866
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 3, Ch. 22]
rise to the topmost stage of spiritual perfection simply by following the rituals and religious principles. He has to take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and work under his direction faithfully and sincerely; then he becomes perfect, without a doubt.
TEXT 7
दिष्ट्या त्वयानुशिष्टोऽहं कृतश्चानुग्रहो महान् । अपापतैः कर्णरन्ध्रैर्जुष्टा दिष्ट्योश्चतीर्गिरः ॥ ७ ॥
diṣṭyā tvayānuśiṣṭo 'haṁ kṛtaś cānugraho mahān apāvṛtaiḥ karṇa-randhrair juṣṭā diṣṭyośatīr giraḥ
diṣṭyā—luckily; tvayā—by you; anuśiṣṭaḥ—instructed; aham—I; kṛtaḥ—bestowed; ca—and; anugrahaḥ—favor; mahān—great; apāvṛtaiḥ—open; karṇa-randhraiḥ—with the holes of the ears; juṣṭāḥ—received; diṣṭyā—by good fortune; uśatīḥ—pure; giraḥ—words.
TRANSLATION
I have fortunately been instructed by you, and thus great favor has been bestowed upon me. I thank God that I have listened with open ears to your pure words.
PURPORT
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has given directions, in his  Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , on how to accept a bona fide spiritual master and how to deal with him. First, the desiring candidate must find a bona fide spiritual master, and then he must very eagerly receive instructions from him and execute them. This is reciprocal service. A bona fide spiritual master or saintly person always desires to elevate a common man who comes to him. Because everyone is under the delusion of  māyā  and is forgetful of his prime duty, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, a saintly person always desires that everyone become a saintly person. It is the function of a saintly person to invoke Kṛṣṇa consciousness in every forgetful common man.
Manu said that since he was advised and instructed by Kardama Muni, he was very much favored. He considered himself lucky to receive the message by aural reception. It is especially mentioned here that one should be very inquisitive to hear with open ears from the authorized source of