SB 3.24.13
Etavaty eva susrusa
karya pitari putrakaih
badham ity anumanyeta
gauravena guror vacah
SYNONYMS
etavati- to this extent; eva – exactly; susrusa – service; karya – ought to be
rendered; pitari – to the father; putrakaih – by the sons; badham iti – accepting,
“Yes, sir”; anumanyeta – he should obey; gauravena – with due deference; guroh –
of the guru; vacah – commands.
TRANSLATION
Sons ought to render service to their father exactly to this extent. One should obey
the command of his father or spiritual master with due deference, saying, “Yes,
sir.”
PURPORT
Two words in this verse are very important; one word is pitari, and another word is
guroh. The son or disciple should accept the words of his spiritual master and father
without hesitation. Whatever the father and the spiritual master order should be
taken without argument: “Yes.” There should be no instance in which the disciple or
the son says, “This is not correct. I cannot carry it out.” When he says that, he is
fallen. The father and the spiritual master are on the same platform because a
spiritual master is the second father. The higher classes are called dvija, twiceborn. Whenever there is a question of birth, there must be a father. The first birth
is made possible by the actual father, and the second birth is made possible by the
spiritual master. Sometimes the father and the spiritual master may be the same
man, and sometimes they are different men. In any case, the order of the father or the order of the spiritual master must be carried out without hesitation, with an
immediate yes. There should be no argument. That is real service to the father and
to the spiritual master. Visvanatha Cakravarti T?hakura has stated that the order of
the spiritual master is the life and soul of the disciples. As a man cannot separate
his life from his body, a disciple cannot separate the order of the spiritual master
from his life. If a disciple follows the instruction of the spiritual master in that way,
he is sure to become perfect. This is confirmed in the Upanisads: the import of
Vedic instruction is revealed automatically only to one who has implicit faith in the
Supreme Personality of Godhead and in his spiritual master. One may be materially
considered an illiterate man, but if he has faith in the spiritual master as well as in
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then the meaning of scriptural revelation is
immediately manifested before him.
[End of purport]
Etavaty eva susrusa
karya pitari putrakaih
badham ity anumanyeta
gauravena guror vacah
Sons ought to render service to their father exactly to this extent. One should obey
the command of his father or spiritual master with due deference, saying, “Yes,
sir.”
So, this is the spiritual culture, or the Vedic culture. Vedic culture is founded on
shraddha. Shraddha means to have respect for the superiors. And here in this verse
Brahma is pointing out that there are two considerations of superior. One is the
bodily consideration of superiority and the other is spiritual consideration of
superiority. The bodily concept of superiority is the father, elder brother, uncle and
all this. Those relationships are based on the body, whereas the spiritual
relationships are… superiority consideration is simply on the spiritual platform. That
whoever is more advanced, whoever is senior in other considerations, he should be
respected.
That is the Vedic culture, and out of these two spiritual consideration is more
important. Many of us have faced a very simple problem. Like, when we decided to
join the Movement in many cases the father says, “No, don’t do that.” Now what
should the son do? So, the understanding is that the spiritual consideration is
going to supersede. The father says, “I am your father. You have to obey my
order.” But on the other hand the main consideration is that when it comes to
Krishna then there is no other social consideration. Even if the guru doesn’t give
Krishna the guru should be rejected.
guror apy avaliptasya karyakaryam ajanatah
utpatha-pratipannasya parityago vidhiyate
[Mahabharata]
If the guru is avaliptasya karyakaryam ajanatah, he doesn’t know what to be done
and what not to be done. That means, guru’s business is to give Krishna but if the
guru is not able to give Krishna, rather if guru comes in between Krishna and the
disciple, then shastra says reject that guru.
There have been so many examples. One example is Bali Maharaja. Krishna Himself
came, Vamanadeva, to take his kingdom away from him which he’d taken
unlawfully away from Indra. So Krishna came to rectify that situation. Shukracarya,
Bali Maharaja’s guru, can understand that, that this is Hari, Narayana, Krishna. And he told Bali Maharaja, “Don’t give Him.
