Devanagari
तावत् परिचरेद् भक्त: श्रद्धावाननसूयक: ।
यावद् ब्रह्म विजानीयान्मामेव गुरुमादृत: ॥ ३९ ॥
Verse text
tāvat paricared bhaktaḥ
śraddhāvān anasūyakaḥ
yāvad brahma vijānīyān
mām eva gurum ādṛtaḥ
Synonyms
tāvat
—
that long
;
paricaret
—
should serve
;
bhaktaḥ
—
the devotee
;
śraddhā
—
vān — with great faith
;
anasūyakaḥ
—
being without envy
;
yāvat
—
until
;
brahma
—
spiritual knowledge
;
vijānīyāt
—
he clearly realizes
;
mām
—
Me
;
eva
—
indeed
;
gurum
—
the spiritual master
;
ādṛtaḥ
—
with great respect .
Translation
Until a devotee has clearly realized spiritual knowledge, he should continue with great faith and respect and without envy to render personal service to the guru, who is nondifferent from Me.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Until a devotee has clearly realized Brahman, he should continue with great faith and respect, and without envy, to render personal service to the guru, who is nondifferent from me.
The guru is my form.
Purport
As stated by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura in his
Gurv-aṣṭaka
prayers,
yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ:
one receives the mercy of the Supreme Lord through the mercy of the bona fide spiritual master. A devotee who has been blessed by his
guru
with spiritual knowledge becomes qualified to directly engage in the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Prabhupāda always emphasized that service to the spiritual master in separation, pushing on the mission of the
guru,
is the highest form of devotional service. The word
paricaret
in this verse indicates waiting upon one’s master by rendering personal service. In other words, one who has not clearly realized the teachings of his spiritual master should remain very close to the
guru
to avoid falling down into illusion, but one who has acquired realized knowledge by the mercy of his spiritual master may expand the spiritual master’s mission by traveling around the world to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness.