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

Gurugita Discourse Nine

Gurucharanam saranam

Japastapo Vritam Teertham Yajno Daanam Tathaiva Cha
Guru-tatwam-avijnaaya Sarvam Vyartham Bhavet Priye!

O Dear One! Japa (the recitation of mantra) Tapa (spiritual austerities) Vritam (Vows), Teertham (Visiting of Holy Places) and also the path of Jnaana (Knowledge) and Daana (Charities) come to naught if one does not know the truth of Guru.


Majority of us are engaged in one or other form of spiritual practices. In fact atheists are an insignificant minority in the world. Even atheists have god, their conscience. What is our concept of God? No one could claim to have a clue about god for god is incomprehensible to human intelligence and sensory perception. However all of us still keep an image or idea about god and do certain practices, observe rituals and follow some ideologies, gurus or prophets which give us varying degrees of moral and mental satisfaction. But stil we feell some emptiness, of having not fully realized life. We know that we are bound and caged in a limited space. We have not yet reached that shore beyond, that of unshackled Freedom, Light and Knowledge.

‘It is true that what really exists is the formless Truth, beyond all conceptions, like the limitless sky’. Navajyoti Sri Karunkara Guru said.

The actual spiritual truth exists well beyond the mind boggling multiplicities of forms and ideologies that trouble human mind perpetually. The spiritual truth is an experience beyond, in the quietened state of the soul. We experience different states of consciousness, sometime tied to the physical, mental, intellectual or the soul. There is a painful gravitational struggle in life when the soul tries to traverse these consciousness borders, lifting us to the subtler and subtler existential truth. Similarly, a struggle of grave nature awaits a truth seeker while passing through the strata of spiritual evolution before realizing the Ultimate Reality – God. But the seekers of truth get stuck at various borderlines of spirituality, unable to raise themselves beyond. Here our attachment to symbols and rituals or spiritual and cultural conditionings would not help. What helps us in this dilemma is the supreme grace of Guru, who can lift us up from there.

‘If there is a formless nature to Truth, in what all (consciousness) states they exist? This should be shown by guru. There are many who have seen (experienced) the Truth. But Guru is not who has seen it, but who imparts it (this experience) to others’ (Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru).

Many are the ideologies and practices, one or the other of which we fanatically or ignorantly follow, while disputing and disliking the others. Surely we are in a domain of ignorance. Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru never denied the truth in others. What He said was that we should evolve to the formless nature of Truth, which is possible only by getting rid of soul’s karmic and spiritual liabilities accrued during the course of many births and deaths. In this effort, only the grace of Guru helps. The Guru meant here is not a Guru in lower spiritual zones, but a Guru who takes us across the borderless spiritual experience as expected of this age by godly Will. Alas, today the spiritual fraternity is groping in the dark in search of that Light.



Mukundan

Gurugita Discourse Eight

Gurucharanam Saranam


Veda-saastra-puraanaani Itihaasaadikaani Cha
Mantra-yantraadi-vidyaascha Mohanocchaatanaadikam
Saiva-saakta-agamaadiini Hyanye Cha Bahavo Mataah
Apabhramshaah Samastaanaam Jeevanaam Bhraanta-chetasaam

Vedas, Sastras (sciences), Puranas (ancient narratives), Itihasas (the epics), Mantra (magical chants) Yantras (amulets), Spells, Exorcism, cults like Saiva, Sakteya, etc. and many other paths together are all digressions born of delusion.

Today religious and spiritual beliefs are innumerably vast; the Vedic tradition, Buddhist tradition, Christian, Jewish and Islamic tradition to mention only a few. Then there are the tantric and yogic tradition of many hues and origin, theist and atheist philosophies, spirit worship and deity worship, alternative spirituality, new age spirituality …. Even God is likely to get confused over the ingenuity of human beings!

