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Only by Guru's grace can the disciple attain final liberation!

1. Introduction  2. The disciple getting engrossed in the Guru's devotion and service to the Guru (Gurusēvā)* 3. The Guru's intense yearning for the disciple's progress*

1. Introduction 

The disciple can attain Final Liberation only by his Guru's grace. When a seeker and a disciple have the aim of God realisation and have experienced the Guru's grace, they have understood the immense value of the Guru. They realise that whatever they do for the Guru is not sufficient. It is impossible to express the Guru's importance and His grace in words. Despite that, the disciple always remembers his Guru's grace, His smile, conversation with Him, guidance, spiritual experiences (anubhutis) given by the Guru, etc. He gets engrossed in the remembrance of his Guru. He then truly becomes mad for the Guru. He has realised the importance of the internal Guru and his desire to meet the Guru keeps on increasing. He becomes impatient. He has realised that only the Guru can help him attain Final Liberation and so he completely offers himself to the Guru and the Guru also takes him close.
The state of the disciple and the Guru explained below, shows why it is said, 'The disciple attains liberation only through Guru's grace!'

2. The disciple getting engrossed in the Guru's devotion and service to the Guru (Gurusēvā)*

In reality, it is the Guru who gets spiritual practice (sādhanā) done from the seeker when he enters the school of Spirituality; but the seeker is not aware of this. As the seeker progresses, he starts realising the Guru's importance. He realises that the spiritual journey which occurred till then is only due to His grace. To attain the Guru's grace continuously, he makes efforts to follow the Guru's guidance. After the seeker becomes a disciple only the Guru gets sādhanā done from the disciple. In this state, the disciple is very eager to obey his Guru's guidance. The disciple is experiencing constantly that the Guru is getting sādhanā done from him and it is happening due to the Guru's resolve only. So the spiritual emotion of gratitude (krutadnyatā bhāv) and the spiritual emotion of surrender (sharnāgat bhāv) in the disciple, towards his Guru keep on increasing. So now, he does not need to perform any devotion of Deities. He experiences that all the Deities are at his Guru's holy feet and he becomes engrossed in the Guru's devotion and in service to the Guru (Gurusēvā).

3. The Guru's intense yearning for the disciple's progress*

When a disciple remains in the company of his Guru (satsang) for a few months or a few years, he becomes mad for his Guru. One can imagine how much love the Guru must be having for His disciple, when He has held his (the disciple's) hand for many births, and is guiding him spiritually and taking him further. The Guru thinks constantly of 'how much and what all can I do for my disciple?' The disciple is also getting immense love from the Guru. The Guru develops detachment in the disciple's mind and gives him knowledge and devotion. As compared to a disciple (about his own spiritual progress), the Guru feels more yearning towards the disciple's spiritual progress. The Guru is very eager to make a disciple like Him. When the disciple has intense desire to acquire a place at the holy feet of the Guru and it keeps on increasing, then the Guru gives him knowledge of self realisation and merges him (disciple) with Self (Guru). In reality, all this is done by the Guru only. A disciple does not have to make any efforts. It is like when one catches a train for Kashi (a holy city in India), then one reaches Kashi without making any further efforts of one's own. So when a seeker sits in the train of the Guru's grace then automatically the Guru only takes His disciple to the appropriate destination. For this, the disciple does not have to make any efforts. Since the disciple has experienced this, he understands the importance of the Guru's grace, and is constantly in surrender at the Guru's feet.
* Based on Divine knowledge received by some seekers doing sādhanā per Gurukrupāyoga.
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