अनाद्यविद्योपहतात्मसंविद
स्तन्मूलसंसारपरिश्रमातुराः ।
यदृच्छयोपसृता यमाप्नुयु
र्विमुक्तिदो नः परमो गुरुर्भवान् ॥४६॥
Å›rÄ«-rÄjovÄca
anÄdy-avidyopahatÄtma-saá¹vidas
tan-mÅ«la-saá¹sÄra-pariÅ›ramÄturÄḥ
yadá¹›cchayopasá¹›tÄ yam Äpnuyur
vimuktido naḥ paramo gurur bhavÄn
Å›rÄ«-rÄjÄ uvÄca - the King offered prayers as follows; anÄdi - from time immemorial; avidyÄ - by ignorance; upahata - has been lost; Ätma-saá¹vidaḥ - knowledge about the self; tat - that is; mÅ«la - the root; saá¹sÄra - material bondage; pariÅ›rama - full of miserable conditions and hard work; ÄturÄḥ - suffering; yadá¹›cchayÄ - by the supreme will; upasá¹›tÄḥ - being favored by the ÄcÄrya; yam - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; Äpnuyuḥ - can achieve; vimukti-daḥ - the process of liberation; naḥ - our; paramaḥ - the supreme; guruḥ - spiritual master; bhavÄn - Your Lordship.
The King said: By the grace of the Lord, those who have lost their self-knowledge since time immemorial, and who because of this ignorance are involved in a material, conditional life full of miseries, obtain the chance to meet the Lord’s devotee. I accept that Supreme Personality of Godhead as the supreme spiritual master.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is actually the supreme spiritual master. The Supreme Lord knows everything about the suffering of the conditioned soul, and therefore He appears in this material world, sometimes personally, sometimes by an incarnation and sometimes by authorizing a living being to act on His behalf. In all cases, however, He is the original spiritual master who enlightens the conditioned souls who are suffering in the material world. The Lord is always busy helping the conditioned souls in many ways. Therefore He is addressed here as paramo gurur bhavÄn. The representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who acts to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness is also guided by the Supreme Lord to act properly in executing the Lord’s order. Such a person may appear to be an ordinary human being, but because he acts on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme spiritual master, he is not to be neglected as ordinary. It is therefore said, ÄcÄryaá¹ mÄá¹ vijÄnÄ«yÄt: an ÄcÄrya who acts on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead should be understood to be as good as the Supreme Lord Himself.
sÄká¹£Äd dharitvena samasta-Å›Ästrair
uktas tathÄ bhÄvyata eva sadbhiḥ
kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya
vande guroḥ Å›rÄ«-caraṇÄravindam
ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura has advised that the spiritual master acting on the Supreme Lord’s behalf must be worshiped as being as good as the Supreme Lord, for he is the Lord’s most confidential servant in broadcasting the Lord’s message for the benefit of the conditioned souls involved in the material world.
