Hare Krsna
Bali Maharaja listened to the sound advice of his guru Sukracarya on whose strength he had become so powerful that he became the ruler of all the planetary systems in the universe. However, when he was requested for three paces of land by the dwarf brahmana Vamana. He gave up the sound advice of his guru Sukracarya who had already disclosed to him that the dwarf Vamana was none other than Visnu who had come to cheat him and that he would be unable to give Him even three paces of land as promised. In other words he would lose everything. After great deliberation he rejected his guru. Why he did so?
Hari bol
Replies
yei krsna-tattvavetta, sei guru haya.
Hare Krsna
Anyone who is supposed to be a guru but who goes against the principle of visnu-bhakti cannot be accepted as a guru. If one has falsely accepted such a guru, one should reject him. Such a guru is described as follows (Mahabharata, Udyoga 179.25):
guror apy avaliptasya
karyakaryam ajanatah
utpatha-pratipannasya
parityago vidhiyate
According to sastra, the duty of the guru is to take the disciple back home, back to Godhead. If he is unable to do so and instead hinders the disciple in going back to Godhead, he should not be a guru. Guru na sa syat (Bhag. 5 5.18). One should not become a guru if he cannot enable his disciple to advance in Krsna consciousness. The goal of life is to become a devotee of Lord Krsna so that one may be freed from the bondage of material existence (tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so 'rjuna).
The spiritual master helps the disciple attain this stage by developing Krsna consciousness. Now Sukracarya had advised Bali Maharaja to deny the promise to Vamanadeva. Under the circumstances, therefore, Bali Maharaja thought that there would be no fault if he disobeyed the order of his spiritual master.
He deliberated on this point- should he refuse to accept the advice of his spiritual master, or should he independently do everything to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead? He took some time. Therefore it is said, tusnim bhutva ksanam rajann uvacavahito gurum. After deliberating on this point, he decided that Lord Visnu should be pleased in all circumstances, even at the risk of ignoring the guru's advice to the contrary.
Hari bol
" Bali Maharaja's grave answer to Sukracarya is meaningful. Sukracarya stressed that one's material means of livelihood and one's material reputation, sense gratification and economic development must continue properly. To see to this is the first duty of a man who is a householder, especially one who is interested in material affairs. If a religious principle does not affect one's material condition, it is to be accepted. At the present time, in this age of Kali, this idea is extremely prominent. No one is prepared to accept any religious principle if it hampers material prosperity. Sukracarya, being a person of this material world, did not know the principles of a devotee. A devotee is determined to serve Bhagavan to His full satisfaction. Anything that hampers such determination should certainly be rejected. This is the principle of bhakti. Anukulyasya sankalpah pratikulyasya varjanam (Cc Madhya 22.100). To perform bhakti one must accept only that which is favourable and reject that which is unfavorable. Bali Maharaja had the oppurtunity to contribute everything he possessed to the lotus feet of Lord Vamanadeva, but Sukracarya was putting a material argument to hamper this process of bhakti. Under the circumstances, Bali Maharaja decided that such hindrances should certainly be avoided. In other words, he decided immediately to reject the advice of Sukracarya and go on with his duty. Thus he gave all his possessions to Lord Vamanadeva."
SB 8.20. 2 Purport