śāstroktaṁ dharmam uccārya svayam ācarate sadā |
anyebhyaḥ śikṣayed yas tu sa ācāryo nigadyate ||
(Unknown source)
“One who speaks the dharma stated in the śāstras, always personally practices it, and can teach it to others is called an ācārya.”
puruṣasya ca saṁsthānaṁ svarūpaṁ vā parasya ca |
jñānaṁ ca naigamaṁ yat tad guru-śiṣya-prayojanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.7.38)
“[Please explain] The full existence of the puruṣa, the essential nature of the Supreme, and that knowledge related to the Nigamas which is the aim of the guru and disciple.”
śatror api guṇā grāhyā doṣā vācyā guror api |
sarvathā sarva-yatnena putre śiṣye hitaṁ vadet ||
(Mahābhārata: 4.51.15)
“Qualities even of an enemy are to be accepted, and faults even of an elder (guru) are to be acknowledged. With all [due] care one should under all circumstances say that which is beneficial for a son and a disciple.”
yukti-yuktaṁ vaco grāhyaṁ na grāhyaṁ guru-gauravāt |
sarva-śāstra-rahasyaṁ tad yājñavalkyena bhāṣitam ||
(Yājñavalkya-śikṣā: 232)
“A statement that is endowed with reason is to be accepted and not to be accepted [just] because of reverence for the guru [alt., just because of the venerability of the guru, who spoke it]. This secret of all the śāstras has been stated by Yājñavalkya.”
‘kulaṁ śīlam athācāram avicārya paraṁ gurum |
bhajeta śravaṇādy-arthī sarasaṁ sāra-sāgaram ||’
sarasatvādikaṁ ca vyañjitaṁ tatraivānyatra—
‘kāma-krodhādi-yukto’pi kṛpaṇo’pi viṣādavān |
śrutvā vikāśam āyāti sa vaktā paramo guruḥ ||’
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 203; citations from Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa)
“‘Then, without judging family, custom, or conduct, one who seeks to hear and so on should accept an exalted guru, who is sarasa [i.e., adept and absorbed in tasting rasa, or, more broadly, charming and full of love] and an ocean of essence [i.e., one who has widely and deeply grasped and imbibed the essence of the śāstra].’ [The importance of the guru’s] Being sarasa and so forth is suggested elsewhere therein [i.e., in Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa] as well, ‘The teacher after hearing [from whom] even someone possessed of desire, anger, and so on, even a wretch [i.e., a miser, or a low, poor, undiscerning, or pitiable person] beset with dejection, experiences expansion [i.e., expansion of the heart, meaning, upliftment, brightness, and joy] is an exalted guru.’”
na hy ekasmād guror jñānaṁ susthiraṁ syāt supuṣkalam |
brahmaitad advitīyaṁ vai gīyate bahudha rṣibhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.9.31)
“Indeed knowledge [received] from one guru shall not become sufficiently steady and sufficiently extensive. This nondual Brahman is sung of by seers in numerous ways.”
durlabho viṣaya-tyāgo durlabhaṁ tattva-darśanaṁ |
durlabhā sahajāvasthā sad-guroḥ karuṇāṁ vinā ||
(Mahopaniṣad: 3.77; Haṭha-yoga-pradīpikā: 4.7)
“Rare is relinquishment of objects of the senses, rare is perception of truth, and rare is a natural condition without the grace of a genuine guru.”
tatra mat-parama-preṣṭhaṁ lapsyase sva-guruṁ punaḥ |
sarvaṁ tasyaiva kṛpayā nitarāṁ jñāsyasi svayam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.236)
“There you will meet again your own guru, he who is most dear to me. By his grace specifically, you will understand everything completely yourself.”
śrī-gurūpasatti-kāraṇam—
kṛpayā kṛṣṇa-devasya tad-bhakta-jana-saṅgataḥ |
bhakter māhātmyam ākarṇya tām ichchan sad-guruṁ bhajet ||
atrānubhūyate nityaṁ duḥkha-śreṇī paratra ca |
duḥsahā śrūyate śāstrāt titīrṣed api tāṁ sudhīḥ ||
(Śrī Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.28–29)
“The cause of approaching a blessed guru [is described as follows]: Upon hearing by Kṛṣṇadeva’s grace in the company of his bhaktas of the greatness of bhakti and [then consequently] desiring that, one shall worship an excellent guru. A difficult to bear succession of sufferings is experienced continuously here [i.e., in this world] and from the śāstra is heard of [as also continuing] in the hereafter. One of sharp intellect shall desire [at least] just to cross beyond that.”
nāham ijyā-prajātibhyāṁ tapasopaśamena vā |
tuṣyeyaṁ sarva-bhūtātmā guru-śuśrūṣayā yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.80.34)
“I [Bhagavān], the Self of all beings, shall not be satisfied by sacrifice, higher birth [alt., procreation], austerity, or equilibrium as [I am] by service to the guru.”