While the Truth resides in the eternal silence of the soul in inalienable communion with God, the rattle of our intellect, the frenzy of our mind and the clamor of our actions unseat the inner calm. From a disquiet mind, arises the demon of delusion. And from delusion, blind faith bereft of dharma. It manifests in myriad forms. Its offshoots are many-branched, finally culminating in hatred and violence. Religion-based terrorism we witness today is only one extreme form of this inner digression.

The petals of mutually conflicting ideologies that are strewn under the tree of Hinduism are examples of this intellectual digression consequent upon a fall from the serene summit of Brahmic Truth and Sanatana Dharma. Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru describes this fall in a similar context thus:

‘The Brahma of the trimurthi tradition was misconceived as Brahman (the Supreme Truth). Brahman is all pervading. Brahma is not so. Brahma relates only to the aspect of creation, still it was made to believe that Brahma was above everything. However, Brahma is not everything. Thus we fell into error….’

We can observe that every sect and creed thus competes with each other to hoist the god or prophet of their conception to the ultimate verity of Truth. In this frenzied clamor of beliefs, it is easy for a true seeker to get deluded and thus miss the right direction.

A few people, well learned in religious lore, were going on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Kashi. They came together on a forest route. Suddenly they found that the path branched ahead into many. A quarrel began in the group as to what should be the right path. Even after long time, they could not figure out the right path. Time went by and soon it would be dark. That time a sage came by that way who had been to that city earlier and knew the path. All of them followed him and reached the holy city of Kashi safely. This is how a Guru helps in our life, a Guru who has transcended the limitations of the world.

Therefore, let a seeker of truth be vigilant and be open to ideas which is essentially experiential and transcendental in nature.

Mukundan

Guru Gita Discourse Seven

Gurucharanam Saranam

Durlabham Trishu-lokeshu Tacchrunushwa Vadaamyaham
Gurum Brahma Vinaa Naanyat Satyam Satyam Varaanane

O beautiful one! I will tell you that which is very rare in the three worlds. Please listen. Guru is none other than the Absolute Brahman – God Himself. This verily is the truth.

Comments:

The lore of Siva and Parvati belonged to a time segment when the tradition of Trimurthi worship (worship of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva) was in vogue. The concept of Guru-disciple though existed and Gurus were treated in high esteem, they were however not given a status above the gods by Vaidikas (the Vedic ritualists). Worship of gods was promoted and given prominence by the Vedic priests.


There is the story of Atri Maharshi in the scriptures. Once Indra, the king of gods was cursed by Rishi Gautama, as Indra had spoiled the chastity of Gautama’s wife. (Just think how noble indeed the deeds of gods whom we offer worship!) Due to the curse, the body of Indra became disfigured with suppurating wounds. He approached the trinity gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara and requested them to save him from the curse. But the gods informed him about their inability to save him from the curse of a sage. At this juncture, Narada, advised Indra to go to Atri Maharshi, whose ashram was situated in the vicinity of Mount Mainakam (now believed to have been submerged under the sea near Kanyakumari).


Indra in desperation came down to the ashram of Atri and begged him to cure him of the dreaded curse. The kind hearted Atri asked his wife to help Indra. She brought the ‘paada teertham’ (water made holy by washing the feet of her husband, sage Atri) and sprinkled on Indra. Lo, the king of gods, Indra was free of the disease and thus got a fresh whiff of life. This place is known as ‘Sucheendram’ even today. Sucheendram means the place where Indra got purified of his sins. So who is great and noble in this story? The gods or Atri Maharshi? You may decide yourself.


But the erstwhile religious depredators had decided that they would not grant a sage a position above the gods. So what happened at Sucheendram? Atri Maharshi was buried deep under the sands of Sucheendram only to be remembered in a long forgotten dream. Today Brahma and Indra are worshipped in Sucheendram temple, not Atri, which is supposedly the place of Samadhi of Atri Maharshi. (Similarly is the case of Sri Krishna and Buddha, who were great souls of spiritual transcendence. However, in the subsequent ages, an attempt was made to equate them with the celestial gods by weaving mythical stories).


