Three Qualifications required to accept a Guru (Spiritual master)!
This is a very important topic and every devotee aspiring for a guru should know these details.
We are reading plenty of posts about the qualifications of a guru, ie, who should accept disciples.
In this Post, we will know the qualifications required for aspirant to accept or avoid a Guru (Spiritual master)!
I have written the etiquettes of a disciples after accepting a guru.
(Right Behaviour (Etiquette) for disciples in the Presence of Guru! READ HERE!)
But who should accept a Guru (Spiritual master)?
Srila Prabhupada has nicely given clear cut instructions about the qualifications required for aspirant to accept or avoid a Guru (Spiritual master) in his Speech in New York on 14th August 1966:
Let us read a part of it:
Bhagavad Gita (4-34):
tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam
jnaninas tattva-darsinah
Meaning: “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth”
QUALIFICATION-1:
“If you want to learn Bhagavad-gita or any transcendental subject matter, Lord Krsna says that you must go to a person to whom you can surrender yourself. That means you have to check: “Who is the real person who can give me instruction on Bhagavad-gita or any Vedic literature?” Your search must not be whimsical. You have to search very seriously for a person who actually knows the subject. Otherwise, why surrender to someone? But since you have to find a person to whom you can voluntarily surrender, without finding that person your mission will not be fulfilled.”
Here Krsna advises, “If you want to learn Bhagavad-gita, then you have to go to a person to whom you can surrender.”
(Selecting a Guru in ISKCON – Steps & Procedures involved! READ HERE!)
QUALIFICATION-2:
But you should not blindly surrender. You must be able to inquire pariprasna. The next qualification is pariprasna, “inquiry.” Without inquiry you cannot make advancement. A student in school who inquires from the teacher is intelligent. Even a child who inquires, “Oh, father, what is this? What is this?” is intelligent.
So inquiry is required, not only surrender “Oh, I have found a very good spiritual master. All right. I have surrendered. Now all my business is finished.” No. You may have a very good spiritual master, but if you have no power to inquire, then you cannot make progress. Inquiries must be there.
How do you inquire? Not to challenge. Not “Oh, I shall see what kind of spiritual master he is. Let me challenge him and put some irrelevant questions and talk nonsensically, this way and that way.” That kind of inquiry will not help. Pariprasna means “inquiry on the point.”
QUALIFICATION-3:
And that inquiry should be sevaya, “with service.” Seva means “service.” One should not think, “Oh, I have inquired so many things from such and such person, and I have not rendered any payment or service, so I have gained.” No. Without service your inquiry will be futile.
So three requirements for approaching a spiritual master are given here:
pranipata (surrender), pariprasna (inquiry), and seva (service).
(Testing a Guru & Disciple before accepting each other! A-Z details! READ HERE!)
SRILA PRABHUPADA FURTHER GIVES A NICE EXAMPLE:
Pranipata means you must at least have the qualification to find a person actually qualified to give you real instruction. That qualification you must have. That remains on you.
Suppose you have to purchase some gold or jewelry. If you do not know where to purchase if you go to a grocery shop to purchase a jewel then you’ll be cheated.
If you go to a grocery shop and ask, “Can you give me a diamond?” the grocer will understand, “Here is a fool. So let me give him something else.”
“Here. This is a diamond.”
“Oh. What is the price?”
The grocer can charge anything. And when you come home, your relatives will ask, “What have you brought?”
“This is a diamond. I bought it at the grocery shop.”
That way of finding a spiritual master will not do. You have to become a little intelligent, because without being intelligent one cannot make any spiritual progress.
QUALIFICATIONS TO BE A DISCIPLE – FROM OTHER SCRIPTURES
(1) FROM SRIMAD BHAGAVATHAM 11.3.24:
To serve the spiritual master the disciple should learn cleanliness, austerity, tolerance, silence, study of Vedic knowledge, simplicity, celibacy, nonviolence, and equanimity in the face of material dualities such as heat and cold, happiness and distress.
