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Bhagavad  -    gītā    As It Is
[Ch. 2]
knowledge (“ Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ ”) by which one comes to know perfectly that Vāsudeva, or Kṛṣṇa, is the root of all manifested causes. As water on the root of a tree is automatically distributed to the leaves and branches, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can render the highest service to everyone—namely self, family, society, country, humanity, etc. If Kṛṣṇa is satisfied by one’s actions, then everyone will be satisfied.
Service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is, however, best practiced under the able guidance of a spiritual master who is a bona fide representative of Kṛṣṇa, who knows the nature of the student and who can guide him to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As such, to be well-versed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness one has to act firmly and obey the representative of Kṛṣṇa, and one should accept the instruction of the bona fide spiritual master as one's mission in life. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākur instructs us, in his famous prayers for the spiritual master, as follows:
yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo yasyāprasādānna gatiḥ kuto ’pi dhyāyaṁ stuvaṁs tasya yaśas tri-sandhyaṁ vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam.
“By satisfaction of the spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of God-head becomes satisfied. And by not satisfying the spiritual master, there is no chance of being promoted to the plane of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I should, therefore, meditate and pray for his mercy three times a day, and offer my respectful obeisances unto him, my spiritual master.”
The whole process, however, depends on perfect knowledge of the soul beyond the conception of the body—not theoretically but practically, when there is no longer chance for sense gratification manifested in fruitive activities. One who is not firmly fixed in mind is diverted by various types of fruitive acts.
TEXTS 42-43
यामिमां पुष्पितां वाचं प्रवदन्त्यविपश्चितः । वेदवादरताः पार्थ नान्यदस्तीति वादिनः ॥४२॥ कामात्मानः स्वर्गपरा जन्मकमेफेलप्रदाम् । क्रियाविशेषबहुलां भोगैश्वर्यगतिं प्रति ॥४३॥