This is that secret of Guru, which Siva is explaining to Parvati for her proper understanding. The Guru Lord Siva is mentioning about is such a sage, who has transcended the celestial planes of ghosts, goblins, angels, gods and whatever other spirits and beings inhabit there and who going beyond the dualities of heaven and hell, name and form has merged with the Supreme Light to be its reflection, to be its medium. Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru said that in front of such a sage, the gods are insignificant and of no consequence.



Mukundan

Guru Gita Discourse Six

Gurucharanam Saranam

Siva Said:

Mama Ruupaasi Devi Twam Twad-bhaktyartham Vadaamyaham
Lokopakaarakah Prasno Na Kenaapi Kritah Puraa

O divine one! You are my own Being. Owing to your devotion, I am revealing it to you. This question, which is beneficial to the world, has not been asked by anyone before.

Comments:
Siva, the popular god of great asceticism, is pleased by the unblemished devotion of Parvati. He equals her to his own Self. Their identification with each other is total. It is the saga of guru and disciple! Guru pours his grace, his ‘Self’ itself to the disciple, like the downpour that soothes the parched earth, the thirty heart of the disciple. Guru with endless patience waits for the arrival of such a disciple and the disciple for such a Guru. Many are people who go to Guru, but more often than not, they do it for the appeasement of worldly desires. And why not? Guru is verily Kamadhenu, the heavenly cow that grants your wishes.

After the era of Siva and Parvati, have we ever heard about another Parvati, the disciple Parvati? It would be wrong to say no. We have an incomparable example in our times, of Sishya Poojita Janani Amrita Jnana Tapaswini, of total surrender, love and dedication to the Guru. Imagine her devotion which forsook the comfort of home at the playful age of a child; imagine that wisdom, that courage which forsook the parents, dear and near ones for the sake of Guru. Sishya Poojita - she has even excelled Parvati of yore in the matter of devotion to Guru. Here one new epic has begun. With the pure passion of love and devotion to Guru, Sishyapoojita earned what a woman could never even dream about in the spiritual realm.

We do come across people, both in the ancient and modern era, who ask questions like ‘who am I’ or ‘who is God’ etc. But we hardly hear this imploration, ‘what is the secret of Guru concept?’, ‘what is the greatness of Guru?’ or how should one identify a Guru? People talk endlessly about the glory of the god of their faith, about the soul and the universe, questions well beyond human clarity; but the Guru concept is abandoned. There are reasons, however. The Guru concept is a highly secretive knowledge and Guru a rare occurrence, a rare manifestation. It is not our dry intellectual conceptions and blind faith that brings about spiritual progression, but the grace of Supreme Light channeled to us through the medium of Guru.

Well, from perennial time, humanity has not well pondered over this question, as affirmed by Siva here that this question Parvati asked about Guru had not been asked by anyone before.

Mukundan

Guru Gita Discourse Five

Gurucharanam Saranam

Kena Maargena Bho Swaamin Dehii Brahmamayo Bhavet
Tat-kripaam Kuru Me Swaamin Namaami Charanau Tava

O Lord! Kindly tell me about that path by which soul attains union with God. O Lord! I bow at your feet.

Comments:
The eternal thirst of the jeeva; the essence of life; that is the question Parvati asked Siva. How to discharge one’s soul in Brahman, in God? In the journey of jeeva for this ultimate goal in life, one does not know how many births and deaths, how many lives of transformation and evolution it had undergone, before reaching this door of enlightenment to knock and ask , ‘how do I merge with God’ and find eternal peace. Parvati is that soul, that symbol of a disciple who has reached to this ultimate refinement in life.

Here we are faced with the real meaning of spirituality. What helps one here is not tradition or culture, blind religiosity or philosophies, rituals or riches, name or fame, but only GURU, of Godly experience. Therefore, to find the peace of soul, neutralizing all dualities in life, one ultimately sets out in search of Guru.

