Q. Why are you changing your name, surname after taking initiation (dikhsa)?

It is common that a son will be named after their father or grandfather etc. Therefore that name is
naturally affiliated with material things.

When we (the soul) desire to try to enjoy independently of Krishna and becomes attracted to
this material world, we are covered by ignorance, and becomes forgetful of Krishna, and of our
relationship with the Supreme Godhead.

We misidentify ourselves with the temporary body that we wearing, and falsely thinks that the
things related to that body are mine. In this condition happiness and distress are gauged by the
experience of pain or pleasure in relationship with the body, and we (the soul) constantly
endeavors to please the senses of his temporary body.

However, no matter how expertly we arranged our material situation, pain and disappointment
are always coming. Even though we have no desire for distress to come, distress is coming.

Because we are covered by ignorance of our eternal position and have no knowledge of how to
escape this cycle of temporary happiness and distress, the cycle continues.

All of this distress and entanglement is due to the soul's original misidentification with the body.

Naturally the question arises, "How is this soul delivered?"

Only when we come into the association of a genuine spiritual teacher—guru—can our original
identity in service to Krishna be awakened.

When we associates with and hears the guru's instructions, we develops some desire to serve
Krishna and we begins to adopt the practices of bhakti -yoga under the guru's guidance.

When the guru sees that we are qualified to become a disciple, the guru gives the disciple
initiation.

It is common in this practice of initiation that the guru will give a spiritual name to the disciple.
So in answer to your question, “WHY?”

śaṅkha-cakrādy-ūrdhva-puṇḍra-dhāraṇādy-ātma-lakṣaṇam
tan nāma-karaṇaṁ caiva vaiṣṇavatvam ihocyate

“After initiation, the disciple’s name must be changed to indicate that he is a servant of Lord
Viṣṇu. The disciple should also immediately begin marking his body with tilaka (ūrdhva-
puṇḍra), especially his forehead. These are spiritual marks, symptoms of a perfect Vaiṣṇava.”

This is a verse from the Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa. A member of the sahajiyā-
sampradāya does not change his name; therefore he cannot be accepted as a Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava.
If a person does not change his name after initiation, it is to be understood that he will continue
in his bodily conception of life. (Chaitanya Charitamrta, Madhya, 1.208)

When a person accepts spiritual initiation it is known as his second birth, because he is
practically taking his first steps into reviving his lost, eternal relationship with Krishna.

Just as at birth a person is named, so at his second birth he is also named. But this time he is
given a name like Krishna Dasa (the servant of Krishna) or Bhakta Dasa (the servant of the
Vaishnavas).

And after receiving initiation from a bona fide spiritual master, one must abandon all kinds of
sinful activities, namely illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating.
(SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM------4:26:11-------PURPORT).

In our ISKCON society Das or Dasa, Dasi means the servant, NOT some Bengali race belongs to
Das community.
For example, “KRISHNA DASA” means the male servant of Lord Krishna and “Tulsi Devi
Dasi” means the female servant of Srimati Tulsi Devi.

Because we are taking shelter unto the lotus feet of Guru and Lord Krishna, Lord Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu (who is the incarnation of both Sri Krishna and Srimati Radharani) says to become
“dāsa-dāsānudāsah” (Chaitanya Charitamrta, Madhya-lila, 13.80) means you should try to
become the servant of another Kṛṣṇa's servant, means you serve to all devotees, Guru, and Lord
Krishna,, because we can’t approach or serve Lord Krishna directly, but we can serve through
the authentic Spiritual Master (Guru), it’s mentioned in all scriptures like as the Bhagavad-Gita,
Bible etc.

We are eternal soul (jiv-atma) and Lord Krishna is the Supersoul (Paramatama). We (the soul)
are eternally part and parcel of Lord Krishna as He said in the Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 15, text 7,
“MAMAIVAMSO jiva-loke JIVA-BHUTAH SANATANAH" means “The living entities in
this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts." (Sri Krishna, BG 15.7)

And in the Chaitanya Charitamrta it is describes, “Jīvera 'svarūpa' haya-kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa'”

means the eternal occupational duty of the human being is to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa. (CC Madhya
20.108).

What is Diksha?

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains dīkṣā in his Bhakti-sandarbha (283):

divyaṁ jñānaṁ yato dadyāt kuryāt pāpasya saṅkṣayam
tasmāt dīkṣeti sā proktā deśikais tattva-kovidaiḥ
“Dīkṣā is the process by which one can awaken his transcendental knowledge and vanquish all reactions
caused by sinful activity. A person expert in the study of the revealed scriptures knows this process as
dīkṣā.”
The regulative principles of dīkṣā are explained in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (2.3–4) and the Bhakti-
sandarbha (283). As stated:
dvijānām anupetānāṁ svakarmādhyayanādiṣu
yathādhikāro nāstīha syāc copanayanād anu
tathātrādīkṣitānāṁ tu mantra-devārcanādiṣu
nādhikāro ‘sty ataḥ kuryād ātmānaṁ śiva-saṁstutam

“Even though born in a brāhmaṇa family, one cannot engage in Vedic rituals without being initiated
and having a sacred thread. Although born in a brāhmaṇa family, one becomes a brāhmaṇa only after
initiation and the sacred thread ceremony. Unless one is initiated as a brāhmaṇa, one cannot worship
the holy name properly.”
(SRI CAITANYA CARITAMRTA--------2:15:108--------PURPORT).
After receiving initiation from a bona fide spiritual master, one must abandon all kinds of sinful
activities, namely illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating.
(SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM------4:26:11-------PURPORT).
A first-class intelligent man is called a brāhmaṇa because he knows the Supreme Brahman, the
Absolute Truth. According to the Vedic instructions, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: [MU
1.2.12] to know this science, one must approach a bona fide guru, a spiritual master who will initiate
the disciple with the sacred thread so that he may understand the Vedic knowledge. Janmanā jāyate
śūdraḥ saṁskārād dhi bhaved dvijaḥ. Becoming a brāhmaṇa through the endeavor of a bona fide
spiritual master is called saṁskāra. After initiation, one is engaged in study of the śāstra, which
teaches the student how to gain release from materialistic life and return home, back to Godhead.
(SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM------6:5:20-------PURPORT).

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī warns, however, that if a person is properly initiated by a bona fide spiritual
master, he should not think that simply by the acceptance of such initiation his business is then
finished. One still has to follow the rules and regulations very carefully. If after accepting the spiritual
master and being initiated one does not follow the rules and regulations of devotional service, then he
is again fallen. One must be very vigilant to remember that he is the part and parcel of the
transcendental body of Kṛṣṇa, and that it is his duty as part and parcel to give service to the whole, or
Kṛṣṇa. If we do not render service to Kṛṣṇa then again we fall down. In other words, simply becoming
initiated does not elevate one to the position of a high-class brāhmaṇa. One also has to discharge the
duties and follow the regulative principles very rigidly.
(NECTAR OF DEVOTION).