Rascal gurus claiming to be God

[Bhakti Vikasa Swami]

There are many rascal gurus who give their own opinion, but we can challenge
any rascal. A rascal guru may say, "I am God," or, "We are all God." That is
all right, but we should find out from the dictionary what the meaning of "God"
is. Generally, a dictionary will tell us that the word "God" indicates the
Supreme Being. Thus we may ask such a guru, "Are you the Supreme Being?" If he
cannot understand this, then we should give the meaning of "supreme." Any
dictionary will inform us that supreme means "the greatest authority." We may
then ask, "Are you the greatest authority?" Such a rascal guru, even though
proclaiming himself to be God, cannot answer such a question. God is the
Supreme Being and the highest authority. No one is equal to Him or greater than
Him. Yet there are many guru-gods, many rascals who claim to be the Supreme.
Such rascals cannot help us escape the darkness of material existence. They
cannot illumine our darkness with the torchlight of spiritual knowledge.

From
The Science of Self-Realization
by
Srila Prabhupada