Taking to Krsna Consciousness 79

Perfection of duty can be tested by seeing whether
the Supreme Lord is satisfied by its execution. The
Supreme Lord’s satisfaction can be tested by the
Lord’s representative, the spiritual master. There-
fore it is important to seek out a real representative
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and work
under him. If he is satisfied, then we should know
that the Supreme Lord is also satisfied. That is
explained by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura:

yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto’pi

dhyayam stuvams tasya yasas tri-sandhyam
vande guroh sri-caranaravindam

“By the mercy of the spiritual master one is bene-
dicted by the mercy of Krsna. Without the grace of
the spiritual master no one can make any advance-
ment. Therefore I should always remember the spiri-
tual master. At least three times a day I should offer
my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my
spiritual master.” (Sri Gurvastakam, Verse 8)

The spiritual master is the representative of the
Supreme Lord. How does he become the represen-
tative? If one says that such and such an object is a
pair of spectacles, and if he teaches his disciple in
that way, there is no mistake as to the identity of
the object. The spiritual master is he who has cap-
tured the words of a particular disciplic succession.
In the case given, the key word is “‘spectacles”—
that’s all. The spiritual master does not have to say
anything beyond that. This is the qualification.
