Guru Means Heavy

Devotee: It is our responsibility as disciples and grand-disciples of Srila Prabhupada to set a good example. The disciples must be serious as well as the devotees accepting the role of spiritual masters.

Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, one who plays the role of guru should be guru in the true sense, not a pretender or a cheater. He must be a real teacher. He should be conscious of his capacity. If I can only carry one ton, why should I accept a load of two tons? If you take more than you can carry, you’ll be crushed, degraded. That is the result of greed. Why develop such greed? One should be conscious of his capacity. “I have no capacity, I cannot deliver a soul, I am not liberated myself, so why shall I accept disciples?” Accepting disciples when one does not have the capacity is only cheating and hypocrisy, nothing else. “I am not completely free from anarthas, so how can I make him free?” Guru means heavy. It also means heavy responsibility. It is not an easy affair to deliver even one soul from the clutches of maya ,the fort of Durga. To do so, the guru has to spend gallons and gallons of spiritual blood. This is not child’s play. Also, the disciple must be serious.

— The Process of Inquiry.