Choosing a Spiritual Master
65
in  India. Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Lord Caitanya, and so many others. You are all representatives of newspapers, so I ask you to try to understand this movement as far as possible for the good of all human society.
Reporter:  Do you think your movement is the only way to know God?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Yes.
Reporter:  How are you assured of that?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  From the authorities and from God, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says:
sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.” [ Bhagavad-gītā  18.66]
Reporter:  Does “surrender” mean that someone would have to leave his family?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  No.
Reporter:  But suppose I were to become an initiate. Wouldn’t I have to come and live in the temple?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Not necessarily.
Reporter:  I can stay at home?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Oh, yes.
Reporter:  What about work? Would I have to give up my job?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  No, you’d simply have to give up your bad habits and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra on these beads—that’s all.
Reporter:  Would I have to give any financial support?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  No, that is your voluntary wish. If you give, that’s all right. And if you don’t, we don’t mind. We do not depend on anyone’s financial contribution. We depend on Kṛṣṇa.
Reporter:  I wouldn’t have to give any money at all?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  No.
Reporter:  Is this one of the main things that distinguishes the genuine guru from the fake guru?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Yes, a genuine guru is not a businessman. He is a representative of God. Whatever God says, the guru repeats. He does not speak otherwise.
Reporter:  But would you expect to find a real guru, say, traveling in a Rolls Royce and staying in a penthouse suite in a classy hotel?