Text 41
etad eva hi sac-chiṣyaiḥ
kartavyaṁ guru-niṣkṛtam
yad vai viśuddha-bhāvena
sarvārthātmārpaṇaṁ gurau
etat — this; eva — alone; hi — certainly; sat — true; śiṣyaiḥ — by disciples; kartavyam — to be done; guru — to the spiritual master; niṣkṛtam — repayment of one’s debt; yat — which; vai — indeed; viśuddha — completely pure; bhāvena — with an attitude; sarva — of all; artha — assets; ātmā — and one’s body; arpaṇam — the offering; gurau — to one’s spiritual master.
This indeed is the duty of all true disciples: to repay the debt to their spiritual master by offering him, with pure hearts, their wealth and even their very lives.
One engages one’s body to realize one’s purposes. The body is also the basis of the material conception of “I,” while one’s fortune is the basis of the conception of “mine.” Thus by offering everything to the spiritual master, one realizes one’s self to be an eternal servant of the Lord. The spiritual master does not exploit the disciple but rather engages him fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the disciple’s eternal benefit.