bhaktir yathā harau me’sti tadvan niṣṭhā gurau yadi |
mamāsti tena satyena svaṁ darśayatu hariḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa, cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 237)
[Devahūti prayed:] “If I have fixity upon my guru just as I have bhakti to Hari, then may Hari on account of such virtue reveal Himself to me.”
guru-mūlam idaṁ sarvaṁ tasmān nityaṁ guruṁ bhajet |
puraścaraṇa-hīno’pi mantrī siddhyen na saṁśayaḥ ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 17.242)
“The basis of all these [preliminary rites] is the guru. Therefore, always serve the guru. Thereby, even a mantra-sādhaka who has not performed any preliminary rites (puraścaraṇa) can attain perfection. Of this, there is no doubt.”
ācāryopāsanaṁ … |
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 13.7)
“Serving an ācārya [is an aspect of true knowledge].”
tatra bhāgavatān dharmān śikṣed gurv-ātma-daivataḥ |
amāyayānuvṛttyā yais tuṣyed ātmātmado hariḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.3.22; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.98; Bhakti Sandarbha: 206)
“One for whom the guru is the self (ātmā) and the Devatā should, through unaffected adherence, learn from him Bhāgavata-dharmas by which Hari, he who gives his own self, can be pleased.”
vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana |
bahu-śākhā hy anantāś ca buddhayo’vyavasāyinām ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 2.41)
“O son of the Kurus, the resolute intellect (buddhi) is one [i.e., one-pointed] in this regard [i.e., in regard to practicing bhakti-yoga]. The intellects of the irresolute, however, are many-branched and endless [i.e., divided between numerous different pursuits and driven by an endless number of worldly desires].”
sa śuśruvān mātari bhārgaveṇa
pitur niyogāt prahṛtaṁ dviṣadvat |
pratyagṛhīd agraja-śāsanaṁ tat
ājñā gurūṇāṁ hy avicāraṇīyā |
(Raghu-vaṁśa: 14.46; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.10.145)
“Hearing that at his father’s direction Paraśurāma struck his mother like an enemy, he [i.e., Lakṣmaṇa] accepted the command of his elder brother [i.e., Rāma], since the order of elders is not to be deliberated upon.”
gurur eva gatiḥ gurum eva bhaje
guruṇaiva sahāsmi namo gurave |
na guroḥ paramaṁ śiśur asmi guroḥ
matir asti gurau mama pāhi guro ||
(Śabda-mañjarī)
“The guru is always my refuge. I always worship the guru. I am always with the guru. Obeisance unto the guru. There is none higher than the guru. I am a child of the guru. My mind is on the guru. Please protect me, O guru!”
yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā guruḥ |
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ ||
(Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad: 6.23; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 4.346; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 98; Bhakti Sandarbha: 5, 21, 209; Govinda-bhāṣya: 3.3.44, 45, 3.4.50)
“These discussed subjects [i.e., the teachings a guru gives to a disciple regarding Brahma-vidyā] are revealed to the great soul who has pure bhakti to Deva, and as to Deva, so also to guru.”
vaktā sarāgo nīrāgo dvividhaḥ parikīrtitaḥ |
sarāgo lolupaḥ kāmī tad uktaṁ hṛn na saṁspṛśet ||
upadeśaṁ karoty eva na parīkṣāṁ karoti ca |
aparīkṣyopadiṣṭaṁ yal loka-nāśāya tad bhavet ||
(Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 203)
“A teacher is said to be of two types: [one] with attachment (rāga) and [one] without attachment. One with attachment is greedy and covetous. His words cannot touch the heart. He only gives teachings and does not conduct any examination. That which is taught without conducting any examination certainly leads to ruination of society.”
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].”
