अनाद्यविद्योपहतात्मसंविद-
स्तन्मूलसंसारपरिश्रमातुराः ।
यदृच्छयोपसृता यमाप्नुयु-
र्विमुक्तिदो नः परमो गुरुर्भवान् ॥
जनोऽबुधोऽयं निजकर्मबन्धनः
सुखेच्छया कर्म समीहतेऽसुखम् ।
यत्सेवया तां विधुनोत्यसन्मतिं
ग्रन्थिं स भिन्द्याद्धृदयं स नो गुरुः ॥
anādy-avidyopahatātma-saṁvidas
tan-mūla-saṁsāra-pariśramāturāḥ |
yadṛcchayopasṛtā yam āpnuyur
vimuktido naḥ paramo gurur bhavān ||
jano’budho’yaṁ nija-karma-bandhanaḥ
sukhecchayā karma samīhate’sukham |
yat-sevayā tāṁ vidhunoty asan-matiṁ
granthiṁ sa bhindyād dhṛdayaṁ sa no guruḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.24.46–47)
[Satyavrata Rāja to Matsya Avatāra:] “He whom those here whose awareness of the self has been covered by beginningless ignorance (anādi-avidyā) and who are [thus] suffering from the toil of saṁsāra, the root of which is this [viz., beginningless ignorance], can independently [i.e., only by his favor, or, by the independent grace of his bhakta] become sheltered in and attain—he who is the Bestower of ultimate liberation and our Supreme Guru—you—he who by means of whose service [i.e., by means of bestowing service to himself] dispels the unrighteous mentality of these unknowing persons [like ourselves] bound by their own karma who perform karma which is [ultimately] dissatisfying out of desire for [the attainment of] satisfaction—are [thus] our Guru [by so dispelling our unrighteous mentality] and able to sever the knot in our hearts [i.e., the ignorance situated therein].