Does the Spiritual Master Have to Be a Liberated Soul?
Regarding whether or not the spiritual master has to be a liberated soul has been answered by Srila Prabhupada in a letter to Janardana Das that Srila Prabhupada wrote on 26 April 1968 in which he states: "Generally the spiritual master comes from the group of such eternal associates of the Lord; but anyone who follows the principles of such ever liberated persons is as good as one in the above mentioned group." In this connection Lord Caitanya has given the order: yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa “Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.” So either as as liberated soul or a strict follower of the instructions of the liberated souls one can act as a spiritual master for liberating the fallen, conditioned souls who are suffering like anything here in this material world. Sankarsh...