Text 46]
Matsya, the Lord's Fish Incarnation
257
śrī-rājovāca  
 anādy-avidyopahatātma-saṁvidas  
 tan-mūla-saṁsāra-pariśramāturāḥ  
 yadṛcchayopasṛtā yam āpnuyur  
 vimuktido naḥ paramo gurur bhavān
śrī-rājā uvāca —the King offered prayers as follows;  anādi —from time immemorial;  avidyā —by ignorance;  upahata —has been lost;  ātma-saṁvidaḥ —knowledge about the self;  tat —that is;  mūla —the root;  saṁsāra —material bondage;  pariśrama —full of miserable conditions and hard work;  āturāḥ —suffering;  yadṛcchayā —by the supreme will;  upasṛtāḥ —being favored by the  ācārya ;  yam —the Supreme Personality of Godhead;  āpnuyuḥ —can achieve;  vimukti-daḥ —the process of liberation;  naḥ —our;  paramaḥ —the supreme;  guruḥ —spiritual master;  bhavān —Your Lordship.
TRANSLATION
The King said:  By the grace of the Lord, those who have lost their self-knowledge since time immemorial, and who because of this ignorance are involved in a material, conditional life full of miseries, obtain the chance to meet the Lord's devotee. I accept that Supreme Personality of Godhead as the supreme spiritual master.
PURPORT
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is actually the supreme spiritual master. The Supreme Lord knows everything about the suffering of the conditioned soul, and therefore He appears in this material world, sometimes personally, sometimes by an incarnation and sometimes by authorizing a living being to act on His behalf. In all cases, however, He is the original spiritual master who enlightens the conditioned souls who are suffering in the material world. The Lord is always busy helping the conditioned souls in many ways. Therefore He is addressed here as  paramo gurur bhavān . The representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who acts to spread  Kṛṣṇa  consciousness is also guided by the Supreme Lord to act properly in executing the Lord's order. Such a person may appear to be an ordinary human being, but because he acts on