The concept of guru-parampara (disciplic succession) and the necessity of diksha-initiation

Picture it! Sicily, 1922. An young peasant girl sits at the eating table with her mother.
The mother puts a plate of vegetarian lasagne in front of the young peasant girl.
After the first bite, the young peasant girly smiles and asks her mother:

“Wow…this is so delicious…where did you get this recipe?” The mother replies: “Oh, that one. My mother gave it to me. She received it from her mother, who received it fom her mother, who received it from her mother…this comes from a long tradition.
They all preserved it well and it still is the original one.”

“Can you teach me how to cook the lasagne according to this recipe?” – “Yes. When the time is right and you are ready to do it, I will certainly teach you.”

Here in this simple example, we learn that there are many “disciplic successions”. Even on the material plane.
Knowledge is passed down from one master (the mother here) to the student (soon-to-be the young daughter). Even here in this example it is of utter importance that nothing is changed in what is “passed down”.

Now, what to speak on the spiritual plane.

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ
proktavān aham avyayam
vivasvān manave prāha
manur ikṣvākave ‘bravīt 

The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku.

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam
imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā
yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa

This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.
(Bhagavad-gita 4. 1-2)

So here the Supreme Lord Himself introduced the system of a disciplic succession in His Bhagavad-gita.

In the Bhagavad-gita, Sri Krishna Himself declares that from all kinds of yoga, bhakti-yoga reigns supreme. Thus it is very clear which kind of “science” is meant here.
Of course, this statement fits for all kinds of yoga and within every yoga-system there is a disciplic succession, where the students are instructed by their masters.

We as bhakti-yogis have the exact same tradition. The science of bhakti-yoga is passed down from Sri Gurudeva to the worthy disciple.

What does that really mean?
What is the “science of bhakti-yoga”? Who is a true Sri Gurudeva? How does the Gurudeva imparts that knowledge about this highest science to the student (disciple)? Why do we need this kind of “transaction” anyway?

To clarify and answer these questions, we have to go deep into the subject matter.

Like in the example given in the first paragraph, the young daughter wants to “know” something from someone who already knows it.
“How can I cook such a far-out lasagne myself one day?”

We are in a similar position like this young daughter.
We just have different questions.
As human being, the most important questions to be asked are:

WHO AM I? WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO? WHERE DO I GO (FROM THIS WORLD)?

It is mentioned in all holy scriptures that if we don´t ask these questions, our lifetime is wasted.

Krishna again tells us in the Gita what we can do to speed up that process of inquiry:

tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam
jnaninas tattva-darsinah

Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.

So a true spiritual master will impart this knowledge to us.

Inherent in the jiva is the potency to receive the ability to love Radha and Krishna in the highest way possible (by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhus mercy).
Krishna loves nothing more than when we wake up and start to look for Him.

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru–krishna–prasade paya bhakti–lata–bija

“According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krishna. By the mercy of both Krishna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.”

All is depending on our will to search for Krishna, but mostly on the mercy of Him.
By His mercy, we will find a true Gurudeva.

This bhakti-lata-bija, the seed of bhakti, is not in our hearts. The jiva only has the capacity to receive this seed.
So Srila Gurudeva is planting that seed in our heart.

How is he doing that?
This is arranged by the process of diksha-initiation by Sri Gurudeva, who received his own diksha-initiation from his Gurudeva, who received his own diksha-initiation from his Gurudeva and so on.
We will soon come to that very important “transaction of divine knowledge”.

First it is important to know who a true Gurudeva is.
Krishna says: a self-realized soul.

When the Guru-potency awakens within a saint he becomes known as a bona fide Guru. This Guru-potency awakens within a saint in the following way :
those who have removed the dirt from their hearts through their practice of sadhana- bhajana and in whose hearts bhakti has awakened and who have become ornamented by saintly qualities such as compassion and kindness – their hearts melt when they see the misery the conditioned souls go through in the material world of maya.
By instructing the conditioned souls in the practice of bhajana, they destroy their miserable condition and they are eager to bless them by giving them the relish of bhakti-rasa.
By the Lord’s wish, the Guru-potency emanates from Him and appears within the hearts of such bhakti-siddha-mahapurushas (His pure devotees).
A person who covets devotion to the Supreme Lord is blessed by taking shelter of such a qualified and bona fide Guru. The characteristics of such a bona fide Guru have been described in Srimad Bhagavata (11.3.21) —

tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreyah uttamam
sabde pare ca nishnatam brahmanyupasamasrayam 

