A genuine guru gives knowledge of God and never claims to be God himself; all others are cheaters.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Prabhupāda: So, any question from the newcomers? Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: This gentleman, he owns this house, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda: Yes, I know him. Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: He mentions that he met you way back in 1966, in Tompkins Square Park.
Prabhupāda: If you go somewhere, you must know first of all why you have gone there. That is the first question. If you go to a store, the first business is that you have gone to purchase some particular thing from the store. That is understood.
Similarly, why one should go to a spiritual master? What is the purpose? Answer, any one of you. Dhṛṣṭadyumna: One is..., when one is confused and frustrated by this material existence, he wants to find an answer to his problems.
So there are different authorities in the world offering solutions, but one has to find the actual authority.
Prabhupāda: That is the purport. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsu śreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21]. One has to go to guru when one is inquisitive. Jijñāsu.
Jijñāsu means we want to know so many things; that is our nature. Child also wants to know. He asks his parents, "What is this, father? What is this, mother?" That inquisitiveness is there in everyone.