Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.52

brāhmaṇa uvāca

kā tvaḿ kasyāsi ko vāyaḿ

śayāno yasya śocasi

jānāsi kiḿ sakhāyaḿ māḿ

yenāgre vicacartha ha

SYNONYMS

brāhmaṇaḥ uvāca — the learned brāhmaṇa said; kā — who; tvam — you; kasya — whose; asi — are you; kaḥ — who; vā — or; ayam — this man; śayānaḥ — lying down; yasya — for whom; śocasi — you are lamenting; jānāsi kim — do you know; sakhāyam — friend; mām — Me; yena — with whom; agre — formerly; vicacartha — you consulted; ha — certainly.

TRANSLATION

The brāhmaṇa inquired as follows: Who are you? Whose wife or daughter are you? Who is the man lying here? It appears you are lamenting for this dead body. Don't you recognize Me? I am your eternal friend. You may remember that many times in the past you have consulted Me.

PURPORT

When a person's relative dies, renunciation is automatically visible. Consultation with the Supersoul seated within everyone's heart is possible only when one is completely free from the contamination of material attachment. One who is sincere and pure gets an opportunity to consult with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His Paramātmā feature sitting within everyone's heart. The Paramātmā is always the caitya-guru, the spiritual master within, and He comes before one externally as the instructor and initiator spiritual master. The Lord can reside within the heart, and He can also come out before a person and give him instructions. Thus the spiritual master is not different from the Supersoul sitting within the heart. An uncontaminated soul or living entity can get a chance to meet the Paramātmā face to face. Just as one gets a chance to consult with the Paramātmā within his heart, one also gets a chance to see Him actually situated before him. Then one can take instructions from the Supersoul directly. This is the duty of the pure devotee: to see the bona fide spiritual master and consult with the Supersoul within the heart.

When the brāhmaṇa asked the woman who the man lying on the floor was, she answered that he was her spiritual master and that she was perplexed about what to do in his absence. At such a time the Supersoul immediately appears, provided the devotee is purified in heart by following the directions of the spiritual master. A sincere devotee who follows the instructions of the spiritual master certainly gets direct instructions from his heart from the Supersoul. Thus a sincere devotee is always helped directly or indirectly by the spiritual master and the Supersoul. This is confirmed in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja. If the devotee serves his spiritual master sincerely, Kṛṣṇa automatically becomes pleased. Yasya prasādād bhagavad-prasādaḥ. By satisfying the spiritual master, one automatically satisfies Kṛṣṇa. Thus the devotee becomes enriched by both the spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa. The Supersoul is eternally the friend of the living entity and always remains with him. The Supersoul has always been ready to help the living entity, even before the creation of this material world. It is therefore stated here: yenāgre vicacartha. The word agre means "before the creation." Thus the Supersoul has been accompanying the living entity since before the creation.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness