Text 37] Appearance of Sukadeva Gosvami 1027

particular soul is very eager to go back to Godhead, the Lord at once sends
His bona fide representative. The sincere devotee is thus assured by the
Lord of going back to Godhead. The conclusion is that to get the assis-
tance and help of a bona fide spiritual master means to receive the direct

help of the Lord Himself.

TEXT 37

aa: Tory dare afrat wet Tey |
qerte aeard frre aaa 11309

atah prechami samsiddhim
yoginam paramam gurum

purusasyeha yat karyam
mriyamanasya sarvatha

atah— therefore; prcchami—beg to inquire; samsiddhim—the way of per-
fection; yoginam—of the saints; paramam—the Supreme; gurum—the
spiritual master; purusasya—of a person; tha—in this life; yat— whatever;
karyam—duty; mriyamanesya—of one who is going to die; sarvatha—in
every way.

TRANSLATION

You are the spiritual master of great saints and devotees. I am there-
fore begging you to show the way of perfection for all persons, and
especially for one who is about to die.

PURPORT

Unless one is perfectly anxious to inquire about the way of perfection,
there is no necessity of approaching a spiritual master. A spiritual master
is not a kind of decore.ion for a householder. Generally a fashionable
materialist engages a so-called spiritual master without any profit. The
psuedo-spiritual master flatters the so-called disciple, and thereby both
the master and his ward go to hell without a doubt. Maharaja Pariksit is
the right type of disciple because he puts forward questions vital to the
interest of all men, particularly for the dying men. The question put
forward by Maharaja Pariksit is the basic principle of the complete thesis
of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Now let us see how intelligently the great master
replies.
