Indian lady: Aapse kuch poochna chah rahe the lekin hindi me poochongi. (I had been wanting to ask you something but i will ask in Hindi.)
Prabhupada: Poochiye. (Ask.)
Indian lady: Agar grrihastha hote hue . . . ka pehla kadam kya hai? (If you are a family man . . . what is the first step?)
Prabhupada: Are arjun khud grihasth tha, aap kyon darte hain. wo koi sanyasi thode hi tha usse bad ke kaun aadmi tha bhagavan ko samjhne ke liye. (Arjuna himself was a householder, why are you scared? He was not a renunciant. Who is greater than he to understand the Supreme Lord.) He says paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). He understands perfectly. There is no question of gṛhastha or sannyāsī. It is the question of understanding. And Arjuna is gṛhastha, politician, fighter, and still he is selected to understand Bhagavad-gītā. So gṛhastha. Hone se dar ka baat to nahi hai. (So there is no fear in remaining a householder.) In gṛhastha life or sannyāsī. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also says like that, kibā vipra kibā śūdra nyāsī kene naya. Aap bengali samjhti hain. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu kehte hain. (Do you understand Bengali? Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says,) I shall speak in English so that others . . . Kibā vipra, whether one is a brāhmaṇa; kibā śūdra, or whether he is a śūdra; kibā vipra kibā śūdra nyāsī kene naya, or whether he is a sannyāsī. That means whether he is a gṛhastha or brāhmaṇa or . . . there are eight varṇāśrama—brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, and brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha . . . whatever he may be, out of these eight categories.
- kibā vipra kibā śūdra nyāsī kene nayayei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei 'guru' haya(CC Madhya 8.128)
Anyone who understands Kṛṣṇa perfectly, he is guru. Just like Arjuna, he is our guru, but he's a gṛhastha, he's a soldier, he's a kṣatriya. He's neither Brahmin nor sannyāsī nor Vedāntist, nothing of the sort. But he knows Kṛṣṇa; therefore he is guru. So gṛhastha Mane koi dar ka baat nahi hai. krishna ko samajhna chahiye. (So householder means nothing is to be scared of, we have to understand Kṛṣṇa.)
Indian lady: Iske liye kya pehla kadam hai? (What is the first step for this?)
Prabhupada: Sunanan chahiye. (You must hear.) Śravaṇam, this is the first step of bhakti. Hear about Kṛṣṇa from the right source. Otherwise you will be misguided. Therefore Kṛṣṇa recommends, tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā (BG 4.34). You have to go to a person where you can surrender. Jab tak apko ye khayal ayega ki hum zyada samajhte hain tab tak apko milega nahi. (As long as you have imagination, that I know everything—then you will not get Him.)
Guest (3): How to . . .?
Prabhupāda: That we have to test, whether I can surrender to him. That you have to behave with him. Therefore according to system, one has to study before accepting somebody as guru, one has to study that, "Whether I can surrender to him?" If you think that, "No, I know better than him," don't accept a formal guru. That is mistake. And guru also will see, "He's appealing to me, he is going to accept my discipleship. Let me see whether he is qualified." Then there should be guru and śiṣya, not that as a fashion. Like Arjuna, Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as guru after talking with Him. (aside) Find out that verse, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam.
Guest (3): Pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ.
Prabhupāda: When he was convinced that, "I do not find anyone else to give me instruction," then he surrendered.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa:
- kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥpṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥyad chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ brūhi tan meśiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam(BG 2.7)
Translation: "Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me."
Prabhupāda: So everyone is perplexed condition. In this material world, you cannot find anyone who is not perplexed. Is there anyone who is not perplexed? Can anyone say that, "I am not perplexed"? (laughs) Everyone is. Therefore everyone requires guru. But a guru knows. Guru means like Kṛṣṇa or His representative.