Prabhupada 0828 - Anyone Who Takes Care of His Subordinate, He is Guru



Lecture on SB 5.5.18 -- Vrndavana, November 6, 1976

Pradyumna: Translation: "One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable demigod."

Prabhupāda:

gurur na sa syāt sva-jano na sa syāt
pitā na sa syāj jananī na sa syāt
daivaṁ na tat syān na patiś ca sa syān
na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum
(SB 5.5.18)

So in the previous verse it has been described that kas taṁ svayaṁ tad-abhijño vipaścid (SB 5.5.17). The guardian should be abhijñaḥ, and vipaścit, very learned. The government, the father, the guru, the teacher, or even husband of... Because we are guided, everyone is guided by somebody else. That is society. Not cats and dogs. Just like the cats and dogs, they give birth to the children and then they have no responsibility. The dogs are loitering in the street; nobody takes care. But human society should not be like that. There must be responsible guardians. The some of the responsible guardians are described here. First of all, guru. Either you take ordinary teacher in the school or colleges, they are also called guru, and the sublime guru is the spiritual master. Not only the spiritual master, but anyone who has taken the post of becoming guru to teach others, he must be very learned, very responsible, vipaścit, abhijñaḥ. Abhijñātaḥ, it is the qualification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As it is said in the beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, abhijñaḥ. Janmādy asya yataḥ 'nvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). The controller must be abhijñaḥ. The same thing is here. Of course, we cannot be as abhijñaḥ as God—that is not possible—but little quantity of that abhijñātaḥ must be there. Otherwise what is the use of becoming...?

First of all, it is said about guru, anyone who takes care of his subordinate, he is guru. The first charge is that you should not become a guru unless you are completely in awareness how to save your dependent from the path of birth and death. That is the first question. Not that "I am your guru. I can cure some colic pain in your belly." They go to guru also for that purpose. People generally go to guru, rascals go to guru, to another rascal. What is that? "Sir, I have got some pain. Give me some ashirvad so that my pain may be cured." "But why you have come here, rascal, here for curing your pain? In the village you can go to some doctor, or you can take some tablet. Is it the purpose of coming to visit guru?" But generally they come to guru and ask for blessing for some material benefit. They are rascals, and therefore Kṛṣṇa also gives them a rascal guru. They want to be cheated. They do not know what is the purpose of going to guru. They do not know. They do not know what is the problem of my life and why shall I go to guru. They do not know. And the so-called gurus also take advantage of this ignorance of the public, and they become a guru. This is going on. The guru does not know what is his responsibility, and the rascal public, they do not know what for one should go to guru. This is the difficulty.