The Real Goal of Life
27
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto 'pi
“Without the grace of the spiritual master one cannot make any advancement.” If you displease him, then you are nowhere. Therefore we worship the  guru .
sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair uktas tathā bhāvyata eva sadbhiḥ kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya vande guroḥ śri-caraṇāravindam
[“The spiritual master is to be honored as much as the Supreme Lord because of his being the most confidential servitor of the Lord. This is acknowledged by all revealed scriptures and is followed by all authorities. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is a bona fide representative of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”] The  guru  should be accepted as God. That is the injunction of all  śāstra .
BOB:  The  guru  should be accepted as a representative of God?
ŚRĪLA PRABHUPĀDA:  Yes, the  guru  is God’s representative. The  guru  is the external manifestation of Kṛṣṇa.
BOB:  But different from the incarnations of Kṛṣṇa that come?
ŚRĪLA PRABHUPĀDA:  Yes.
BOB:  In what way is the external manifestation of the  guru  different from the external manifestation of, let us say, Kṛṣṇa or Caitanya when They come to earth?
ŚRĪLA PRABHUPĀDA:  The  guru  is the representative of Kṛṣṇa. So there are symptoms of who is a  guru . The general symptoms are described in the  Vedas .