infallibility of guru

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The infallibility of the guru refers to his liberated condition of being

situated above the influence of the three modes of nature, i.e. situated on the

plane of transcendence and able to vibrate the truth of that reality. Therefore,

when he speaks about sambandha, abhideya or prayojana, there is no defect in his

words, as he speaks from the platform of vijnana and he is freed from the four

defects of human beings. He also speaks on the authority of the Vedas, aside

from his own experience. The Vedas are not considered to be human compilations.

 

"The Vedas are not compilations of human knowledge. Vedic knowledge comes from

the spiritual world, from Lord Krsna." (Intro. to Isopanisad)

 

As is stated in the Foreword to Brahma-samhita by BSST:

 

"People are apt to indulge in transitory speculation even when they are to

educate themselves on a situation beyond their empiric area or experiencing

jurisdiction."

 

One has to have realized knowledge of the plane of transcendence--that

constitutes the infallibility of the bona fide spiritual master.

 

"The specific qualification for becoming the representative of the Lord is to be

unaffected by the material modes of nature...One has to transcend the mode of

goodness also, and be situated in unalloyed goodness...suddha-sattva or

vasudeva." (SB 3.28.2)

 

"When one is completely free from the influence of all the modes of material

nature, he becomes a pure Vaisnava on the devotional platform." (Padma

Purana--cited in CC Madhya 24.330)

 

"...the conditioned soul is defective in four ways--he is illusioned, he commits

mistakes, his knowledge is imperfect, and he has a propensity to cheat. Unless

one is liberated from material conditioning, these four defects must be

there...Unless one can find person trasnscendental to the four basic defects,

one should not accept advice and become a victim of the material condition." (SB

5.14.26 purport)

 

jive saksat nahi tate guru caittya-rupe

siksa-guru haya krsna mahanta-svarupe

 

"Since one cannot visually experience the presence of the Supersoul, He appears

before us as a liberated devotee. Such a spiritual master is no one other than

Krsna Himself." (CC Adi 1.58)

 

His infallibility has to do with his ability to act as Krsna's mouthpiece to

vibrate Krsna's message from a realized position.

 

If the guru offers an opinion on the relative world, that does not necessitate

its being taken as an absolute statement. For example, is a guru automatically

an authority when it comes to auto mechanics, wind surfing, politics, biology or

even space travel? He may be an authority in such matters or not, but his

specific qualification is that he is an authority concerning the realm which

lies beyond the grasp of our material sense perception, and in that realm his

knowledge is perfect.

 

Rupa-vilasa dasa