Devotee: Is that a qualification of a brāhmaṇa, that he has firm religious faith?
Prabhupāda: No. There are at least nine qualifications. He must be truthful; he must be controlling the senses, mind; he must be tolerant; then satya śama dama—śauca (BG 18.42), he must be cleansed; and he must believe in the śāstra, in the scriptures; and he must be conversant with the śāstric knowledge.
These are the qualification of brahmins. The first qualification is that he must be truthful, just like this Satyakaṁ. He plainly, plainly said the real truth, and he was immediately accepted, "Yes, you have got the qualification of a brahmin. You can speak the truth."
Truth may be palatable or unpleasant—that does not matter. Everything is palatable to somebody, unpalatable to others—"One man's food, another man's poison." That does not matter. But the thing should be presented as it is. That is required. There is no hide-and-seek policy.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu especially was very much against untruthfulness. The Haridāsa . . . that Junior Haridāsa Ṭhākura was rejected because he showed a little symptom of untruthfulness. He was living in the company of Caitanya Mahāprabhu as in renounced order of life, but he had at his heart for sex life, so immediately he was rejected.