Why did Shri Krishna seek a Guru, even though He Himself was Sadguru?

[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on February 13, 2021, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]

[Smt. Suganya Raman asked: Recently, I heard the bhajan composed by You “Kiṅkaro’smi tava Śaṅkara” and came across the line about Upamanyu. I read the story of Upamanyu Maharṣi, who, as a child, was fed milk by Lord Śiva and was blessed and lived long. Later, Lord Kṛṣṇa learnt how to do penance for pleasing God from Upamanyu Maharṣi. I read that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa wanted to do penance for pleasing Lord Śiva in order to have children. So, He was searching for a Guru. Upamanyu became Śrī Krishna’s Guru. My question is, why would Śrī Kṛṣṇa, a Sadguru Himself, need a Guru? I also came across what Upamanyu’s mother told him. She said that any thing with which we are blessed in this life is only a product of what we have sacrificed to Lord Śiva in our previous life.”

I am curious to know that if sacrificing money to God can make us wealthy, what sacrifice can one make so as to get spiritual knowledge (jñāna) or to be closely associated with God in every birth?

Finally, I like this beautiful line from the story: “The story of Upamanyu has a very good lesson for us. Even if a person starts worshiping God for worldly desires, but he gives priority to God, he can attain high spiritual states. Everything is in giving priority.”]

Swāmi replied: Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself was an Incarnation of God Viṣṇu. There is no difference between God Śiva and God Viṣṇu, as per the Veda (Śivaśca Nārāyaṇaḥ). Kṛṣṇa only followed the tradition of approaching a preacher (Guru) for the sake of keeping that good tradition alive in the world. The Incarnation of God follows all good traditions so that others may also follow them. Developing the attitude of sacrifice is important. What specific item is to be sacrificed for achieving what result cannot be specified. Whatever is desired by God should be sacrificed to Him, in order to achieve something from Him. So, it is not correct to say that if one sacrifices knowledge, he will obtain knowledge later in this birth or in the next birth. Neither can one say that if one sacrifices money, he will get money later. One thing that can be said is that God competes with your strongest worldly bond to see whether you vote for that worldly bond or for Him.

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