[Advaita-l] the qualification to be an advaita guru

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms
Hare Krishna

" Shankara says - there are three types of gurus.

1. He is shrotriyaH and brahma nishTaH

2. He is shrotiyaH but not Brahma nishTa

3. He is Brahman nishTa and he does not know how to teach."

The first is the best, the second is the next and third one, we can 
respect
but we cannot learn.

> I am also curious to know where exactly shankara says all these 
things!!??  especially the third one. 

But, is there any authoritative verse or comment from bhAShyakAra that a
"shrotriyaH but not brahmaniShTha guru" (second type) is better than a
"brahmaniShTha but not shrotriya" (third type).

>  and one more doubt here...can a person become brahmanishTa without any 
knowledge of shAstra??  As per shankara, shAstra is the ONLY pramANa to 
become brahmanishTa or brahmajnAni...how can a person become brahmanishTa 
without the aid of antya pramANa??  or to become brahmanishTa, 
shAstrAdhyayana, shravaNa, manana & nidhidhyAsana not a necessary 
sAdhana?? 

The absence of brahmaniShTha implies that there are serious obstacles like
viparIta-bhAvanas 

>  I am sorry to say this, but according to some advaitins even 
brahmanishTa-s,  are not free from this vipareeta bhAvana, due to 
prArabdha karma or avidyAlesha  they too occasionally have kAma-krodhAdi 
vipareeta bhAvana / pratyaya.  ( Kindly note this topic is not for any 
further debates just a passing remark while on the subject...I think we 
have already spilled enough ink on this issue earlier :-))

have more satsanga and personal relationship with the type-3 Guru

>  if we go by strict advaita jnAna as propagated by shankara, the 
existence of type-3 brahmanishTa is not even a remote 
possibility..Because, without vedAnta vAkya janita jnAna or without direct 
sAdhana-s like shravaNa, manana & nidhidhyAsana, brahma jnAna is not at 
all possible for an aspirant. 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar