Room Conversation with Indian Guest — July 11, 1973, London

Prabhupāda: …accepted in that group. 

Indian man (1): Suppose if somebody is absolutely ignorant about… 

Prabhupāda: So therefore there should be education. Why the śāstras are there? Why guru is there? Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. You must accept guru and learn. Why should you remain ignorant? 

Indian man (1): How one should start when he’s completely ignorant of all these things? 

Prabhupāda: He should go… Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet. 

Indian man (1): Tad viddhi praṇipātena… [Bg. 4.34]

Prabhupāda: Paripraśnena sevayā. He should become a disciple of a bona fide guru. Otherwise, how he can learn? If you are uneducated, you should go to school. 

Indian man (1): [aside:] You want to ask anything? 

[pause] 

Prabhupāda: [Hindi] [laughter] It is very difficult to, to guru, but when guru comes, they also do not accept him. What can be done? They are so fallen. Only fortunate. Ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva [Cc. Madhya 19.151]

So to go to guru, to Kṛṣṇa, that requires fortune. Kona bhāgyavān jīva. Some fortunate person. Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja [Cc. Madhya 19.151]. By the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa, he gets the seed of this bhakti. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti [Bg. 18.55]. And when he’s a bhakta, then he can understand what is God. 

[aside:] Get the light on. 

Bhaktyā mām abhijānā… No, there. That’s all right. 

Indian man (2): [Hindi] 

Prabhupāda: [Hindi for some time, a few English words] [break] [Hindi for some time] [end] 

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