Barsana Dham

Questions & Answers with Swami Prakashanand Saraswati

Questions from participants in a Yog Conference at Barsana Dham and Shree Swamiji's answers:


His Divinity Swami Prakashanand Saraswati.

Conference Participant: Can you speak about guru and disciple relationship?
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati: Guru is actually not the term of a body. Guru is a qualification, it is like professor with a Ph.D. If you fail in high school you cannot be a professor. So a guru is like a professor who has attained God in personal form. If you go to such a guru, he can take you to the path of bhakti.

Guru and disciple relationship is like a father and son relationship. But guru must be a true guru. The question again comes, how to find a true guru. Guru represents God on the earth planet. So first go to God directly, and through him find the guru. That is the procedure. Suppose you go to someone from a big advertisement who has a big following and is speaking in a big auditorium, when you look at him you see his body: his beard, or that he has no beard, what he eats, what he wears - outer things. What is inside him, you cannot see. So, just pray God, "Oh Krishn please help me to find a true guru". Cry in tears. He will give you guru. That is the right path, because if you surrender to Krshn, He will find some ways to give you guidance through some master who is on the earth planet. That is the right procedure. If you go hunting for a guru, it is very difficult.

I will tell you one practical example. I did about 20 years in isolation in jungles, staying in my own thoughts of loving Radha Krishn. Once, when I was in Barsana in isolation, a peron came to me. He said, "Swamiji, I have been searching for a guru for the last 20 years. I didn't find a guru. Could you please help me?" I asked him, "What do you do" He was a small businessman from Bombay. He said, "I went to Haridwar, to Rishikesh, Ayodhya, to Kashi and saw so many masters. I asked him, how do you know that I can find you a guru. A guru knows a guru. I said, in your hunt, you have disrespected many true saints. Why don't you just go to Radha Rani, and pray to Her. You are in Barsana, India. What I am saying is, the right path is to go directly to God, and ask Him or Her to give you a guru.

Conference Participant: How do you love someone without attachment?
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati: Both are the same. I explained that love is attachment. When you love, you have attachment. Your mind has the capacity to love more and more people. Suppose there is a married couple. They love each other. They have a child they love. They have 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 children. They love all of them. You can love more people. So add Krishn in your family. That's it, simple. Don't discard anyone in the world. Keep everyone and add someone more. Add Krishn into your life. That's how we start devotion. Add Him into your family, and try to love Him.

(Used with permission from Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat, Barsana Dham. © 2002-2009. All rights reserved.)