Faith must follow scripture through a genuine guru to genuinely elevate the soul toward spiritual realization.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Devotee: Śrīmad-Bhagavad-gītā or...? Prabhupāda: Whichever you like. Devotee: Caitanya-caritāmṛta... [break] Prabhupāda: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya.
[devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verses] arjuna uvāca ye śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ teṣāṁ niṣṭhā tu kā kṛṣṇa sattvam āho rajas tamaḥ śrī bhagavān uvāca tri-vidhā bhavati śraddhā dehināṁ sā svabhāva-jā sāttvikī rājasī caiva tāmasī ceti tāṁ śṛṇu sattvānurūpā sarvasya śraddhā bhavati bhārata śraddhāmayo 'yaṁ puruṣo yo yac chraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ [Bg 17.1–3] [Arjuna said, O Kṛṣṇa, what is the situation of one who does not follow the principles of scripture but worships according to his own imagination? Is he in goodness, in passion or in ignorance?] [03:52] So arjuna uvāca means Arjuna inquired from Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is teacher, and Arjuna is student. So this is the process of spiritual advancement.
As it is indicated in the Vedas, tad-vijñānārtham [Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12]. [To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.] Tad-vijñānārtham means "To understand that transcendental science," gurum eva abhigacchet, "one must take shelter of guru." It cannot be manufactured. Those who manufacture the method of understanding transcendental science, they are not bona fide. So we have already discussed many times that śāstra-vidhi. Guru means one who teaches the regulative principle from śāstra, from authorized scripture.
That is guru. Guru cannot be anyone. Ācārya. Ācārya means one who knows the regulative principle or direction in the śāstra. He practically behaves in terms of the śāstra regulative principle and teaches his student also in the same way. He is called ācārya.
Acinoti yaḥ śāstrāṇi. He knows the purport of śāstra, he behaves himself according to the terms of the śāstra and he teaches his disciple in the same term. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam [Bg 4.2]. [This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.] This is the process. So Arjuna is asking that "There are many who actually do not follow the principles of śāstra, but they have got some faith.
Then what is the result of such mentality?" Ye śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya: "Not following the śāstra-vidhi, the regulative principle mentioned in the śāstra," yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ, "they also make one guru or incarnation or this or that," there are so many going on. "So what is the result of such activities?" This is very important question, because there are so many pseudo so-called gurus. They do not know what is śāstra, neither they follow the principle. Still, they gather some people, and the world is full with such not bona fide gathering.
So..., but they have faith in their so-called guru that some way or other, so-called meditation... These things are going on. So what is the result of this? It is very important question. Ye śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ.