Accepting the Supreme Brahman, Param Brahman, as the ultimate goal of life. Not he has got any other goal of life. These are the signs of guru

Expressions researched:
"accepting the Supreme Brahman, Paraṁ Brahman, as the ultimate goal of life. Not he has got any other goal of life. These are the signs of guru"

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Guru must be śābde pare ca niṣṇātam (SB 11.3.21). Śābde means śabda-brahman, Vedic knowledge. He must be dipped into the Vedic knowledge, śābde pare ca, and in devotional service, śābde pare ca niṣṇātam, brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam. And accepting the Supreme Brahman, Paraṁ Brahman, as the ultimate goal of life. Not he has got any other goal of life. These are the signs of guru.

Lecture on SB 1.2.7 -- Vrndavana, October 18, 1972:

Guru, who requires a guru? Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. One who is inquisitive to learn about the transcendental science, he requires a guru. It is not a fashion that we keep a guru, just like sometimes we keep a dog. Yes. A pet, pet dog, pet cat. So that is for my sense gratification. Guru, I keep a guru, a poor man guru, and guru wants some money from me. Then guru . . . śiṣya says: "My dear guru, if I do not eat meat and fish, my health will fail." "All right, I order you. Under my order you can do that."

This kind of compromise is not there. That is not guru. The guru thinks that "If I say 'Don't eat meat,' then this disciple will go away, and there is no chance of getting money from him." That kind of compromise is not required. And nobody requires to have a guru if he has got such attitude. Guru . . . accept guru means you must surrender there. Samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet, śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham (MU 1.2.12). One has to surrender. Tad viddhi praṇipātena (BG 4.34). Bhagavad-gītā says that "You learn from guru by praṇipāta, surrendering." The whole system is surrender.

So vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ (SB 1.2.7). Bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ means in order to enter into bhakti-yoga one has to first of all surrender to a bona fide spiritual master. Ādau gurvāśrayam. This is the beginning of bhakti-yoga. And what kind of guru? An . . . that is also explained in the śāstras: śābde ca pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam. Guru must be śābde pare ca niṣṇātam (SB 11.3.21). Śābde means śabda-brahman, Vedic knowledge. He must be dipped into the Vedic knowledge, śābde pare ca, and in devotional service, śābde pare ca niṣṇātam, brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam. And accepting the Supreme Brahman, Paraṁ Brahman, as the ultimate goal of life. Not he has got any other goal of life. These are the signs of guru.

So to attempt vāsudeva-bhakti means perfection of life. Vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ (SB 1.2.7). If we execute pure devotional service into the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then jñānam, janayaty āśu vairāgyam. This is the test of bhakti. Janayaty āśu vairāgyam. A man is tested how much he has advanced in bhakti-yoga by his detachment from material enjoyment. If you . . . if one is attached to sense enjoyment, at the same time he poses himself as a great devotee, that cannot work.

Just like if you are eating something, then there will be no hunger. A man is hungry so long he does not eat something. So if, if he, if you say: "Yes, I have eaten so much, and still I am feeling hungry," that cannot be. Actually if you have eaten, then you must not feel hungry. Similarly, if you have actually tasted bhakti-yoga, then there will be no more material attachment. This is the test. Not that artificially keeping a big tilaka on forehead and thinking within always, "How to get money? How to get woman?" That kind of is not. They, there . . . there will be no more hunger for these material things, especially woman and money. That is the test of bhakti.

Therefore that pure bhakti-yoga can be attained only by executing devotional service to Vāsudeva. Otherwise it is not possible. Vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ, janayaty āśu vairāgyam (SB 1.2.7). Without vairāgya, there is no question of liberation. Of course, a devotee's not hankering after liberation. Why he should hanker? As soon as he's a pure devotee of Vāsudeva, he's already liberated. Already liberated.

māṁ ca 'vyabhicāreṇa

bhakti-yogena sevate

sa guṇān samatītyaitān

brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

(BG 14.26)

Brahmā-bhūyāya. At the present moment, in our conditional state, we are jīva-bhūta. And when we become actually situated in our spiritual platform, that is called brahma-bhūtaḥ. Brahmā-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54).

So everything, there is link. So bhakti-yoga means detachment and knowledge. Somebody thinks like that, foolishly, that "Bhaktas are generally fools and rascals, and therefore they take to bhakti-yoga." But actually that is not bhakti-yoga. One who has taken to bhakti-yoga, he cannot be fools and rascals. He must be very learned. Svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. How he becomes learned? Now, svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. Everything becomes revealed. Kṛṣṇa reveals.

Nāśayāmy ātmā . . . ātma-bhāvastho jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā (BG 10.11). If one is pure devotee, then Kṛṣṇa, from within, He will give knowledge. The Kṛṣṇa . . . just like Kṛṣṇa is giving knowledge to Arjuna. He's a gṛhastha. He's a soldier. He's not even a brāhmin. But who can be greater man of knowledge than Arjuna? Because he's directly receiving from Kṛṣṇa. And who can be greater teacher than Kṛṣṇa? So Kṛṣṇa says that, "If you are engaged twenty-four hours in devotional service," then, Kṛṣṇa says from within He will give all knowledge.

Therefore vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ (SB 1.2.7). If you actually engage in the devotional service of Vāsudeva, then jñāna and vairāgya automatically becomes revealed unto you. There is no endeavor.