Text 46] Matsya, the Lord’s Fish Incarnation 257
Sri-rdjovdca
anady-avidyopahatatma-sarmvidas

tan-mila-samsdara-parisramaturah
yadrcchayopasrta yam apnuyur
vimuktido nah paramo gurur bhavan

Sri-raja uvadca—the King offered prayers as follows; anddi—from
time immemorial; avidya—by ignorance; upahata—has been lost;
atma-sarividah—knowledge about the self; tat—that is; miila—the
root; sarnsdra—material bondage; parisrama—full of miserable condi-
tions and hard work; dturah—suffering; yadrcchaya—by the supreme
will; upasrtah—being favored by the dcdrya; yam—the Supreme Per-
sonality of Godhead; apnuyuh—can achieve; vimukti-dah—the process
of liberation; nah—our; paramah—the supreme; guruh—spiritual
master; bhavén—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, some-
times 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 bhavan. The representative of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead who acts to spread Krsna consciousness is also guided by the
Supreme Lord to act properly in executing the Lord’s order. Such a per-
son may appear to be an ordinary human being, but because he acts on
