Acarya - an essential subject

The true ācārya, the spiritual master of the entire world, is a confidential servitor of the Lord. His heart is always full of compassion for humanity in its suffering and is considered an incarnation of Krishna’s mercy. Perfect knowledge is acquired from the ācārya who has received Vedic knowledge and its precepts directly from the disciplic succession of the predecessor ācāryas. An ideal teacher, he knows the purport of the revealed scriptures, behaves exactly according to their injunctions, and teaches his students to adopt these principles also. The disciple, enriched with full spiritual knowledge, is awakened to the activities of devotional service through his blessings, thus a disciple must always remember to please his predecessor ācāryas.

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes Acarya category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 8 quotes.

Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books


vanipedia.org 		A neophyte devotee should not consider himself to be on the same plane as the ācārya. It should be accepted that the ācāryas are on the same platform as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such neither Kṛṣṇa nor His representative ācārya should be subjected to any adverse criticism by the neophyte devotees. (Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 87)



vanipedia.org 		According to Vedic culture, every respectable family has an ācārya, or spiritual master. One is not considered a perfectly cultured man without being initiated and trained by an ācārya. It is said, therefore, that one who has approached an ācārya is actually in perfect knowledge. (Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 45)



vanipedia.org 		One should not disrespect the ācārya at any time. Na martya-buddhyāsūyeta: one should never think the ācārya an ordinary person. Familiarity sometimes breeds contempt, but one should be very careful in one's dealings with the ācārya. Agādha-dhiṣaṇaṁ dvijam: the ācārya is a perfect brāhmaṇa and has unlimited intelligence in guiding the activities of his disciple. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.7.15)



vanipedia.org 		Humility and meekness are appropriate when one's own honor is insulted but not when Lord Viṣṇu or the ācāryas are blasphemed. In such cases one should not be humble and meek but must act. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 10.85)



vanipedia.org 		All the bona fide ācāryas preach this truth of returning home, back to Godhead, and warn men not to make a false plan for happiness in a place where happiness is only a myth. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.2.27)



vanipedia.org 		An ācārya does not exploit his followers. Since the ācārya is a confidential servitor of the Lord, his heart is always full of compassion for humanity in its suffering. He knows that all suffering is due to the absence of devotional service to the Lord, and therefore he always tries to find ways to change people's activities, making them favorable for the attainment of devotion. That is the qualification of an ācārya. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 3.98)



vanipedia.org 		One must be able to clear all doubts and simultaneously be situated in the brahminical characteristics. Such a person, who knows the purpose of the Vedic injunctions, who can employ the principles laid down in the Vedic literatures and who teaches his disciples in that way, is called an ācārya. The position of an ācārya is that he executes devotional service with no desire for elevation to a higher position of life. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.29.32)



vanipedia.org 		The main business of human society is to think of the Supreme Personality of Godhead at all times, to become His devotees, to worship the Supreme Lord and to bow down before Him. The ācārya, the authorized representative of the Supreme Lord, establishes these principles, but when he disappears, things once again become disordered. The perfect disciples of the ācārya try to relieve the situation by sincerely following the instructions of the spiritual master. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.28.48)


Acarya - explore more within this category.

Vanipedia has now over 903 introductory articles compiled from Srila Prabhupada's books under the series titled Essential Subjects. All these articles can be seen in the Table of Content on the right side of this article and also here in this Umbrella Category. Browse through them to relish the breadth and depth of Srila Prabhupada's teachings - There is a subject for everyone.


   
 

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