Study a Verse

• In this sense one may accept many gurus, though not those who preach against the knowledge received from the bona fide spiritual master.
• Similarly, in Chapter Ten, verse 5 of this canto, the Personality of Godhead Himself states, mad-abhijñaṁ guruṁ śāntam upāsīta mad-ātmakam: ‘One must serve a bona fide spiritual master who is in full knowledge of My personality and who is not different from Me.’
• Thus in the Lord’s own words, mad-abhijñaṁ guruṁ śāntam upāsīta mad-ātmakam: one should approach a single bona fide spiritual master who is in full knowledge of the Lord’s personality and sincerely worship him, considering him to be mad-ātmakam, or nondifferent from the Lord Himself.

The purport's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

Grief and dependence → Detachment. The temporary world becomes a source of spiritual instruction.

Chapters 7–9 of Canto 11: The avadhuta's twenty-four teachers. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 9: Detachment from All that Is Material

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Seeing that the fragile material body is subject to birth and death, one who is sober should become devoid of material attachment to this body and should properly utilize the rare gift of human life in the pursuit of knowledge, endeavoring always for the achievement of the highest goal.