Guru Poornima -2

Guruvastakkam

Actually speaking the work cannot be called Guruvastakam because astakam must contain eight verses or a maximum of nine verses including Phallam Shruthi. Here there are ten verses and so it cannot be called guruvastakkam. In certain books the ninth verse is not mentioned and in that case there will be nine verses including Phalla Shruthi, then guruvastakkam is the proper name. But in this textbook, it should be gurunavakkam or guru dasakkam or safely guru strotram. In this work of Adi Shankara, the author is highlighting guru bhakthi. The greatness and importance of guru bhakthi is given here. Without bhakthi, every other accomplishment is worthless. Whether it is artha or kama or dharma are zeros if a person does not have guru bhakthi and therefore Shankaracharya insists that it is important. That is why in the fourth stanza of every verse, we find tat kim (so what??). You might have accomplished name, fame, family, position, long life etc. So what? Meaning that all these are useless without guru bhakthi. In our tradition, guru bhakthi is symbolic of Sastra bhakthi. Guru is important because he has Sastra bhakthi. The person remaining the same before attaining Athma Jnanam, he was Ajnani and nobody respects or prostrates. But after getting Athma Jnanam, he becomes a Janani and a Guru and therefore He is worshipped. By simple logic we can infer that with knowledge a person becomes respect worthy. So the respect goes to Satra Jnanam and the not the person itself. A person is called a guru because he has the capacity to remove darkness or ignorance. The letter Gu means darkness or ignorance and Ru stands for eliminator or remover. So guru means eliminator of ignorance. A guru gets the status only when he can remove the ignorance of the disciple. A Jnani gets the status of Guru only when he can remove darkness of someone. Every knowledgeable person cannot be called a teacher. Only a person who transfers his knowledge to someone and remove ignorance. Every Guru must be a Jnani but every Jnani need not be a guru. Self-knowledge can be transferred only in a particular method, which is called sampradaya. And sampradaya is available only in the Sastram and therefore the guru can transfer this knowledge only because of this Sastram. If there is a spiritual genius who becomes a Jnani without studying the Sastram or a help of a guru, he can be a Jnani but he does not have a method of transferring knowledge to someone else. Therefore, he can only be a Jnani but never become a Guru. A spiritual prodigy can never become a Guru because he has got knowledge without application of proper methodology and therefore he cannot communicate. Just like a person who becomes a great musician only by listening. There were people like K P Sundarabal who could sing well and captivate an audience. They can be good musicians but never good teachers because to become a music teacher I must know sarana varasi, janda varasi, swara knowledge, varanam etc. And going step-by-step and disturbing neighbours for so many years. Then a person will understand whether he has in him to become a good musician or he can never be a musician. Therefore, only a sishya can become a guru because he doesn’t know how to transfer wisdom. Therefore a guru is great because he has Sastra methodology by which he can transfer knowledge to his disciples. Initially a person cannot develop respect for Sastram because he takes it as some book with cold words. So for every Saraswathi Puja he will do deepa aradanai because Sastram is not live but dead in the form of books and words. It is difficult to develop reverence and so in the beginning we start with guru bhakthi because a guru is a live person with emotions, love, and care. And if a person moves with a guru for some time, guru gradually tells him- my glory is not because of me. Whatever glory I have is because of the glory of Sastram. Then guru bhakthi gets shifted to Sastra bhakthi. Therefore if a person dwells on Sastra teaching for sometime, the bhakthi gets shifted to what Sastra gives: namely Athma Jnanam. So guru bhakthi ultimately leads to Athma Jnanam which is given in the Sastram. And Athma Jnanam represents moksha. So in our tradition guru bhakthi stands for Athma Jnanam. Therefore, a glorification of guru bhakthi is glorification of Athma Jnanam. So when Shakaracharya says that without guru bhakthi everything is worthless, what it means is that without Athma Jnanam the whole life is a waste. A Brihadaranya Upanishad says that if one dies without Athma Jnanam he is an unlucky one. Where as a person who dies with Athma Jnanam is a true Brahmana. And Shankaracharya writes another well known work called Anathasri Vigrahanam (around 28 verses) were in He talks of various worldly accomplishments and says that without Athma Jnanam they are all useless. You may cross the ocean just like walking over the waters. You may be able to go underground and live without air for many years. You might be a Sidhi to lift the Himalayas with your hands. So what? All these feats are worthless without Athma Jnanam. You might be able to drink poison like coffee and still survive. You might be able to eat fire like pori. So what? Without guru bhakthi there is no meaning to life. Without Athma Jnanam life is worthless. A person may have a very attractive body. A very handsome body. Ms. Universe. So what? Because after years it is gone. Ms. Universe at 98. take a close up photograph and compare. So it is all for a few years. The person might have an equally attractive wife and he can take her in a bike. So what? (your body is handsome and you might have a beautiful wife. So what?)
You might be the most famous person in the world. And you might be famous in different fields. A multi faceted personality. Greatness in music, knowledge, arts, sports. In many fields you might be well known. So what?
And above all, you might have amassed wealth equal to Himalayan mountain. Legitimately earned. So what? If the mind is not fixed/not thinking about/not absorbed in the lotus feet of the teacher. So what?

