Who is a real Guru and who is not?

“Once Sri Chandrasekhara Saraswati Swami of Kanchi Mutt (Sri Periva) had camped in North India. The then Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi, came to have His darshan.

The Prime Minister of India placed a similar question in front of Sri Periva, “If you would pinpoint the persons who, in the name of spirituality, lead the people in a wrong way I will take action against them.”

Sri Periva laughed and said, “No! It should not be handled in this manner. Those who approach such fake swamis will themselves, after a time, understand their standard of maturity.”

Sri Periva knew that this reply did not satisfy Smt. Indira Gandhi. Someone had offered a basket full of mangoes to Periva. It contained many unripe and a few ripe fruits.

Many devotees waited outside for Sri Periva’s darshan. Sri Periva instructed the attendants to bring a child from amongst these devotees. A child of about 5 years was brought to Him. Pointing to the basket Periva smilingly said to the child, “Take whatever you want.” After a search the child picked up a ripe fruit.

Sri Periva pointed out to Smt.Indira Gandhi who was watching this, “Just as the way a child knows what is ripe and what is unripe, so too would those who go out in search of Truth recognize a true Mahan at some point of their life.”