“Therefore a person who inquires about the highest welfare should take shelter of the lotus feet of a bona fide Guru, who is sabda-brahma and para-brahma-nishnata and upasamasraya or free from lust and greed.”
Sridhara Svami writes in his commentary on this verse:
sabde brahmani vedakhye nyayato nishnatam tattvajnam. anyatha samsaya nirasakatvayogat. pare ca brahmani aparokshanubhavena nishnatam. anyatha bodha sancarayogat. para brahma nishnatatva dyotakam aha upasamasrayam iti —
“That the bona fide Guru is sabda brahma nishnata means that he is a knower of the Vedic literature and a knower of the truth. If he is not, then he cannot remove the doubts of the disciples that take shelter of him. Then again he is para-brahma-nishnata, which means that He is a devotee, or that He is endowed with transcendental realisations about Sri Krishna. If he is not, then he cannot infuse realisations on bhajana within the heart of his disciple.”
(Srila Ananta das Babaji, Sri Guru-tattva-vijnana)

Here we learn a lot about how a highly elevated soul becomes Sri Gurudeva.
Such a true Gurudeva, in whose heart the light of pure bhakti shines, can give this pure bhakti to a disciple.

It is important to note that we also learn how bhakti comes to this world.

Bhakti only come from bhakti. This means: only someone who HAS bhakti in his heart can give bhakti to someone else.

Bhakti is a combination of the samvit (knowledge)-potency AND the hladini (bliss)-potency of Sri Krishna. So ultimately, bhakti comes from His hladini-sakti, personified by Srimati Radhika.

According to the srutis, the self-satisfied Lord cannot be attracted by any material object, nor can one consider bhakti as the svarupananda, or the bliss existing in the eternal form of the Lord, as accepted by the non-personalists.
The Lord enjoys the bliss derived from bhakti (bhaktyananda) more than the bliss arising from his own svarupa (svarupananda).
Nor can one consider bhakti as the bliss existing in the eternal form of the jiva since the bliss of jivananda is extremely minute. It is thus unable to overwhelm the Lord.

The Vishnu Purana (1.12.69) says, “The three eternal energies, namely, hladini, sandhini and samvit exist in the svarupa of Bhagavan, the possessor of all energies. O Lord! Being completely free from the three modes of nature, the material modes namely, happiness (sattviki), misery (tamasi), and the mixture of both (rajasi) do not exist in Your svarupa.” This text clearly suggests that bhakti is neither svarupananda nor jivananda.
The only bliss which thus remains is that arising from the hladini-sakti of the Lord (svarupa-saktyananda).
It is this hladini-sakti only that overwhelms the Lord with ecstasy. By this sakti the Lord Himself attains bliss and bestows bliss to his devotees.

The supremely blissful state of hladini that eternally exists in the devotees is known as bhagavat-priti, or divine prema. The Lord can also experience this within His devotees and thus the Lord and His devotees become attached to each other.

Bhakti is called the svarupa-sakti of the Lord. The Lord’s svarupa is sat cit ananda, so His cit-sakti has also three features, sandhini, samvit, and hladini.
Sandhini is the energy related to existence. By this energy the Lord maintains His own existence and that of others. Samvit is the energy related to knowledge. Through this energy the Lord knows about Himself and causes others to know Him. Hladini is the energy related to bliss. By this energy the Lord Himself experiences bliss and gives bliss to others.

Existing within the svarupa of the Lord, eternity (sat), knowledge (cit), and bliss (ananda) cannot be separated from each other.
Sandhini, samvit, and hladini are similarly inseparable. In any manifestation of svarupa-sakti, one of these three states is predominant, while the other two are also present in lesser quantity.
As cit-sakti is self-manifested, its three states are also self-manifesting. They make their appearance by themselves and cause the appearance of others.
By the specific self-manifesting state of cit-sakti consisting of hladini, sandhini, and samvit, the Lord appears in His original eternal form along with His associates and transcendental abode.
This specific state of svarupa-sakti is known as visuddha-sattva. When sandhini-sakti predominates in visuddha-sattva it is known as adhara-sakti, the energy holding all existence. The abode of the Lord and the Lord’s associates appear by this energy.
When samvit-sakti predominates, it is known as atmavidya, spiritual knowledge. When hladini predominates, it is known as guhya-vidya, secret knowledge. By this energy bhakti, or bhagavat-priti, love for the Lord, is manifest.

One can thus understand from this description, that bhakti is self-manifesting by nature like the Lord. There is no other cause for her appearance.
Bhakti manifests herself in the devotee by her own independent will. sadhana-bhajana is performed to make the heart suitable for her appearance.

The author gives further evidence from the Bhagavata to establish the independent appearance of bhakti. In the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavata (1.2.6) while establishing the ultimate welfare of the living entities, Sripada Suta Muni says to the sages headed by Saunaka Rishi,

sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokshaje
ahaituky apratihata yayatma suprasidati

 “The supreme religion of all living beings is that by which they can attain causeless and uninterrupted bhakti to the Lord, who is beyond the reach of the material senses.”

