Solid Gold Guru Tattva

Ree I § his Bhakti-sandarbha (213), t= Fs ¥ clearly defined that a pure devo- ee & f & tee’s observation of the spiritual pe I B omaster and Lord Siva as one with po I sthe Personality of Godhead exists ft *. = = § sin terms of their being very dear I) sto the Lord, not identical with TM Him in all respects. Followingin the footsteps of Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and Srila Jiva II Gosvami, later Gcaryas like Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura I have confirmed the same truths. In his prayers to the spiritual II master, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura confirms that all the revealed scriptures — saksad-dharitvena (Sri Gurv-astaka)— accept the spiritual master to be identical with the Personality of Godhead because he is a very dear and confidential servant of II the Lord. Gaudiya Vaisnavas therefore worship Srila Gurudeva (the spiritual master) in the light of his being the servitor of Personality of Godhead. In all the ancient scriptures of devo- I tional service and in the more recent songs of Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and other unalloyed I Vaisnavas, the spiritual master is always considered either one II the confidential associates of Srimati Radharani or a manifested I representation of Srila Nityananda Prabhu.”