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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 2, Ch. 5]
is the regulation of the disciplic succession. This process is recommended in the  Bhagavad-gītā  (Bg. 4.2). The inquisitive student must approach a qualified spiritual master to receive transcendental knowledge by surrender, submissive inquiries and service. Knowledge received by submissive inquiries and service is more effective than knowledge received in exchange for money. A spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession from Brahmā and Nārada has no demand for dollars and cents. A bona fide student has to satisfy him by sincere service to obtain knowledge of the relation and nature of the individual soul and the Supersoul.
TEXT 2
यद्वृपं यदधिष्ठानं यतः सृष्टमिदं प्रभो । यत्संस्थं यत्परं यच्च तत् तत्त्वं वद तत्त्वतः ॥ २ ॥
yad rūpam yad adhiṣṭhānam yataḥ sṛṣṭam idam prabho yat saṁstham yat param yac ca tat tattvam vada tattvataḥ
yat—what; rūpam—the symptoms of manifestation; yat—what; adhiṣṭhānam—background; yataḥ—from where; sṛṣṭam—created; idam—this world; prabho—O my father; yat—in which; saṁstham—conserved; yat—what; param—under control; yat—what are; ca—and; tat—all these; tvam—yourself; vada—please describe; tattvataḥ—factually.
TRANSLATION
My dear father, please describe factually the symptoms of this manifest world. What is its background? How is it created? How is it conserved? And under whose control is all this being done?
PURPORT
The inquiries by Nārada Muni appear to be very reasonable on the basis of factual cause and effect. The atheists, however, put forward many self-made theories without any touch of cause and effect. The manifested world, as well as the spirit soul, is still unexplained by the godless atheists through the medium of experimental knowledge, although they have put forward many theories manufactured by their fertile brains. Contrary to such mental speculative theories of creation, however, Nārada Muni wanted to know all the facts of creation in truth, and not by theories.