I've recently read that sometimes graet souls cheat others for their benefit. What is the meaning of this? I'd like to get to know more about this aspect of saints in dealing with others. What does it mean practically?
Y.s.
Ramapriya
Guru Maharaja mentions this in his Gita commentary on verse 18.65. He refers to the Bhagavatam verses 1.13.37 and 11.21.23.
It makes me think of how Prabhupada told his disciples to "Chant and be happy." However we find that our acaryas were chanting and weeping. Does that mean that the acaryas were wrong, or that Prabhupada was wrong? Neither.
Prabhupada was preaching to the hippies of the 60s, therefore a slogan such as "Chant and weep" would not be so attractive to them. Even Guru Maharaja now tells us to chant and cry.
It is the Guru's mercy that he gives instructions that attract our minds and hearts in a way that corresponds with our material motivations, all with a view to overcome those motivations and move towards pure, unmotivated bhakti (suddha-bhakti).
We might be initially attracted by the prospect of chanting to be happy, but the more we chant, we will find that there is much cause for crying.
Guru Maharaja states in Rasa, "The generosity of Krsna's name causes you to feel as though you have no love for the Lord." (p. 100)
So the Guru may appear to be cheating, but what is the motivation for his "cheating?" It is for the greatest good: our genuine spiritual development. So I would argue that from a material point-of-view it may appear as cheating, but from the absolute point-of-view it is the greatest gift.
Still, it's not a sign of a great soul if one cheats, even for preaching purposes. We must end this bad habit of dovetailing lies in the name of yukta-vairagya. Never preach or force anyone to preach anything they haven't personally realised and/or do not agree with.
Ivar