Guru Gita 23

Gurucharanam Saranam

Gurumoortim Smaret Nityam, Guror Naama Sadaa Japet

Guroraajnaam Prakurveeta, Guroranyam Na Bhaavayet

Remember the form of Guru daily. Repeat Guru’s name always. Follow Guru’s instruction. Do not think (in prayer) on anything other than Guru.

You float like a withered leaf in the indescribable spiritual sky without the support of Guru, the personified abstraction of the Supreme Light. Can a little infant walk without the finger of its father? The faith in Guru is the sublimation of one’s ego. Each soul is connected to certain astral skies from where manifests the Guru of his life; it may be in the form of a person or ideology. For our spiritual growth, it becomes necessary to absolutely identify with the omniscient Supreme Guru. Very less people understand the true Guru concept. Majority of Hindus follow temple worship and mightn’t have even got a Guru as such. Adi Sankaracharya once mentioned: ‘blessed is the life of one who has got three things in life – birth in Bharat, desire for liberation and getting of an enlightened Guru’.

We have innumerable Gurus belonging to Saiva, Sakteya and Vaishnava cults or paths like Yoga, Jnana or Bhakti. But the Guru of Guru Gita is above all sects and traditions. So long as there are different creeds, sects and traditions, there cannot be spiritual unity. The basic cause of India’s disunity lies in her heterodox spiritual tradition. Her heart is spiritually fragmented or compartmentalized. Following one or the other Guru is not as important as its social and spiritual impact. The Guru should be the catalyst for social change, not just a retail vendor of spirituality, like the pandas do sitting on the Ghats of Varanasi. This type of spirituality will not help to forge unity of mankind. The cumulative effect of all this spiritual degradation is that very few people know about the epochal Guru regime in Sanatana Dharma as different from popular religion. Each epoch has a Guru of its own, a Kaalaanthara Guru, like Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru in Kaliyuga, who has been empowered by the Supreme Light of Brahman. The exhortation of Guru Gita becomes a reality only when India installs the concept of Supreme Guru-hood in its altar of spirituality as being repeatedly stated here by Lord Siva in Guru Gita.

Guru Gita Discourse- Sixteen

Ajnaana-moola-haranam Janma-karma-nivaarakam
Jnaana-vyraagya-sidhyartham Guru-paadodakam Pibet

For the attainment of knowledge and detachment, one should drink the ‘paada teertham’ of Guru which destroys the root of ignorance and annihilates the causation of rebirths.

Why our soul struggles in this finite world of fleeting joys and experiences? There are biological reasons, phycholocial reasons as well as spiritual reasons. Ultimately, everything comes down to the end-riddle, life itself and its purpose. Knowledge and detachment in spiritual terms denote finding the true dharmic meaning to life. In Hindu spiritual tradition, detachment denotes to a concept of self-abnegation or renunciation of worldly pleasures and attachment. Once the truth of Soul is perceived, the call of the inner Self becomes louder and louder. Such spiritually roused souls become detached and leave their homes, dear and near ones to seek the path of self realization.

But what happens to such spiritual aspirants; very few in the human society think about them. They - may not all of them - wander and wander inside the barbed compounds of the devas, yogis and sages whose lessons in self realization are said to be nowhere near completion. And who knows whether that upper region is segmented according to the caste and regional tags; down here they had such compartments. Therefore, we may have reasonable doubt about the souls of such spiritual aspirants. Those who have spiritual vision confirm the doubt for us that such souls are sadly not liberated from the root of ignorance; not attained freedom from births and deaths. Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru cautions the spiritual seekers;

We have come to this world after many births. We have very little time in this world. What can we learn during this short span of time? The wealth of knowledge acquired through the ages is so voluminous that we are unable to understand even a fraction of it... Therefore, what we can learn is about Kali Yuga Dharma. Kali Yuga Dharma is not based on caste or religion. It is based on the innate goodness of humanity.

Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru guides the spiritual seekers of this age to the freshness of Truth and a new vision about the ashram concept, when He said;

While learning staying in the ashram, we, with our wisdom, sacrifice, sufferings and actions are compensating for the lapses in our homes and the society. This is the knowledge we gain from the Ashram. This is not Sanyasa (renunciation). Those who come to the Ashram and stay here do not adopt Sanyasa. They are coming here to learn with their lives. That was what ancient kings had done. Even Lord Krishna studied in an Ashram. Ashram is such a great institution. The basic duty of every Ashram is to give away love, respect and humility for the good of the world. This is the real education which we gain from the Ashram’.

One need not renounce the world and wander about aimlessly for god realization or to gain freedom from ignorance. Surrender at the lotus feet of the all knowing Supreme Guru and serve Him.