Who is Prabhupada? The First Comprehensive Delineation on Guru-Tattva (An Old and Rare Book)

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As one of the last initiated disciples of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the author, born as Ricardo Antonio Palleres, received the spiritual name Ravanari Das. Despite the misunderstanding of many of his god brothers, but following the teachings of Srila Prabhupada, he officially accepted Srila Bhaktirakshak Sridhar Maharaj as his siksha-guru in 1985. After accepting the renounced order of life in October of 1985, he became known as Swami Bhaktiraghava Sadhu. In 1993, Swami B.R. Sadhu began a deep and friendly relationship with Dr. O.B.L. Kapoor (Adikeshava Das), a stalwart disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur and a good friend of Srila Prabhupada. This went against the sectarian expectations of his peers and closest god brothers. In 1994, after he had resigned from the sannyas or- der, Srila Adikeshava Das kindly revealed his new name as Radharaman. In this volume, the author also lays the groundwork for his next book, on Rasa-Tattva.

A n exasperating question that often arises is: "What really causes devoted persons to turn away from their chosen religious paths, and even lose faith in God?" An extremely exasperating answer, which regularly comes from most of these persons is: "The cause of my turning away is that I became greatly disappointed with God's representatives, thus coming to disbelieve His teachings also." The terrible sense of void, which feels like our chest becoming somehow emptied of our heart is almost indescribable. It can be safely said that everyone needs to know about God, but it's also inconceivable that somehow He would allow us to become exposed to the extremely cruel and vicious reality of being let down by His so- called representatives.

Spiritual insight is constantly being handed down to humanity through empowered beings, who according to time, place and circumstances, make it available to the masses. The spiritual teachings of the Great Masters were compiled for the benefit of all mankind without any sectarian inclinations what- soever. However, different interpretations of those sacred texts have opened the path to various religious traditions.

All bona fide sacred texts, i.e., all the ancient scriptures which are mankind's greatest assets in historic times, convey a common message of love for Godhead. And to love Godhead implicitly involves loving His creation also. When the various scriptures are deeply analysed, nowhere will any discrepancies be found among them. All refer to two basic goals: first, to con- vey the message that one should not consider this world one's normal habitat since it is temporary, and second, to love Godhead above everything else. This simple message leads to the gradual understanding that everything belongs to God, the Creator, and everything has to be specially administered due to its spiritual nature. However, the spiritual insight which all scriptures contain, is a message which can be read out of con- text by the many religions which divide the world, since each one of them always claim to have the exclusive representation of Godhead.

The main objective in compiling this book was the great T need for references to arrive at the right concept of what a guru, or spiritual master is. The Western world received an avalanche of Indian swamis and gurus during the decade of the 70's which even promoted the entering of the word "guru" in the American Dictionary. The principle of guru in India has always had a different connotation than the one more recently adopted by the Western culture, and it requires a new and thorough analysis of the subject matter to clearly define it within philosophical parameters, which would be more appropriate to the deeply analytical and critical- Western intelligentsia.

WHO IS SRILA PRABHUPADA?

A specially empowered spiritual master is known as 'Srila Prabhupada' or 'the one at whose feet everyone can take shelter of. This form of addressing a special devotee became widespread by a section of Gaudiya Vaishnavas in reference to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur (1874-1936 AC) and later on to his disciple Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (1896- 1977 AC). Therefore, the followers of the Gaudiya Math, the mission founded in 1918 by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, and the followers of the International Society for Krishna Conscious- ness (ISKCON), founded in 1965 by Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, use the same term to address them.

By being the first person in history to broadly spread the Krishna conscious philosophy around the globe, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami has exclusively become recognized as Srila Prabhupada.