Prabhupāda: I am.... If I say, "I am Indian," what is the wrong there, if I say, "I am Indian"?
Acyutānanda: That is something else.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Not something else.
Acyutānanda: But to directly accept the śruti, it says you are that same principle.
Prabhupāda: And therefore you have to learn from the guru. And if you directly take, then you remain a fool. Therefore you require a guru. That is the instruction of śruti. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). You have to learn śruti. You have to come to a guru.
Acyutānanda: No, but this is after that. The ultimate conclusion of that Upaniṣad, śruti, the authority, is that you are that same principle.
Prabhupāda: Yes, I am the same principle. Nityo nityānām.