Disciple’s Main identification is Guru-Parampara

We have delineated some of Śrīla Gurudeva’s family structure. However, the main identification or actual genealogy of one who has become a disciple of a bona fide guru is the guru-paramparā.

In Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa, Sītā-devī took refuge in the āśrama of Vālmīki Ṛṣi while she was pregnant, and there she had twin sons, Lava and Kuśa. They did not know that their father was the great king of Ayodhyā, Lord rāmacandra. The boys knew that rāma was a king and that Sītā was His wife, but they did not know that the same Sītā was their mother. They only knew their mother as Vana-devī.

When the twins grew up a little, Vālmīki Ṛṣi sent them to see Lord rāma when He was performing an aśvamedha-yajña. Vālmīki told them to sing a special song that he had taught them, known as Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. The two very beautiful boys went to the city of Ayodhyā and near the royal palace sang Rāmāyaṇa so captivatingly that everyone became enamoured. Lord rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata, Śatrughna, their mothers and all the subjects were charmed. The boys were so handsome that whoever saw them thought, “Oh, Lord rāma has manifested again in the form of children.” The boys looked so enchanting, just like Lord rāma when He was a child. However, they could not say who their father was, because they did not know anything about Him.

When the twins had finished singing Rāmāyaṇa, Lord rāma asked His brother Lakṣmaṇa to give them some gifts of clothing and golden coins, but Lava and Kuśa refused to accept them.

“What will we do with these things?” they asked. “Please keep them. In our āśrama, we eat fruits, and we wear the bark of trees made into cloth. return these gifts and tell King rāma that we don’t want them.”

This impressed Lord rāma even more.

Lakṣmaṇa thought that these boys looked like Lord rāma in a youthful form and wondered if they were His sons, so out of curiousity, he asked them to identify themselves. Who was their mother and who was their father? The boys replied, “O Lakṣmaṇajī, you are the brother of King rāma, and you are His minister and advisor. We thought you would be very clever and intelligent. However, now we have heard your question, we are doubtful about that.”

“Why is that?” asked Lakṣmaṇa.

“Don’t you know?” they replied. “Whoever lives in their guru’s āśrama, as we brahmacārīs do, does not tell the name of their mother and father; they should only tell the name of their guru. Our only identification is that Vālmīki Ṛṣi is our gurudeva and we are his disciples. We have no other identification.”

In the same way, the identification of the maṭhavāsī, the inhabitant of a maṭha, or monastery, is determined by his gurudeva and guru-paramparā.