yadi vaiṣṇava-aparÄdha uá¹he hÄtÄ« mÄtÄ
upÄá¸e vÄ chiṇá¸e, tÄra Å›ukhi' yÄya pÄtÄ
yadi - if; vaiṣṇava-aparÄdha - an offense at the feet of a Vaiṣṇava; uá¹he - arises; hÄtÄ« - an elephant; mÄtÄ - mad; upÄá¸e - uproots; vÄ - or; chiṇá¸e - breaks; tÄra - of the creeper; Å›ukhi' - shriveling up; yÄya - goes; pÄtÄ - the leaf.
One’s devotional attitude increases in the association of a Vaiṣṇava:
tÄá¹…dera caraṇa sevi bhakta-sane vÄsa
janame janame haya, ei abhilÄá¹£a
By his personal example, Narottama dÄsa ṬhÄkura stresses that a devotee must always remember to please his predecessor ÄcÄrya. The GosvÄmÄ«s are represented by one’s spiritual master. One cannot be an ÄcÄrya (spiritual master) without following strictly in the disciplic succession of the ÄcÄryas. One who is actually serious about advancing in devotional service should desire only to satisfy the previous ÄcÄryas. Ei chaya gosÄñi yÄra, mui tÄra dÄsa. One should always think of oneself as a servant of the servant of the ÄcÄryas, and thinking this, one should live in the society of Vaiṣṇavas. However, if one thinks that he has become very mature and can live separate from the association of Vaiṣṇavas and thus gives up all the regulative principles due to offending a Vaiṣṇava, one’s position becomes very dangerous. Offenses against the holy name are explained in Ä€di-lÄ«lÄ, chapter eight, verse 24. Giving up the regulative principles and living according to one’s whims is compared to a mad elephant, which by force uproots the bhakti-latÄ and breaks it to pieces. In this way the bhakti-latÄ shrivels up. Such an offense is especially created when one disobeys the instructions of the spiritual master. This is called guru-avajñÄ. The devotee must therefore be very careful not to commit offenses against the spiritual master by disobeying his instructions. As soon as one is deviated from the instructions of the spiritual master, the uprooting of the bhakti-latÄ begins, and gradually all the leaves dry up.