Offenses of the Instructor and the Instructed To give a valuable object to an unqualified person is indirectly disrespectful to the valuable object. An unqualified person does not understand the value of the object and thus will not respect it. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is as respectable as Kṛṣṇa Himself, being nondifferent from Him.
The Name Is Not To Be Equated with Pious Works Bhakti and karma are two distinct paths. The qualifications needed for the two paths are also different. It is important to know this distinction. One should not use the chanting or kīrtana of holy name as a replacement for a Vedic dharmic ritual. That is
Committing Sins on the Strength of the Holy Name Śraddhā in śastra is the foundation of spiritual life. On the path of bhakti, this includes having śraddhā in the power of the name of Kṛṣṇa. There are hundreds of statements in śastra that state that even if one chants the name incidentally, one is freed
The third offense, to disrespect one’s guru, has not been elaborated by Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, because it is considered as a special case of the first offense, i.e., to disrespect or criticize the genuine devotees (the sat). Spiritual life is based on knowledge given by śāstra, which begins with faith, śraddhā. If we have faith
To Regard the Names and Qualities of Śiva as Independent of Viṣṇu Among the devotees of Kṛṣṇa, Śiva has a very special place. Moreover, Śiva is also one of the guṇa-avatāras. In the Purāṇas, he is often portrayed as the Supreme Lord, Īśvara. There is also a large community of Hindus who accept Śiva as
To Criticize a Devotee If we want to reach our destination, we need to follow the proper route and avoid the wrong route. We must know the distinction between them. Just as to follow a particular process we need to understand it clearly, in the same way, to avoid something we need to clearly understand
There is a very interesting and popular śloka related to Āyurveda—pathye sati gadārttasya kim auṣadha-niṣevaṇaiḥ / pathye’ sati gadārttasya kim auṣadha-niṣevaṇaiḥ. It says that if one follows a proper diet, then what is the use for a sick person to take medicine? And if one does not follow a proper diet, then what is the
