Text 26]
Instructions for Civilized Human Beings
223
PURPORT
Just by treating the root cause of an ailment, one can conquer all bodily pains and sufferings. Similarly, if one is devoted and faithful to the spiritual master, he can conquer the influence of  sattva-guṇa ,  rajo-guṇa  and  tamo-guṇa  very easily.  Yogīs  and  jñānīs  practice in many ways to conquer the senses, but the  bhakta  immediately attains the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the mercy of the spiritual master.  Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo . If the spiritual master is favorably inclined, one naturally receives the mercy of the Supreme Lord, and by the mercy of the Supreme Lord one immediately becomes transcendental, conquering all the influences of  sattva-guṇa ,  rajo-guṇa  and  tamo-guṇa  within this material world. This is confirmed in  Bhagavad-gītā  ( sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate ). If one is a pure devotee acting under the directions of the  guru , one easily gets the mercy of the Supreme Lord and thus becomes immediately situated on the transcendental platform. This is explained in the next verse.
TEXT 26
यस्य साक्षाद् मगवति ज्ञानदीपप्रदे गुरौ । मत्यसिद्धीः श्रुतं तस्य सर्वं कुञ्जरशौचवत् ॥२६॥
yasya sākṣād bhagavati jñāna-dīpa-prade gurau martyāsad-dhīḥ śrutam tasya sarvam kuñjara-śaucavat
yasya —one who;  sākṣāt —directly;  bhagavati —the Supreme Personality of Godhead;  jñāna-dīpa-prade —who enlightens with the torch of knowledge;  gurau —unto the spiritual master;  martya-asat-dhīḥ —considers the spiritual master to be like an ordinary human being and maintains such an unfavorable attitude;  śrutam —Vedic knowledge;  tasya —for him;  sarvam —everything;  kuñjara-śauca-vat —like the bath of an elephant in a lake.
TRANSLATION
The spiritual master should be considered to be directly the Supreme Lord because he gives transcendental knowledge for