To do bhagavad-bhajana, it is essential that one first takes shelter of Śrī Guru’s lotus feet. Otherwise, bhajana-sādhana is hardly possible because this shelter is the natural gateway onto the path of bhakti. There is no pure bhakti-mārga-sādhana anywhere that doesn’t include guru-pādāśraya. To learn something in the physical universe, a competent teacher is necessary. Needless to say, to acquire spiritual knowledge about bhakti, a teacher is also required. So the merciful Lord personally appears in this world as the guru to bless mankind with instructions about bhakti philosophy.
We shall briefly discuss śrī-guru-tattva. If one understands the gravity of śrī-guru-tattva, there will be no doubt concerning the necessity of guru-pādāśraya. What is the nature of Śrī Guru? What does the word guru mean? What is the result of taking shelter of Śrī Guru? Those without knowledge have many doubts about guru-pādāśraya. Everything about guru-tattva is learned in the association of sādhus (saintly people). Without the association of the Lord’s devotees, guru-tattva cannot be understood. For this reason, the scriptures and great souls first of all instruct those eager for sādhana-bhajana to seek the association of devotees (sat-saṅga). In Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, Bhagavān Kapiladeva said to his mother Devahūti,

satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ |
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani
śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati ||

“In the auspicious association of sādhus, one hears narrations describing my divine power. These stories are like elixirs for the heart and ear, and by devoting oneself to them, one quickly progresses on the path of emancipation and develops faith, love and devotion for me.” (Bhāg. 3.25.25) The meaning is that by hearing discussions about God from the mouths of devotees, one first develops faith. Then, by taking shelter of a true guru and performing bhajana, rati (affec-tion) and prema (love) gradually arise in one’s heart. Since time immemorial, souls searching for God have wandered from womb to womb until they finally obtained a human body, the doorway to liberation from worldly life. Among humans, those of the highest virtue obtain sādhu-saṅga. After they hear kṛṣṇa-kathā from highly realized devotees, their hearts and minds, sullied by attachment to worldly pleasures, become a little purified, and they understand the impermanence of the body and all related to it. They consider this temporary worldly life to be like an ocean that is very difficult to cross. Śrī Guru is the only competent helmsman for piloting the strong boat of one’s human form beyond the miserable ocean of worldly life, infested with the crocodiles and sharks of lust, anger and so on. He then causes an intense desire to awaken in the disciple’s heart for obtaining the lotus feet of the ever-blissful Lord. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, Śrī Kṛṣṇa said to Uddhava,

nṛ-deham ādyaṁ sulabhaṁ sudurlabhaṁ
plavaṁ sukalpaṁ guru-karṇadhāram |
mayānukūlena nabhasvateritaṁ
pumān bhavābdhiṁ na taret sa ātmahā ||

“O Uddhava! This human form is unparalleled because it is the foundation for all gain and is well-suited for its purpose. The jīva obtains his rare human form by the course of nature. Śrī Gurudeva is the helmsman in this boatlike body, and above all am I, who, like a favorable wind, propel the boat on its way. Those who obtain this body but do not endeavor to transcend the ocean of worldly life are considered to be killers of their own souls.” (Bhāg. 11.20.17)
What we are saying is that by associating with devotees, one will come to understand the necessity of taking shelter of a guru. It may be understood that wherever there is no knowledge of the need for śrī-guru-pādāśraya, it is because there has been no association with devotees. Or if there has been bhakta-saṅga, but still there is no realization of the need for a guru, or a guru has not been accepted, then either the saṅga is not genuine or the fruit of bhakta-saṅga has not appeared because of some sin. As long as one has not obtained the shelter of a guru, the ultimate effect of bhakta-saṅga will be to get that shelter. The reason is that after receiving dīkṣā (initiation) and śikṣā (instruction) from a true guru, one’s personal bhajana (worship) can begin.

Śrī Ananta Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja