The guru's sole duty is removing the disciple's ignorance through unchanged spiritual knowledge from the disciplic succession.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Lecture "What is a Guru?" — August 22, 1973, London 730822LE-LONDON [41:47 Minutes] Lecture_730822LE-LONDON Prabhupāda: [leads prema-dvani prayers; devotees offer obeisances] Speaker: Ladies and gentlemen, I know for most of you this is your first appearance here at Bhaktivedanta Manor. I'd like to extend this welcome to you. Thank you for coming, and please, the door is always open, and our service is about seven o'clock every evening. Thank you very much.
Prabhupāda: [indistinct comment aside about microphone?] oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale svayaṁ rupaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare Thank you very much. So, tonight's subject matter for speaking is "What is Guru?" Haṁsadūta: Yes. Prabhupāda: So, guru, there are many description. Subject matter is the same, but different way, guru has been described by different ācāryas. Their aim is the same, but language or presentation may be little different. So generally guru means, ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākaya cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ [Gautamīya-tantra] Just like in darkness, ajñāna-timirāndhasya.
Ajñāna means ignorance, "without knowledge." That is called ajñāna. So ajñāna is compared..., ignorance, stupidity, is compared with darkness. Just like if you are..., if this room, immediately all lights are off, then it becomes dark. We cannot see where I am sitting, where others sitting.
It becomes a confusion. Similarly, in this material world we are all in the darkness. This material world is called darkness. It is called tamaḥ.
Tamaḥ means darkness. Or timir. Timir means darkness. And actually, it is darkness.
Because, because this material world is dark, there is need of sunlight, there is need of moonlight, there is need of electricity. [aside:] This child disturbing. But there is another world. We get description from the Vedic literature, na yatra bhāsayate sūryo na śaśaṅko na pāvakaḥ [Bg. 15.6]. There is another world, spiritual world, where there is no darkness, and therefore there is no need of sunlight, there is no need of moonlight, there is no need of electricity. So guru's business is to bring out the disciples from darkness to light. That is guru's business.
That is guru. First business is that because he is suf... Everyone is suffering on account of ignorance. Just like you contaminate some disease out of ignorance.