Avidya or Ignorance is the main obstruction a practitioner faces during bhajana. The main basis of this ignorance is vices caused by past good deeds, vices caused by past offensive deeds and vices caused by one’s devotional service. Avidya literally means considering temporary things to be eternal, obnoxious things to be serene and pure, thinking actual distress to be happiness just as the swine finds it pleasurable to eat stool and considering the inert to be sentient. However when a person is surrendered to Guru, these vices are destroyed on their own accord.
Vices are also caused by offenses one may commit during the course of devotional rendering. Such offenses are offenses to the Holy Nama, vices caused during the course of devotion such as hankering for material profit, desire for adoration and distinction even among devotee circles. By Sri Guru’s mercy even these vices are wiped off and the disciple is promoted to the platform of attaining the treasure spotless worship of the Lord. The heart of the Guru is compared to being an Ocean of Compassion. Although God is self-satisfied, He creates a desire to serve in His servants. This well-wishing attitude of the Lord accomplishes the good fortune of devotional rendering in the hearts of the servants of the Lord. This is the real meaning of Melting of the heart of the Lord and thus represents the compassion in the heart of the Lord. Srila Gurudeva is the tangible embodiment of that compassion of the Lord. Seeing the miserable plight of the conditioned souls, the Lord assumes the form of the Guru and blesses His separated parts and parcels with the gift of Prema, the highest conceivable item of the spiritual realm. Thakhura Mahasaya says that when the Lord is angry with a devotee, Sri Guru can easily protect and save the devotee however if Sri Guru is angry with the devotee, no one can save the devotee, not even God.
In the prayers of Mata Devahooti in Padma Purana, she says that if the Lord is convinced with my devotion to the Guru than my devotion to the Lord Himself, then on strength of that truth it is possible that the Lord will grant me His audience. He who considers himself downtrodden and fallen will melt the heart of the Sadhguru and easily gain his shelter because Guru is naturally the benefactor of the fallen. Seeing the miserable plight of the conditioned souls, the saints shower them with their grace. Although the sons of Kuvera namely Nalakuvera and Manigriva showed no respect at the arrival of the great sage Narada and remained stooped in nakedness, inebriation and unashamedly demeanour, the great sage showed great compassion by cursing the brothers to become trees in the backyard of house of Nanda Maharaja from where they could witness the childhood pastimes of Lord Krishna and thus cleansing their character and body. However the Lord relieved them from their tree-bodies and actually punished them by sending them back to the higher planets ; thus ending their witnessing of the Lord’s pastimes, for having ill-conducted themselves with a renowned Guru like Narada.
Thakhura Mahasaya says that one can never repay their debt to the Guru in any number of life-times, although one is the servant of the Guru in mind and body life after life. The Guru has employed one on the path of Bhajana and in the path of devotion, life represents the path of devotion in life and not being in devotion in reality is death.
Charan Pahari 