A Spiritual Master Who Knows The Lord

It is absolutely necessary to receive Srimad-Bhagavatam from a bona fide spiritual master coming in disciplic succession and not from professional reciters or pseudo-devotees. A spiritual master is one who knows the science of Krsna consciousness. He must have given up all other engagements and be fixed solely in the service of the Lord. Such a spiritual master will always lead one towards Krsna and not away from Him. Krsna says, "Surrender unto Me only" (mam ekam saranam vraja), and the spiritual master says, "Surrender unto Krsna." He does not interpret Krsna's words and say that it is not to Krsna that we must surrender. He delivers the message as it is, like a postman who delivers a letter to the addressee without opening it and changing what it says.

A bona fide spiritual master must necessarily be a personalist. Impersonalists are not pure because they desire to become one with God, like materialists who think themselves number one in the world. Because they are materially contaminated, impersonalists cannot avoid misinterpreting the pure message of the scriptures. It is therefore recommended that one who is eager to accept a spiritual master seek a bona fide spiritual master who can lead everyone to God. Such a spiritual master knows everything about the Supreme Personality of Godhead because the Lord is obliged to reveal Himself completely to His sincere devotee. As Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita, "To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me." (Bg. 10.10)

It is important that the spiritual aspirant be conversant with the science of Krsna consciousness so that he will not be misled. If one is ignorant of what spiritual life is, how will he be able to evaluate who is a bona fide spiritual master and who is bogus? If one is ill and needs a doctor, one must select a doctor who is qualified to cure him, who perhaps has been recommended by a friend and who has cured other patients. Selecting a spiritual master is just as practical a matter, and because the disease of material life is the most stubborn of all, only an expert spiritual master can cure one-if one really wants to be cured.

Most people do not understand the seriousness of the disease of material life. Therefore it is stated that if one wants God, the Lord will send him to a spiritual master who will give the Lord to him. We recommend any reader fortunate enough to be seeking the Absolute Truth, God, or Krsna, to approach His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, who is such a spiritual master. One can do this just by reading his Srimad-Bhagavatam. In the words of His Divine Grace: "There are thousands and thousands of literary men all over the world, and they have created many, many thousands of literary works for the information of people in general for thousands and thousands of years. Unfortunately none of them have brought peace and tranquility on the earth. This is due to the spiritual vacuum in those literatures; therefore the Vedic literatures, especially Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, are specifically recommended to suffering humanity to bring about the desired effect of liberation from the pangs of material civilization, which is eating the vital part of human energy."