An important criterion for a guru is that he himself must be a disciple of a bonafide spiritual master—one who is part of a succession of spiritual masters coming from Lord Krishna Himself.
A guru’s teachings are genuine only when he has received his knowledge by this process of disciplic succession, because one who is not part of a genuine disciplic chain can have no access to the Vedic knowledge. So we must comprehend the importance of disciplic succession in determining the credibility of a spiritual teacher.
No matter how learned a scholar one may be, he cannot understand the import of Vedic knowledge by the speculative approach. In other words, no one can know the Transcendence by his imperfect sense perception. As the Svetashvatara Upanishad (6.23) explains, “Only unto those great souls who simultaneously have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.”
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