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The Nectar of Instruction
devotee should be accepted as a spiritual master. Everything one possesses should be offered to him, for it is enjoined that one should deliver whatever he has to the spiritual master. The  brahmacārī  in particular is supposed to beg alms from others and offer them to the spiritual master. However, one should not imitate the behavior of an advanced devotee or  mahā-bhāgavata  without being self-realized, for by such imitation one will eventually become degraded.
In this verse Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī advises the devotee to be intelligent enough to distinguish between the  kaniṣṭha-adhikārī ,  madhyama-adhikārī  and  uttama-adhikārī . The devotee should also know his own position and should not try to imitate a devotee situated on a higher platform. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thākura has given some practical hints to the effect that an  uttama-adhikārī  Vaiṣṇava can be recognized by his ability to convert many fallen souls to Vaiṣṇavism. One should not become a spiritual master unless he has attained the platform of  uttama-adhikārī . A neophyte Vaiṣṇava or a Vaiṣṇava situated on the intermediate platform can also accept disciples, but such disciples must be on the same platform, and it should be understood that they cannot advance very well toward the ultimate goal of life under his insufficient guidance. Therefore a disciple should be careful to accept an  uttama-adhikārī  as a spiritual master.
TEXT SIX
दृष्टेः स्वभावजनितैर्वपुष्पश्च दोषैर् न प्राकृतत्वमिह भक्तजनस्य पश्येत् ।