SB 8.24.50
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 50
- acakṣur andhasya yathāgraṇīḥ kṛtas
- tathā janasyāviduṣo 'budho guruḥ
- tvam arka-dṛk sarva-dṛśāṁ samīkṣaṇo
- vṛto gurur naḥ sva-gatiṁ bubhutsatām
SYNONYMS
acakṣuḥ — one who does not have his power of sight; andhasya — for such a blind person; yathā — as; agraṇīḥ — the leader, who goes first; kṛtaḥ — accepted; tathā — similarly; janasya — such a person; aviduṣaḥ — who has no knowledge of the goal of life; abudhaḥ — a foolish rascal; guruḥ — the spiritual master; tvam — Your Lordship; arka-dṛk — appear like the sun; sarva-dṛśām — of all sources of knowledge; samīkṣaṇaḥ — the complete seer; vṛtaḥ — accepted; guruḥ — the spiritual master; naḥ — our; sva-gatim — one who knows his real self-interest; bubhutsatām — such an enlightened person.
TRANSLATION
As a blind man, being unable to see, accepts another blind man as his leader, people who do not know the goal of life accept someone as a guru who is a rascal and a fool. But we are interested in self-realization. Therefore we accept You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as our spiritual master, for You are able to see in all directions and are omniscient like the sun.
PURPORT
The conditioned soul, being wrapped in ignorance and therefore not knowing the goal of life, accepts a guru who can juggle words and make some display of magic that is wonderful to a fool. Sometimes a foolish person accepts someone as a guru because he can manufacture a small quantity of gold by mystic yogic power. Because such a disciple has a poor fund of knowledge, he cannot judge whether the manufacture of gold is the criterion for a guru. Why should one not accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, from whom unlimited numbers of gold mines come into being? Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). All the gold mines are created by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, why should one accept a magician who can manufacture only a small portion of gold? Such gurus are accepted by those who are blind, not knowing the goal of life. Mahārāja Satyavrata, however, knew the goal of life. He knew the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore he accepted the Lord as his guru. Either the Supreme Lord or His representative can become guru. The Lord says, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te: (BG 7.14) "One can get relief from the clutches of māyā as soon as he surrenders unto Me." Therefore it is the guru's business to instruct his disciple to surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead if he wants relief from the material clutches. This is the symptom of the guru. This same principle was instructed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). In other words, one is advised not to accept a guru who does not follow the path of instruction given by Lord Kṛṣṇa.