The word ahaituki means that bhakti is causeless. This means bhakti is self-blissful; it does not seek any other fruit except the Lord and His service. This explanation shows the causeless appearance of bhakti.
(Srila Ananta das Babaji, commentary on Madhurya-kadambini).

So Srila Gurudeva can impart this bhakti into our hearts.
How? By giving us the diksha-mantras which is called “diksha-initiation”.

He received those mantras from his line of gurus (parampara) and he will never add nor subtract anything. The disciple gets the “original”.

Here we find a wonderful explanation of the process of diksha-initiation:

What is meant with diksha, or initiation?
In his Bhakti Sandarbha (283) Srimat Jiva Gosvamipada quotes the sastras to describe the glories of initiation —

divyam jnanam yato dadyat kuryat papasya sankshayam
tasmad diksheti sa prokta desikais tattva kovidaih

“That which bestows divine knowledge and destroys all sins is called diksha by the acaryas who know the truth.” Sri Jivapada adds: divyam jnanam hyatra srimati mantre bhagavat svarupa jnanam tena bhagavata sambandha visesha jnanam ca — “Here divine knowledge means the knowledge about the Lord’s intrinsic identity which lies within the mantra, along with specific knowledge of the living being’s relationship with the Lord.”

jivera svarupa hoy — krishnera nitya dasa
krishnera tatastha sakti — bhedabheda prakasa (C.C.)

“The intrinsic identity of the living entity is that he is Krishna’s eternal servant. Being Krishna’s marginal potency he is both different and non-different from Him.”
Although the living being is Krishna’s eternal servant, he has been averse to the Lord since beginningless time. Hence he has been swallowed by ignorance and illusion, and being under such illusion, he identifies with his false body, senses and mind.
Forgetting his own intrinsic identity he calls his false body “I” and forgetting his eternal relationship with Sri Hari, he becomes bound to his wife, children and money.

krishna nitya dasa jiva taha bhuli gelo;
sei doshe maya tara golaya bandhilo (C.C.)

“The living being has forgotten that he is Krishna’s eternal servant, and due to that fault maya has bound him around the neck.” In this way, although the living being is intrinsically a transcendental entity, he is bound by maya and wanders around in the miserable material world, reincarnating from one painful species of life to the other. That through which Sri Guru mercifully slackens the bondage of maya and infuses transcendental energy into the disciple’s heart, thus awakening his awareness of his eternal or special relationship with Sri Hari — this is called diksha.

Then again the mantra is the intrinsic form of the Lord, and by the grace of the sadhus and the Guru, who are Sri Hari’s karunya ghana vigraha, the embodiments of His deep mercy, the Lord enters into the disciple’s heart in the form of the mantra to make his body, mind and life-airs transcendentally suitable for serving the Lord.
Sriman Mahaprabhu Himself said —

diksha kale bhakta kore atma samarpana;
sei kale krishna tate kore atma sama
sei deha korena tara cid anandamoy;
aprakrita dehe tara carana bhajoy (C.C.)

“At the time of initiation the devotee surrenders himself and at that time Krishna makes the practising devotee equal to Himself. The Lord then makes the devotee’s body transcendental and in this transcendental body the devotee can worship the Lord’s lotus feet.”
(Srila Ananta das Babaji, Sri Guru-tattva-vijnana)

So, confirmed by Sriman Mahaprabhu, we see why it is of utter importance to take diksha-initiation.
Everything is in these diksha-mantras, especially in the Krishna-mantra and the Kama-gayatri.

Sri Krishna Himself took diksha from Sandipani Muni.
Sriman Mahaprabhu took diksha from Ishvara Puri. Nityananda Prabhu from Laksmipathi Tirtha, Sri Advaita Acarya from Madhavendra Puri and Gadadhara Pandit took diksha from Pundarik Vidyanidhi. All these eternal personalities are considered “Krishna-tattva” (one form of Krishna and Krishna Himself). So if all these persons took diksha-initiation, we should understand that is absolutely necessary to do it for ourselves.

Sriman Mahaprabhu instructed His closest followers to initiate disciples and to start disciplic successions (paramparas). Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ordered his wife Srimati Jahnava Ma to start initiating disciples. Advaita Acarya started, Gadadhara Pandit and many many more and even up to this day, still all of these paramparas are “intact” and completely unbroken. The divine gift of pure bhakti can still flow through these wonderful “channels”.
By this we see, how much Sri Krishna wants and facilitates the system of a parampara where divine knowledge is imparted through diksha-initiation.