‘The Guru disciple bond is the most sublime subject’, Navajyoti Sri Karuakara Guru said. It goes beyond our traditional concept of Guru and Sishya; the treatment of this subject is taken unduly in a personalized context by some, even in a light vein by few others. Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru takes the concept of Guru and Sishya to a most elevated platform of spiritual realization when he said:

‘It is said that Guru is the embodiment of all dharma (Guru Sakala Dharmatma). We realize ourselves the vice and virtue in our soul accrued through many births and deaths that we have undergone and (in the end) submit everything (this karmic imprints of vice and virtue) at the feet of Guru. Guru by imparting spiritual experience breaks (such) karmic bonds in the light of that experience’.

This is the quintessence of Guru, the essentiality of the medium of Guru in God realization. Here we find Parvati, an example of true spiritual seeker surrendering at the feet of her Guru in all earnestness beseeching him to guide her in the science of the soul.

Mukundan

Guru Gita Discourse Four

Gurucharanam Saranam

Suuta Said:
Kailaasa-shikhare Ramye Bhakti-saadhana Hetave
Pranamya Paarvatii Bhaktyaa Sankaram Paripruchhati

At the beautiful mount of Kailas, Paarvati, bowing in devotion submits a question to Sankara (Siva), for the sake of nurturing devotion.

Paarvati said:

Bhagavan Sarva Dharmajna Vrataanaam Vratanaayakam
Bhruuhi Me Kripayaa Sambho Guru-maahaatmya-muthamam

O Lord! Knower of all Dharma! O Shambhu! You are the greatest among ascetics. Kindly disclose to me the supreme greatness of Guru.

Comments:
For a woman, her husband is her Guide, her Guru and therefore her God. This is the dharma as per Sanatana tradition. A husband should be such an elevated soul with the knowledge of dharma, karma and right spiritual knowledge. In the ancient Rishi tradition, a child is therefore sent to the ashram of Guru to get trained and educated in these concepts. When he thus completes his education from the Guru, he is directed to lead a worldly life according to dharma, based on true spiritual wisdom. Such a man becomes qualified to become a proper householder, an ideal husband.

The conjugal bliss and prosperity of home fundamentally rests on this. It is due to this, Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru has given utmost importance to the institution of marriage and family, by bringing to fore this long lost Rishi tradition in the Ashram. It is the revival of Sanatana Dharma and the noble institution of family.

A husband has a sacred responsibility of elevating his wife too, to the pedestal of his attainments- both spiritual and temporal. How glad we would be to come across such blessed couples in our times! Here we find the epitome of that principle in Siva and Parvati. The example of Siva and Parvati has always been extolled in the sacred literature and by poets like Kalidasa. Kalidasa described the union of Siva and Parvati as inseparable as the 'word' is to its 'meaning'.

Parvati herself is well known for her practices of spiritual austerities. She worships Siva as the greatest ascetic and the knower of dharma. In her devotion to Siva, she finds latent in him the principles of sacred Guru-hood, which inspired her to ask him the question about the whole concept of Guru, which is very much hidden knowledge.

Guru Gita Discourse Three

Gurucharanam Saranam

The Rishis Said:

Guhyaat Guhyatamam Saaram Gurugiita Visheshatah
Twat Prasaadaaccha Shrotavyaa Tat Sarvam Bhruuhi Suuta Naha

O Suuta! Guru Gita is very unique, and its contents holding greatest hidden meaning. Therefore may it please you to render all of that, which would be suitable for our ears!

Comments:

Guru Gita is in the form of a dialogue between Siva and his consort Paarvati. Sage Suuta was a disciple of Vyasa and the son of sage Loma. He was approached by a group of rishis who were eager to go into the depths of the law of Guru. Suuta, then contacts through his visionary wisdom the knowledge that was given by Siva to Parvati on the mystery of GURU. And Suuta relates it to the eager rishis.

Guru Gita thus commences here.

One of the qualities of a spiritual seeker is said to be the quality of inquisitiveness or eagerness for knowledge. Where there is no desire for knowledge, it would be futile to sow the seed of wisdom. Once the disciples of Buddha asked the Noble One that why he was unable to liberate the suffering masses through his teachings of Noble Dharma! Upon this Buddha asked his disciples to go and bring any person they could find desiring liberation.

