Why should we worship Guru who has material body instead of Krishna only?
“A Girl devotee” asked like this:
“Good morning . m so confused regarding the mysteries of life n m nt getting answers from anywhere…my mind is full of so many questions that i dnt knw from where to start but for the time being i need to ask a question from u…If GITA was told by shri krishna in dwapar yug then satya yug should have come after that, but instead of that we are seeing this ghor kalyug…and my second question is that in gita god himself said that he is nirakar, he is a point of light and not like us, i.e, having a body made of flesh..so why we worship those who themselves have this physical body…there are so many questions going on in my mind but cant ask many of them in a single post..there are so many different theories given by different supreme souls…dnt knw whom i should trust”
REPLY:
- Your first question has a mistake. Satya Yuga comes only after the end of kaliyuga. So, after dvapar yuga, it is kaliyuga and only after that, we will enter into satya yuga. The Yuga sequence is like this: Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapar Yuga and kali yuga.
(How to develop faith in gurus if you find it difficult? READ HERE!)
Just because, Krishna visited earth in dvapar yuga, we can not escape from kaliyuga. But, though Krishna is not physically present in this kaliyuga, He has left for us may literatures through His literary avatar Sri Vyasa Dev. Eg: Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatham, Mahabharath , etc.
Though this is Ghor kaliyuga, these 10,000 years in which we are living are golden period. As, there will be sincere Hari Nam revolution during these 10,000 years in which Sri Caitanya Maha Prabhu came and established the Sankirtan movement that was further brought forward by Srila Prabhupada. So, as Srila Prabhupada predicted, these 10,000 years will be the golden period for us. After 10,000 years, the kaliyuga will be really bad. So, see this present trend positively and be hopeful.
- Your second question: We worship Krishna as He has no material body. Then, Why should we worship Guru who have material body? This must be your question.
(Is the Mercy of Guru and Krishna only for selected devotees? READ HERE!)
The reply for this is: Though the spiritual masters have material body, they have been empowered by Krishna to elevate the struggling and fallen people. Remember, you can not preach and guide others in Krishna Consciousness SUCCESSFULLY unless you are empowered/ blessed by Krishna.
For example, Srila Prabhupada spread Harinam throughout the world in JUST 11 YEARS during the last stages of his life. He too had material body, but, he had been empowered by krishna. That is why, he could spread Krishna worldwide within 11 years and with poor health after repeated heart attacks. This is not an ordinary thing.
Krishna Himself requests us to respect His devotees as if we respect Krishna. Why? Because, the devotees have the power to bind even Krishna through their love. In this way, Krishna is very happy to be bound by His devotees.
(Are women Priests, Sanyasis and Gurus allowed in Sanathana Dharma? READ HERE!)
Why should we worship Guru? If you take the guru, the guru gives you Krishna Himself. Krishna is the topmost person. If a guru can give even the topmost person to others, how can we consider that guru? That is why, Krishna Himself considers such devotees who spread His glories as the dearest persons to Him.
We have seen stories in Mahabharatha that Ekalaiva gave even his thumb to his teacher Dhronacharya.
Upanishads and many vedic scriptures say like this:
“The syllable gu means darkness, the syllable ru, means who dispels darkness.
Because of the power to dispel darkness, the guru is thus named.”
— Advayataraka Upanishad, Verse 16
In Pan-Indian traditions, a guru (spiritual teacher or siksha guru or diksha guru) is someone more than a teacher, traditionally a reverential figure to the student, with the guru serving as a “counsellor, who helps mould values, shares experiential knowledge as much as literal knowledge, an
exemplar in life, an inspirational source and who helps in the spiritual evolution of a student.”
(How to select, serve and please guru? READ HERE!)
A guru (spiritual teacher) is regarded as the metaphysical father of his students and is ranked higher than biological parents. They were expected to teach everything they knew to the students.
Vedic scriptures unanimously say “Gururbrahma Gururvishnu Gururdevo Mahesvara” (Guru is Brahma, Guru is Vishnu, Guru is Mahesvara).
So, the devotees of Lord including the gurus are such powerful. Devotees means, SELFLESS and TOTALLY SURRENDERED DEVOTEES. They have no other business except satisfying Krishna.
So, Krishna will be very happy if you respect His devotees.
Honour the vaishnavas as you honour Krishna! How to find out true vaishnavas and gurus?
(Can a devotee take diksha (Initiation) from two gurus? READ HERE!)
They will not say that they are god or they are beyond god or they are significant persons. They will have a bonafide tradition or a sampradhaya behind them.
They will always project themselves as if they are the servant of servant of servant of Lord Krishna. They will show this in action. They will be so simple and mentally well renounced.
You can trust such vaishnavas and entrust your spiritual development to him. Krishna too will approve that.
Sri Chandrasekarendra Sarasvati Sankaracharya of Kanchi kamakoti Mutt has said that approaching the god may be difficult to you, but, approaching a guru is easy for you and he will give you the god Himself.
Now, tell me, why should we worship Guru and vaishnavas?
(Surrender to Krishna and Surrender to Guru – which is important? A detailed analysis! READ HERE!)