vipra kahe, — mÅ«rkha Ämi, Å›abdÄrtha nÄ jÄni
Å›uddhÄÅ›uddha gÄ«tÄ paá¸i, guru-ÄjÃ±Ä mÄni'
vipra kahe - the brÄhmaṇa replied; mÅ«rkha Ämi - I am illiterate; Å›abda-artha - the meaning of the words; nÄ jÄni - I do not know; Å›uddha-aÅ›uddha - sometimes correct and sometimes not correct; gÄ«tÄ - the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ; paá¸i - I read; guru-ÄjÃ±Ä - the order of my spiritual master; mÄni' - accepting.
The brÄhmaṇa replied, “I am illiterate and therefore do not know the meaning of the words. Sometimes I read the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ correctly and sometimes incorrectly, but in any case I am doing this in compliance with the orders of my spiritual master.â€
This is a good example of a person who had become so successful that he was able to capture the attention of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu even while reading the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ incorrectly. His spiritual activities did not depend on material things such as correct pronunciation. Rather, his success depended on strictly following the instructions of his spiritual master.
yasya deve parÄ bhaktir yathÄ deve tathÄ gurau
tasyaite kathitÄ hy arthÄḥ prakÄÅ›ante mahÄtmanaḥ
“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.â€(ÅšvetÄÅ›vatara Up. 6.23)
Actually the meaning of the words of the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ or ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam are revealed to one strictly following the orders of the spiritual master. They are also revealed to one who has equal faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, being faithful to both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master is the secret of success in spiritual life.
