Guru Gita 22

Gurucharanam Saranam

Sirah Paadankitam Kritvaa, Yatha the chaakshayovatah:

Teertha Raajah Prayaago-asau, Gurumuurtyai Namo Namah

Prayag is considered the most holy of all holy waters and it is here the akshayavata - the everlasting banyan tree--stands. Devotion to the form of that Guru by prostrating at whose feet one earns the immortality (of the akshayavata) and the merit of taking a dip in the holiest of all holy waters.

Prayag, the confluence of three sacred rivers – Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, which we may (arbitrarily though) attribute to three sects of Hinduism, namely, Saiva, Vaishnava and Sakteya, because of their symbolic connections with Siva (to Ganga), Yamuna (to Krishna- associated with the myths of Vishnu) and a phonetic connection with goddess Saraswati, which we may associate with female deity worship). There stands an immortal tree on the banks of Prayag - the Jnana Vriksha, the fourth path of the transcendent Rishis who meditate under it. Without this tree of knowledge, the holy waters of Ganga and Yamuna, like the pale sun affected by an eclipse, might be just cold and colorless streams.

The all knowing Guru is the Jnana Vriksha on the banks of holy waters and it is by prostrations at the feet of Guru one earns immortality. Hindus seem to have neglected this jnana vriksha, this sage living on the banks of the holy rivers and teerthas. This is about the fourth face of the Vedas, the Jnana Kanda, about which people generally know very little or have they chosen to remain satisfied with the appeasement of celestial gods? Like mirthful children, they swish, swim and splash in the river of ritualism, each immersed in their own world, without a real spiritual leadership. When will Hindus graduate to the immortal spiritual wisdom of the Rishis?

Guru Gita 21

Gurucharanam Saranam

Kaasi Kshetram Nivaasascha, Jaahnavi Charanodakam

Guruh Visweswarah Saakshaat, Taarakam Brahma Nishchitam

Kaasi is where Guru is present; the water that washes Guru’s feet is the holy water of Ganges. Guru is verily the Lord of the Universe and the Supreme Power that takes one (and all) across (the ocean of worldly existence).

The spiritually inclined are drawn to the holy city of Kashi, the sacred Ganga and the god lording over it, Siva, the ascetic of ascetics. Those who hunger after spiritual virtues settle down there. Still, Guru is required to open the door to spiritual realization. The real truth of holy places like Kashi, sacred rivers like Ganga and gods such as Siva is understood only when connected with a mystical eye by the grace of Guru.

In the ancient city of Kashi lived Sant Kabir, who said that he would first salute Guru if Guru and God were to manifest together in front of him. He firmly believed that only by the grace of Guru, God, the formless mystery could be experienced. While Kabir said this, he had in mind the impossible scenario of the manifestation of formless, nameless, infinite God in front of the devotee and the perennial truth of Guru’s mediacy in God realization. Therefore Guru is the liberating attribute of impersonal God. Without an authoritative liberated Guru, a spiritual seeker will get bewildered in challenging astral dimensions. According to Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru, millions and millions of such souls are caught in astral dimensions unable to attain the final sublimation or salvation.

Guru Gita -20

Gurucharanam Saranam

Yasmaad-anugraham Labdhwaa Mahad-ajnaanam-utsrujet

Tasmai Srii-desikendraaya Namascha-abhiishta-siddhaye

Salutations to that Lord among Teachers, on receiving whose blessing, great ignorance is dispelled and also wishes fulfilled.

What does our soul desire? It desires eternal peace. There cannot be peace when there are wants and desires to be fulfilled, duties to be fulfilled. Every man has to undergo life experiences presented before him which are the products of soul’s karmic backlog and evolutionary growth. Evolution is related to the upward journey of consciousness from gross emotional planes to the purity and tranquility of subtle higher states of consciousness. There are no fights, struggles and grievances there. It is an endless valley of pure love. The soul before reaching that state of stillness has to evolve achieving victory over the painful domain of ego, very deluding and difficult to transcend.

Base instincts, shameful actions and cruel deeds do occur in this domain due to the association with ego, sensuality, name and form. These are excusable when performed under the roof of ignorance as well as under remote astral influences with which a soul might be associated with. Such souls become food of the spirit-world in the dark regions. However, there is hope for those who have a Guru of supreme elevation. They can surrender all their bad karmas on the lotus feet of Guru and get purified. It is an assurance from the great Guru, Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru. Sin is washed away by the purifying light of Guru.

Those who live according to the dictates of dharma, who are able to control and discipline their thoughts and actions, become upwardly oriented. One branch of this people becomes the food of gods due to their attachment to heavenly pleasures and celestial splendor. The other group disgusted by the pendulum of pain and pleasure, their ceaseless meaningless repetition, desires to ascend the peak of spiritual tranquility, freed from the dark valley of ignorance below. Such souls are lifted up by the blessing hands of Guru, the radiance up above the higher regions.

Guru Gita - 19

Gurucharanam Saranam

Yat-paadarenurvai Nityam Kopi Samsaara-vaaridhau

Setu-bandhaayate Naatha-desikam Tamupaasmahe

We ever worship that Master of all Masters, the dust from whose feet deposited daily in the sea of our worldly existence becomes a bridge that helps us to cross (that ocean).

Our life is like an ocean with its terrible depth and frightful expanse which is impossible for a human to swim across. The treachery and hatred, the heart burning alienation, crumbling hopes and values, the endless enslavement to the charms of senses, the dark plagues of our mind, the shameless stooping and lashes of our conscience and the self deluding journey of our soul possessed by egoistic afflictions and thirsts – this is the world in which we have imprisoned ourselves. It is a suffocating world, on whose dissipating fares no wise person would tether his faith. It is a treacherous world where one is led from darkness to darkness, if not wise and vigilant. Can fire arise from a dark dead piece of cold charcoal? Never, so long some bright ball of fire scourges it. The dust of Guru’s feet is like balls of spiritual radiance that gives life, light and nourishment to the soul. It burns the impurities of the soul and acting like a bridge, helps it sail across the frightful ocean of life. What else but endless prostrations alone could one offer to Guru, the savior of soul to eternal light and freedom!