Salutations, adorations, prostrations to Guru,
Guru is Brahma, Guru is Siva, Guru is Vishnu,
Guru is father, Guru is mother, Guru is real friend.
Serve him with all Bhava, wet with Bhakti.
He will teach you Brahma Vidya, show the divine path.
Service of Guru is a great purifier.
He who surrenders his Thana, Mana and Dhana at the feet of master develops Guru-Bhakti.Whatever promotes devotion to the feet of Master is highest Dharma. Niyama consists of Japa of Guru Mantra, doing austerity while serving Guru, faith in the words of Guru, Acharya-sevana, contentment, purity, studying the scriptures and Guru-Bhakti or surrender to Guru. Titiksha is the bearing of grief or affliction while carrying out Guru’s Command. Tyaga is the giving up works which Guru prohibits. One who does not serve and obey his Guru is really a fool.Lord Krishna says to Uddhava, “The human body, so hard to secure is a strong boat. The preceptor is at the helm of the boat. I am the favourable wind that drives it.” The man who does not strive to cross the ocean of births with such a boat and such a means is truly killing himself.As man is under the influence of beginningless ignorance he cannot have Self-realisation without the help of Preceptor.Can there be anything wrong in what the Guru says? There is some reason for it. The human intellect cannot reach there.The personal service of Guru is the highest form of Yoga.The disciple can control his mind by doing personal service to Guru.
Just as service done to the father or grandfather pleases the son or grandson, so also service done to Guru pleases Mantra. Make no distinction between Guru, Mantra and Devata. Guru is God. He should not be regarded as a mere man. The place where Guru dwells in is Kailasa. The house in which he lives is Kashi or Banaras. The water of his feet is Ganga herself. The Mantra uttered by his fair Mouth is the saviour Brahman Himself.
The form of Guru is the root of Dhyana, the Lotus-Feet of Guru is the root of Pooja, the word of Guru is the root of salvation.
Guru is the place of pilgrimage. Guru is fire. Guru is Surya. Guru is the whole world. All places of pilgrimage in the entire universe reside in the sole of Guru’s Lotus-Feet. Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, Parvati, Indra, all Devas, all sacred rivers are eternally seated in the Guru’s body. Siva alone is Guru.
There is no difference between Guru and Ishta Devata. He who teaches the various forms of Sadhana and Yoga is Shiksha Guru or the teaching Guru. Of these two he is the supreme Guru from whom the great Mantra of Ishta Devata has been heard and learnt and by him alone Siddhi can be attained.
If Guru is pleased, the Lord Himself is pleased; if Guru is displeased, the Lord is displeased. Guru is grandfather to the Ishta Devata.
He who is pure in thought, word and deed, who has mastery over the senses, who has knowledge of scriptures, who is truthful, serene and who has God-realisation is a Guru.
A man of bad character cannot be a Guru. Competent disciples are never in want of competent Gurus. The disciple achieves results in proportion to his faith on his Guru.
The possession of university degrees cannot entitle a man to be an examiner of a Guru.
It is the height of impertinence and foolishness on his part, blinded by the vanity of worldly knowledge, to test the spiritual knowledge of the Guru.
We have been told by our scriptures that Guru-Kripa is a wonderful, mysterious factor, that will enable the aspirants to seek and to attain the summum bonum of life, Self-realisation, Darshan of God, Moksha or whatever it is; whether the disciple does Sadhana or not, whether he is deserving or undeserving, the Guru-Kripa sets aside all normal laws that operate in the spiritual self and takes one to the transcendental bliss. If we are to believe the scriptures, we should say that besides Guru-Kripa there is nothing needed for us to attain perfection in life.
Side by side, if this factor also is true that Guru is an Infinite Ocean of Mercy, that His Kripa ever showers upon all seekers whether they are worthy or unworthy, whether they are qualified or not, then by this time we must all have been already Apta-Kamas full of Bliss. Is that so? No. We find very much to our vexation that we are caught up: ignorance is there; illusion is there; we are deceived at every turn by our own lower self.
