QUALIFICATIONS

THE GENUINE GURU

HIS DIVINE GRACE A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA
IS THE GURU OF THE UNIVERSE

SRILA PRABHUPADA IS ACARYA, OR ONE WHO TEACHES BY EXAMPLE
HE IS THE MOST COMPASSIONATE TO ALL OF US FALLEN SOULS

One should know the acarya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.

Only out of His immense compassion does the Personality of Godhead reveal Himself as the spiritual master. Therefore in the dealings of an acarya there are no activities but those of transcendental loving service to the Lord. He is the Supreme Personality of Servitor Godhead. It is worthwhile to take shelter of such a steady devotee, who is called asraya-vigraha, or the manifestation or form of the Lord of whom one must take shelter.
If one poses himself as an äcärya but does not have an attitude of servitorship to the Lord, he must be considered an offender, and this offensive attitude disqualifies him from being an äcärya. The bona fide spiritual master always engages in unalloyed devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By this test he is known to be a direct manifestation of the Lord and a genuine representative of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. Such a spiritual master is known as acaryadeva. Influenced by an envious temperament and dissatisfied because of an attitude of sense gratification, mundaners criticize a real acarya. In fact, however, a bona fide acarya is nondifferent from the Personality of Godhead, and therefore to envy such an acarya is to envy the Personality of Godhead Himself. This will produce an effect subversive of transcendental realization. (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 1.46)

GURU UNDERSTANDS SUFFERING AND KNOWS HOW TO END IT FOREVER

...serious interest in the welfare of the public
makes one a bona fide acarya.
An acarya does not exploit his followers.
Since the acarya is a confidential servitor of the Lord,
his heart is always full of compassion
for humanity in its suffering.
He knows that all suffering
is due to the absence of devotional service to the Lord,
and therefore he always tries to find ways
to change peoples activities, making them favorable
for the attainment of devotion.
That is the qualification of an acarya.
This endeavor makes him a very dear devotee of the Lord,
who says clearly in Bhagavad-gita
that no one in human society
is dearer to Him than a devotee
who constantly engages in His service
by finding ways to preach the message of Godhead
for the real benefit of the world.
(Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta Adi-lila 3.98 p)

GURU CAN CONTROL THE MIND AND SENSES

Srila Rupa Gosvami, however, has explained that jagad-guru [guru of the universe] properly refers to one who is the controller of his tongue, mind, words, belly, genitals and anger... such a jagad-guru is completely fit to make disciples all over the world. (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 7.64 purport)

GURU CAN COME FROM ANY SOCIAL CLASS BUT MUST KNOW THE SCIENCE OF KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu informed Ramananda Raya that knowledge of Krsna consciousness is more important than caste. In the system of varnasrama-dharma there are various duties for the brahmanas [priests], ksatriyas [administrators, protectors of citizens], vaisyas [food production, trade, cow protection] and sudras [workers]. Actually the brahmana is supposed to be the spiritual master of all other varnas, or classes, but as far as Krsna consciousness is concerned, everyone is capable of becoming a spiritual master because knowledge in Krsna consciousness is on the platform of the spirit soul. To spread Krsna consciousness, one need only be cognizant of the science of the spirit soul. It does not matter whether one is a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra, sannyasi [renounced, monk], grhastha [householder] or whatever. If one simply understands this science, he can become a spiritual master. (Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 8.128)