Guru

[Guest guest]

Om Gurave Namah,

Dear Members,

I read something of interest which I felt like sharing with you all.

This posting is not Jyotish related so please tell me if such

postings are allowed.

Your's Sincerely

S.Prabhakaran

 

 

http://www.chitrapurmath.org/iphart_4.htm

 

 

Ashirvachan by

Jagadguru H. H. Shri Shankaracharya

H.H. Shri Bharati Tirtha Swamiji of Sringeri(A summary)

 

 

Guru is Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshvara --all rolled into one.

 

Darkness is always frightening. The gloom of ignorance is even

 

more so. As light dispels darkness, knowledge dispels the darkness

 

of ignorance. It is the Guru that sheds this light of knowledge.

 

Hence, He is always adorable. He ever deserves our meed of

 

devotion and faith. Our life turns meaningful only when it is

 

enriched with knowledge, knowledge of the eternal and it is Guru

 

and Guru alone who dispenses this knowledge which can save us.

 

Who is a Guru? Adi Shankara raises this query and proceeds to

 

answer that He is one who is " adhigata tatvah shishya hitaya

 

uchyatah satatam " . Guru should be one who has realised the Truth,

 

adhigata attvah. Well, this alone is not enough. There are some

 

who are reservoirs of knowledge, but wouldn't part with that

 

treasure even to deserving pupils. These teachers parry away the

 

importunate pupils with three magic phases: go on reading

 

(uchyatam), time is up (samayo atitah) and everything will become

 

clear as you go on reading. (spashtam agre bhavishyati). So,

 

beloved Adi Shankara adds the adjective: " One who gives utterance

 

to the Truth always for the benefit of the disciples " . Shankara

 

Himself is hailed not only as a repository (Alayam) of the Vedas,

 

Shastras and Puranas, but also Karunalayam (the abode of mercy and

 

tender solicitude for the disciples). So, the preceptor must know

 

the Truth at first hand, be established in it and, then, moved by

 

compassion for disciples, proceed to teach what He has realised.

 

An ideal Guru never fights shy of the questions posed by a

 

deserving disciple. Nay, he welcomes such questions and goes out

 

of the way to coax the disciple to question Him. Blind acceptance

 

is never his credo. Says Gita " tat viddhi pranipatena

 

pariprashnena savayaa, upadekshyanti tatvadarshinah " . Surrender to

 

the Guru, offer salutations to Him, question Him in all manner

 

possible, serve Him --this is the art of Guruseva. This is the

 

technique of acquiring knowledge from the Guru.

 

When you are in doubt, turn to the Guru. When you do not know the

 

way out of a crisis, turn to the Guru. Says the Upanishad

 

(Taittiriya): " Now, if there should arise any doubt regarding your

 

acts or any uncertainty in respect of your conducting life, you

 

should follow the footsteps of those Knowers of Brahman, who are

 

wise, self-controlled, kind-hearted, devoted to Dharma and

 

unattached. Do as they do. (yatha to varteran, tatha tatra

 

vartethah). This is the seminal service rendered by the Guru. He

 

is an ideal and an exemplar unto others.

 

Questioning is good, but argumentativeness is not. Kutarka, vain

 

argument, is taboo. Logic in itself is not praiseworthy. Logic in

 

the service of Truth enjoined by the scriptures is prescribed by

 

the sages, Adi Shankara teaches us to abstain from perverse logic

 

(dustarkaat suviramyatam). He tells us to cultivate logic that is

 

in tune with the teachings of Shruti, the Vedic lore (shrutimatah

 

tarko anusandheeyatam). Has not the Lord cautioned in Gita: " The

 

inveterate doubter comes to grief (samsahayatma vinashyati)?

 

Faith in God is inborn. It is natural. It is disbelief that is

 

unnatural. Here is an anecdote: once an atheist was waxing

 

eloquent on his favourite theme that there is no God. He left his

 

listeners spellbound by his thesis that all faith is blind. When

 

it was all over and it was time to depart, a lone admirer went up

 

to him and told him how impressed he was by his performance. Pat

 

came the answer: All this is by the grace of God! (ellavu devara

 

daye, in Kannada). This shows that devotion and faith in God are

 

part and parcel of our nature.

 

Adi Shankara was a phenomenon, the like of whom the world has not

 

seen again. A celebrated couplet says: " In his 8th year, he was

 

master of the Vedas; in his 12th year, He was master of all the

 

Shastras; in His 16th year, He composed his famous commentaries

 

and lo, in his 32nd year, He was gone for ever. " In Gita, the Lord

 

says that He has nothing to gain or lose, nor any duty to perform,

 

but yet acts ever anon as otherwise the world would perish. Adi

 

Shankara too was the Lord in human disguise. He had no personal

 

ends to fulfil. But He threw himself headlong into Dharmaprachar

 

after composing His commentaries. He toured over the length and

 

breadth of Bharat and established Maths. In each Math, He set up a

 

Guruparampara to keep alive the torch of learning and Dharma.