Rejecting a Disciple
By Swāmī Śrī Bhaktivedānta Tripurāri
Recently I was asked the following: How can a guru reject his or her disciple, given that the relationship between the two is said to be eternal?
There is precedent for this. In the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Abhidhāna it is mentioned that Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī rejected his first disciple, who went on to become known as Hitharivaṃśa. He was rejected because he refused to follow Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī’s instruction and maintained that he was receiving higher guidance from within—directly from Rādhā.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura writes in Harināma-cintāmaṇi that as long as the guru and disciple are both qualified their relationship extends into eternity. But if the disciple becomes deceitful, untrustworthy, or crooked (duṣṭa), the guru must reject such a disciple. And if he does not, the guru himself will fall down:
guru duṣṭa haile śiṣya āgatyā sambandha tyāga kariba, śiṣya duṣṭa haile gurau se sambandha tyāga kariben
If the guru is corrupt the disciple must give up his connection with him, and if the śiṣya is corrupt the guru must reject him.
This is from the auto commentary or footnote to Bhaktivinoda’s eleventh verse of the sixth chapter of his Harināma-cintāmaṇi.
Elaborating on Bhaktivinoda’s instruction in response to the question as to whether or not a guru can reject a disciple, Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī commented as follows regarding the meaning of duṣṭa (corrupt) with regard to the disciple.
Not very easily, but when the disciple becomes intolerable he should be rejected. When the disciple sets a bad example for others. Just as when any patient is considered so much contagious that he will be dangerous to other patients of the room, he should be removed. Similarly, when the disciple’s association will cause much damage to other disciples, then in that case he is to be removed for the good of others.
If a disciple obstinately refuses to follow the instruction of his guru and thus proves himself to be unfit, he has in effect already rejected his guru. How then can to guru teach him? Thus he should be rejected. And the decision to do so is entirely in the hands of the guru, no one else. Should the disciple criticize the guru for rejecting him, such a disciple only demonstrates his incorrigible nature, underscoring his corrupt status. That said, should the rejected disciple choose to rectify himself, the guru will of course reinstate him in due course.
Properly understood, the idea that the relationship between the guru and disciple is eternal speaks to us about a relationship that carries into liberated or eternal life. This Gauḍīya tenet is unlike the teaching of Advaita Vedānta, wherein the guru is provisional and ultimately done away with once one merges into Brahman. But within Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, if the disciple does not follow the guru’s instructions and thereby forces the guru to reject him, the prospect of an eternal relationship with the guru is all but lost, unless the disciple expresses remorse.
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