Prabhupāda: Yes. The ācārya or the spiritual master's duty is to give direction to the disciples how he can fix up his mind always on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. He should . . . he knows how to engage a particular devotee in a particular type of service. Sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya (BG 18.46). The . . . we are . . . everyone has got some particular talent. So it is the duty of the spiritual master to engage his disciple's talent in the service of the Lord so that constantly he can think of the Lord. This is spiritual master's duty.
Go on.
Pradyumna: "Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given us an authorized program for this purpose, centered around the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. This chanting has so much power that it immediately attaches one to Kṛṣṇa. That is the beginning of sādhana-bhakti. Somehow or other, one has to fix his mind on Kṛṣṇa. The great saint Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, although a responsible king, fixed his mind on Kṛṣṇa, and similarly, anyone who tries to fix his mind in this way will very rapidly make progress in successfully reviving his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness."
Prabhupāda: Because fix up mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa is yoga. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Who is yogī? Dhyānāvasthita: always thinking of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā . . . tad-gatena manasā, absorbed in the thought of Kṛṣṇa. This is yoga system. Some way or other, if you fix up your mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, that is perfection of yoga. Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ (BG 6.47). That is the verdict of all śāstras. So by fixing up your mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, immediately you become first-class yogī. There is no doubt about it.
Go on.
Pradyumna: "Now this sādhana-bhakti, or practice of devotional service, can also be divided into two parts. The first part is called regulative principles. One has to follow these different regulative principles by the order of the spiritual master or on the strength of authoritative scriptures."
Prabhupāda: Yes. The regulative principles means that you don't manufacture anything. Regulative principle means authorized—as they are mentioned in the authorized scriptures and as it is confirmed by the spiritual master. Because we do not know. When it is confirmed by the spiritual master, yes, it is right. Sādhu guru . . . sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya, tinete kariyā aikya. The same statement of Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura. Sādhu, principles which are followed, sādhu-mārga-anugamanam. We cannot follow asādhu-mārga. We must follow sādhu-mārga. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). We cannot follow an upstart, manufacturing some song, manufacturing some ideas. We cannot follow that. What is authorized song, we shall sing. What is authorized method, we shall follow. Sādhu-guru-śāstra-vākya. Sādhu and guru means on the basis of śāstra. And śāstra means the statements of sādhu and guru. Therefore sādhu and guru and śāstra, they are identical. So they must be corroborated. If somebody's sādhu is speaking against śāstra, then he's not sādhu. If somebody's guru, if he's going against śāstra, then he's not guru. And śāstra means the original guru and sādhu.
What do we mean by śāstra? Just like in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam means we are studying the character of original sādhu and guru. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja, Prahlāda-caritra, Dhruva-caritra, Ambarīṣa-caritra, the Pāṇḍavas, Bhīṣma. So Bhāgavata means the glories of Bhagavān and bhaga . . . devotees. That's all. This is Bhāgavatam. So sādhu-guru-śāstra-vākya, tinete kariyā aikya.
So this is sādhana-bhakti. We must take instruction from the spiritual master. Ādau gurvāśrayam, sad-dharma-pṛcchāt. Who requires a spiritual master? One who is inquisitive of sad-dharma, not asad-dharma. Sad-dharma-pṛcchāt. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21). A man requires a spiritual master when he's inquisitive to know about the transcendental subject matter. A spiritual . . . a spiritual master . . . to accept a spiritual master is not a fashion. Just like we keep a dog, pet, similarly if we keep a spiritual master, pet spiritual master, to get sanction of all my sinful activities, that is not accepting spiritual master.