Suppose you ask something from somebody. If he cheats you, that may be your mistake or his, but the process is the same; you cannot avoid that. If you want to know God, then you have to go to a person who knows God. You might have gone to a person who does not know. That is another thing. You went to a wrong person. But actually if you want to know God, you must have to go to a person who knows God. That you have to search out. That requires intelligence.
But you cannot give up the idea. Because you have been cheated, "I could not get information," therefore you cannot give up that business. You have to find out somebody else. But because you say: "I have been cheated. I could not get the right information. I stop this business," that is not allowed. You must. Therefore, according to Vedic order it is said, tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12).
Abhigacchet means he must (go) to a person to understand that science of God. You must go to a guru or a man who knows. Guru means who is more intelligent. Guru means weight, heavy, heavier, that heavier in knowledge. So you have to find out a person who is heavier than you, not ordinary. Must go. Not that may go or may not go. No. Must go. Tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet.
And what is the symptom of guru? Śrotriyaṁ. Means he has heard about God from his superior, his guru. Śrotriyaṁ. And how can I know that he has heard from his superior about God? He might say that "Yes, I have heard," but what symptoms I shall . . .? Brahmā-niṣṭham. Brahmā-niṣṭham means that he has become a complete devotee of God, result. Just like a man, a physician.