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THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ 
    pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ 
    yac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ brūhi tan me 
    śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam
“Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.” [Bg. 2.7] So here we can see that Arjuna is confused about his duty.
Mr. O’Grady:  Is this duty to the self, to others, or to the state?
Śrila Prabhupāda:  A soldier’s duty is to fight with the enemy. Arjuna was a soldier, and Kṛṣṇa advised him, “The opposite party is your enemy, and you are a soldier. Why are you trying to be nonviolent? This is not good.” Then Arjuna said, “Actually, I am confused. In this confusion I cannot make the right decision. I therefore accept You as my spiritual master. Please give me the proper lesson.” In a chaotic condition, in a confused state of life, one should approach another, who is in full knowledge of the matter. You go to a lawyer to solve legal problems, and you go to a physician to solve medical problems. Everyone in the material world is confused about spiritual identity. It is therefore our duty to approach a bona fide spiritual master, who can give us real knowledge.
Mr. O’Grady:  I am very confused.
Śrila Prabhupāda:  So you must approach a spiritual master.
Mr. O’Grady:  And he makes a decision on how to help me stop this confusion?
Śrila Prabhupāda:  Yes, the spiritual master is one who solves all confusion. If the spiritual master cannot save his disciple from confusion, he is not a spiritual master. That is the test.
saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka- 
    trāṇāya kāruṇya-ghanāghanatvam 
    prāptasya kalyāṇa-guṇārṇavasya 
    vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam
This whole confused world is just like a blazing forest fire. In a forest fire all the animals are confused. They do not know where to go to save their lives. In the blazing fire of the material world, everyone is confused. How can that blazing forest fire be extinguished? It is not possible to utilize your man-made fire brigade, nor is it possible to simply pour buckets of