As advised by Buddha, the disciples went down to the nearby village. Door to door they went. They were surprised to find out that all persons wanted something or the other in life, but not liberation. All wanted just solutions to problems which are in abundance in life and are found to recur without an end. The disciples thus returned to Buddha disappointed. They were unable to find a single person desiring salvation!

Most of us are not prepared to look beyond and search for permanent solutions and remedies to the problems and riddles in life. But the ascetics- the rishis are noble souls of wisdom and the opportunity to learn from a great sage is made use of with an urgency of knowing the truth related to Guru.

Mukundan

Sri Guru Gita -Discourse One

Gurucharanam Saranam

Sri Guru Gita
(The Guru Disciple Paradigm)

Paramaachaarya Padapraaptam, Paramaatma Swaruupakam
Karunaakara Gurum Vande, Bhavaroga Bhishagwaram

My obeisance to Sri Karunakara Guru, who has attained the seat of Supreme Guru-hood and who is the embodiment of the Absolute Truth and is the healer of the affliction that is life on the earth plane!

Comments: This mantra is an invocation to Guru seeking his blessings. It is an ancient practice that when we commence a work, first we pray to Guru and at the end, the whole action is submitted at the lotus feet of Guru. All our actions and thought files are submitted at the Divine Server called GURU so that he might keep them safely in our folders available with Him.

It would also be beneficial if we recollect all our thoughts and actions of the day before going to bed, so that we can analyze them in our mental screen and make subjective amendments wherever required. Please remember, virtue or vice, pain or gain, right or wrong, everything has to be submitted at the lotus feet of Guru. It is a subjective process that could help in our harmonious mind-soul integration. The residues of conflicts work subjectively and create ripples of disharmony in the mind and body level leading to ailments in the form of worry, tension and so on.

We must understand that GURU is the Supreme everlasting Consciousness Screen of the universe. Every phenomenon in the universe is ultimately integrated, harmonized and supported in this universal screen called Guru. The afflictions arising out of the binaries of existence could be harmonized only on this plane of Absolute Truth. The thoughts and actions of ours that are not submitted at the feet of Guru are lost like forlorn and fallen leaves tossed about in the natural wind.

Mukundan

Sri Guru Gita- Introduction

Gurucharanam Saranam

Sri Guru Gita
(The Guru disciple paradigm)

An Introduction

The grand narrations of ancient India are mostly found in Sanskrit verse, have a meandering form and are made up of numerous interconnected stories and advices. They often enshrine laws of life, great mystical truths and cosmic visions. Skanda Purana is one such grand narration depicting the ancient saga of Skanda, the mighty warrior who fought with skill to overcome the dark powers that troubled the world. Skanda, whose many other names include Kumara, Shanmukha, Subramanya, Karthikeya and Muruga is fabled in Indian mythology to be the son of a greater father, none other than the Siva, lord of dance, the conqueror of death and the powerful deity of dissolution and destruction.

Guru Gita occurs as part of the Uttarakanda of Skandapuranam. In spite of being only a part of a larger text, it is complete in itself. Further, it is an Arcanum containing the most vital law of life – the cosmic law of GURU – and is therefore perennially relevant to the world. It would not be wrong if we conclude that such visionary literature was made possible by a great tradition of spirituality that thrived in those times in the distant past as a result of austerities of a long line of rishis, who were seekers of Truth. Such is the uniqueness and grace of this treasure trove in world literature.

It is not the literary quality alone that makes this text outstanding, nor its sacredness. Guru Gita contains that sense of direction which is crucial to save planet earth itself from the man-made disasters it is riddled with. The human race has to return to the righteous path by restoring its connection with the Light of the one Universal God and through this finding, its proper relationship with Nature. Needless to say that this involves the purification or cleansing of the human content.

