# Duties of the Spiritual Master *The responsibilities and proper behavior of the guru toward his disciples.* ← Back to [[wiki/compile/spiritual-master-disciple|The Spiritual Master and the Disciple]] --- ## The Spiritual Master Must Be Able to Save the Disciple ### The spiritual master must be able to save his disciple from birth and death ![[sb/5/5/18|One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master]] —SB [[sb/5/5/18|5.5.18]] --- ### One should not become a guru unless he can take the disciple back to Godhead ![[sb/8/20/1#purport|One should not become a guru if he cannot enable his disciple to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness]] —SB [[sb/8/20/1|8.20.1]] Purport --- ### The spiritual master must be able to lead his disciple back to Godhead ![[sb/2/3/22#purport|One should not become a pseudo spiritual master as a matter of business to meet one's family expenditures; one must be an expert spiritual master to deliver the disciple]] —SB [[sb/2/3/22|2.3.22]] Purport --- ### The bona fide spiritual master trains his disciple to worship Vāsudeva ![[sb/8/16/20#purport|One who trains his subordinate or disciple to worship Vāsudeva is the truly bona fide spiritual master]] —SB [[sb/8/16/20|8.16.20]] Purport --- ### The spiritual master must engage his disciple in the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa ![[sb/1/13/2#purport|A person...should not pose to be [a spiritual master] if he is unable to engage his disciple ultimately in the transcendental loving service of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa]] —SB [[sb/1/13/2|1.13.2]] Purport --- ## The Spiritual Master Must Teach by Example ### Common men follow the leader's example ![[bg/3/21#purport|A leader cannot teach the public to stop smoking if he himself smokes...One who teaches in that way is called ācārya, or the ideal teacher]] —Bg. [[bg/3/21|3.21]] Purport --- ### The spiritual master must teach by example ![[sb/1/10/36#purport|one must act properly himself and teach the same to others, otherwise no one will accept one's blind teaching]] —SB [[sb/1/10/36|1.10.36]] Purport --- ### The guru does not instruct without acting accordingly himself ![[sb/2/9/40#purport|The pure devotees of the Lord...do not do anything to instruct their subordinates without acting accordingly themselves]] —SB [[sb/2/9/40|2.9.40]] Purport --- ## The Spiritual Master Must Be Self-Controlled ### A sober person who can control the six pushing agents is qualified to make disciples > *vāco vegaṁ manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ* > *jihvā-vegam udaropastha-vegam* > *etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ* > *sarvām apīmāṁ pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt* > > A sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the mind's demands, the actions of anger and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world. —Nectar of Instruction, Text 1 --- ### One who does not have control cannot become a spiritual master > A person who has full control over the senses and mind is called a *gosvāmī* or *gosāñi.* One who does not have such control is called *godāsa,* or a servant of the senses, and cannot become a spiritual master. —Cc. [[cc/adi/7/13|Ādi 7.13]] Purport --- ### Both the guru and 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 --- ## The Spiritual Master Must Be Empowered ### Only by the Lord's order should one become spiritual master ![[sb/1/13/48#purport|One should not become a spiritual master for one's personal benefit, for some material gain or as an avenue of business or occupation for earning livelihood]] —SB [[sb/1/13/48|1.13.48]] Purport --- ### Unless favored by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, one cannot act as a spiritual master > This is the *paramparā* system. The so-called spiritual master of the Buddhists was actually in the position of a disciple, and after his disciples were initiated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they acted as his spiritual masters. This was possible only because the disciples of the Buddhist *ācārya* received the mercy of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Unless one is favored by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the disciplic succession, one cannot act as a spiritual master. —Cc. [[cc/madhya/9/59|Madhya 9.59-61]] Purport --- ### Without being empowered, no one can become a spiritual master > Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura comments: "Without being empowered by the direct potency of Lord Kṛṣṇa to fulfill His desire and without being specifically favored by the Lord, no human being can become the spiritual master of the whole world. He certainly cannot succeed by mental concoction, which is not meant for devotees or religious people." —Cc. [[cc/madhya/25/9|Madhya 