If we analyze all the statements that any individual has made in the duration of their entire lives, we are sure to come across various statements that may be faulty from the point of view of śāstra. It is a fact that in the material world, no individual except Bhagavān is free from the tendency to commit mistakes. Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣana has correctly noted this fact in his treatise named Siddhānta-darpaṇam:
jīva-vākyeṣu labhyante
jīva-dharmā bhramādayaḥ
vede tu naiva te santi
sarvajña-vacanoccaye
Translation: In the statements made by all living entities, we find inherent faults viz. illusion etc. Such faults are not present in the Vedas, since they are the words of the omniscient Supreme Lord. — Siddhānta-darpaṇam (1.23)
Even if someone claims that their guru is very expert, still it is impossible for any expert jīva to avoid mistakes in the framework of the material world. This is not necessarily the fault of the jīva. The very framework of the material world in which the jīvas are operating is prone to generating unlimited faults. Thus, even the most expert gurus end up making mistakes and even the most expert book editors end up admitting their erratum/corrigenda. Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa remarks:
puruṣasya vyāvahārikasya vyutpannasyāpi bhramādi-doṣa-grastatvāt
Translation: Even a person very expert in all dealings is affected by defects viz. illusion etc. — Commentary to Tattva-sandarbha (Anuccheda 9).
Knowing this well, the previous authorities have said that it is the duty of the disciple to never speak about the faults of their gurus by naming and shaming them in public (especially in regards to philosophical faults). A common Sanskrit term for a disciple is — "chātraḥ". This term is explained by the grammarians as follows:
guru-doṣācchādanaṁ chatraṁ , tac-chīlam asya
Translation: To cover up the faults of the guru is known as "chatra". One whose innate nature is to do so is known as a "chātra" (disciple).
It is also the instruction of Śrī Rāmānujācārya to never speak publicly about the flaws of any vaiṣṇava (what to speak of the flaws of one's guru-janas). He says in the Prapannāmṛtam:
vaiṣṇavānāṁ ca janmāni
nidrālasyāni yāni ca
dṛṣṭvā tāny aprakāśyāni
janebhyo na vadet kvacit
Translation: Birth in a low-class family, oversleeping, laziness, and whatever other faults present in vaiṣṇavas should never be revealed to a second person. One should especially never disclose such things publicly — (Prapannāmṛtam, 65.50)
Śrī Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura has said that the guru is a bandhu (friend) of even the adhamas (fallen ones). If we truly believe that the guru-janas are our well-wishing friends, we too should exhibit our friendship towards them by never speaking of their faults by naming them in public. To engage in public naming and fault-finding of one's guru-janas on the pretext of rendering service to the vaiṣṇavas is nothing but a type of concealed envy of one's own confidential friend. In his commentary to Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī specifies this:
nāsūyeta mā doṣa-dṛṣṭiṁ kuryāt
Translation: One should never envy the guru i.e. one should never see faults in him. — Dig-darśinī Commentary to Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (4.347)
The famous intellectual genius named Paṇḍitarāja Jagannātha has also made the following statement in this regard:
guru-dveṣa-dūṣita-matīnāṁ puruṣāyuṣeṇāpi na śakyante gaṇayituṁ pramādāḥ
Translation: The errors of those individuals whose minds are infected by envy of their own guru-janas cannot be counted even in the entire lifetime of a human being. (Manoramā-kuca-mardinī).
If we flip the pages of history, we do not see a vaiṣṇava ācārya who has written publicly about the faults of his own gurus by naming them. They might have opposed a philosophical stance taken by their guru-janas, but never by dragging the names of their guru-janas in it. The topmost vaiṣṇava is supposed to be — anya-nindādi-śūnya-hṛdam — "Free from the tendency to critique others" (Upadeśāmṛtam, 5).
In the past, there have been various instances in which vaiṣṇava ācāryas had to proclaim points of view contrary to those of their guru-janas. In almost all such instances, they did so without directly naming their gurus in such discussions. On many occasions, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura takes a point of view contrary to his previous ācāryas, but he never publicly names the ācārya that he is contradicting on a specific point. This is the vaiṣṇava way of dealing with philosophical differences with one's own guru-janas.
Public fault-finding and mob justice by name-checking one's gurus is the śūdra's way of dealing with philosophical flaws. On seeing such public naming and shaming of one's guru-janas, one's philosophical opponents derive extreme vicarious pleasure and shower heaps of false praises upon the newfound boldness of the immature disciple. Here is a newly composed sarcastic verse dedicated to such disciples who publicly name and shame their own guru-janas:
दोषान् वदन्ति स्वगुरोर्जना ये
लोकेभ्य उच्चैरहहातिधार्ष्ट्यात् ।
ख्यातिं लभन्ते कुधियः प्रकाश्य
स्वाम्बास्तनस्थान् तिलकालकान् ते ॥ [इन्द्रवज्रा]
[Meter: Indra-vajrā (same as Gurvaṣṭakam)]:
doṣān vadanti sva-guror janā ye
lokebhya uccair ahahāti-dhārṣṭyāt
khyātiṁ labhante kudhiyaḥ prakāśya
svāmbā-stana-sthān tilakālakān te
Translation: Alas! Those ill-minded individuals who out of extreme audacity speak of their own guru's faults openly in front of others are the very same ones who attain popularity by revealing to others the secret moles and marks on the breasts of their own mothers. (Self-composed)
May the kind-hearted vaiṣṇavas excuse any transgression of etiquette in writing these words __/\ò__ 
— Article Composed by Hari Pārṣada Dāsa. 03-June-2022.
PS: The article is speaking mainly about philosophical issues. It is not the intent of the author to address other issues (besides those pertaining to the core philosophy) in this article of limited words.
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