One who knows what is Paramātmā, what is Brahman, what is Bhagavān, he is tattva-darśi. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam (SB 1.2.11). So these are the qualification of guru. Why one should go to a guru to see some magic? One who can make some gold, one who can make some . . . So many magicians, they are becoming guru. This is going on. The public, they do not know what is the meaning of guru, and the cheaters, they get the opportunity of becoming false gurus. In the Western countries we have seen so many so-called rascal gurus go there and cheat the public, because the Europeans, Americans, they have got some conviction that India has got some spiritual knowledge, so anyone goes as a sannyāsī, as a svāmī, they expect to get something from them. So they gather round them. But these rascals cheat them. Somebody says, "I am incarnation of God, and I can make my secretary, woman, pregnant, and marry and get some money." This is going on. And somebody is Transcendental Meditation. What is the result of . . . (indistinct) . . .? He'll will get strong. He will get money. Your health will be right. These things are going on.
But śāstra says that you should not . . . you are rascal. You should not become a guru because you have no power to save your disciple from the clutches of imminent death. You should not cheat others. Gurur na sa syāt, this is Bhāgavatam. You are rascal if you are not confident that you can save him from the clutches of birth and . . . This is my problem. But they do not know what is the problem. They think that little pain in my belly or in the head, if the guru can give me a little dust and it is cured. You will find there are so many cheaters. In some . . . about forty years ago, I know near Lucknow, some guru came, he was curing all disease by giving little dust. All cheating. Later on it was detected. Thousands, thousands men came to him, even big, big capitalists, they also. Everyone has got some disease, and they want to see the miracle: by giving little dust, and he is curing disease, "Oh! Such a guru!" These things are going on. But Bhāgavata says that both the public must know what for one should go to guru. Not that it is a fashion to keep a guru, just like to keep a dog. No. He must know what is the purpose of guru.
The purpose of guru is described in the Bhāgavatam, that tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta (SB 11.3.21). Guru to go, to surrender. Just like Arjuna, he surrendered, śiṣyas te 'ham śādhi māṁ prapannam (BG 2.7). Prapadye, tasmād guruṁ prapadye. You must find out guru where you can surrender. Not that keep your guru your order supply, "Give me some āśīrvād and I may be benefited." He is not guru; he is your order-supplier, your servant. Guru means he must order it, "You must do this." If you agree, then he is a guru. Not that "I shall order my guru, and he will execute my order." No that. That will do the dog, not the guru. Then the . . . As you have got a dog, and if you ask him, "Sit down here," a dog will sit. That kind of guru-keeping has no value. But here is the responsibility of guru, first that he must save the disciple from the cycle of birth and death. Kṛṣṇa also said, "What is the problem of life?" Not that "I have got some pain here, I have some trouble or some . . ." These are not problems. This problem one should tolerate. Because destiny is there, one should āgamāpāyino 'nityās tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata (BG 2.14). We should not be disturbed for all these things. This is material world. You will have sometimes mātrā sparśās tu śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ (BG 2.14). The whole world is like that. There is sometimes distress, there is sometimes happiness. So to mitigate the worldly distress or getting some happiness, one should not go to guru. That is not the proper way.