In plain words
spiritual truth, the scholarship is nothing but a burden upon his own head — so the Bharatiya Paramartha Vahini has taught. That person from whose Ātma this teaching comes is called the 'guru'. The reading of texts must strengthen the spiritual notions within oneself and cause them to be placed in practice — it must never be regarded as mere fodder for the brain. It must become a source of bliss to the Ātma. Envy, ostentation, egotism, and other such vices must be driven out from oneself.
The person to whose Ātma this is granted is called the disciple. For this spiritual power to pass from one person to another, it is essential that the giving soul — that is, the giving individual — have foremost competence, and that the receiving soul — that is, the receiving individual — have every capacity to receive it. The seed must be full of life; the field must be ploughed and ready for sowing. When both of these come together, a genuine spiritual harvest emerges in a most wondrous form. The true religious teacher must be one of most wondrous influence, and the listener too must be gifted with sharpness of intellect. When both are wondrous and extraordinary in this way, a most excellent spiritual upliftment comes about as its fruit; otherwise, such a thing is impossible to achieve. Such people alone are true gurus. Gurus must steal hearts, not wealth. Except for service to the guru and the guru's teaching, the disciple must hold no other preoccupation of mind. Whatever the guru says, the disciple must hold complete faith in putting it into practice in the heart — he alone is the true disciple. In the course of time, from that faith alone, the thirst for Jñāna may arise. There is one exceedingly subtle law of Nature at work here: as soon as the field is made ready, the seed must arrive. Spiritual power must accrue to the soul. When, in the receiving soul, the power to attract the splendor of Dharma has become complete and strong