that a devotee must al-
ways remember to please his predecessor acarya. The Gosvamis are represented
by one’s spiritual master. One cannot be an dcdarya (spiritual master) without
following strictly in the disciplic succession of the dcaryas. One who is actually
serious in advancing in devotional service should desire only to satisfy the pre-
vious acaryas. Fi chaya gosafi yara, mui tara dasa. One should always think of
oneself as a servant of the servant of the acaryas, and thinking this, one should live
in the society of Vaisnavas. However, if one thinks that he has become very
mature and can live separate from the association of Vaisnavas and thus gives up
all the regulative principles due to offending a Vaisnava, one's position becomes
very dangerous. Offenses against the holy name are explained in Adi-lila (Chap-
ter Eight, verse 24). Giving up the regulative principles and living according to
one’s whims are compared to a mad elephant, which by force uproots the bhakti-
lata and breaks it to pieces. In this way the bhakti-lata shrivels up. Such an offense
is especially created when one disobeys the instructions of the spiritual master.
This is called guru-avajfid. The devotee must therefore be very careful not to com-
mit offenses against the spiritual master. As soon as one is deviated from the
spiritual master, the uprooting of the bhakti-lata begins, and gradually all the
leaves dry up.
TEXT 157
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