Absolute Necessity of a Pure Devotee Spiritual Master
Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava completely freed from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to…
Prahlada teaches how to accept a Guru naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁspṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥmahīyasāṁ pāda- rajo-’bhiṣekaṁniṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat
WORD-FOR-WORD MEANINGS
na — not; eṣām — of these; matiḥ — the consciousness; tāvat — that long; urukrama– aṅghrim — the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is famous for performing uncommon activities; spṛśati — does touch; anartha — of unwanted things; apagamaḥ — the disappearance; yat — of which; arthaḥ — the purpose; mahīyasām — of the great souls (the mahātmās, or devotees); pāda–rajaḥ — by the dust of the lotus feet; abhiṣekam — consecration; niṣkiñcanānām — of devotees who have nothing to do with this material world; na — not; vṛṇīta — may accept; yāvat — as long as.
TRANSLATION
Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava completely freed from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord, who is glorified for His uncommon activities. Only by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious and taking shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord in this way can one be freed from material contamination.
PURPORT
Becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious brings about anartha-apagamaḥ, the disappearance of all anarthas, the miserable conditions we have unnecessarily accepted. The material body is the basic principle of these unwanted miserable conditions. The entire Vedic civilization is meant to relieve one from these unwanted miseries, but persons bound by the laws of nature do not know the destination of life. As described in the previous verse, īśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ: they are conditioned by the three strong modes of material nature. The education that keeps the conditioned soul bound life after life is called materialistic education. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has explained that materialistic education expands the influence of māyā. Such an education
induces the conditioned soul to be increasingly attracted to materialistic life and to stray further and further away from liberation from unwanted miseries.
One may ask why highly educated persons do not take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The reason is explained in this verse. Unless one takes shelter of a bona fide, fully Kṛṣṇa conscious spiritual master, there is no chance of understanding Kṛṣṇa. The educators, scholars and big political leaders worshiped by millions of people cannot understand the goal of life and take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for they have not accepted a bona fide spiritual master and the Vedas. Therefore in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.2.3) it is said, nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā na bahunā śrutena: one cannot become self-realized simply by having an academic education, by presenting lectures in an erudite way (pravacanena labhyaḥ), or by being an intelligent scientist who discovers many wonderful things. One cannot understand Kṛṣṇa unless one is graced by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Only one who has surrendered to a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa and taken the dust of his lotus feet can understand Kṛṣṇa. First one must understand how to get out of the clutches of māyā. The only means is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. And to become Kṛṣṇa conscious very easily, one must take shelter of a realized soul — a mahat, or mahātmā — whose only interest is to engage in the service of the Supreme Lord. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (9.13): mahātmānas tu māṁ pārthadaivīṁ prakṛtiṁ āśritāḥbhajanty ananya-manasojñātvā bhūtādim avyayam “O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.” Therefore, to end the unwanted miseries of life, one must become a devotee. yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanāsarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ “One who has unflinching devotional faith in Kṛṣṇa consistently manifests all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa and the demigods.” (Bhāg. 5.18.12) yasya deve parā bhaktiryathā deve tathā gurautasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥprakāśante mahātmanaḥ “Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23) yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyastasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām “The Lord is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form.” (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.2.3) These are Vedic injunctions. One must take shelter of a self-realized spiritual master, not a materially educated scholar or politician. One must take shelter of a niṣkiñcana, a person engaged in devotional service and free from material contamination. That is the way to return home, back to Godhead. (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.32) Another example of yavat-tavat structure: evaṁ manaḥ karma-vaśaṁ prayuṅkteavidyayātmany upadhīyamāneprītir na yāvan mayi vāsudevena mucyate deha-yogena tāvat
SYNONYMS
evam — thus; manaḥ — the mind; karma–vaśam — subjugated by fruitive activities; prayuṅkte — acts; avidyayā — by ignorance; ātmani — when the living entity; upadhīyamāne — is covered; prītiḥ — love; na — not; yāvat — as long as; mayi — unto Me; vāsudeve — Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa; na — not; mucyate — is delivered; deha–yogena — from contact with the material body; tāvat — so long.
TRANSLATION
When the living entity is covered by the mode of ignorance, he does not understand the individual living being and the supreme living being, and his mind is subjugated by fruitive activity. Therefore, until one has love for Lord Vāsudeva, who is none other than Myself, he is certainly not delivered from having to accept a material body again and again.
When the living entity is covered by the mode of ignorance, he does not understand the individual living being and the supreme living being, and his mind is subjugated to fruitive activity. Therefore, until one has love for Lord Väsudeva, who is none other than Myself, he is certainly not delivered from having to accept a material body again and again.
PURPORT
When the mind is polluted by fruitive activity, the living entity wants to be elevated from one material position to another. Generally everyone is involved in working hard day and night to improve his economic condition. Even when one understands the Vedic rituals, he becomes interested in promotion to heavenly planets, not knowing that one’s real interest lies in returning home, back to Godhead. By acting on the platform of fruitive activity, one wanders throughout the universe in different species and forms. Unless he comes in contact with a devotee of the Lord, a guru, he does not become attached to the service of Lord Vāsudeva. Knowledge of Vāsudeva requires many births to understand. As confirmed in Bhagavad- gītā (7.19): vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ. After struggling for existence for many births one may take shelter at the lotus feet of Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa. When this happens, one actually becomes wise and surrenders unto Him. That is the only way to stop the repetition of birth and death. This is confirmed in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 19.151) in the instructions given by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī at Daśāśvamedha-ghāṭa. brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīvaguru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja The living entity wanders throughout different planets in different forms and bodies, but if by chance he comes in contact with a bona fide spiritual master, by the grace of the spiritual master he receives Lord Kṛṣṇa’s shelter, and his devotional life begins. (SB 5.5.6) The best way to establish our relation in transcendental sweetness is to approach Him through His recognized devotees. One should not try to establish the relation directly; there must be a via medium which is transparent and competent to lead us to the right path. (SB 1.9.22 Purport)