Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "No, it is very easy thing." Yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa.
- āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa
- yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa
- (CC Madhya 7.128)
"You become guru simply by advising everyone the instruction which Kṛṣṇa has given." That's all. You become guru. It is not at all difficult thing. But if you want to cheat others that you are Bhagavān, you are this and that, you are yogī, you are very powerful, and "I am God," then you will cheat, because you are neither God; you are less than a dog. You are falsely claiming that you are God. That is not your position. You are servant of God, that is your position. That is real jñāna. Therefore Kṛṣṇa . . . er, Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that don't talk all nonsense thing. Simply say the real thing.
And what is the real thing? That is explained by Kṛṣṇa: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). You take this mission, "My dear sir, you give up everything nonsense. You simply surrender to Kṛṣṇa." Then you become guru. Is it very difficult to become guru? No. But we shall not take this business. We shall talk all nonsense and become guru and incarnation and God and so on, so on, and cheat others and cheat oneself. This is going on. Otherwise, to become guru is not at all difficult. Simply you surrender yourself to Kṛṣṇa. You become abhayaṁ sattva-śuddhiḥ. You become fearless: "Yes, I am now under the protection of Kṛṣṇa. I have no more fear. I don't care for anyone. I simply take to Kṛṣṇa." Akuto-bhayam. Akuto-bhayam. This is said by Kapiladeva also. All śāstra says like that, and Kṛṣṇa also says the same thing in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55): "If you want to know Me, then it is through bhakti, not your so-called jñāna and karma and yoga." You will never be able to understand. You will never be able to understand. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā (BG 7.25). You will be simply covered by yoga-māyā. This is not possible. Bhakti means surrender.
So without surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, you cannot understand. Kṛṣṇa reserves the right not being exposed to the fools and rascals. He is simply for the devotees. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti. He never said, "By jñāna mām abhijānāti, by karma mām abhijānāti, by yoga mām abhi . . ." No. He rather says:
- yoginām api sarveṣāṁ
- mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā
- śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ
- sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
- (BG 6.47)
"He is the first-class yogī who is always thinking of Me." And who always thinks of Kṛṣṇa unless he is a devotee? Therefore you cannot understand Kṛṣṇa without becoming a devotee. In the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā He says to Arjuna, bhakto 'si priyo 'si me (BG 4.3): "I am talking to you the same old system of yoga, Bhagavad-gītā, because you are My devotee." So if you actually want liberation or fearlessness, no more fear, and if you want actually to become immortal, no more birth, death, old age and disease, then you have to accept the words of Kṛṣṇa. As He says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). That is bhakti. That is bhakti. So you have to take.