Text 330] Explanations of the Atmarama Verse 271
fixed. The bona fide disciple should be inquisitive to understand transcendental
subject matter. He must not search out faults among good qualities, and he
should no longer be interested in material topics. His only interest should be
Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

As far as the mutual testing of the spiritual master and disciple is concerned,
Stila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explains that a bona fide disciple must be
very inquisitive to understand the transcendental subject matter. As stated in
Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.3.21):

tasmdad gururn prapadyeta
jijfidsuh sreya uttamam
“One who is inquisitive to understand the highest goal and benefit of life must
approach a bona fide spiritual master and surrender unto him.” A serious disciple
must be alert when selecting a bona fide spiritual master. He must be sure that the
spiritual master can deliver all the transcendental necessities. The spiritual master
must observe how inquisitive the disciple is and how eager he is to understand
the transcendental subject matter. The spiritual master should study the disciple’s
inquisitiveness for no less than six months or a year. A spiritual master should not
be very anxious to accept a disciple because of his material opulences. Sometimes
a big businessman or landlord may approach a spiritual master for initiation. Those
who are materially interested are called visayis (karmis), which indicates that they
are very fond of sense gratification. Such visayis sometimes approach a famous
guru and ask to become a disciple just as a matter of fashion. Sometimes visayis
pose as disciples of a reputed spiritual master just to cover their activities and ad-
vertise themselves as advanced in spiritual knowledge. In other words, they want
to attain material success. A spiritual master must be very careful in this regard.
Such business is going on all over the world. The spiritual master does not accept
a materially opulent disciple just to advertise the fact that he has such a big disci-
ple. He knows that by associating with such visayi disciples, he may fall down.
One who accepts a visayi disciple is not a bona fide spiritual master. Even if he is,
his position may be damaged due to association with an unscrupulous visayi. If a
so-called spiritual master accepts a disciple for his personal benefit or for material
gain, the relationship between the spiritual master and the disciple turns into a
material affair, and the spiritual master becomes like a smdarta-guru. There are
many caste gosvamis who professionally create some disciples who do not care
for them or their instructions. Such spiritual masters are satisfied simply to get
some material benefits from their disciples. Such a relationship is condemned by
Stila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, who calls such spiritual masters and disci-
ples a society of cheaters and cheated. They are also called bdulas or prakrta-saha-
jiyas. Their aim is to make the connection between the spiritual master and the
disciple into a very cheap thing. They are not serious in wanting to understand
spiritual life.
