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Is it possible to change your Guru under whom you are initiated under unforseen circumstances?

Posted by SubramanyaSasank Bommireddipalli on May 20, 2013 at 12:54am in Guru

hare Krsna,

        Please accept my humble obeisance.All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

        I have had this doubt lingering in my mind for quite some time.I am aspiring to be under a certain guru to follow and practice his teachings as my life and soul.        

But what happens, if the sadhaka devotee has to choose another guru due to some unforeseen circumstances like disappearance, change of location like country, obligatory responsibilities etc.

            Is is possible for that sadhaka devotee to approach another guru and continue his progress in devotional service or is it an anartha for him/her since he/she has already pledged allegiance to a certain guru and promised that he /she would follow the guru's words as their life and soul.  

It would be really nice to have this clarified,as these things often come up in a aspiring devotee's minds.

Hari bol,

Ever aspiring servant of Guru and Krsna,

Sasank 

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Replies

  • Volunteer
    Mohini Madhavi May 20, 2013 at 9:30am

    Hare Krishna Sasank Prabhuji, please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
    There are three types of spiritual masters - Gurus:

    1. Vartmapradakshika Guru- one who first meet us with Krishna Consciousness. Maybe he or she took us to the Temple, or feed us with Prasadam ...because of that we became in touch with Krishna and His Devotees.

    2. Shiksha Guru-One who gives knowledge about Krishna Consciousness. It might be any senior or serious junior Devotees who give us knowledge and help us to practice devotional service. We learn from them all rules and regulations of Vaishnava culture and life styles. 

    3. Diksha Guru-one who initiates us with Harinaama Maha Mantra. And we vow before him to follow 4 regulative principles and chant minimum 16 rounds daily. 

    So in this way diksha Guru might be far from us, the same is with shiksha Guru. But we can still serve them in the form of serving to their instructions. 

    Once we get diksha initiation we should not change our Guru and get initiation from other Gurus even if our Diksha Guru leaves his body. It is a big offense. But if our diksha Guru deviates from the path then only we can change him.

    Diksha Guru will be only one in our life but the number of Shiksha Gurus are many. 

    Your servant, in serving to Srila Prabhupada,

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