अचक्षुरन्धस्य यथाग्रणीः कृत-
स्तथा जनस्याविदुषोऽबुधो गुरुः ।
त्वमर्कदृक्सर्वदृशां समीक्षणो
वृतो गुरुर्नः स्वगतिं बुभुत्सताम् ॥
acakṣur andhasya yathāgraṇīḥ kṛtas
tathā janasyāviduṣo’budho guruḥ |
tvam arka-dṛk sarva-dṛśāṁ samīkṣaṇo
vṛto gurur naḥ sva-gatiṁ bubhutsatām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.24.50)
[Satyavrata Rāja to Matsya Avatāra:] “As an eyeless person [i.e., a blind person] is made a leader of a blind person [by a blind person who doesn’t realize that they are accepting another blind person as a leader], so an ignorant person is [made a leader] of an unknowing person [by the unknowing person who fails to recognize that the person whom they have accepted as a guru is actually ignorant]. [Thus,] You, whose knowledge is [illuminating] like the sun and who are the illuminator of all knowledges, are accepted [by us] as the guru of we who are desirous of understanding our own path [i.e., the best path for our true selves, viz., bhakti].”
Commentary
paṇḍito bandha-mokṣa-vid iti, ‘mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te’ iti tvad-ukter bhakty-upadeṣṭaiva budhaḥ, sa eva gurur anyas tv anartha-hetur ity arthaḥ |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“A learned person (paṇḍita) is one who understands bondage and liberation; as per the statement [in BG 7.14], ‘Those who take shelter exclusively in me [i.e., Bhagavān] cross over māyā,’ only a teacher of bhakti is wise. He alone is guru, whereas others are only a cause of anarthas.”