Srila Prabhupada: Then so siksa and diksa-guru… A SIKSA-GURU WHO INSTRUCTS AGAINST THE INSTRUCTION OF SPIRITUAL, HE IS NOT A SIKSA GURU. HE IS A DEMON. Siksa-guru, diksa-guru means… Sometimes a diksa-guru is not present always. Therefore one CAN take learning, instruction, from an advanced devotee. That is called the siksa-guru. SIKSA-GURU DOES NOT MEAN HE IS SPEAKING SOMETHING AGAINST THE TEACHINGS OF THE DIKSA-GURU. HE IS NOT A SIKSA-GURU. HE IS A RASCAL.
This is the experience of Bilvamangala Thakura. He was a South Indian brahmana, very rich brahmana. But by bad association or something like that, he became a very staunch prostitute hunter. So he engaged all his income, money, everything, after one prostitute. Her name was Cintamani. So it is a very nice story. I am briefly describing. So one night… Every night he was to go to that prostitute, and one night it was very terribly raining. So the prostitute thought, “Now this night Bilvamangala is not coming. It is terribly raining.” But Bilvamangala went there, crossing the river, and the door was closed. He jumped over the door catching a snake. In this way, very dangerously, he reached the prostitute’s house. And the prostitute was astonished, that “How is this condition you could come here? Oh, you are so much attracted by this skin. If this much attraction you would have to Krsna, how it would have been nice for you.” So immediately he left the prostitute’s house and went to Vrndavana.
THE FACT IS IN HIS PREVIOUS LIFE HE EXECUTED DEVOTIONAL SERVICE UP TO BHAVA-BHAKTI. SO HIS CINTAMANI, THAT PROSTITUTE, BECAME HIS GURU, REMIND THAT “YOU ARE SO MUCH FOND OF PROSTITUTE. IF THIS ATTRACTION WOULD HAVE BEEN TO KRSNA, HOW MUCH SUCCESSFUL YOU WOULD HAVE…” SO IT ACTED, AND HE LEFT TO VRNDAVANA AND LIVED FOR SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS. So he has a book, Krsna-karnamrta, Bilvamangala Thakura. That is recommended by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu for reading, Krsna-karnamrta. So in that book he writes, bhaktis tvayi sthiratara bhagavan yadi syat: “If we have got fixed-up devotion unto You, my Lord, Bhagavan,” then daivena nah phalati divya-kisora-murtih, “then very easily we can see Your form,” divya-kisora-murtih, “Your divine form,” kisora-murtih, “very young boy.” Krsna is always kisora. Krsna’s another name is Kisora. Kisora-murtih. Kisora means kaisora, before marriage, before…, eleventh to sixteenth year. This is called kisora age. So kisora-murtih. Krsna is always kisora-murtih. So by devotional service, one can see the kisora-murtih of Krsna very easily. Bhaktis tvayi sthiratara bhagavan yadi syat: “If it is possible, then very easily we can see You.”
BILVAMANGALA THAKURA ACTUALLY ENTERED INTO THE TRANSCENDENTAL PASTIMES OF LORD KRSNA. He has recorded his transcendental experiences and appreciation in the book known as Krsna-karnamrta. IN THE BEGINNING OF THAT BOOK HE HAS OFFERED HIS OBEISANCES TO HIS DIFFERENT GURUS, AND IT IS TO BE NOTED THAT HE HAS ADORED THEM ALL EQUALLY. THE FIRST SPIRITUAL MASTER MENTIONED IS CINTAMANI, WHO WAS ONE OF HIS INSTRUCTING SPIRITUAL MASTERS BECAUSE SHE FIRST SHOWED HIM THE SPIRITUAL PATH. CINTAMANI WAS A PROSTITUTE WITH WHOM BILVAMANGALA WAS INTIMATE EARLIER IN HIS LIFE. SHE GAVE HIM THE INSPIRATION TO BEGIN ON THE PATH OF DEVOTIONAL SERVICE, AND BECAUSE SHE CONVINCED HIM TO GIVE UP MATERIAL EXISTENCE TO TRY FOR PERFECTION BY LOVING KRSNA, HE HAS FIRST OFFERED HIS RESPECTS TO HER. NEXT HE OFFERS HIS RESPECTS TO HIS INITIATING SPIRITUAL MASTER, SOMAGIRI, AND THEN TO THE SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD, WHO WAS ALSO HIS INSTRUCTING SPIRITUAL MASTER. He explicitly mentions Bhagavan, who has peacock feathers on His crown, because the Lord of Vrndavana, Krsna the cowherd boy, used to come to Bilvamangala to talk with him and supply him with milk. In his adoration of Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, he describes that Jayasri, the goddess of fortune, Srimati Radharani, takes shelter in the shade of His lotus feet to enjoy the transcendental rasa of nuptial love. The complete treatise Krsna-karnamrta is dedicated to the transcendental pastimes of Sri Krsna and Srimati Radharani. It is a book to be read and understood by the most elevated devotees of Sri Krsna.
So these books, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, are there, and many other books, Puranas and others… They are simply describing the activities of Krsna so that you can understand Krsna. That… There is a verse in Caitanya-caritamrta: anadi bahirmukha jiva nahi jnana, krsna… Means “From, since a very, very long time, he has forgotten Krsna.” Just like anyone you can ask, in this country even, and what to speak of others, that “Do you know Krsna?” So you’ll find so many, I mean to say, major portion, people, will say, “No, we do not know what is Krsna.” JUST LIKE OUR SYAMASUNDARA’S DAUGHTER, SARASVATI. SHE PREACHES, “DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS KRSNA?” EVEN ONE KNOWS, BECAUSE HE (SHE) IS CHILD: “NO, NO. I DO NOT KNOW.” “OH, SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD,” SHE WILL SAY. She is so intelligent. She will say. So similarly, we can do. We can do Krsna’s service like this. EVEN A CHILD CAN DO. YOU GO. AS CAITANYA MAHAPRABHU SAYS, YARE DEKHA TARE KAHA KRSNA-UPADESA. THAT BECOMES… YOU BECOMES SPIRITUAL MASTER. If you take this vow, that “I’ll preach only Krsna,” then you are spiritual master. You become spiritual…
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa