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Śrīmad Bhāgavatam
[Canto 2, Ch. 9]
agents for giving some information, but the spiritual master is not a paid agent. Nor can he impart instruction without being authorized. In the  Bhagavad-gītā , the process of understanding transcendental knowledge is directed as follows:
tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ
Arjuna was advised to receive transcendental knowledge from the realized person by surrender, questions and service. Receiving transcendental knowledge is not like exchanging dollars; such knowledge has to be received by service to the spiritual master. As Brahmājī received the knowledge directly from the Lord by satisfying Him fully, similarly one has to receive the transcendental knowledge from the spiritual master by satisfying him. The spiritual master's satisfaction is the means of assimilating transcendental knowledge. One cannot understand transcendental knowledge simply by becoming a grammarian. The  Vedas  declared:
yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau tasyaite kathitā hy arthaḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
"Only unto one who has unflinching devotion to the Lord and to the spiritual master does transcendental knowledge become automatically revealed." Such a relationship between the disciple and the spiritual master is eternal. One who is now the disciple is the next spiritual master. And one cannot be a bona fide and authorized spiritual master unless one has been strictly obedient to his spiritual master. Brahmājī, as disciple of the Supreme Lord, received the real knowledge and imparted it to his dear disciple Nārada, and similarly Nārada, as spiritual master, handed over this knowledge to Vyāsa and so on. Therefore the so-called formal spiritual master and disciple are not facsimiles of Brahmā and Nārada or Nārada or Vyāsa. The relationship between Brahmā and Nārada is reality, while the so-called formality is the relation between the cheater and cheated. It is clearly mentioned herewith that Nārada is not only well behaved, meek and obedient, but is also self-controlled. One who is not self-controlled, specifically in sex life, can neither become a disciple nor a spiritual master. One must have disciplinary training in controlling speaking, anger, tongue, mind, belly and the genitals. One who has controlled the particular senses mentioned above is called a  gosvāmī . Without becoming a  gosvāmī  one can neither become a disciple nor a spiritual master. The so-called spiritual