‘कुलं शीलम् अथाचारम् अविचार्य परं गुरुम् ।
भजेत श्रवणाद्यर्थी सरसं सारसागरम् ॥’
सरसत्वादिकं च व्यञ्जितं तत्रैवान्यत्र—
‘कामक्रोधादियुक्तोऽपि कृपणोऽपि विषादवान् ।
श्रुत्वा विकाशम् आयाति स वक्ता परमो गुरुः ॥’
‘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.’”