Guru Gita Discourse- Fifteen

Soshanam Paapa-pankasya Deepanam Jnaana-tejasah
Guroh Paadodakam Samyak Samsaaraarnava-taarakam

The water rendered holy by the contact with the feet of the Guru (paada teertham) eliminates the dirt of sin and kindles the light of knowing. It takes us across the ocean of worldly existence.

Our soul actually is in the nature of pure consciousness without any dirt and inalienably connected to the eternal source of creation - God. However, the pure nature of soul is realized only at the end of a long process of spiritual evolution. The journey of the soul from a microbial state to the highest spiritual expansion involves innumerable births and deaths through a variety of life forms including plant and animal life. Human birth is the coveted fulfillment in such a long chain of evolution. In this journey soul gets tainted succumbing to various temptations of the senses and ego. These karmic imprints, good and bad, thus drag the soul through endless misery in the world. The merciful Guru only is the savior here. Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru while speaking about the greatness of the concept of Guru said the following.

“It is said that Guru is the personification of all Dharma -‘Guru Sakala Dharmatma’. Whichsoever births we have undergone, knowing the vices and virtues (acquired) in those incarnations, one should surrender all that in Guru. Guru gives ‘experience’ and crushes the karma in that experiential truth. Our soul has become dirtied in the passage of several births. Let us so consider that we are indeed good, virtuous. However, if you do not honor anyone, would you become virtuous? Entangled in one or other things, our mind gets stagnated in all that. How can you redeem such a muddled mind? We take birth, live and die like this ceaselessly. Only after millions of years, a soul gets guidance of a Guru. Man has a duty to evolve through the states of celestials (deva or devi), a rishi, sage, a seer and Muktha (liberated one). Guru is the guiding light, the witness of this (process). That is how Guru becomes ‘Sakala Dharmatma’- in whom exists all dharma. All celestials (gods & goddesses), Rishi and Sanyasi merge in the radiance of Guru”

Mukundan

Guru Gita Discourse Fourteen

Sarva-teerthaavagaahasya Sampraapnoti Phalam Narah
Guroh Paadodakam Peethvaa Sesham Sirasi Dhaarayan

The one who drinks the water with which the feet of the Guru is washed (thus made holy) and puts it on his head, earns the merit that accrues from the dip in all the holy waters.

Why the feet of Guru are considered so holy? Feet are the support of a being. That which supports a being or thing, can be considered as feet, its support. The plants have roots as their feet. We are supported by our feet. But what do we have as support for our feet? It indeed is the earth. And what does earth has as its support? The earth is supported by waters of the ocean. What has water as its support? It is fire, for waters are produced by the warmth of the sun. And what is the support of fire? It is air, because without air, there can be no fire. And what is the support of air? It is space, because without space, air cannot have mobility. Then what has space as its support? It is self consciousness. Ego is a product of self consciousness. Only through self consciousness, the elemental world is perceived. This individualized consciousness is known as Jeeva, the soul. What has soul as its support? It is the gross consciousness, because a part cannot exist without a whole. Just like fire has its root in the sun, the individual consciousness has its root in the Supreme Consciousness. That Supreme Consciousness is Guru, the personalized self manifestation of Brahman, the attributeless God, without name and form. So now we know what the concept of Guru is and why his feet are our sacred support and the ‘paadateertham’ ambrosia for the soul.

However, the important question is how to recognize the Supreme Guru when he appears in human form. A Supreme Guru takes birth with the mission for an epochal change according to a scheme of cosmic evolution. Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru revealed that only four such Gurus manifest in a yuga (aeon) consisting of lakhs of years. There will be a fifth Guru in between the end and beginning of a yuga. Sri Krishna was such a Guru, who came at the end of Dwapara Yuga and the beginning of Kaliyuga. We are living in Kaliyuga, which has duration of 4, 32,000 years. It is said that Kaliyuga commenced more than 5200 years back approx. after the death of Sri Krishna. Since the beginning of Kaliyuga, several sages and prophets have prophesied the birth of a Supreme Soul for the epochal change expected of Kaliyuga. We can see that the dharma and karma being observed today, particularly in reference to India, belongs to or is an appendage of an obsolete yuga, i.e. Dwapara Yuga and even dating back to Treta Yuga. When yuga dharma is not observed as willed by God, human civilization stagnates. Let humanity be led to the Supreme Guru, whose exposition of Yuga Dharma is exceedingly enlightening and a panacea for all the ills in the world.

Mukundan

Guru Gita Discourse Thirteen

Gurucharanam Saranam

Dehii Brahma Bhavet Yasmaat Tvat-kripaartham Vadaami Tat
Sarva-paapa-visudhaatma Srii-guroh Paada-sevanaat

I shall tell you for the sake of that kindness which makes a soul evolve into godhead. It is through service at the feet of the Guru that the soul frees itself from all sins and becomes purified.

The soul evolves into godhead. It is the fundamental scheme enshrined in the cosmic phenomenon. The soul exists, that we become aware of it through the consciousness of our own being, feelings, thoughts and actions. That the soul desires happiness and detests sorrow, we know. That the soul enjoys pleasures, yet it is dissatisfied, we know. Pleasure is the feelings derived through the five sense organs and ego while happiness is the state of enduring contentment emanating from the observance of dharma. And what is Dharma? Dharma is that very quality of our soul, which makes us aware of truth inherent in every substance, every being, every phenomenon and every situation. It is by this sense of dharma, we become aware of god, truth, love and kindness. It is again due to dharma we become aware of the need to evolve into highest perfection that is Godliness.

Now the question arises why some people become aware of dharma while some not. Here comes the boredom of sin and ignorance. Sin arises out of ignorance of dharma. Those who know dharma also commit sin sometime. That is due to another factor called vasana or the polluted karmic tendency (karmagati) in the soul. Those who have no bad karmagati may also commit sin due to the promptings of the ancestral souls through genetic or zodiacal channels or due to the spiritual debts and binding with the gods, spirits or masters they have worshipped. Therefore, we find that the problem of sin and ignorance is complex and cannot be resolved just by sermons. It cannot be rectified by erudition, knowledge or religious rituals either. The soul becomes conscious of dharma only through contact with the epitome of dharma, the Guru. Fire is born out of friction between two heat producing substance. Similarly when the aspiring soul of disciple comes into contact with Guru, the repository of dharma and spiritual realization, ignorance is dispelled and the flame of dharma and knowledge is kindled in the disciple. Therefore get in contact with Guru and serve him. This is the way of soul purification.

Mukundan