Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada
Based on the scriptural injunctions, each and every one has the right to receive spiritual initiation.
Unlike the worldly initiation, it is not confined within a certain sect or community. I am citing a few evidences in this respect. Please explain the meanings to the paṇḍita mahāśaya.
athādhikāra-nirṇayaḥ — the qualities of a candidate eligible for chanting these mantras:
tāntrikeṣu ca mantreṣu dīkṣāyāṁ yoṣitām api sādhvīnām adhikāro ‘sti śūdrādīnāṁ ca sad-dhiyām
Not only faithful twice-born Brahmins, but also chaste ladies and pious śūdras who are engaged in the service of their spiritual master are qualified to be initiated into these mantras described in the Tantras. (Hari- bhakti-vilāsa 1.194)
In the Smṛti-artha-sāra as well as the Padma Purāṇa, vaiśākha-māhātmya, in a conversation between Sri Narada and Sri Ambarish, it is stated:
āgamoktena mārgeṇa strī-śūdrair api pūjanam kartavyaṁ śraddhayā viṣṇoś cintayitvā patiṁ hṛdi
According to the rules and regulations mentioned in the Āgama literature, women can faithfully render devotional service to Lord Vishnu while remaining devoted to their husbands, and śūdras who have taken initiation can also worship Lord Vishnu.
śūdrāṇāṁ caiva bhavati nāmnā vai devatārcanam sarve ’py āgama-mārgeṇa kuryur vedānukāriṇā
After receiving initiation according to the rules and regulations described in the Vedas and Āgamas, one should worship the deity of his worshipable Lord. Even uninitiated śūdras can worship their wor- shipable Lord while chanting the holy name.
strīṇām apy adhikāro ‘sti viṣṇor ārādhanādiṣu
pati-priya-ratānāṁ ca śrutir eṣā sanātanī
Initiated women are also eligible to worship Lord Vishnu, especially if they desire benefit for their husband. This is an ancient custom.
In the Agastya-saṁhitā, regarding the rāma-mantra, it is stated:
śuci-vrata-tamāḥ śūdrā dhārmikā dvija-sevakāḥ striyaḥ pati-vratāś cānye pratilomānulomajāḥ lokāś cāṇḍāla-paryantāḥ sarve ’py atrādhikāriṇaḥ
Śūdras who are religious, who serve the Brahmins, and who observe sacred vows, as well as chaste ladies, those born in intercaste families, and even dog-eaters, are eligible to chant Sri Rama mantras. (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 1.194-198)
In the Gautamīya Tantra, it is stated in a general way:
atha kṛṣṇa-manūn vakṣye dṛṣṭādṛṣṭa-phala-pradān
yān vai vijñāya munayo lebhire muktim añjasā
Now I will describe the Krishna mantras, the chanting of which give results which can sometimes be seen and sometimes unseen. By knowing these mantras, the thoughtful practitioners can easily attain liberation.
gṛhasthā vanagāś caiva yatayo brahmacāriṇaḥ striyaḥ śūdrādayaś caiva sarve yatrādhikāriṇaḥ
It is stated in the Agama literature:
Brahmacāris, gṛhasthas, vānaprasthas, sannyāsīs, women, and śūdras are all eligible to chant these mantras. (Hari- bhakti-vilāsa 1.217-218)
The living entities attain the human form of life especially for serving the Supreme Lord. Animals cannot accept spiritual initiation, only humans are eligible for it.
dvijānām anupetānāṁ svakarmādhyayanādiṣu yathādhikāro nāstīha syāc copanayanād anu
tathātrādīkṣitānāṁ tu mantra-devārcanādiṣu nādhikāro ‘sty ataḥ kuryād ātmānaṁ śiva-saṁstutam
Just as a Brahmin boy is not qualified to perform his occupational duties and study the Vedas if he is not initiated, so a person who has not taken spiritual initiation is not eligible to chant spiritual mantras and worship the Supreme Lord. By accepting initiation into Vishnu mantras, one makes himself worthy of praise even by Lord Shiva. Just as one cannot separate himself from worshiping the Supreme Lord, he cannot separate himself from accepting initiation.
In a conversation between Brahma and Narada recorded in the kārttika-prasaṅga section of the Skanda Purāṇa, the following statement is found:
te narāḥ paśavo loke kiṁ teṣāṁ jīvane phalam yair na labdhā harer dīkṣā nārcito vā janārdanaḥ
Those who have not taken initiation from a spiritual master according to the prescribed rules and regulations and who have not worshiped the Supreme Lord, Janardan, are no better than animals and their
lives are spent uselessly. (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 2.5)
This statement confirms that initiation is an eternal function.
In a conversation between Rukmangada and Mohini, in Viṣṇu-yāmala, the following is stated:
adīkṣitasya vāmoru kṛtaṁ sarvaṁ nirarthakam paśu-yonim avāpnoti dīkṣā-virahito janaḥ
O beautiful one! All activities performed by an uninitiated person are useless. After death, such a person receives the body of an animal. (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 2.6)
The soul is neither female, male or neuter. The living entities, who are compelled to enjoy or suffer the fruits of their own actions and deeds, forget their own constitutional position of a spirit soul and consider themselves to be male or female, accepting their material body to be their self. The learned persons do not accept this.
yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ
yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ
One who identifies one’s self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile, and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as mere water, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with,
worships, or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth — such a person is no better than a cow or an ass. (Bhāg. 10.84.13)
prāyeṇa veda tad idaṁ na mahājano ’yaṁ devyā vimohita-matir bata māyayālam
trayyāṁ jaḍī-kṛta-matir madhu-puṣpitāyāṁ vaitānike mahati karmaṇi yujyamānaḥ
Being bewildered by the illusory energy of the Supreme Lord, Yajnavalkya, Jaimini, and other compilers of the religious scriptures cannot know the secret, confidential religious system of the twelve mahājanas. They cannot understand the transcendental value of performing devotional service or chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. Because their minds are attracted to the ritualistic ceremonies mentioned in the Vedas — especially the Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda and Ṛg Veda — their intelligence has become dull. Thus they are busy collecting the ingredients for ritualistic ceremonies that yield only temporary benefits, such as elevation to Svargaloka for material happiness. They are not attracted to the saṅkīrtana movement. Instead, they are interested in dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa. (Bhāg. 6.3.25)
Without understanding the teachings of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and the concept of bondage and liberation, many people are bereft of the opportunity of receiving spiritual initiation. No learned follower of sanātana-dharma can disagree with the principal that every male and female has the right for spiritual initiation. The spirit soul is not a male or a female of this material world. There are many social and worldly duties which display their prominence due to a lack of the realization of one’s constitutional position. One is advised to surpass all those conceptions and proceed on the path of devotional service.
— Ever well-wisher
Sri Siddhanta Saraswati
— From a letter to Sriman Thakura Prasada Adhikari. 2 March 1929. From, Patrāmṛta Nectar from the Letters. English translation by Bhumipati Das. Touchstone Media. Kolka ta. 2012, and https://www. facebook.com/prapannapublications/photos/151396727037928
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