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!

Guru Gita Discourse 18

Gurucharanam Saranam

Guru Gita -18

Swadesikasyaiva Cha Naamakiirtanam, Bhavet Anantasya Sivasya Kiirtanam
Swadesikasyaiva Cha Naama Chintanam, Bhavet Anantasya Sivasya Chintanam

Taking Guru’s name to praise him becomes the praise of the Infinite and Auspicious One. Meditating on Guru’s name becomes the meditation on the Infinite and Auspicious One.

Comments:

The seekers of Truth may sometime be confronted with doubts on the nature of God and Guru. What exactly is God, His form and nature? Can Guru take the place of God? Can the chanting of Guru’s name, meditation on Guru or worshipping of Guru become Gods’ worship? Is Guru God?

The Guru about whom Guru Gita discourses here is the Parama Guru – the Supreme Guru who has transcended all astral planes and entities, who is worshipped even by the great god Siva himself and other celestials. The worship of such a Guru by the seeker is equal to the worship of the Infinite God. In this respect, Guru Gita has clearly categorized the types of Gurus according to their spiritual levels and exhorts seekers to worship always the Parama Guru.

Guru is the objectification of Divine Will distinctly different from the mythical gods of an indistinct era, whose veneration is now a static tradition disconnected from the changing social and spiritual needs of the present time. It is only through great preceptors like Krishna, Buddha, Christ or Prophet Mohamed, to mention a few, the Supreme imparted spiritual knowledge and guided humanity to bring about appropriate changes in their perception, belief and customs. Refer the words of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru on this:

‘Guru is a ‘deerghadarshi’ (far-sighted seer) who perceives and ordains what is needed and what is not needed for a yuga. Guru acts for the transformation of society at a particular point of time’.

Guru Gita, therefore, assures the seekers that the worship of Guru, the Parama Guru, the embodiment of the Supreme Light, whose incarnation helps mankind in spiritual evolution, based on a just social order (true dharma), indeed is and ever will be the worship of the Supreme God.

Guru Gita Discourse

Sri Guru Gita Discourse- 17

Guru-paadodakam Paanam Gurorucchishta-bhojanam
Gurumoortheh Sadaa Dhyaanam Guror-naama Sadaa Japah

Drink the pada teertham of Guru, eat the food left over by Guru, always meditate on the form of Guru, and constantly repeat the name of Guru.

We have said that Guru is the self-same Abstraction or Reflection of the Supreme Light, God. Everything in the universe exists only in Consciousness. Nothing can exist without Consciousness – the Cosmic Screen on which we perceive this wonderful universe, the life we live, the people and dreams we see, the experiences we undergo – all these are different permutations of the One Indivisible Consciousness, happening in it and by itself. Famous physicists now say that what really exists is the idea, the blue print or blocks of consciousness, not the physical appearance. Verily, the eternal Consciousness and nectarine spiritual bliss get solidified in the form of Guru for the comprehension of the Incomprehensible Principle.

The pada teertham of Guru, the left over food of Guru (Pankh), the physical form of Guru and the name of Guru are concomitant with the Eternal Consciousness in which one should submerge, bathe and breathe. Be assured that these are sacred astral substances and practices which undoubtedly nourish and sustain our soul with the effulgence of Guru, which is a veritable truth in Santhigiri Ashram. No sooner you take to the path of Guru, start chanting the mantra of Guru and partake the holy teertham, vibhuti and pankh of Guru than you become radiant with the brilliance of Guru. Therefore, hasten and chant the name of Guru, assimilate the principle of Guru and lift yourself up to the bright world of Light.

Mukundan

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.