cintāmaṇir loka-sukhaṁ surendraḥ svarga-saṁpadam |
prayacchati guruḥ prīto vaikuṇṭhaṁ yogi-durlabham ||
(Padma Purāṇa: Bhāgavata-māhātmya, 1.8)
“A thought-jewel [bestows] the pleasure of the world, the king of the suras [bestows] the wealth of Svarga, and the satisfied guru [by means of his teachings] bestows Vaikuṇṭha, which is difficult to attain [even] for yogīs.”
yo’ndhīkṛtya kutarka-ghūka-paṭalīm ajñāna-mohāndha-hṛt
saṁnudaṁś ca kukarma-jāḍyam abhito hṛt-padmam ullāsayan |
rādhā-mādhava-gūḍha-rūpa-saraṇīm udbhāṣayan bhāskaraḥ
sa tvaṁ śrī-gurudeva pāhi patitaṁ māṁ dīnam andhaṁ janam ||
(Sādhanāmṛta-candrikā: 1.48)
“He who blinds the owls of sophistry,
Removes the darkness of ignorance and delusion,
Dispels the dullness of misdeeds,
Causes the lotus of the heart to bloom completely,
And illuminates the path
To the confidential forms of Rādhā and Mādhava—
May you, that sun, O Śrī Gurudeva,
Please protect me,
A fallen, lowly, and blind person.”
kṛpā-marandānvita-pāda-paṅkajaṁ
śvetāmbaraṁ gaura-ruciṁ sanātanam |
śandaṁ sumālyābharaṇaṁ guṇālayaṁ
smarāmi sad-bhaktimayaṁ guruṁ harim ||
(Yāmala; cited in Gaura-govindārcana-smaraṇa-paddhati: 1.15; Sādhanāmṛta-candrikā: 1.2)
“The eternal, beneficent abode of virtue filled with pure bhakti and possessed of lotus feet replete the nectar of grace, white cloth, golden luster, and the adornment of a fine garland—I meditate upon the guru, [who is] Hari.”
yāny anavadyāni karmāṇi tāni sevitavyāni no itarāṇi |
yāny asmākaṁ sucaritāni tāni tvayopāsyāni no itarāṇi |
(Taittirīya Upaniṣad: 1.11.2–3)
“Those acts which are unobjectionable are to be practiced, and not others. Those which are fine deeds of ours are to be honored by you, and not others.”
avaiṣṇavopadiṣṭena mantreṇa nirayaṁ vrajet |
punaś ca vidhinā samyag grāhayed vaiṣṇavād guroḥ ||
(Nārada Pañcarātra; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 4.366 and the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.54; Bhakti Sandarbha: 207)
“One shall go to hell as a result of [receiving] a mantra imparted by a non-Vaiṣṇava. [If one has received a mantra from a non-Vaiṣṇava] Again and properly according to rule, one should occasion reception [of a mantra] from a Vaiṣṇava guru.”
jñāna-hīno gurus tyājyo mithyāvādī viḍambakaḥ |
sva-viśrāntiṁ na jānāti para-śāntiṁ karoti kim ||
(Guru-gītā: 198; Siddha-siddhānta-saṅgraha: 5.38)
“A guru who is devoid of knowledge, a speaker of falsity, and a charlatan is to be rejected. How can one who does not know self-repose [i.e., mastery of the mind] create peace for others?”
pīṭha-pūjāyāṁ bhagavad-dhāme śrī-guru-pādukā-pūjanam evaṁ saṅgacchate, yathā—ya eva bhagavān atra vyaṣṭi-rūpatayā bhaktāvatāratvena śrī-guru-rūpo vartate, sa eva tatra samaṣṭi-rūpatayā sva-vāma-pradeśe sākṣād-avatāratvenāpi tad-rūpo vartata iti |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 286)
“Worshiping the shoes of śrī guru in Bhagavān’s dhāma during worship [of Śrī Bhagavān] at the yogapīṭha is appropriate since the very Bhagavān who exists here [i.e., in the material world] in the form of śrī guru on account of [śrī guru’s] being a manifestation [of Bhagavān] as a bhakta by virtue of [śrī guru’s] being an individuated (vyaṣṭi) form [of Bhagavān] exists there [i.e., at the yogapīṭha in Śrī Bhagavān’s dhāma] at a spot to his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] own left in that form [i.e., in the form of śrī guru] also as a manifestation in person by virtue of [that form of śrī guru’s] being a collective (samaṣṭi) form [of Bhagavān, i.e., the form of śrī guru present and fit to be worshiped by all at the yogapīṭha Bhagavān’s dhāma is the collective (samaṣṭi) form of śrī guru the innumerable individuated (vyaṣṭi) forms of whom manifest respectively to individual sādhakas in the material world].”
guruḥ śāstraṁ śraddhā rucir anugatiḥ siddhir iti me
yad etat tat sarvaṁ caraṇa-kamalaṁ rājati yayoḥ |
kṛpā-mādhvīkena snapita-nayanāmbhoja-yugalau
sadā rādhā-kṛṣṇāv aśaraṇa-gatī tau mama gatiḥ ||
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 340)
“Guru, śāstra, śraddhā,
Taste (ruci), service (anugati), and attainment (siddhi)—
Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa,
Whose lotus feet manifest as all of these to me,
Whose lotus eyes are always moistened
With the nectar of grace,
And who are the shelter of the refugeless,
Are ever my shelter.”
paṭhakāḥ pāṭhakāś caiva ye cānye śāstra-cintakāḥ |
sarve vyasanino mūrkhā yaḥ kriyāvān sa paṇḍitaḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 3.313.110)
“All the students, teachers, and others who consider śāstra but are addicted to vices are fools. One who engages in practice [of all that is taught in śāstra] is wise.”