Only when the human factor is correct can life be renewed with the infusion of compassion at all levels, ending violations of all kinds. All human affairs including politics, government and international relations need to be re-oriented on this basis. According to Navajyotisree Karunakara Guru, the powerful in the world is ‘conforming to the Vaisya’s way, a life-view clouded by ignorance and apathy’. The Vysya being the trader, who has created the market economy, considers only what is expedient. Expediency is the key word in today’s market culture. This can change only through individuals who change subject to spiritual intercession at the subtle planes and get oriented to basic values.

There is an interesting point to be noted here. Siva and Parvati are bonded in an ideal relationship. In sharing the secrets of god head Siva, the husband becomes Parvati’s guru. Parvathi, the wife is such an evolved disciple as to elicit those spiritual secrets from him. Conventionally Indians fancy that a wife should treat the husband as a deity. That the husband has to earn such a position is never highlighted. Guru Gita by the very form it is conceived implicitly conveys this idealistic message to householders.

Guru Gita is in the form of a dialogue between Siva and his consort Parvati – the parents of Skanda. Again, the dialogue is conceived as a retrieval from the past (possibly from what might be termed as ‘aakashic records’) by sage Suuta who is endowed with the faculty of transcendental vision of a higher order. Sage Suuta was a disciple of Vyasa and the son of sage Loma. He was approached by a group of rishis who were eager to go into the depths of the law of Guru. Suuta, then contacts through his visionary wisdom the knowledge that was given by Siva to Parvati on the mystery of GURU. And Suuta relates it to the eager rishis. This exchange between Suuta and the rishis, it is said, took place in Naimishaaranyam, a forest endowed with great natural beauty where a number of spiritually evolved sages lived and strived for perfection. (This area is supposed to be the present Nimasar in Sitapur district in Uttarpradesh).

The number of verses in Guru Gita appears to vary from version to version. To wield a metallic stylus on palm leaves treated for the purpose of inscribing in order to make a copy of any book must have been a time consuming task before printing was invented. Patient and expert scholars only could have undertaken such a task. In the process of making such copies, omissions and additions could have naturally taken place.

The editorial team, who made this selection of verses from Guru Gita has examined some available versions of the text (with 356 verses and 182 verses etc.) Most of the 180 verses we have selected are common to all versions with negligible variations in the wording. However we have largely depended on the texts we have published earlier with interpretation of the verses in Malayalam. The first edition was prepared by Sri P.R. Nair and has 193 verses. The second edition was prepared by Sri K.P. Vaidyar and has 273 verses.

The most important criterion we applied in our selection of the verses was the closeness a verse has to our experience of our Guru, Navajyotisree Karunakara Guru. We have selected every verse that appeared to us as a description of our Guru. We have selected every verse that appealed to us as pointing to the mode of his work, vision and far reaching impact. We have also selected those verses that tell us how to relate to GURU. Among disciples there are many with awakened faculty of inner vision. The most evolved of them, Sishya Poojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini is the present spiritual head of the parampara. A mantra was revealed to her from the Supreme Light:

‘ AUM Sri Karunakara Guru Ateeva Satyaprakashaya Namah’

This is being chanted by the Santhigiri parampara for the last 14 years along with two earlier lines repeated from around 1968-69.

‘ AUM Sree Karunakara Guru Parabrahmane Namah
AUM Sree Karunakara Guru Sathyapradaya Namah’

These three lines show GURU as: 1) the ocean of mercy, 2) the Absolute Brahman, 3) the giver of Truth (Jnana) and 4) the Light Supreme. Navajyotisree Karunakara Guru represents the Light of God.

Guru
Guru – the two Sanskrit syllables ‘Gu’ and ‘Ru’ means the dispeller of darkness. That is a fully realized Guru is the Light of God. Navajyotisree Karunakara Guru is such a fully realized Guru who brings the Light of God to our world. An experienced disciple Carloz Guzman who came to Guru, like the three Maji of the East went to infant Christ, without address or information, was led by this Light. Gifted by strong extra sensory vision Carloz vouches for the greatness of Guru’s Light. He speaks of the process of transformation individuals undergo in Guru’s presence thus:

‘By simply being near Guru his immense Prakasham – Light will immediately start purifying your soul in a very powerful way’.

