Swami Vishwananda talks about the relationship between the Guru-Disciple and Ishtadev

Could you please comment a little bit on the relationship between disciple-Gurudev or Ishtadev?

Sri Swami Vishwananda says "When it comes to the relationship between the guru and disciple, you should not involve any deities, because the deities are far away from people. And the deities become active only when the guru gives the blessing. The guru is an embodiment of all, and if one can’t surrender completely to the teacher, how can one surrender completely to God? It doesn’t happen.

In India, they don’t even worship the deity, they worship only the Guru, as the deity. Because like Krishna Himself said "I will be among you in the form of the guru. By surrendering to the guru, you are surrendering unto me."
So this is entirely this. The deity means nothing without the guru. If one really understands that the guru is everything, and it touches completely these words; Gurur-Brahmaa Gurur-Vishnu, Gururdevo Maheshvarah, Gurur Shakshat Param Brahma, Tasmai Shri-Gurave Namah – the Guru is Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. And He is the Param Brahma. If one understands that, just the worship of the guru is enough, nothing else. The service to the guru is the most important of all. That’s why when you go to India, you will see, first is the guru, then of course you will see all the deities around, but the guru is more worshipped than the deity itself."