When I speak of Kṛṣṇa, you must remember that I am speaking of God. There are millions of names of God in different parts of the world, but Kṛṣṇa is the supreme name according to Vedic knowledge. So therefore Lord Caitanya has recommended—and His recommendation is accepted by the authorities even at the present moment—
- kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya
- yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā sei 'guru' haya
- (CC Madhya 8.128)
And you'll be surprised that Lord Caitanya's principal disciples were all so-called fallen in the society. He appointed one Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Nāmācārya Haridāsa Ṭhākura. This Haridāsa Ṭhākura was a Muhammadan. He happened to take his birth in a Muhammadan family, but he became a follower of Caitanya, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu, after training him, He gave him the highest post of His spiritual mission. Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared to introduce this system of Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare, chanting of the holy name of God, and He appointed this Haridāsa Ṭhākura, who happened to be a Muhammadan. But he became so much enlightened that Caitanya Mahāprabhu appointed him the supreme minister of administering this Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. He was, he was made the authority, nāmācārya. Ācārya means the prime minister, the authority.
So there are other, six important direct disciples. Just like Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī. Now, these gentlemen were formerly known as Sakara Mallika and Dabir Khas. Dabir Khas. That was the Muhammadan period. India was being governed by that time by the Pathans, and in Bengal there was a Pathan ruler whose name was Nawab Hussain Shah. This... But these gentlemen, Sakara Mallika and Dabir Khas, they were appointed minister in the service, in the governmental service of Nawab Hussain Shah. And, in those days, the Hindus were so strict that anyone accepting the service, especially the brāhmaṇas, if he accepts, if a brāhmaṇa accepts the service of anyone, especially who is not a Hindu, he is at once extricated from the society. So these two gentlemen, Sakara Mallika, they almost became... They changed their name also. They were actually brāhmaṇas, very intelligent, learned. They were very good scholars. In Parsee, er, Persian language, and Sanskrit language, they were very good scholars, but because they engaged themselves in the service of the Muhammadan ruler, they were, I mean to say, extricated from the brāhmaṇa society. They also followed Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and they were made the best authorities in this science of Kṛṣṇa science. They... Later on, they became Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī.
So there is no bar for anyone, that one cannot become the spiritual master. Everyone can become spiritual master, provided he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa. That is the only qualification. And that is very reasonable. If you do not this, do not know the subject matter, how can you be a teacher? Eh? A teacher means he knows the thing. He knows the science. So only qualification of the spiritual master, as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, kibā śūdra, kibā vipra, nyāsī kene naya, yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā: "Anyone who knows the science of Kṛṣṇa..." This is the science of Kṛṣṇa, this Bhagavad-gītā. If anyone knows perfectly, then he becomes the spiritual master.
And there is need of spiritual master at the present moment. We require thousands of spiritual master to preach all over the world this science of Kṛṣṇa, the science of Kṛṣṇa. That will solve all problems of the world. Take it from me. We discussed amongst our confidential devotees here, and they agreed that actually this is the science which can mitigate all the problems of the world.
So yaj jñātvā punar moham evaṁ yāsyasi. So Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna... He's addressing Arjuna because Arjuna is hearing as representative of us. He was not speaking to Arjuna alone, but He was speaking to all the human race. So yaj jñātvā na punar moham: "By understanding this science then you cannot go, you cannot be illusioned." Because Arjuna was illusioned and he was not prepared to fight, so this instruction was given, this Bhagavad-gītā instruction was given to Arjuna. So He says that "If you have actually undergone the training under the experienced, bona fide spiritual master, then you would not have gone under such illusory energy." Yena bhūtāny aśeṣāṇi drakṣyasy āt...
Then again He says,
- api ced asi pāpebhyaḥ
- sarvebhyaḥ pāpa-kṛttamaḥ
- sarvaṁ jñāna-plavenaiva
- vṛjinaṁ santariṣyasi
- (BG 4.36)
Now, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa says that "Just like if you have got a very good ship, you can very easily cross the Atlantic Ocean without any difficulty, similarly, we are in the midst of the ocean of ignorance." Our, this life, this conditioned life in the material world is just like the ocean of ignorance, ocean of ignorance. So Lord Caitanya, therefore, He prayed to Śrī Kṛṣṇa like this, ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau: "My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, I am just fallen in the ocean of ignorance." So we are in the ocean of ignorance. Now, in the ocean, if you get a very good boat or very good ship, as you can cross over, similarly, if we have the ship or the boat of perfect knowledge, then there is no fear. We can cross the ocean very easily. We can cross this ocean very easily.