Adau gurvasrayam

Expressions researched:
"adau gurvasrayam"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

The first thing is to take shelter of the bona fide spiritual master.

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- Hyderabad, November 21, 1972:

So in the human form of life therefore, in every society, the system is that the children are sent to school, colleges, to understand things. Similarly, for spiritual understanding, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). Abhigacchet means one must. There is no alternative. One cannot say "I'll..., I may not go." No, if you do not go, then you are cheated. That is our Vaiṣṇava system. Ādau gurvāśrayam. The first thing is to take shelter of the bona fide spiritual master. Ādau gurvāśrayaṁ sad-dharma-pṛcchā. Not that I'll, as it has become a system: "I'll make a guru. Now my business is finished. I've got a guru." No. Tattva-jijñāsā. Jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā. Guru means, to accept guru means to inquire from him about the Absolute Truth.

To enter into the spiritual life, first thing is first of all to accept a guru.

Lecture on BG 2.26 -- Hyderabad, November 30, 1972:

Unless one is qualified brāhmaṇa, unless one has approached another qualified brāhmaṇa who knows, there is no question of understanding Vedas. Just like Max Muller translated Veda. What does he know about Veda? Such kinds of translation, understanding, is useless. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). Abhigacchet means "He must!" There is not that "I may go or I may not." No, you must. If you really serious. In our vaiṣṇava-paramparā also... vaiṣṇava-paramparā is actually Vedic paramparā. That ādau gurvāśrayam... Ādau gurvāśrayam: "To enter into the spiritual life, first thing is first of all to accept a guru." That is... All big, big stalwarts... Even Vyāsadeva. Vyāsadeva, the wonderful literature. This reading. We are reading Bhagavad-gītā. It is Vyāsadeva's literature. He heard from Kṛṣṇa and wrote it.

One has to become a devotee, or to take shelter of a pure devotee to practice the yoga system.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Calcutta, January 27, 1973:

Mad-āśrayaḥ means either you take shelter of Kṛṣṇa or one who has taken shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Mad-āśrayaḥ. In two ways you can take it, the meaning. Mad-āśrayaḥ. One who does not know except Kṛṣṇa, he's also mad-āśrayaḥ. And one who has taken shelter of Kṛṣṇa, that is also mad-āśrayaḥ. So one has to become a devotee, or to take shelter of a pure devotee to practice the yoga system. Ādau gurvāśrayam. That is our system. That is our system. That is the Vedic system. The Vedic system is

tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet

samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham

(MU 1.2.12)

So to practice this yoga, any yoga, you have to take shelter of somebody who knows how to practice this yoga. Mad-āśrayaḥ.