When we receive initiation, you take vows before guru and Krishna. When the spiritual master asks the disciple to recite his vows, He is not simply testing to see whether the disciple remembers the four regulative principles. We recite these vows so that we can be sure to understand what it is we are committing ourselves to before guru, Krishna, the Vaishnavas, and the sacrificial fire.
(Lecture- Novosibirsk, 10.13.94)