Text 20]
Nārada Muni Cursed by Prajāpati Dakṣa
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meant to shave the hair from one's face, but if not carefully handled, the razor will cause disaster. One is advised not to create a disaster by misusing his lifetime. One should be extremely careful to utilize the span of his life for spiritual realization, or Krṣṇa consciousness.
TEXT 20
शास्त्रस्य पितुरादेशं यो न वेद निवर्तकम् । कथं तदनुरूपाय गुणविसम्भ्युपक्रमेत् ॥२०॥
śāstrasya pitur ādeśam yo na veda nivartakam katham tad-anurūpāya guṇa-visrambhy upakramet
śāstrasya —of the scriptures;  pituḥ —of the father;  ādeśam —the instruction;  yaḥ —one who;  na —not;  veda —understands;  nivartakam —which brings about the cessation of the material way of life;  katham —how;  tat-anurūpāya —to follow the instruction of the  śāstras ;  guṇa-visrambhī —a person entangled in the three modes of material nature;  upakramet —can engage in the creation of progeny.
TRANSLATION
[Nārada Muni had asked how one could ignorantly defy one's own father. The Haryaśvas understood the meaning of this question.] One must accept the original instructions of the śāstra. According to Vedic civilization, one is offered a sacred thread as a sign of second birth. One takes his second birth by dint of having received instructions in the śāstra from a bona fide spiritual master. Therefore, śāstra, scripture, is the real father. All the śāstras instruct that one should end his material way of life. If one does not know the purpose of the father's orders, the śāstras, he is ignorant. The words of a material father who endeavors to engage his son in material activities are not the real instructions of the father.