QOhoosing a Spiritual Master 719
tad visnoh paramam padam
sada pasyanti stirayah
diviva caksur atatam
visnor yat paramam padam
“The lotus feet of Lord Visnu are the supreme objective of all the demi-
gods. These lotus feet of the Lord are as enlightening as the sun in
the sky.”

The plain truth so vividly explained in the Gitd, which is the central
lesson of the Vedas, is not understood or even suspected by the most
powerful scholars of the empiric schools. Herein lies the secret of Sri
Vyasa-piija. When we meditate on the transcendental pastimes of the
Absolute Godhead, we are proud to feel that we are His eternal servitors,
and we become jubilant and dance with joy. All glory to my divine
maaster, for it is he who has out of his unceasing flow of mercy stirred up
within us such a movement of eternal existence. Let us bow down at his
hotus feet.

Gentlemen, had he not appeared before us to deliver us from the
@hralldom of this gross worldly delusion, surely we should have remained
for lives and ages in the darkness of helpless captivity. Had he not ap-
peared before us, we would not have been able to understand the eternal
trath of the sublime teaching of Lord Caitanya. Had he not appeared
before us, we could not have been able to know the significance of the :
Gest sloka of the Brahma-samhita:

iSvarah paramah krsnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
andadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam
“Krsna, who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Godhead. He has an
eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other
origin, and He is the prime cause of all causes.”’

Personally, I have no hope for any direct service for the coming crores
of births of the sojourn of my life, but I am confident that some day or
other I shall be delivered from this mire of delusion in which I am at pres-
ent so deeply sunk. Therefore let me with all my earnestness pray at the
lotus feet of my divine master to allow me to suffer the lot for which I am
destined due to my past misdoings, but to let me have this power of
