A bhakta feels ashamed to ask from Kṛṣṇa for his material comforts. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja, when he was offered by Nṛsiṁha-deva, "Now you ask from Me whatever you want," so Prahlāda Mahārāja became surprised. He said: "My dear Sir, I am not a mercantile man. We are in the modes of passion, and You are offering me all kinds of benediction. I can ask You. But do You mean to say that I served You in expectation of some return? No, no. Don't induce me in this way." This is śuddha-bhakta. Śuddha-bhakta never gives trouble to Kṛṣṇa for his personal benefit. They are called akāma. And sarva-kāma means karmīs, ordinary. They are working hard to get some result, good result for sense gratification. They are called sarva-kāma. And there is no limit of their desires. Just like this Durgā Pūjā, they'll want dhanaṁ dehi rūpaṁ dehi rūpavatī-bhāryāṁ dehi yaśo dehi, this dehi, that dehi, dehi, dehi . . . there is no limit how much they are asking. Therefore they are called sarva-kāma. You go on supplying a karmī, he'll never be satisfied. "More, more, more." You go to so many businessmen—they have got crores and lakhs—but if you want to talk something about Kṛṣṇa, they have no time, "Please take your money, contribution. Let us do business." Because their kāma is never satisfied. Therefore sarva-kāma. And another is mokṣa-kāma. Mokṣa-kāma means when they could not fulfill all the desires in this material world, they, at that time, want to become one with God that, "If I become God, then my all desires will be fulfilled." That is called mokṣa-kāma.
So śāstra recommends that either you belong to the group of akāma or to the group of sarva-kāma or to the group of mokṣa-kāma, tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena yajeta paramaṁ puruṣa (SB 2.3.10), you worship very seriously paramaṁ puruṣa. Paramaṁ puruṣa means Kṛṣṇa. Bhakti-yogena. Kṛṣṇa cannot be worshiped by any other yoga system except bhakti-yoga. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). If you want to know Kṛṣṇa, it is not possible to any other means. There are many other means—karma, yoga, jñāna and bhakti—but if you want to know Kṛṣṇa, then you have to take the bhakti-yoga, no other. Neither . . . Kṛṣṇa never said that "By jñāna, by cultivation of knowledge, one can understand Me." They can do so. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. By cultivation of knowledge, after many, many births, if that person, searching out the Absolute Truth by cultivation of knowledge, if he comes in contact with a devotee, then he gets the chance of understanding what is Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa, understanding Kṛṣṇa, is not so easy job. Kṛṣṇa says:
- manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
- kaścid yatati siddhaye
- yatatām api siddhānāṁ
- kaścin vetti māṁ tattvataḥ
- (BG 7.3)
It is not so easy. But any person, either in karma-yoga or jñāna-yoga or dhyāna-yoga or haṭha-yoga, if he comes in contact with a devotee, bhakti-yogī, then he can understand Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says:
- ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
- guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
- (CC Madhya 19.151)
Bhakti-latā-bīja, that is not very easily available. But it is available—guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya. Because Kṛṣṇa is situated in everyone's heart, if you are actually eager to understand Kṛṣṇa, then Kṛṣṇa can understand that, "This living entity is trying to understand." So He gives a guru. He gives . . . Caitya . . . He's caitya-guru. He is guru Himself within one's heart, and He gives intelligence. Buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi taṁ yena mām upayānti te (BG 10.10). To a sincere person, He gives the intelligence that, "You accept this guru."
Guru is therefore external manifestation of Kṛṣṇa because he acts as representative of Kṛṣṇa. So what is the qualification of that guru? Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta (SB 11.3.21). You must go and surrender to guru. In the Vedas also it is said, tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. For whom guru is required? Not for all. But tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). One should go to guru to understand tad-vijñāna. Tad-vijñāna means transcendental science. They require guru. Similarly, in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta: "You should go and search out a guru and surrender unto him." Why? Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. If you are jijñāsuḥ . . . athāto brahma jijñāsā—Vedānta-sūtra—if you are actually searching after the Absolute Truth.
So the next question will be, "Then whom shall I select guru?" Now, śābde pare ca niṣṇātam. A guru means one who is fully conversant in Vedic knowledge. Śābde pare. Śabda-brahman. Veda is known as śabda-brahman. In the material world all these books are material sound vibration, but Vedic knowledge is transcendental sound vibration. Hare Kṛṣṇa is transcendental sound vibration. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. This hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana is not a cinema song. No. It is golokera prema-dhana. This sound is coming . . . just like we catch sound in the radios and television, similarly, you can catch sound also which is transmitted from Goloka Vṛndāvana. But you must have the particular machine to catch it. Then you can get message from Goloka Vṛndāvana.