So anyone who is well versed in bhagavat-tattva-vijñānam, he's . . . he can become guru. Not others. And in many places this is confirmed, that ṣaṭ-karma-nipuṇo vipro (Padma Purāṇa). A brahmin, very well expert in his business . . . brāhmin's business means ṣaṭ-karma, six kinds of karma: paṭhana pāṭhana yajana yājana dāna pratigraha. A brahmin must be very learned scholar, brāhmin paṇḍita. He must be scholar. Scholar means not ordinary, but in transcendental science. Tad vijñānam. So paṭhana pāṭhana. And he must be expert teacher also. He should not . . .
Actually in our India, formerly, the brahmins, they usually become teachers. In any village, a brahmin has no other business. He sits down. He's called catuṣpāṭhī, the higher scholars. But for ordinary also. A brahmin . . . guru-maharṣayaḥ. We studied under guru-maharṣayaḥ in our childhood. Pāṭha śālā. So anywhere a brahmin can sit down and the village boys, small boys, children would come there. He doesn't charge anything, but their father, mother sends everything—rice, ḍāl, cloth. So he has no much demand for bodily necessities. This was paṭhana. This is brahmin. Brahmin should not accept any service.
Formerly, Sanātana Gosvāmī, because he accepted the service of Nawab Hussain Shah, he was rejected from the brahmin society. In the Bhāgavata also it is stated if a brahmin is in difficulty, he may accept the profession of a kṣatriya or a vaiśya, but never of a śūdra. Śūdra has been described there as dog. A dog, without having a master, he cannot live very nicely. Street dog is very wretched, but a dog under the care of a good master is very healthy and very happy. Similarly, a śūdra cannot live without having a master. That has been described as the dog's business.
So similarly a brāhmin will never accept any service. He'll starve, but he will never accept any service. That is against brāhmin principles. Therefore ṣaṭ-karma-nipu . . . he can accept charity if somebody gives willfully. Dana pratigraha. But pratigraha dāna . . . he'll take, pratigraha, accept charity, but whatever he requires, he'll spend, and the balance he'll immediately distribute. Dāna. In Bengal it is said, lakhtakai bamun bhikiri (a brahmin is a beggar even though he has one lakh rupees). The . . . why? A brāhmin gets one lakh of rupees; next day, he's again beggar. Why? He'll not keep anything. Whatever he requires for the day's expenditure, he will take it, and balance he will again distribute.