# Qualifications of the Disciple *The characteristics and qualifications required of the disciple.* ← Back to [[wiki/compile/spiritual-master-disciple|The Spiritual Master and the Disciple]] --- ## Basic Qualifications ### A serious person must seek out a bona fide spiritual master > "My dear King, please know for certain that in the material world there is no happiness. It is simply a mistake to think that there is happiness here, because this place is full of nothing but miserable conditions. Any person who is seriously desirous of achieving real happiness must seek out a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation." —The Nectar of Devotion --- ### The disciple must be seriously inclined to inquire ![[sb/1/13/1#purport|One who is not seriously inclined to put questions before a spiritual master need not accommodate a show-bottle spiritual master]] —SB [[sb/1/13/1|1.13.1-2]] Purport --- ### Both the guru and the disciple must be self-controlled ![[sb/2/9/43#purport|One who is not self-controlled, specifically in sex life, can become neither a disciple nor a spiritual master]] —SB [[sb/2/9/43|2.9.43]] Purport --- ## For the Guru and Disciple to Communicate Kṛṣṇa-kathā ### Both must be free from material desires ![[sb/10/1/4#purport|For topics concerning Uttamaśloka, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master speaks, and the disciple hears with attention. Unless both of them are free from material desires, they cannot be interested in topics of Kṛṣṇa consciousness]] —SB [[sb/10/1/4|10.1.4]] Purport --- ### The audience must be sincere and eager to hear ![[sb/1/1/13#purport|The conditions for hearing the transcendental message of the Absolute Truth are set forth herein. The first condition is that the audience must be very sincere and eager to hear]] —SB [[sb/1/1/13|1.1.13]] Purport --- ## Submissiveness and Humility ### One should not consider himself superior to the guru > One does not approach the spiritual master with a challenging spirit. One should also be inquisitive to understand the spiritual science. It is not that one considers himself superior to the *guru.* One must first find a *guru* to whom one can surrender, and if this is not possible, one shouldn't waste his time. —Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahūti --- ### A challenging spirit before the spiritual master should be avoided ![[sb/5/12/3#purport|A challenging spirit before the spiritual master should be avoided if one is at all interested in learning the Vedic instructions in depth]] —SB [[sb/5/12/3|5.12.3]] Purport --- ### Both blind following and absurd inquiries are condemned ![[bg/4/34#purport|Both blind following and absurd inquiries are condemned. One should not only hear submissively from the spiritual master, but one must also get a clear understanding from him, in submission and service and inquiries]] —Bg. [[bg/4/34|4.34]] Purport --- ## Disciple Must Be Anxious to Hear ### The result of serving the servants of the Lord ![[sb/1/2/16#purport|By serving the servants of the Lord, one gradually gets the quality of such servants, and thus one becomes qualified to hear the glories of God. The eagerness to hear about God is the first qualification of a devotee eligible for entering the kingdom of God]] —SB [[sb/1/2/16|1.2.16]] Purport --- ### Transcendental knowledge can be understood only by submissive aural reception > Since we belong to the chain of disciplic succession from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, this edition of *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta* will contain nothing newly manufactured by our tiny brains, but only remnants of foodstuff originally eaten by the Lord Himself.... Any deviation from that line will bewilder the reader's understanding of the mystery of *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta*.... anyone who follows in the disciplic line will be able to realize the essence of this book simply by the method of aural reception. —Cc. Ādi-līlā, Introduction