"If the Guru Is Gracious, the Disciple Becomes Strong"—What Is Its True Meaning and Mystery?

Shri Hit Radha Keli Kunj, Vrindavan. A private conversation with Pujya Shri Hit Premanand Govind Sharan Ji Maharaj. Seekers ask questions about their lives and sadhana, and Maharaj Ji resolves them.

Complete Discourse

Swan Ji from Patna, Radhe Radhe Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji, there is a saying, "if the guru is gracious, the disciple becomes strong." Maharaj Sri, to subdue this mind, should we rely only on the guru's grace, or should we also make an effort? Then shelter itself is the effort. It is only through the guru's shelter that the disciple attains the supreme state. Therefore, one should hold fast to the shelter.

God is above and the world is below. The world is below. Nature pulls downward. When the mind pulls us, obstacles pull us, nature keeps us down. But if you want to move toward God, the guru has given you a rope—the rope of naam, the rope of mantra.

Well, suppose you need to reach the top of a building and you're climbing with a rope. Now you've climbed partway up. Now think: if you let go of the rope, you'll be in terrible trouble. You'll die. Your hands and feet will break, for sure.

Now all you can do is climb, and you must stay attached to that rope.

Similarly, if a seeker on the path of ultimate good abandons the guru, if they disregard the guru, if they dishonor the guru, they will be destroyed. Even if they perform sadhana standing on their head, one who is hostile to the guru will never attain God. So the guru's shelter is like that of someone climbing on a rope.

Now only the rope is your support. If you let go of it, you're finished.

So if the guru's shelter is your only support, you will cross the ocean of existence peacefully. One who grasps the guru this way—as though the only support for reaching the top of a building is the rope, and now they're climbing on it—cannot go down, because going down would be an effort. The goal is above. They cannot let go, so all they can do is climb.

Hold onto the guru this way.

The guru gives you the rope—the rope of naam, the rope of the form, the rope of the mantra. Recite the naam mantra day and night. This is the guru's shelter.

What does the guru's shelter mean? Now you might say, "Our effort is nothing; we just rely on the guru." But one who sits idle relying on the guru becomes lazy and cowardly.

Much striving is required—your own effort and the guru's grace.

Those without striving never become worthy of grace.

Thought, deed, and word are the three gates through which grace flows, O Lord of Raghus.

Be full of striving, day and night be full of striving.

See, you will become as the practice you establish. If you do not labor, if you do not toil, if you do not strive, then you cannot experience grace. A cowardly person can never experience grace.

You must do the striving.

Striving is the sadhana given by the guru. The attainment of fruit is the guru's shelter. Both are necessary.

When your striving is complete and the guru's grace is complete, you experience the full Divine. But if the guru's grace is there and yet you spend your striving on worldly desires, you will never attain God. The guru's grace is there, but if you indulge in selfish worldly enjoyment, your striving becomes attached to worldly things. You become bereft of the spiritual path, and then you say the guru's grace is not upon us.

The guru's grace is upon all, just as God's grace is upon all. The guru's grace is upon all. But one who follows the guru's command and labors earnestly in sadhana becomes worthy of grace. That one can taste the sweetness of grace.

So the guru's grace and your own striving together bring about attainment of God.

This text is taken from auto-generated captions of the video—there may be errors in the words. Please listen to the video for the authentic discourse.

Original video: Bhajan Marg (YouTube)