Verse Text
atha aṅgāni—
guru-pādāśrayas tasmāt kṛṣṇa-dīkṣādi-śikṣaṇam |
viśrambheṇa guroḥ sevā sādhu-vartmānuvartanam ||74||
Translation
The list of aṅgas is as follows: Taking shelter of guru; then after initiation, acquiring knowledge [Note: This comment echoes the traditional Vedic system of initiation, in which a person receives Vedic initiation (upanayana) with Vedic gāyatrī-mantra. This qualifies him to study the Vedas. This tradition continued even with paṣcaratric initiation and study. However when nāma-saṅkīrtana become predominant, the requirement of dīkṣa before sikṣa does not have the same importance.] service to guru with respect; following the rules according to the scriptures as approved by the ācāryas.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
In this work the numbering is of two types: natural sequence of the verses, and added ones, for enumerating the sequence supplied by the commentary. The previous type has two dots on the head and the latter type does not. [Note: It seems that now double lines mark the verses and brackets mark the aṅgas.]
In the phrase kṛṣṇa-dīkṣādi-sikṣaṇam the word ādi has the sense of “in the beginning.” Thus the phrase means “acquiring knowledge after or accompanied by initiation with Kṛṣṇa mantra.” Sadhu-vartmānuvartanam (following the path of the ācāryas) means following the rules of the śruti and other scriptures enjoined by the ācāryas.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
He mentions the basic principles as follows: (1) accepting the shelter of the lotus feet of a bona fide spiritual master, (2) becoming initiated by the spiritual master and learning how to discharge devotional service from him, (3) obeying the orders of the spiritual master with faith and devotion, (4) following in the footsteps of great ācāryas (teachers) under the direction of the spiritual master,