तस्माद् गुरुं प्रपद्येत जिज्ञासु: श्रेय उत्तमम् । शाब्दे परे च निष्णातं ब्रह्मण्युपशमाश्रयम् ॥ २१ ॥
tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam
- tasmāt
- therefore
- gurum
- a spiritual master
- prapadyeta
- one should take shelter of
- jijñāsuḥ
- being inquisitive
- śreyaḥ uttamam
- about the highest good
- śābde
- in the Vedas
- pare
- in the Supreme
- ca
- and
- niṣṇātam
- perfectly knowledgeable
- brahmaṇi
- (in these two aspects) of the Absolute Truth
- upaśama-āśrayam
- fixed in detachment from material affairs
Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.