Text 18]
Lord Rṣabhadeva's Teachings
189
guruḥ —a spiritual master;  na —not;  saḥ —he;  syāt —should become;  sva-janaḥ —a relative;  na —not;  saḥ —such a person;  syāt —should become;  pitā —a father;  na —not;  saḥ —he;  syāt —should become;  jananī —a mother;  na —not;  sā —she;  syāt —should become;  daivam —the worshipable deity;  na —not;  tat —that;  syāt —should become;  na —not;  patiḥ —a husband;  ca —also;  saḥ —he;  syāt —should become;  na —not;  mocayet —can deliver;  yaḥ —who;  samupeta-mṛtyum —one who is on the path of repeated birth and death.
TRANSLATION
“One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable demigod.
PURPORT
There are many spiritual masters, but Rṣabhadeva advises that one should not become a spiritual master if he is unable to save his disciple from the path of birth and death. Unless one is a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. he cannot save himself from the path of repeated birth and death.  Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so 'rjuna.  One can stop birth and death only by returning home, back to Godhead. However, who can go back to Godhead unless he understands the Supreme Lord in truth?  Janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ.
We have many instances in history illustrating Rṣabhadeva's instructions. Śukrācārya was rejected by Bali Mahārāja due to his inability to save Bali Mahārāja from the path of repeated birth and death. Śukrācārya was not a pure devotee, he was more or less inclined to fruitive activity, and he objected when Bali Mahārāja promised to give everything to Lord Viṣṇu. Actually one is supposed to give everything to the Lord because everything belongs to the Lord. Consequently, the Supreme Lord advises in  Bhagavad-gītā  (9.27):
yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi 
    yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat 
    yat tapasyasi kaunteya 
    tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam