We should always remain a fool before the spiritual master, even though one is incarnation. Not that "I am incarnation; therefore I have become God." No. Even if you are incarnation, you should remain a humble servant. That is that: tava bhṛtya-sevām. Prahlāda Mahārāja is . . . Daityānāṁ prahlādo 'smi. The Supreme Personality of Godhead incarnates in different societies, different platforms, and He says, "Amongst the Daityas . . ." Amongst the Daityas, there are also devotees. So prahlādo 'smi. Prahlāda Mahārāja is saktyāveṣāvatāra, but still, he says that kathāṁ nu visṛje tava bhṛtya-sevām: "How can I give up this service?" Prahlāda Mahārāja does not say, "My Lord, Nṛsiṁha-deva, I am now so competent. Give me Your service directly." No. Tava bhṛtya-sevām: "First of all give me the opportunity to serve Your servant." This is Vaiṣṇavism.
So why it is required to serve Vaiṣṇava? If you want to get relief from this conditional life, then you have to serve Vaiṣṇava. Chādiyā vaiṣṇava sevā, nistāra payeche keba (Prema-bhakti-candrikā). This is the . . . "Who has got," I mean to say, "liberty from this entanglement of material existence"—chādiyā vaiṣṇava sevā—"if you do not serve a pure Vaiṣṇava?" Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ (SB 5.5.2). This is everywhere. If you want liberation from this material entanglement, then you must take to mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ. You must. There is no alternative. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21): "If you are actually interested to inquire about the transcendental subject matter, you must accept a guru." Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta.
- tad viddhi praṇipātena
- paripraśnena sevayā
- upadekṣyanti tad jñānaṁ
- jñāninas tattva-darśinam
- (BG 4.34)
So these are the ways. You cannot understand by your erudite scholarship what is Kṛṣṇa. It is not possible. Then Kṛṣṇa would have instructed Bhagavad-gītā to, finding out a very great Vedāntist. No. Kṛṣṇa found Arjuna. What was Arjuna? Arjuna was a gṛhastha. Arjuna was a kṣatriya, an ordinary soldier. A soldier is not expected to become a Vedāntist. We recruit soldiers not from the Vedāntists' group. One who can fight, one who has got strength—we recruit soldier. So Arjuna was not very qualified in that way to understand Bhagavad-gītā or instruction, but Kṛṣṇa said, "Yes, I will speak, speak to you. This Bhagavad-gītā, the paramparā is lost, so I shall again speak the old thing to you." "Why to me?" Bhakto 'si priyo 'si me (BG 4.3): "Because you are My bhakta. You are My priya." So by scholarship one cannot understand Bhagavad-gītā. That is not possible. One must become a servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa (CC Madhya 13.80). Then one can understand what is Bhagavad-gītā. Otherwise it is not possible.