Question: I have understood and learnt that the word appearance and disappearance is only used for the acaryas and the spiritual masters, but now of late I am seeing that everybody is using that word for devotees’ birthdays. I just want to know if we can use it for few of the senior devotees who have dedicated themselves in Srila Prabhupada’s service over a period of time? Can you please enlighten me?

Guru Maharaj: Why not? A devotee never dies, he appears and disappears. The word Jayanti is reserved for Krishna’s appearance, because His appearance is very special. But everyone else appears and disappears. Of course, for the great saintly devotees, we celebrate...