HV 79.3
कस्यचित् त्व् अथ कालस्य सहितौ रामकेशवौ । गुरुं संदीपनिं काश्यम् अवन्तिपुरवासिनम् । धनुर्वेदचिकीर्षार्थम् उभौ ताव् अभिजग्मतुः ॥
kasyacit tv atha kālasya sahitau rāma-keśavau | guruṃ saṃdīpaniṃ kāśyam avanti-pura-vāsinam | dhanurveda-cikīrṣārtham ubhau tāv abhijagmatuḥ
After some time, Rāma and Keśava together went to the guru Sāndīpani, the Kāśya-born dweller of Avantipura, for the sake of studying the science of archery.
The Living Words
*Rāma-keśavau*, 'Rāma and Keśava'. *Guruṃ saṃdīpanim*, 'to the guru Sāndīpani'. *Kāśyam*, 'the Kāśya-born' — born in Kāśī. *Avanti-pura-vāsinam*, 'the dweller in the city of Avanti' (Ujjain). *Dhanurveda-cikīrṣārtham*, 'for the desire of studying the science of archery'. *Ubhau tāv abhijagmatuḥ*, 'both of them went'.
The Heart of It
The verse names something the Varkari tradition has treasured above almost everything else: that the Lord himself chose a human guru. *Ubhau tāv abhijagmatuḥ* — 'both of them went'. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma travel, approach, and submit. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's constant refrain that *guru* is first-named and Name-bestowing has this verse as one of its deepest sources. If even *Kṛṣṇa* went to Sāndīpani, the devotee has no excuse for going guruless. And the detail *Avanti-pura-vāsinam* — the guru does not come to the student; the student travels to the guru's city. The Varkari *vari* walks to Paṇḍharpūr for the same reason.