Kṛṣṇa selected Arjuna: "My dear Arjuna, I shall speak to you the whole philosophy which I instructed to sun-god." "Why You are prepared to instruct me?" Kṛṣṇa says, bhakto 'si, "Because you are My devotee; therefore I shall explain to you." Kṛṣṇa . . . Arjuna was a family man, gṛhastha, a politician. He was not a Vedāntī. He was not a big scholar in Vedānta. Kṣatriya. He knew how to fight, how to fight with enemies. This much qualification he had. Although he was born in royal family, but he was not a Vedāntī or vast scholar in Vedic literature. No. But he was bhakta. That is the qualification. He was a devotee. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said, "I will speak to you Bhagavad-gītā, and you will understand the mystery of it because you are My devotee." This is the qualification.
So this Vedic literature, either you take Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavata or any . . . unless you have taken the purport of the Vedic literature through the disciplic succession, you will never understand it. It will remain a mystery, like the honey within the bottle. So the initiation means to learn how to open the bottle. This is initiation. That trick or that craftsmanship you have to learn from the guru, the spiritual master. Therefore, ādau gurvāśrayam. If you are serious about understanding spiritual life and executing, then the first business is initiation, taking shelter of a bona fide spiritual master. This is our process.