25.9]] Purport --- ### The bona fide spiritual master has received mercy from his guru ![[sb/8/16/24#purport|The bona fide spiritual master is he who has received the mercy of his guru, who in turn is bona fide because he has received the mercy of his guru]] —SB [[sb/8/16/24|8.16.24]] Purport --- ### Without strict obedience to one's spiritual master, one cannot become a bona fide spiritual master ![[sb/2/9/43#purport|one cannot be a bona fide and authorized spiritual master unless one has been strictly obedient to his spiritual master]] —SB [[sb/2/9/43|2.9.43]] Purport --- ## The Spiritual Master Must Be a Representative of Kṛṣṇa ### Without being a representative of Kṛṣṇa, one cannot become a spiritual master ![[bg/11/43#purport|Without being a representative of Kṛṣṇa, one cannot become a teacher or spiritual master of transcendental subject matter]] —Bg. [[bg/11/43|11.43]] Purport --- ### The guru must be a direct representative of Kṛṣṇa ![[sb/5/17/11#purport|A guru must be a direct representative of Kṛṣṇa who distributes the instructions of Kṛṣṇa without any change]] —SB [[sb/5/17/11|5.17.11]] Purport --- ## The Spiritual Master's Confidential Service ### The spiritual master delivers conditioned souls ![[sb/7/5/11#purport|The spiritual master, the servant of God, is engaged in the most confidential service of the Lord, namely delivering all the conditioned souls]] —SB [[sb/7/5/11|7.5.11]] Purport --- ### The guru is confidential because he tells people to surrender to Kṛṣṇa > Being the most confidential servant of Kṛṣṇa, the *guru* is very dear to Kṛṣṇa; therefore if he recommends someone to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa accepts the person. The *guru* is the confidential servant of Kṛṣṇa because he canvasses from door to door, saying, "Please become Kṛṣṇa conscious and surrender unto Kṛṣṇa." —Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahūti --- ### The spiritual master is prepared to go anywhere > The spiritual master is kind in that he begs from door to door, country to country, town to town: "My dear ladies and gentlemen, my dear boys and girls, please take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness." In this way he renders very confidential service to Kṛṣṇa.... For the service of the Lord a devotee is prepared to go anywhere, and for this reason he is very dear to Kṛṣṇa. —The Science of Self-Realization --- ## Additional Duties and Standards ### One who preaches and behaves properly is the spiritual master of the entire world > Sanātana Gosvāmī clearly defines herein the bona fide spiritual master of the world. The qualifications expressed in this connection are that one must act according to the scriptural injunctions and at the same time preach. One who does so is a bona fide spiritual master. —Cc. [[cc/antya/4/102|Antya 4.102-103]] Purport --- ### A genuine guru speaks only about God > The genuine *guru* is God's representative, and he speaks about God and nothing else. The genuine *guru* is he who has no interest in materialistic life. He is after God, and God only. That is one of the tests of a genuine *guru*: *brahma-niṣṭham.* He is absorbed in the Absolute Truth. —The Science of Self-Realization --- ### The spiritual master must be spotless in character ![[sb/1/1/6#purport|A gosvāmī or the bona fide representative of Śrī Vyāsadeva must be free from all kinds of vices]] —SB [[sb/1/1/6|1.1.6]] Purport --- ### The spiritual master must be free from māyā ![[bg/2/13#purport|in the clutches of māyā, no one can be an authoritative instructor]] —Bg. [[bg/2/13|2.13]] Purport --- ### The spiritual master must have complete knowledge ![[sb/2/4/6#purport|The spiritual master, therefore, must be one who is sarva-jña]] —SB [[sb/2/4/6|2.4.6]] Purport --- ### The spiritual master must be able to answer all inquiries from the disciple ![[sb/2/8/7#purport|the spiritual master must also be well versed and learned so that he may be able to answer all these inquiries from the devotees]] —SB [[sb/2/8/7|2.8.7]] Purport --- ### One can become a spiritual master by having full faith in Kṛṣṇa's words ![[sb/4/18/5#purport|One can immediately become a spiritual master by having full faith in the transcendental words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and by following His instructions]] —SB [[sb/4/18/5|4.18.5]] Purport --- ### The spiritual master should not be proud of his position > The grass is specifically mentioned in this verse because everyone tramples upon it yet the grass never protests. This example indicates that a spiritual master or leader should not be proud of his position; being always humbler than an ordinary common man, he should go on preaching the cult of Caitanya Mahāprabhu by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra*. —Cc. [[cc/adi/17/31|Ādi 17.31]] Purport