Genuine initiation by a realized guru elevates anyone to transcendental status through authorized Vedic knowledge.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Brāhmaṇa Initiation Lecture with Professor O'Connell — May 6, 1968, Boston 680506IN-BOSTON [28:36 Minutes] [Glenville Ave. Temple] Prabhupāda: We are very glad to receive Professor O'Connell in this auspicious meeting. And it will be very nice, because he's studying the process of Caitanya philosophy. And this ceremony is one of the function in devotional service.
We have got a big book... I think, Professor O'Connell, you have secured that book, Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. Have you secured that book? O'Connell: I have the book. I'm yet to be a professor or even get my degree beyond the...
I have the book. Prabhupāda: That's all right. So that Hari-bhakti-vilāsa is written by Sanātana Gosvāmī in the name of Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī. Because Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī was a very young boy, and Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī, they were very elderly. But because all the six Gosvāmīns happened to be direct disciples of Lord Caitanya, so Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, although very young, he was treated as younger brother of Sanātana Gosvāmī.
So this book was actually written by Sanātana Gosvāmī, but it was published, or dedicated to, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī. In this book the rules and regulation of the Vaiṣṇavas are described—of the brahmacārīs, the students; of the gṛhasthas, householders; vānaprastha, retired men; and sannyāsī, renounced order—how gṛhastha should live, how brahmacārī should live, how vānaprastha should live, how sannyāsī should live. All the... It is called Vaiṣṇava smṛti. Śruti and smṛti. Śruti means Vedic literature, which is traditionally, from time immemorial, it is learned simply by hearing from authoritative sources. Just like in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the First Canto, first verse, it is said, tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye [SB 1.1.1]. [O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.] The original authority of Vedic literature, Lord Brahmā, he was instructed about Vedic knowledge by Lord Kṛṣṇa. And he imparted Vedic knowledge to the world.
So he was the first creature, living creature, after creation. So there was nobody to give him initiation, because he is the only living creature at that time. So the Lord Himself initiated. How He initiated? Hṛdā, through the heart.
Because He is situated in everyone's heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg. 18.61]. [The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.] He is..., the Lord is seated in everyone's heart. So he initiated. Tene brahma hṛdā. Hṛdā means "through the heart." And that is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, that buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi tam: "I give instruction, buddhi-yogam, the yoga principle of intelligence, or bhakti-yoga." Whom?
Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam [Bg. 10.10]: [To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.] One who is engaged with love and affection in devotional service, to him He gives instruction. Not to all. Samo 'haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu [Bg. 9.29]. God is equal to everyone. [I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.] That is a fact. So far eating, sleeping, mating, these four principles are concerned, God is giving everyone. Just like government provides maintenance, provision, even in the prison life.