Srila Prabhupada,and Caitanya Mahaprabhu are talking about diksa

[Guest guest]

kibä vipra kibä nyäsé çüdra kene naya,

yei kanëa-tattva-vettä, sei 'guru' haya

"A person may be a brähmaëa, a sannyäsé, a çüdra or whatever, but if he is

well conversant in the science of Kanëa, he can become a guru." (Cc. Madhya

8.128) This statement is supported by Çré Mädhavendra Puré. According to the

paicarätra injunction, only a householder brähmaëa can initiate. Others

cannot. When a person is initiated, it is assumed that he has become a

brähmaëa; without being initiated by a proper brähmaëa, one cannot be

converted into a brähmaëa. In other words, unless one is a brähmaëa, he

cannot make another a brähmaëa. A gahastha-brähmaëa partaking of the

varëäçrama-dharma institution can secure various types of paraphernalia to

worship Lord Vinëu through his honest labor. Actually, people beg to be

initiated by these householder brähmaëas just to become successful in the

varëäçrama institution or to become free from material desires. It is

therefore necessary for a spiritual master in the gahastha-äçrama to be a

strict Vainëava. A spiritual master from the sannyäsa order has very little

opportunity to perform arcana, Deity worship, but when one accepts a

spiritual master from the transcendental sannyäsés, the principle of Deity

worship is not at all neglected. To implement this conclusion, Çré Caitanya

Mahäprabhu gave us His opinion in the verse kibä vipra kibä nyäsé, etc. This

indicates that the Lord understood the weakness of society in its

maintaining that only a gahastha-brähmaëa should be a spiritual master. Çré

Caitanya Mahäprabhu indicated that it does not matter whether the spiritual

master is a gahastha (householder), a sannyäsé or even a çüdra. A spiritual

master simply must be conversant in the essence of the çästra; he must

understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Only then can one become a

spiritual master. Déknä actually means initiating a disciple with

transcendental knowledge by which he becomes freed from all material

contamination.