ataḥ pá¹›cchÄmi saá¹siddhiá¹
yoginÄá¹ paramaá¹ gurum
puruá¹£asyeha yat kÄryaá¹
mriyamÄṇasya sarvathÄ
ataḥ - therefore; pá¹›cchÄmi - beg to inquire; saá¹siddhim - the way of perfection; yoginÄm - of the saints; paramam - the supreme; gurum - the spiritual master; puruá¹£asya - of a person; iha - in this life; yat - whatever; kÄryam - duty; mriyamÄṇasya - of one who is going to die; sarvathÄ - in every way.
Unless one is perfectly anxious to inquire about the way of perfection, there is no necessity of approaching a spiritual master. A spiritual master is not a kind of decoration for a householder. Generally a fashionable materialist engages a so-called spiritual master without any profit. The pseudo spiritual master flatters the so-called disciple, and thereby both the master and his ward go to hell without a doubt. MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it is the right type of disciple because he puts forward questions vital to the interest of all men, particularly for the dying men. The question put forward by MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it is the basic principle of the complete thesis of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. Now let us see how intelligently the great master replies.