Choosing a Spiritual Master
79
tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ divīva cakṣur ātataṁ viṣṇor yat paramaṁ padam
“The lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu are the supreme objective of all the demigods. These lotus feet of the Lord are as enlightening as the sun in the sky.”
The plain truth so vividly explained in the  Gītā , which is the central  lesson  of the  Vedas , is not understood or even suspected by the most  powerful  scholars of the empiric schools. Herein lies the secret of Śrī  Vyāsa-pūjā . When we meditate on the transcendental pastimes of the  Absolute  Godhead, we are proud to feel that we are His eternal servitors,  and we  become jubilant and dance with joy. All glory to my divine  master , for it is he who has out of his unceasing flow of mercy stirred up  within  us such a movement of eternal existence. Let us bow down at his  lotus  feet.
Gentlemen, had he not appeared before us to deliver us from the  thralldom  of this gross worldly delusion, surely we should have remained  for lives  and ages in the darkness of helpless captivity. Had he not appeared before us, we would not have been able to understand the eternal  truth  of the sublime teaching of Lord Caitanya. Had he not appeared before us, we could not have been able to know the significance of the  first śloka  of the  Brahma-saṁhitā :
iśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
“ Kṛṣṇa , who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Godhead. He has an  eternal , blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other  origin , and He is the prime cause of all causes.”
Personally, I have no hope for any direct service for the coming crores of births of the sojourn of my life, but I am confident that some day or  other I  shall be delivered from this mire of delusion in which I am at present so deeply sunk. Therefore let me with all my earnestness pray at the  lotus  feet of my divine master to allow me to suffer the lot for which I am  destined  due to my past misdoings, but to let me have this power of