There comes a stage in life of devotees wherein they want to surrender to the Divine and remain blessed. There are many ways to accomplish this, but the best margam is through an Acharya or Guru. There is a Tamil saying, ‘ Mata, Pita, Guru, Deivam’ which clearly establishes the importance of a Guru. Even in the era of digital gadget gurus, only an Acharya well versed in scriptures can help one get the grace of Thayar, who then recommends to Perumal that He accept the devotee, said Dhamal Perundevi in a discourse.
A lotus always blooms with the sun shining on it in a pond, but the minute it is plucked and left outside the pond, the same flower wilts under the same sun. The lotus signifies jeevatma and only under an Acharya can it attain full bloom and reach Paramatma. In Daya Satakam, Sri Vedanta Desika says, “ Vigahe tirthabahulam Sitalam gurusantatim/ Srinivasa dayambodhi parivahaparamparam; meaning: I bathe in the cool and refreshing streams, full of water which flow in uninterrupted continuity from that great reservoir which is the storage of Srinivasa’s mercy, the streams constituted by the hierarchy of acharyas, in whom the Lord’s grace flows. Srinivasa’s karunai is a vast lake and from there rivulets descend upon acharyas, like footsteps in a lake.
