There is no wisdom without the Teacher, but without the devotee, there would be no Teacher. The existence of either can be complete only with the other, and in successive generations, the adept devotee continues to become a Teacher, and continues the eternal process of lighting the lamp of knowledge. Guru Arjan Dev says:
Establishing the Temple of Truth,
I seek out the Guru’s devotees.
Bhagat Namdev, the venerated 12th century saint from Maharshtra, mentions the relationship between God and devotee using the following apt words:
Says God: my devotee is devoted only to me; he is in my very image.
The sight of him, even for an instant, cures the three fevers; his touch brings liberation.
The devotee can release anyone from My bondage, but I cannot release anyone from his.
If he holds me and binds me, even then, I cannot protest!
The devotee sees the Teacher as God, for without Teacher, there would have been no discovery. In turn, the Teacher sees Him in the devotee. Saint Kabeer expresses the oneness between Teacher and devotee, and Creator and creation as:
O people, O Siblings of Destiny, do not wander deluded by doubt.
The Creation is in the Creator, and the Creator is in the Creation, pervading and permeating all places.
Guru Gobind Singh crafted the new spiritual order, the Khalsa, but then established the spirit of the Teacher as resident in the congregation. In his seminal literary work, the Dasam Granth, written largely in Brajbhasha language, and penned in Gurumukhi script, he says of his devotees:
It is through their grace that I got wisdom, and through their assistance I conquered my enemies.
It is through their aid that I have attained this status, otherwise, there are millions of unknown mortals like me.