SB 4.20 14 purport – The question may be raised here that if everyone engaged in spiritual activities to attain salvation and became indifferent to the activities of the material world, then how could things as they are going on? And if things are to go on as they ought to, how can a head of state be indifferent to such activities?

…This same principle can be applied to parents and spiritual masters as well. If parents simply give birth to children like cats and dogs but cannot save their children from imminent death, they become responsible for the activities of their animalistic children. Lately, such children are turning into hippies. Similarly, if a spiritual master cannot direct his disciples to become free of sinful activities, he becomes responsible for their sinful acts. These subtle laws of nature are unknown to the present leaders of society. Since the leaders of society have a poor fund of knowledge and the citizens in general are rogues and thieves, there cannot be an auspicious situation for human society. At the present moment the whole world is full of such an incompatible combination of state and citizens, and therefore there is constant tension, war and anxiety as an inevitable result of such social conditions.

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Nov 23 1967 letter….. When you left us I simply prayed to Krishna for your return to Krishna Consciousness because that was my duty. Any good soul who approaches me once for spiritual enlightenment is supposed to be depending on my responsibility to get him back to Krishna, back to home. The disciple may misunderstand a bona fide spiritual master being obliged to do so under pressure of Maya's influence. But a bona fide spiritual master never lets go a devotee once accepted. When a disciple misunderstands a bona fide spiritual master, the master regrets for his inability to protect the disciple and sometimes he cries with tears in the eyes. We had an experience while my Guru Maharaja was alive. One of His disciples who accepted sannyasa was one day forcibly dragged by his wife. My Guru Maharaja lamented with tears in His eyes saying that He could not save the soul. .We should always, therefore, be careful in the matter of being attacked by Maya's influence and the only means of guarantee is to chant Hare Krishna offenselessly.

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SB 5.5.18 – “One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable demigod.

PURPORT – There are many spiritual masters, but Ṛṣabhadeva advises that one should not become a spiritual master if he is unable to save his disciple from the path of birth and death. Unless one is a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa, he cannot save himself from the path of repeated birth and death. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so’rjuna [Bg. 4.9]. One can stop birth and death only by returning home, back to Godhead. However, who can go back to Godhead unless he understands the Supreme Lord in truth? Janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ [Bg. 4.9].

We have many instances in history illustrating Ṛṣabhadeva’s instructions. Śukrācārya was rejected by Bali Mahārāja due to his inability to save Bali Mahārāja from the path of repeated birth and death. Śukrācārya was not a pure devotee, he was more or less inclined to fruitive activity, and he objected when Bali Mahārāja promised to give everything to Lord Viṣṇu. Actually one is supposed to give everything to the Lord because everything belongs to the Lord. Consequently, the Supreme Lord advises in Bhagavad-gītā (9.27): yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

“O son of Kuntī, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.” This is bhakti. Unless one is devoted, he cannot give everything to the Supreme Lord. Unless one can do so, he cannot become a spiritual master, husband, father or mother. Similarly, the wives of the brāhmaṇas who were performing sacrifices gave up their relatives just to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. This is an example of a wife rejecting a husband who cannot deliver her from the impending dangers of birth and death. Similarly, Prahlāda Mahārāja rejected his father, and Bharata Mahārāja rejected his mother (jananī na sā syāt). The word daivam indicates a demigod or one who accepts worship from a dependent. Ordinarily, the spiritual master, husband, father, mother or superior relative accepts worship from an inferior relative, but here Ṛṣabhadeva forbids this. First the father, spiritual master or husband must be able to release the dependent from repeated birth and death. If he cannot do this, he plunges himself into the ocean of reproachment for his unlawful activities. Everyone should be very responsible and take charge of his dependents just as a spiritual master takes charge of his disciple or a father takes charge of his son. All these responsibilities cannot be discharged honestly unless one can save the dependent from repeated birth and death.

Some Conclusions – The matter of making disciples and bringing children into this world is a very grave responsibility. If one takes on disciples or has children the guru or parents become responsible for the activities of that disciple/child. Prabhupada tells us above that these subtle laws of nature are unknown to the people of this age. So what happens to you-if you want to lead the life of a Krsna devotee but your children, for various reasons, want nothing to do with it? Are you responsible for their eventual "animalistic activities" as Prabhupada calls them? He says yes, the parents and guru are responsible for the sinful activities of their disciple or child.

When a leader of a country assumes the title of President, he takes on 1/6th of the sinful activities of the countrymen. He also gets 1/6th of their pious activities. Being a "leader" means a great responsibility in terms of guiding those who follow this person back to Godhead, which is the only purpose of human life. If all life is meant to be a conduit or funnel that takes us eventually back to Godhead, then anything done that stops that flow has to be termed sinful. So for parents to bring a soul to the human form of life and not help them become liberated or at least guide them towards a more pious life, then those parents become implicated in sinful activity as well. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja felt badly , with tears in his eyes, because he could not save this one disciple who was dragged back to a life of maya by his wife.

No wonder its so hard to become pure when we are carrying so much bad karma with us……

