Questions and Answers
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
January 17, 1974, Hawaii

Prabhupada: That is not our life, to become an impostor. It must be real person. By training, yah sastra-vidhim siddhih, by training under the teaching of a bona fide spiritual master, the sastra, and then you’ll automatically, the more you become a sincere, I mean to say, servitor of the spiritual master, the more you become qualified to become a teacher in the future. Otherwise where is your qualification? You may cheat others that you are teacher, but you are not actually teacher. You have no lesson, no education. A cheating is another thing. But practically to become a teacher… Just like in a school, teacher… A teacher is appointed. When the certificate is there that he has passed M.A. examination, and he has undergone the training, B.T., Bachelor training, then he’s appointed: “Yes, you can be a teacher.” And then a bogus man, he can be… He cannot be accepted as teacher. So that is going on. A bogus man, they’re becoming teachers. Therefore the world condition is so degraded. A cheater is taking the place of teacher. Therefore the whole world is degraded.

Woman devotee: If we have a desire to keep these promises, but we have a hard time to do it…

Prabhupada: As soon as you fail to keep your promise, then you’re fallen. You have to rectify yourself. Immediately you’re fallen. Yah sastra-vidhim utsrjya vartate kama-karatah, na sa siddhim. That means you’ll never get perfection. You’ll fall down. You can cheat others that “I am in dress of a devotee, so I am…” What is your character? What is your actual value? That has to be judged. That is call bona fide teacher. All right, chant. (brief japa chanting) Any questions?

Devotee (1): Yes, one more.

Guest: Is the exterior clothing important?

Prabhupada: Ah?

Guest: Is the exterior identification important?

Prabhupada: Yes, important. Just like officially the policeman must dress, but a policeman sometimes in ordinary cloth also, that’s his duty. But that is special case. But external, external dress is also required. By… In the dress of a police if he is a thief, that is very dangerous. That is very dangerous. Just like this dress of sannyasi, saffron cloth, one will respect that “Here is a sannyasi.” But if he is a thief in a dress of a sannyasi, that is dangerous. That is dangerous. One must dress… (end)