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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 10: Chapter 80: Verses 30-41
(In this world) people who have shaken off worldly desires brought forth by Divine Maya, and who yet perform their prescribed duties with a heart unswayed by desire, just as I do, for the sake of setting an example before the world, are very rare. Do you remember, 0 dear Brahmana, our stay in the house of the preceptor? it is there that the twice-born acquire the knowledge of that which is worth knowing, and thus cross the darkness of ignorance in the form of mundane existence. O friend, the father from whom one gets the body is the first Guru in this world. Next, comes the teacher, who invests one with the sacred thread and teaches him his obligatory duties, He is worthy of adoration like Myself. Lastly, comes the teacher who imparts the knowledge of Self to men of all classes and orders and helps one in the realization of God. He is identical with Me. 0 dear friend, the teacher is the same as Myself. Among the followers of the Varnasrama order in this world, they alone who carry out the preceptor's teachings and thereby cross the ocean of mundane existence without much ado know their true worldly and other-worldly interests. O friend, I am the Universal Self (I reside in every heart as the Witness.) I am not so pleased with the performance of daily obligatory sacrifices by the householder, nor with investiture with the sacred thread and study of the scriptures, which is the duty of a celibate, nor with the penance of the ascetic, nor again with the quietism of the recluse, as I am with services rendered by a disciple to the preceptor.
0 dear Brahmana, do you remember the incident how, one day, when living in the house of our preceptor, we both were asked by the latter's wife to bring fuel. We entered a thick forest, 0 sage, and were overtaken by a mighty and violent storm of wind and rain, which broke unexpectedly out of season, and thunders roared relentlessly over our head. The sun set in the meanwhile and all sides were enveloped in darkness. The land being covered with water we could not ascertain the high and low level of ground. Severely and repeatedly beaten by violent blasts of wind and showers in that flood, and not knowing the directions, we wandered in the forest in great confusion holding each other by the hand. Our preceptor, sage Sandipani, when he learnt this, proceeded in search of us at sunrise and discovered us, his disciples, in that bewildered state. He said, "My dear boys, you have been put to great hardship on my account. One's own self is dear to all more than anything else. How wonderful that you have shown your devotion to me by disregarding even the self. A good disciple should offer with a sincere heart his all, including his very self, to the Guru. That is precisely what he should actually do in order to repay the debt to the Guru.
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