This is religion: Adau gurvasrayam

“So one must find out a guru who is paramahamsa. Neither kuticaka, nor bahudaka, nor parivrajakacarya. Paramahamsa”.

Prabhupada, Vrndavana, November 1, 1976: […] So for that there are so many practices, regulative principles, mentioned here. The first thing is hamse gurau mayi bhaktyanuvrtya. This is religion: Adau gurvasrayam. If you do not get a qualified guru, then everything is bogus.

If you, by good fortune, if you get the association of a guru, qualified hamsa, paramahamsa… Paramahamsa guru means sannyasi’s last stage is paramahamsa. Kuticaka, bahudaka, parivrajakacarya, and paramahamsa, these are the different stages.

When one takes sannyasa, he lives outside the village in a kuti, in a cottage, and the family members goes and delivers him the food, because he is not practiced. So in the beginning, he keeps up this association of neighborhood or family, but he is not practiced.

He therefore lives outside the village, and if somebody gives some food, he eats. Then when he becomes experienced, then he does not accept food from one, either his own home or one home. He takes foodstuff from many homes: “Give me a little piece of capati.”

So somebody gives half, because they are also not overburdened. If they have to deliver, so many sannyasis come, and sumptuous food, then how the grhastha will provide? Therefore though… They do not overburden. There may be other sannyasis, therefore little only. Madhupuri.

The Gosvamis practiced this madhupuri in Vrndavana. They lived, but they would take little only from the house. This is called bahudaka. Then when he has practiced more, he travels all over the world, parivrajakacarya.

And when he is fully experienced, then, in spiritual life and everything, then he is paramahamsa. So one must find out a guru who is paramahamsa. Neither kuticaka, nor bahudaka, nor parivrajakacarya. Paramahamsa.

So in the Caitanya-caritamrta also, Lord Caitanya says, guru-krishna-kripaya paya bhakti-lata-bija [Cc. Madhya 19.151] This bhakti-lata-bija can be obtained through the mercy of guru and Krishna.

Here Rsabhadeva, who is incarnation of Krishna, therefore He says mayi, hamse gurau mayi. You cannot jump over Krishna. “Well, I know Krishna. I shall go to Krishna directly, without guru.” There are many rascals, they say like that. No, that is not possible. First of all guru, then Krishna. Hamse gurau mayi, bhaktyanuvrtya. Full Lecture