Now let us look at the qualifications of the gurus and disciples in today's world. They are just as suits the times. In former times, gurus who followed the ways described above were so few they could be counted; they were not to be found in large numbers. Thousands of sādhakas who longed to become disciples used to search forest after forest, wishing to take refuge in such ones and gain the dawning of Jñāna. Gurus were few, and disciples appeared many. Now, shall we look? Wherever one looks, ten at a time appear in every lane under the name of guru! Proper disciples have dwindled away. What is the reason? The reason is that they are not in the proper way. Besides this, a second reason is that the disciples, too, do not follow them. Gurus to match the disciples and disciples to match the gurus: they appear like the quilt that suits the sack. By the gurus' ill fate, the need has arisen for gurus to maintain their disciples; that does not matter. If he is a proper disciple, there is nothing wrong at all in maintaining him. But the guru is having to follow the disciple and to be afraid at the sight of him. In words they say, 'We are the guru's sons.' They talk sham words: that they are living in the āśrama, that they belong to the company of sādhakas. However much one searches in them, one finds neither saintliness, nor the marks of āśrama life, nor gratitude to the guru. What they say is offered to Kṛṣṇa; what they do is offered to the body. Not only that: some new ways have sprung up. The disciple himself must lay down the rules; that authority must rest with the disciple alone. The guru must raise no objection of any kind to the disciple's lustful indulgences, worldly outings and amusements. This is the first discipline. And the second? The guru must teach in such a way that the disciple need not stir his body, performs no sādhanas, takes no pains, and spends not a single naya paisa. He must make Mokṣa drop into the disciple's lap. The guru must not prescribe either hard sādhanas or rules. The guru must conduct himself according to the disciple's liking; if not, the guru's divorce is ready on the spot!