(4) SRIMAD BHAGAVATHAM 11-3-21:
Sage Prabuddha continued to speak to the King as follows: “My dear King, a disciple has to accept the spiritual master not only as spiritual master, but also as the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supersoul. In other words, the disciple should accept the spiritual master as God, because he is the external manifestation of Krsna. This is confirmed in every scripture, and a disciple should accept the spiritual master as such. One should learn Srimad-Bhagavatam seriously and with all respect and veneration for the spiritual master. Hearing and speaking Srimad-Bhagavatam is the religious process which elevates one to the platform of serving and loving the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
The attitude of the disciple should be to satisfy the bona fide spiritual master. Then it will be very easy for him to understand spiritual knowledge.”
(How to repent for not following the Vows given to Guru? READ HERE!)
(3) From Sri Caitanya Caritmruta, Madhya-lila 24.330, Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:
“The disciple must have the following qualifications. He must give up interest in the material bodily conception. He must give up material lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness and envy. He should be interested only in understanding the science of God, and he should be ready to consider all points in this matter. He should no longer think, “I am this body,” or, “This thing belongs to me.” One must love the spiritual master with unflinching faith, and one must be very steady and fixed. The bona fide disciple should be inquisitive to understand transcendental subject matter. He must not search out faults among good qualities, and he should no longer be interested in material topics. His only interest should be Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
As far as the mutual testing of the spiritual master and disciple is concerned, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Ṭhakura explains that a bonafide disciple must be very inquisitive to understand the transcendental subject matter. As stated in Śrimad-Bhagavatam (11.3.21):
tasmad guruṁ prapadyeta
jijnasuḥ sreya uttamam
“One who is inquisitive to understand the highest goal and benefit of life must approach a bona fide spiritual master and surrender unto him.”
(WHAT IF A DISCIPLE IS UNABLE TO SURRENDER TO GURU? READ HERE!)
The Purport explains the Qualifications to be a guru and a disciple! A serious disciple must be alert when selecting a bonafide spiritual master. He must be sure that the spiritual master can deliver all the transcendental necessities. The spiritual master must observe how inquisitive the disciple is and how eager he is to understand the transcendental subject matter. The spiritual master should study the disciple’s inquisitiveness for no less than six months or a year. A spiritual master should not be very anxious to accept a disciple because of his material opulences. Sometimes a big businessman or landlord may approach a spiritual master for initiation. Those who are materially interested are called viṣayīs (karmīs), which indicates that they are very fond of sense gratification. Such viṣayīs sometimes approach a famous guru and ask to become a disciple just as a matter of fashion. Sometimes viṣayīs pose as disciples of a reputed spiritual master just to cover their activities and advertise themselves as advanced in spiritual knowledge. In other words, they want to attain material success. A spiritual master must be very careful in this regard. Such business is going on all over the world. The spiritual master does not accept a materially opulent disciple just to advertise the fact that he has such a big disciple. He knows that by associating with such viṣayi disciples, he may fall down. One who accepts a viṣayi disciple is not a bonafide spiritual master. Even if he is, his position may be damaged due to association with an unscrupulous viṣayi. If a so-called spiritual master accepts a disciple for his personal benefit or for material gain, the relationship between the spiritual master and the disciple turns into a material affair, and the spiritual master becomes like a smarta-guru. There are many caste gosvamis who professionally create some disciples who do not care for them or their instructions. Such spiritual masters are satisfied simply to get some material benefits from their disciples. Such a relationship is condemned by Śrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Ṭhakura, who calls such spiritual masters and disciples a society of cheaters and cheated. They are also called baulas or prakrta-sahajiyas. Their aim is to make the connection between the spiritual master and the disciple into a very cheap thing. They are not serious in wanting to understand spiritual life.”
CONCLUSION:
Therefore, First Surrender; Then Inquire; and then Serve that guru.
You will be successful in satisfying your guru.
Hope this Post is useful to learn the three Qualifications required to accept a Guru (Spiritual master)!
(QUALIFICATIONS TO BE A GURU – FROM THE SCRIPTURES! READ HERE!)