Who is Guru or spiritual master?
(Caitanya-caritāmrta, Madhya 8.128) Sri Caitanya Mahaprabh u said that one who is master in the science of Krishna consciousness, regardless of his social position, is the real spiritual master. kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya yei krishna-tattva-vettā, sei 'guru' haya "It does not matter whether a person is a vipra [learned scholar in Vedic wisdom] or is born in a lower family, or is in the renounced order of life — if he is master in the science of Krishna, he is the perfect and bona fide spiritual master." So without being a master in the science of Krishna consciousness, no one is a bona fide spiritual master. Padma Purāna "A scholarly brāhmana expert in all subjects of Vedic knowledge, is unfit to become a spiritual master without being a Vaisnava, or expert in the science of Krsna consciousness. But a person born in a family of a lower caste can become a spiritual master if he is a Vaisnava or Krishna conscious....