This experience of Carloz can be related to following verse from Guru Gita:
Abhyastai Kimu Deergha-kaala-vimalair-vyaadhi-pradair-dushkaraih
Praanaayaama-satair-aneka-karanaih Dukhaatmakai Durjayaih
Yasminnabhyudite Vinasyati Balii Vaayuh Swayam Tatkshanaat
Praaptam Tat Sahaja-swabhaavam-anisam Seve Tamekam Gurum

(What is the use with practices like Pranayama and several hundreds of other means that cleanse the soul prolonged, that produces affliction, that are strenuous, miserable and unattainable? On whose appearance (or presence), the uncontrollable life force (the Prana) becomes immediately subdued on its own, only that Guru, who has attained the ever abiding form, should be served always).

Guru is the Master of not only our soul but all the influences that affect it. He is the Master of our destiny, our ancestors and successors. Hear what Herman Nenning; another disciple of Guru has to say about it.

‘The complexities of the spirit world have direct influence on this life on the earth plane. Spirits of our ancestors (pitrus) and the deities they worshipped while they lived have astral links with us. From their various spheres, these entities could be good or evil. Guru severs their links with us, and they are helped at the astral level by Guru. According to what they deserve, some of them are even liberated by Guru, some others are guided to be reborn. Those who are irretrievably evil could be even destroyed’.

Mr. Nenning had an issue to tackle:
‘My younger brother had taken to heavy drinking. He had closed up and after repeated efforts and much coaxing, he let his secret out. He was being haunted by evil apparitions. These entities even entered his body and tried to push him out of his body. No matter where he slept, these forces followed him. Every night he had these terrifying experiences. His way out was alcohol, even as a temporary solution, from this astral tyranny…’

Nenning had approached several adepts before for a solution to this problem. All of them had prescribed elaborate rituals in temples… Guru when informed of this responded differently. Your brother is attacked by spirits’, He said, ‘there is a solution here – Guru Pooja. But it is not easy. Means a lot of responsibility for you, you have to understand many things as well’.
In the Guru Pooja, there was no pooja, rites or ritual involved. The disciple ordained by Guru to do the ‘sankalpam’ to effect this spiritual intercession, did it at Guru’s behest. All Nenning did was to attend all the prayers in the Ashram prayer hall on the day this was done.Here is what Nenning had to say about the result.

‘After two weeks I reached Germany. My brother came to receive me. I asked him: ‘How are you?’ He answered, ‘I don’t know how, since two weeks I could sleep well and am completely free of the fear which troubled me’.

On hearing this Nenning introduced Guru to his brother for the first time. He was naturally astonished. Herman says that ‘Guru could, from such a distance and, without ever seeing effect a remedy to his problem was unbelievable!’

Later when Herman got closer to Guru he mustered the courage to ask Guru how many souls were freed from their stagnation through Guru Pooja. ‘Between five to ten thousand’ was the answer.

The Ashram does not have an exact account of families Guru has accorded this rarest of the rare act of grace. The number runs to several thousands. This act of grace had started in 1972. This aspect of Guru can be related to:

Kulaanaam Kula-kotiinaam Taarakah Tatra Tatkshanaat
Atastam Sadgurum Jnaatwaa Trikaalam-abhivandayet
(It takes mere seconds for the Guru to save clans of men, millions of them. Therefore, knowing that perfect Guru, worship him during the three turns (sunrise, noon and sunset) of the day).

