So the... Sādhu. We are to take shelter of sādhu. Sādhu-guru. The same thing. Guru means sādhu. A sādhu... One... Sādhu means the devotee of the Lord. If one is not sādhu, then he cannot become guru. And sādhu means... This is the description given. What is that? Mayy ananyena bhāvena bhaktiṁ kurvanti ye dṛḍhām. He's sādhu. Not that anyone with a saffron cloth and having a long beard. That is not sādhu. Sādhu means the devotee of the Lord. That is his first qualification. Kṛṣṇa says, api cet su-durācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk. The same thing. As it is, Kapiladeva says, mayy ananyena bhāvena. Kapiladeva is also Kṛṣṇa, incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. The same thing. The Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa svayam says, bhajate mām ananya-bhāk. Ananya, "not being deviated." Mām ekam, "only unto Me." This is ananya-bhāva. Not that sometimes take from here something, take from here something, whatever is available. Those who are after material concessions, they go different demigods: take something from Śiva, take something from Durgā, take something from Kālī, take this, that, that. So many, there are different demigods. Especially Goddess Durgā, Lord Śiva and Gaṇeśa and Sūrya, they are... And Viṣṇu. The Viṣṇu worship is the best. Ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param. That is said by Lord Śiva to Goddess Pārvatī. Pārvatī asked Lord Śiva, "What is the best type of worship?" There are so many. It is amongst the demigods. So Lord Śiva advised, ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param. "My dear Pārvatī, amongst all kinds of different types of worship, Viṣṇu worship is the best." And then again he said, tasmāt parataraṁ devi: "And there is still better worship." What is that? Tasmāt parataraṁ devi tadīyānāṁ samarcanam. Then... "Viṣṇu worship is the best. And more than that: to worship Vaiṣṇava." Tadīyānāṁ samarcanam.
So therefore... Here also the same thing: sa eva sādhuṣu kṛtaḥ. Begin. The spiritual life begins from the association of sādhu, or devotee. You cannot progress a pinch only without the mercy of sādhu. Naiṣāṁ ma... Prahlāda Mahārāja said like that:
- naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ
- spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ
- mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-'bhiṣekaṁ
- niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat
- (SB 7.5.32)
His father, Prahlāda Mahārāja's father asked—after all, he's son—"My dear son, Prahlāda, how you became so much advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness?" Although he was demon, still, he was inquisitive. So Prahlāda Mahārāja said, "My dear father..." He used to address his father as asura-varya, "the best of the asuras." Tat sādhu manye 'sura-varya. Asura-varya. Asura means demon, and varya means "the best," varīyān. So he... Because he asked that "How you have advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, Prahlāda? What is the process?" After all, he was a learned scholar. He inquired out of joking or something like that. So Prahlāda Mahārāja plainly said, matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā: "My dear asura-varya father, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness..." Na matiḥ. Matir na kṛṣṇe. "One cannot get Kṛṣṇa consciousness," matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ, "by the instruction of others, or guru." Parataḥ. Svataḥ, "by speculating oneself," mitho 'bhipadyeta, "or by assembly, conference. For them..." Who? Who are they? Gṛha-vratānām. Gṛha... Matir na...
- matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
- mitho 'bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām
- adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ
- punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām
- (SB 7.5.30)
"This class of men, punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām..." Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām means sense gratification. We can see in the Western countries how they are, everywhere, how they are attached to sense gratification. Punaḥ punaḥ... The same thing. Just like sex life. Everyone has sex life. Still, they are not satisfied. And... Our country it is not yet introduced, but they go to see naked dance. The same thing which he sees every night, he goes to see by paying some fees. This is called punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇa, "chewing the chewed." This class of men... Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30), matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā mitho 'bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām. And gṛha-vrata means those who have made their determination that "We shall remain in this material world, or in this family life, and we are not prepared to accept any other thing."
The Vedic principle is that you remain family life for some time, not for all the days. Pañcāśordhvaṁ vanaṁ vrajet. As soon as you're fifty years old, you must give up family life. Compulsory. Therefore we have got... Vedic religion means varṇāśrama-dharma: brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa, and brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. So for brāhmaṇa, the four āśramas are compulsory. He must become a brahmacārī. Then from brahmacārī he becomes gṛhastha. Then from gṛhastha he must become vānaprastha. Then he must become a sannyāsī. But when he becomes a sannyāsī, that is the... Tyakta-karmāṇas tyakta-svajana-bāndhavāḥ. Tyakta-karmāṇaḥ. So long we are in this material world we have to work. Karma. Karma means to gain some profit. Karma, akarma, vikarma. Vikarma means against the law. Just like ordinary laws. If you are working honestly, business or karma, that's all right. But if you do something wrong, then you are punishable. So karma and vikarma. Vikarma is punishable. Karma you can do. You ripe (reap) your own fruit by working. You become big man, you become rich man, and you become poor man also, by your karma. If you cannot handle your business nicely, then you become poor man. And if you can handle your business nicely, you become rich man. That is karma. Karma means you have to enjoy the result, fruitive result. That is called karma. And vikarma means punishable, pāpa. And akarma means you do something, but you are neither punishable nor rewardable. It is rewardable, practically. And that is bhakti, or satisfying Kṛṣṇa. There is no result. There is result; ultimate result is go back to home, back... But the material... Materially, if you expect some material profit by becoming a devotee, that is not possible. That is not possible. Māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate (BG 14.26). Then you become above all the resultant action of karma.