SEEKING THE GURU’S BLESSINGS

‘Agyan timirandhasya gyananjanshalakya

Chakshurunmeelitam yen tasmaih sri guruvaih namah’

(I bow down in front of such a Guru who brings the light of enlightenment to eyes blinded by the darkness of ignorance by applying kajal of knowledge to them.)

As per the Advyatarak Upnishad, ‘gu’ means darkness and ‘ru’ means light. The Guru is neither male nor female. Guru is beyond the bounds of gender. Guru is actually not a physical being but a process, a work, a principal who propels us towards higher consciousness, God or our own self. Standing on the gateway of eternal life, he with one hand pulls up the struggling soul and with the other hand, brings us the experience of permanent joy of divine rapture. Thus the Guru is pure, sacred, simple and natural. He is beyond the sata, raja and tama (satvik, rajasik and tamasik), the three aspects of nature. As Swami Vivekananda has said, “A human being never chooses his Guru or leader. Whoever becomes a Guru or a leader, is born with the right to gurutva.’

As a famous couplet goes,

‘Guru Govind donu khade kake lagoon payan,

Balihari Guru aapne jin Govind diyo batay’

The one who introduces us to Govind i.e. God, is indisputably entitled to the first veneration. Actually he is the Sakshat Brahm, the ocean of ecstasy, knowledge and kindness. Yet it is said, ‘Samjhui khag khaghi kai bhasha’ i.e. a human being can learn better from another human being. Thus in a way, God dons the garb of a Guru to impart knowledge. Therefore, a Guru’s job is difficult indeed. He has the physical body of a human being but brims over with divine virtues. If one is fortunate enough to find the protection of a kind and beneficent Guru, his life becomes blessed. But there is no need to wander here and there to locate such a Guru. All we need is the deep thirst to seek our true Guru. We should pray, ‘O God, help me meet someone who knows where thou are to be found and who can take me to thee.’ When our thirst grows, the true Guru will find us at his own initiative. God will definitely send him to guide us. In the Indian spiritual philosophy, it has been stated implicitly that the Guru himself discharges the responsibility of seeking his disciples. Actually he himself stays eager to initiate a disciple. The Guru awaits the right time to take this step so that he may do the work entrusted to him by the God’s reign and take it further.

In our shastras, the balance of harmony between the teacher and the taught has been well established. As has been quoted in the Tattriya Upnishad, ‘Sah nau yasham, sah nau brahmvarchasvam’ i.e. may the glory and the glow of divinity of us both, the Acharya and shishya, grow together. Truly speaking the Guru and the disciple complement each other. The Guru has only good wishes for his disciple. He desires his disciple to gain a glory greater than his own, and also wants him to do good to a greater number of people. On the other hand, the disciple’s focus is ever on dedication. His aim is to please his Guru. He wants to leave no stone unturned – body, mind or soul in his quest.

In this reference, Guru Purnima or the day of Guru’s veneration is the day of joy for a true disciple. Enraptured by the mere thought of the hope of venerating his beloved Guru, the disciple awaits this occasion with a sense of eagerness and devotion. Only the Guru embodies the power that can dissolve the bonds of illusionary attachment. On this day, the disciple aspires to make his human birth a success by presenting gifts, doing the utmost service he is capable of and by worshipping, all at the feet of his Guru. Also on this day, the Guru initiates or gives ‘deeksha’ to a new disciple in order to endow him with a blissful future. The initiated disciple thus moves forward on the path of attaining purity, of undoing all the bonds and ties of his life, by becoming a propagator of the tradition of his Guru. An initiation endowed by the Guru opens all the inlets of the ever-flowing grace. On the other hand, the old traveler of this road, the older disciple recharges himself anew under the guidance of the Guru. Also the disciple attains innocent purity all over again by washing away all those knowingly and unknowingly earned desires and actions that can become hindrances on his path to his true destination, with the blessing of his Guru. On this day under his own benign guidance, the Guru also imparts his nectar-like and useful teachings to the disciple. Guru Purnima is extremely important in this context as well. Actually, in a disciple’s way of life, remembrance and veneration of the Guru go on continuously with each and every breath, each and every second. This is quite essential. Thus for a true disciple every single day is akin to Guru Purnima. Yet on this appointed day, he wants to express his gratitude, bow down in front of the Guru’s aura (physical and beyond) and thus attain salvation.

The Indian culture is innately fragrant with the greatness of the Guru. Gyan or knowledge only makes man the best amongst all living beings. Be it spirituality or self-awareness, literature or music, arts or sports, hard work and dedication only take a human being forward. There are no two options about it. Yet those who sit under the benign shadow of their Guru and receive his blessings and pleasure by undertaking hard labor in diverse fields, they only are truly able to express the innate essence of their chosen field. Actually, a Guru has the experience and the ability to foresee the future. And most importantly, a Guru has the capability of recognizing his disciple’s potential and select the most appropriate field for him.

Truly speaking, the sole objective of one’s life is to experience the grace of the Guru and that grace can be experienced only by surrendering oneself totally. The Guru has just one expectation from his disciple that he be obedient in order to attain salvation as early as possible. In this context, Sufi Saint Bulle Shah compares himself to a faithful dog who inspite of being kicked or pushed away by his master, invariably comes back to his master’s door and stays around him. The grace of the Guru depends upon the thirst, the enthusiasm and the commitment of the disciple. Undoubtedly above all these are the patience and the devotion for one’s Guru which have been termed as ‘shraddha and saboori’ by Sai Baba. Sai gives the reassurance, “I shall fulfill all the desires of your heart but only that person will succeed who has faith in me.”

According to Anandmayi Maa, a saint in the form of a Guru can be compared to a tree that stands much higher than the rest and yet provides shade and shelter to everyone. The heart of the Guru is softer than butter. He undergoes the pain of deliverance, far severer than a mother’s labor pains, so that we receive the new birth of self-recognition. The Guru suffers more than a father does in order to teach us the knack of balancing the practical aspects of life. No wonder that we sing these lines, ‘Guru bin gyan kahan se paoon’. Isn’t it impossible to express the Guru’s compassion, kindness and love by the means of mere words. Our shadow accompanies us only in light, but our Guru walks with us even in darkness, holding our immature fingers, removing the thorns and spikes from our path and takes us to the glowing destination of enlightenment and purity.

The importance of Guru

The word ‘Guru’ has been described in many ways in our ancient texts.

a)      Garati sinchati karnyogyarmritam iti guruh   

He who irrigates the ears of a disciple with the nectar of knowledge is a Guru.

b)      Girati agyanandhakaram iti guruh

He who dispels the darkness of ignorance from around a disciple with his good teachings, is a Guru

c)      Girinati dharmadirahasyam iti guruh

He who reveals true meanings of religious and other topics, is a Guru.

Some Renowned Guru-Disciple Pairs

S.No.	Field	Guru	Disciple
1.	Spirituality	Ramkrishna Paramhans	Vivekanand
2.	Vocal music	Swami Haridas	Tansen
3.	Tabla	Pandit Kandhe Maharaj	Pandit Kishan Maharaj
4.	Shehnai	Ustad Ali Baksh	Bismillah Khan
5.	Sitar	Ustad Allauddin Khan	Ravishankar
6.	Kathak	Achchan Maharaj	Birju Maharaj
7.	Cricket	Ramakant Achrekar	Sachin Tendulkar
8.	Politics	Samarth Guru Ramdas	Chhatrapati Shivaji