This work of unparalleled grace is going on ever after Guru left his physical form and merged in the Supreme Radiance of the Almighty. His Will works through Sishyapoojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini, his closest disciple who is the present spiritual head of the parampara. Guru’s picture comes to our mind in the lines:

Hridambuje Karnika-madhya-samsthe Simhaasane Samsthita- divya-moortim
Dhyaayet Gurum Chandra-kalaa-prakaasam Sachit-sukhaabheeshta-varam Dadhaanam
Swetaambaram Sweta-vilepa-pushpam Muktaa-vibhuusham Muditam Dwinetram
Vaamaanga-peetta-sthita-divya-saktim Mandasmitam Poorna-
kripaa-nidhaanam
(That divine form of Guru is to be meditated upon, who is in the throne, situated in the middle of the petals of the lotus-shaped heart, radiating like the luminous moon, and giving the coveted boon of transcendental joy. I ever salute that Guru robed in white, wearing white flowers and pearls, who is the basis of absolute compassion, who is with jubilant eyes, and ever abiding ‘divine power’ and pleasant smile).

He did not customarily wear white flowers and pearls but was always dressed in immaculate white. We get a clear picture of our Guru in:

Mohaadi-rahitah Saanto Nitya-tripto Niraasrayah
Trineekrita-Brahma-Vishnu-vaibhavah Paramo Guruh
(Free from all delusions and sorrows, calm and eternally satisfied, needing no support, and wielding incomparable power that makes naught the power of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara, is the Supreme Guru).

We have realized:
Na Guroradhikam Tatwam Na Guroradhikam Tapah
Na Guroradhikam Jnaanam Tasmai Sree Gurave Namah

(My salutations to that auspicious Guru, other than whom there is no greater truth, no greater penance and no greater knowledge).

As far as we, Guru’s disciples, are concerned there is no philosophy, no law that is above our Guru. Guru’s words are the mantras that rescue from life’s crises. Guru’s form is a reason for us to meditate. We spontaneously keep on remembering Him. His sacred lotus feet inspires all our worship.

Dhyaana-moolam Guror-muurthih Poojaa-moolam Guroh Padam
Mantra-moolam Guror-vaakyam Mukthi-moolam Guroh Kripaa
(The basis of meditation is the form of Guru. The basis of worship is the feet of Guru. Mantra results from the words of Guru. The basis of liberation is the compassion of Guru).

In short we are convinced that our Guru Navajyotisree Karunakara Guru is none other than God – the Absolute Brahman:

Durlabham Trishu Lokeshu Tacchrunushwa Vadaamyaham
Gurum BrahmaVinaa Naanyat Satyam. Satyam Varaanane.
(Oh beautiful one! I will tell you that which is very rare in the three worlds. Please listen. Guru is none other than the Absolute Brahman – God Himself. This verily is the truth).

Our Guru is God, though he himself said:

“ I am only a means......”

How else can we experience God except through the perfect, fully realized, true GURU. And a number of persons who came in contact with our Guru have realized that He is a perfect, fully realized Guru.

The spiritual head affirms this through her exalted vision. Other visionary renunciants affirm this. Several householder disciples affirm this. All have seen Guru being worshipped by countless devis, devas, angels, prophets – souls of great evolution. Rishi Ratna Jnana Tapaswini gives an account of her experiences thus:

‘Once during our school excursion it was planned that we would be visiting Dharmasthalam, which is famous for its ancient temples and other holy places. Along with my friends when I came in front of the sanctum where the idols were placed, I saw the deities in reality and they were standing with folded hands in the prostrating manner. A question crept up in my confused mind why should these powerful deities offer namaskaram to me, when lacks of people all over the world came here to offer salutations to them. The teacher from back started to call us to come fast. When I turned back, it was then that the doubts in my small mind were cleared. Guru with his gentle and consoling smile was standing in a bright radiance greater than that of these deities just back of me. Then only I realized that these deities were actually prostrating to Guru. In a similar manner, I started to receive visions where I saw crores of Devi-Devas, rishis, sanyasins, and prophets of all religions with their entire parampara surrendering to my Guru. It was from then on I started to realize and recognize the greatness and the mission of my Guru”

As a mark of devotion to our beloved Guru, we offer this selection of Guru Gita verses at His lotus feet, the most holy abode of all knowledge, dharma and experience.


(Note: This is an introduction by Smt. O.V. Usha to Sri Guru Gita)
Courtesy Santhigiri Publications, Santhigiri Ashram