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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.19.37
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A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 37
- ataḥ pṛcchāmi saṁsiddhiṁ
- yogināṁ paramaṁ gurum
- puruṣasyeha yat kāryaṁ
- mriyamāṇasya sarvathā
ataḥtherefore — therefore; pṛcchāmibeg to inquire — beg to inquire; saṁsiddhimthe way of perfection — the way of perfection; yogināmof the saints — of the saints; paramamthe supreme — the supreme; gurumthe spiritual master — the spiritual master; puruṣasyaof a person — of a person; ihain this life — in this life; yatwhatever — whatever; kāryamduty — duty; mriyamāṇasyaof one who is going to die — of one who is going to die; sarvathāin every way — in every way.
You are the spiritual master of great saints and devotees. I am therefore begging you to show the way of perfection for all persons, and especially for one who is about to die.
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 decoration for a householder. Generally a fashionable materialist engages a so-called spiritual master without any profit. The pseudo spiritual master flatters the so-called disciple, and thereby both the master and his ward go to hell without a doubt. Mahārāja Parīkṣit 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 Mahārāja Parīkṣit is the basic principle of the complete thesis of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Now let us see how intelligently the great master replies.