Where in lies the defect? Which is the untruth? If both the above statements are true and yet disciples are still very much earth-earthy, something else must be wrong somewhere else. What is that something else? We don’t have the temerity to say that the scriptures are untrue. At the same time, we do not also assert that the Guru is not compassionate, the Guru does not shower his Kripa upon us.
If we reflect upon this some factors come up before us which are worthy of serious consideration. Guru Kripa is undeniably a divine force that can turn even a stone into the Infinite Satchidananda, leave alone a conscious being. There is absolutely not the least bit of exaggeration in the statement and the fact that the Guru is always gracious. But, then, Guru-Kripa has not only to be bestowed, not only to be given; but it has also to be received. In receiving it, we immortalise ourselves; divinise ourselves. Unlimited charity may be bestowed by a generous-hearted donor who calls upon all who are in need to come and take. But not all the wealth of the world will be of any avail to an indigent one if he will not avail himself of this great opportunity and become a receiver.But, then, how can we receive it? How should we conduct ourselves if we are to be ready to receive this Grace? By discipleship. For, the question of Guru and Guru-Kripa arises only for the disciple.How is it that one may be a disciple? It is not the Guru that accepts the disciple; but the disciple has to first accept the Guru. If the disciple has first of all to render himself the Sishya, it is immaterial whether the Guru says “Yes, you are my Sishya” or does not; he becomes deserving of and a rightful claimant to Guru-Kripa.We have to understand what the sacred thing disciple, constitutes. In asmuchas Guru-Kripa takes us to the Highest State, discipleship is qualifying ourselves to receive that highest state or the realisation of ourselves as Satchidananda. Therefore, first of all, we have to feel that our present state is something which is not part of our real nature, which is something undesirable, something which we have to get rid of, and that then alone we shall have peace, happiness.One and pray to him: “Oh, free us from this body.” This prayer may not be expressed or articulated; but this prayer must ever be recited from the innermost core of our being, every moment of our life.we have to serve the Guru. Service is that mysterious something which pulls down the barrier that stands between us and the influence of Guru Kripa. For, if we have to be the proper receivers, it is service that removes the obstacles to this Bhava of the receiver. Ego is the greatest barrier.
First of all acquire the Mumukshutva.Then,Service of the Guru is to try our level best to carry out his Upadesh. Carry out the teachings of the Guru. Upon his sublime instructions we have to mould our life. Readiness to bow completely down to earth. Accept him as the leader and obey him.To be a disciple, you should obey even in dream; the idea of doing anything which is contrary to the spirit of the Guru’s Upadesh should never arise in our consciousness. Day and night our Sadhana should be to cultivate this attitude to perfection. If this is done, we are sufficiently on the way to qualify ourselves to receive Guru-Kripa. This is the external part of the Sadhana.
Inwardly we have also to break down the old set of ideas which somehow or other has crept into us regarding the Guru, His Grace and its functions; what is GuruKripa and its function. It is a hard task. But this task has to be done. Because, to the disciple, the nature of the Guru is not human. We should be blind completely to the human side of the Guru and we should be conscious only of the divinity that he is. Then alone will we be able to partake of this Kripa which will transform us from the lower human into the transcendental divine.
Our relationship with the Guru is purely divine, purely spiritual; and as long as we have not completely rubbed out the least vestige of human relationship with the Guru, we shall not be able to enter into the divine spiritual relation with the Guru.
The best thing is to humbly leave everything to the Guru. “I do not know whether I am even a disciple or not. Therefore O Ocean of Mercy and Compassion, pray, make me a proper disciple. Generate in me that Mumukshutva which makes me a disciple and give me the spirit of willing obedience. Help me in trying to follow thy instructions. Help me in trying to mould myself upon the pattern set up by thee”—this must be our constant prayer. And, by this alone shall we be able to draw the Kripa of our Guru and make our life fruitful. And the perfect way of praying is trying out best to be real disciples.
Asaramji Bapu 
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