Lectures and Commentaries on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1, made in Vrindavan (India)
The purpose of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is to glorify the Supreme Absolute Truth, known as Śrī Kṛṣṇa, for the benefit of the suffering humanity. Śrī Vyāsa himself calls this Purāṇa the ripened fruit of the Vedic tree and compares it to the personification of rasa, or devotional relish. It is to be tasted by the rasikas, the connoisseurs of rasa, and relished by the sahṛdayas, the sober-hearted people or those whose hearts are imbued with sattva (SB 1.1.3)
The authority of the Guru is coming from sastra only. Guru and sastra are not independent. They go together. Guru is the embodiment of sastra. You will not know sastra because you are going to study it with your samskaras. You need a Guru who has risen above that conditioning and who can give you the light of the sastra.
