Daan bado ke Daataa?

'Daan bado ke daataa?' is a multifaceted question which requires a lot of perspectives and study of a few varied rules and protocols of Pushtimarg.

The daan here obviously signifies Shri Thakurji himself, more precisely Thakurji's aagya and the daataa here signifies Shri Mahaprabhuji, Shri Gusaiji and your diksha guru. So whose aagyaa must you follow first? And in case they contradict, whose aagya should you ignore?

We are all students for our entire lives. We begin learning different subjects through different teachers and without a doubt, we start developing varied interest in different subjects and the teachers play a huge role in our interest towards a subject! I still remember, I developed a taste for grammar because of my fifth standard English tutor. I doubt I would have been so keen on grammar were it not for my amazing English tutor during my school years. Upto the extent, I actually started liking the subject because I liked her teaching style and personality. I also remember disliking a subject which I used to love earlier because I got a shitty teacher for the subject in my later half of school years. No matter how the subject is, teachers are the ones who enable our journey into the unknown subject. They are the torch bearers for you in the dark of the unknown and without them, you would lose direction and get lost pretty quickly no matter how excited you are for the journey.

Thus, I would say, the teacher is more important

This is not grammar, the daan here is sakshat bhagavan!

The other side would have this to say. How can we compare mundane subjects to bhagavan himself! 

Krishna is our teacher too! After all, He is seen as Arjun's teacher in entire conversation of the Gita?

Yes, but no. Not in Pushtimarg. Shri Krishna is an expert in everything, but Shri Mahaprabhuji is an expert on Krishna. Krishna talks about the jeeva, the sansaara etc. and mentions among that, bhakti yoga is the best, but shri Mahaprabhuji lives this bhakti. Krishna has to talk about all his creation, he has to include all aspects of creation which have nothing to do with liberation or bhakti because of Krishna's position, and because he wants to run his leela of this sansaara, Shri Mahaprabhuji talks only about Krishna on the other hand. If you want to make Krishna love you, Shri Mahaprabhuji is the teacher, not Krishna himself.

A CEO of a big corporation may be an expert in all the fields concerning his business, but his secretary is an expert on him!


Let's get a few concepts clear before conclusion.

1. The nature and form of Pushtimarg

Practically speaking, Pushtimarg is a journey which lasts your whole life. It is a progressive path towards Krishna. This path is independent and inclusive of all aspects of your live. Pushtimarg sampradaya is based on the theory of Shuddhadvaita Brahmavād which is a universal theory. It explains all functions and elements of your life and Universe and how they interact. As a Pushtimargiya vaishnav, there is no action you can take without moving ahead or behind on this path. Every action you take in life affects your Pushtimarg journey in a positive or negative way.

This Shuddhadvaita Brahmavād theory in a nutshell is, Thakurji is your everything and his seva is the ultimate goal and means of happiness. (Since this article is not about Shuddhadvaita Brahmavaad, I will not dive into that here)

2. Shri Mahaprabhuji as founder of Pushtimarg

This universal theory was established in clear terms by Shri Mahaprabhuji. Shuddhadvaita Brahmavaad is nothing new, but Shri Mahaprabhuji pointed it out from the vast treasure trove of Upanishadic knowledge. In a true torchbearer fashion, Shri Mahaprabhuji gives light in the right direction and leads us. This sampraday, is based solely on Shri Mahaprabhuji's revelations in the Shuddhadvaita Brahmavaad theory. 

3. Shri Mahaprabhuji as Shri Krishna

Speaking of Shri Mahaprabhuji himself, it is not an easy task to set up such a theory in the first place. And only Krishna himself can reveal his own nature. After all, यमे वैशे वृणुते तेन लभ्य (Only those whom I seek can get to me) Thus, shri Krishna manifests himself in shri Mahaprabhuji and reveals himself through him. Please note however, Shri Mahaprabhuji is Krishna in his Acharya form, as a teacher. Thus never disrespect him thinking of him as Thakurji and doing his seva instead. The dignity of him as a guru must always be there. The this dignity is maintained by following what he says, not doing his seva. (What he says is in the last line of Point number 1)

Shri Mahaprabhuji is the Acharya svaroop of Thakurji, know him as thakurji, follow him as Acharya.

अग्निरूपो द्विजाचारो भविश्यामिह भुतले

वल्लभो अग्निरूपस्यात विट्ठलः पुरुषोत्तमः

(Agnipuraan predicting the birth of Shri Mahaprabhui and Shri Gusaiji as Agni svaroop and sakshad bhagavān)

Once you are clear on the above three concepts, the question itself sounds flawed, On one hand Thakurji himself is speaking through your guru, on the other hand Thakurji is speaking directly.

Conclusion

• Respect Shri Mahaprabhuji as an Acharya and follow his command of Krishna Seva
• While doing that, don't differentiate between Thakurji and Mahaprabhuji, both are the same.

Lastly to all questions similar to the one below, 

"Gurudev ordered me to do Mangala at 4AM and Thakurji ordered me to do mangala at 8AM, what should I do?"

The short answer is to simply discuss this with your respective Gurudev. The long answer depends on your Asakti and Thakurji's sānubhāv towards you.