Srila Rupa Goswami tells us the 64 “limbs (angas)” of bhakti:

guru-padashrayas tasmat krsna-diksadi-siksanam |
vishrambhena guroh seva sadhu-vartmanuvartanam ||74||

(1) Submission to the Feet of the Guru (Spiritual Master); (2) Receiving training from him in spiritual initiation and practices regarding Sri Krishna; (3) serving the Spiritual Master with affectionate zeal; (4) Following in the path of saints

So we can see right there from the acarya for bhakti-yoga: “krishna-diksadi-siksanam”.
Initiation into Krishna-mantra and receiving insructions (siksha).
Diksha-guru is ONE, siksha-guru can be many.

Recently someone opposed and said:

“Since we don´t have Mahaprabhu on record as giving Himself diksha-initiation, the DEFAULT system of a parampara should be a mixture of diksha and siksha and the preference should be placed on a siksha-parampara.”

This person called such a parampara a “bhagavat-parampara” with a lineage where diksha- and siksha-connections are present, one following the other, up to Sri Krishna.
Interestingly enough, one connection is between two mahajanas who lived about more than 120 years apart and NEVER met each other.

Previously we could see that divine knowledge is imparted through the process of DIKSHA where Sri Gurudeva speaks the diksha-mantras into the right ear of the disciple.
Diksha-initiation is a process and it ends when we realize our eternal spiritual form.
During this process, Sri Gurudeva reveals to us our siddha-deha (our eternal form) when he thinks the time is right and the disciple mature enough. Usually this happens during the stage of bhajana-kriya.

Now, a parampara where there are both, diksha- and siksha-connections is nowhere mentioned in the scriptures.
We have clearly established the necessity to receive diksha-initiation and we have shown clearly how the “transmission of grace and mercy” works.

Sriman Mahaprabhu Himself said that the bhakti-lata-bija can ONLY be planted through the process of DIKSHA.

Of course, siksha-gurus are extremely important in helping us “finish” our diksha-process by giving us most valuable instruction. These are mostly persons in the same mood (sajati).
But a disciplic succession where there are sometimes no diksha-channels and only siksha-channels is not mentioned in any scripture.

Unfortunately many of the followers of such a parampara claim that their way is THE ONLY ONE to attain pure love (prema).
This can never be  the case and I fail to understand why they claim
“superiority of a bhagavat-parampara over a diksha-parampara”…even after reading verses like this (sorry, but I have to quote it AGAIN):

diksha kale bhakta kore atma samarpana;
sei kale krishna tate kore atma sama
sei deha korena tara cid anandamoy;
aprakrita dehe tara carana bhajoy (C.C.)

“At the time of initiation the devotee surrenders himself and at that time Krishna makes the practising devotee equal to Himself. The Lord then makes the devotee’s body transcendental and in this transcendental body the devotee can worship the Lord’s lotus feet.”

This transcendental body will then later be revealed by Sri Gurudeva through the giving of the information of such a body (siddha-deha). The disciple receives the information of the “famous” 11 bhavas through a process called siddha-pranali.

seva sadhaka-rupena siddha-rupena catra hi |
tad-bhava lipsuna karya vraja-lokanusaratah || BRS 1.2.295

“One should serve both in his present sadhaka-form and in his siddha-form, following in the wake of the residents of Vraja, desiring to have feelings similar to theirs.”

Why cannot BOTH ways achieve the desired goal?

Another thing:

Some people say that it is not necessary to take diksha-initiation.
To receive instructions (siksha) and the Holy Name (the maha-mantra) are enough.

Some people also consider the 16-word, 32-syllable hare-krishna-maha-mantra as a diksha-mantra, but this harinama-maha-mantra has not been counted amongst the diksha-mantras in any of the initiation manuals because if it is chanted out loud, how can it be counted amongst the diksha mantras?
The question may be raised:
When the hare-krishna-mantra is called the maha-mantra, then will not perfection  be attained by taking this mantra alone?
The answer to this is that the hare-krishna-mantra is called the maha-mantra because it is more powerful than any other mantra in bestowing prema.

Still, if there is no fourth case ending (sampradana, dative case) and the rishyadi-shadanga (six standard sequences that form a certain pattern of composition) are not there, it is not a diksha-mantra.
One should know that before accepting diksha the fruit of hari nama sankirtana will be the taking of the shelter of the bona fide Guru and his instructions on diksha, and after taking diksha the fruit of nama sankirtana will be prema.”
(Srila Ananta das Babaji, Sri Guru-tattva-vijnana)

I hope and pray to the lotus feet of my Gurudeva and of the Vaishnavas that the concept of an unbroken diksha-parampara is now clearer.
It is the only form mentioned in sastra and we are lucky enough that by the grace of Sriman Mahaprabhu, there are still such lineages here on this planet.