An acarya's exalted station teaches careful vigilance, not permission for disciples to follow their apparent lapses.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Morning Walk — December 10, 1975, Vṛndāvana 751210MW-VRNDAVAN [35:17 Minutes] Walk_751210MW-VRNDAVAN Prabhupāda: The rascals should not do that. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, nāmāśraya kari thākaha āpana kārye. You do your work, but take shelter of hari-nama. That is wanted.
Prabhupāda: So simple, yes. [Bengali] Nāmāśraya kari thākaha āpana karye. "Go on with your duty, prescribed duty, and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." [break] Akṣayānanda: I was recently told by one devotee that the ācārya does not have to be a pure devotee.
Prabhupāda: What? Akṣayānanda: That the ācārya does not have to be a pure devotee.
Prabhupāda: Who is that rascal? Akṣayānanda: Well, he said it, who said it.
Prabhupāda: Who said? Who is that rascal? The ācārya does not require to be a pure devotee? Akṣayānanda: He said it.
Nitāi said it. He said it in this context: He said that Lord Brahmā is the ācārya in the Brahma-sampradāya, but yet he is sometimes afflicted by passion. So therefore he is saying that it appears that the ācārya does not have to be a pure devotee. So it does not seem right.
Prabhupāda: So who is that rascal? I want to know who has said. Akṣayānanda: Nitāi. Nitāi dāsa.