Rasaraja, Braja, Krishnamayi and Radha Charan reached Radha-kunda early in the morning. We offered them something warm to drink, as the morning was rather chilly. However, Rasa and Braja fasted, awaiting the rite of diksha at ten o'clock. Braja, brave as he is, set out to take a bath at Radha-kunda. The rest of us stayed indoors, warm and comfortable.

We set out for Baba's ashram in good time. After a while of waiting, everything was set to go. Rasaraja was the first to go in. After all the anticipation, I am not certain if anything could have persuaded him from not being the first to get diksha. Baba has a small altar room downstairs in the ashram, where his and his guru's Giridharis are worshiped, along with a number of picturers. Baba always gives diksha in that room. The curtain is closed, and the initiate is sitting together with Baba in the room, just the two. Diksha is a private matter, a very sacred occasion. Baba is usually very grave at the time of diksha.

In the course of the ceremony, a small puja is performed — first to Thakurji, and his prasadi to guru — followed by the giving of the twelve Vaishnava-tilakas and the diksha-mantras, twenty-four in total in our line. The two Krishna-mantras are the primary diksha-mantras, and the rest are additional mantras and gayatris that aid our smarana and archana. That aside, Rasaraja came out blissful as ever. And it seemed to do the trick for Braja too, a very joyful and effulgent person came out the room after the diksha-ceremony was completed. "A very powerful experience," we heard. It certainly seemed that way.

Eulogizing the wonders of diksha to Haridas, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told:





Looking at the context, it is evident that Mahaprabhu does not concern himself with the arising of the siddha-deha, as understood in the context of a parshada-form in Vraja-dham, but rather speaks of the spiritualization of the devotee's current sadhaka-form. How is this to be understood?

In their commentaries on the second chapter of the first division of Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, the acharyas have explained that akin to prema-bhakti, that we all understand as a reality descending from above due to grace, sadhana-bhakti, too, descends into the devotee's body. The dilemma presented is as follows: If Sri Krishna's name, form, qualities and pastimes are all supramundane, then how is it possible to worship them with mundane senses? ataH zrI-kRSNa-nAmAdi na bhavet grAhyam indriyaiH. The resolution for the dilemma is the following: The svarupa-shakti of Bhagavan descends into the senses of the sadhaka, transforming them, imbuing them with the qualities of spirit. Thus, with a spiritualized sadhaka-form, the devotee joyfully engages in the worship of Sri Krishna's lotus feet.

This transformation is initiated with the rite of diksha, at the time of which the sad-guru bestows the aspirant all the elements necessary for successful worship. The diksha-mantras are given, that — as explained in an earlier entry in the journal — contain relevant information about the specific feature of Bhagavan we worship, along with information of our specific relationship with him. Additionally, the aspirant is connected to a guru-pranali, or a divine channel of gurus, through which the supramundane mercy of Sri Hari flows into this world. In the words of Baladeva (Siddhanta-ratna):



Hence, diksha is truly a significant event in the life of he who desires to attain a love-laden eternal relationship with Sri Krishna and his priyatama in the land of Vraja. Much more could be said of the merits and potency of diksha, yet I am trying to contain myself so as to not prolong the daily entry too far beyond its ordinary bulk.

After the ceremonies, Baba Maharaja offered us cups of phala-bhoga (fruits offered to Thakurji), telling us to return to the ashram at noontime for lunch-prasad. Evidently, working on finalizing the spiritualization of the aspirant's senses must being with one of the five... In the meantime, we headed over to our place, going over some topics concerning the diksha-mantras and so forth. Baba had told me to "make them understand". I am sincerely hoping the explanations were sensible enough. There is a booklet explaining all the diksha-mantras in further detail, it is out of print but I am supposed to get a copy shortly.

To be continued...