Verse 2: In all the verses the first two lines will talk about various accomplishments. The third and fourth line is the same – without bhakthi to guru’s feet everything is worthless. A person may have a good wife, plenty of wealth, children and a big house, vehicles and pets are there, servants, all relations. The group of all this thing might be there in plenty. So what? What is the use of all this if the mind does not dwell on the feet of the teacher?

Verse 3: In these first two lines, the Acharya talks about the achievement in the field of knowledge and composition, in the form of intellectual accomplishments. All these are useless if a person does not have guru bhakthi. One who has studied all the four Vedas and also the six veda-angas. (Shiksha – the Science of pronunciation, kalpah, the Science of ritual, Vyakaranam, the Science of Vedic grammer, Nirupathah- the Science of derving Vedic words, Chandah- the Science of meters and Jyothih- the Science of Astrology). All the six are called veda angas because the knowledge of it is requied to gain a comprehensive understanding of the Vedas. Just as a Physics student also studies Mathematics as a supporting Science. So is Physics and Chemistry. One subject becomes the main one and the others the ancillary subjects. Similarly, Vedas cannot be totally comprehended without studying the six angas. In Brahmacharya Ashrama, a student for six months Vedas and the next six months, he studies the Angas. So, Shankaracharya says a person might be a scholar in all the Vedas and the Angas. He knows them by heart. In the tip of his tongue. In the olden days, by hearting was essential for two reasons: The writing instruments was not well developed and secondly by hearting a text helped in understanding better. This I can say from personal experience. Whenever I know the text by heart, my capacity and confidence to teach is so vastly superior to any text I teach which I don’t know by heart even though I might know all the meanings of the words, the construction and grammar, the commentaries and sub commentaries etc. so, in the olden days the text was made by heart. Not only grammar but Puranas, astrology, logic etc. That is why, they presented the text in Suthra form. All our Sastras are available in Suthra form and all our verses were presented in metrical poetic form. There is a tune. By using the Suthra method and metric method, they have a tradition of learning the text by heart. But now days this tradition is fast disappearing as books are available. So the first thing we do is to learn the text by heart and this is a technique we use in Rishikesh to send away an insincere student. Because in an Ashram, a Brahmachari can comfortably stay! So you want to study Gita, first get the text by heart. This person knows the Vedas and Angas at the tip of his tongue. All our Shastras have to be studied – like Dharma Shastram, Purana Shastram. Not only Shabda Jnanam but also Artha Jnanam. He also has the capacity to express his knowledge. Many people have the capacity to learn but don’t have the ability to express. Others have a good expressing ability but are very poor learners. Very few people have the capacity to learn and express and this person happens to be a rare one. He is able to compose prose work which is full of poetic expressions. He is also an expert in poetic compositions. Take Shankaracharya for example. His Bhasyam is so beautiful and his verses are so eloquent (an unique gift of the Lord). This person might have all these gifts: So what? So what? So what? They are not intrinsically worthless but if there is guru bhakthi , then all these are worthless.

Verse 4: Similarly a person might be respected abroad as a great scholar, a great knowledgeable person or Scientist or a great sportsman. Respected everywhere. There are some who are respected abroad and not here. There are some who are respected here but not overseas. And in regard to righteous conduct there might not be a second person as geat as me. So what? So what? Even all this Dharmic life is useless if I don’t have devotion to the lotus feet of the Guru.

Verse 5: My lotus feet might be served by great people. What type of people? By groups of emperors. King of kings on this earth. Meaning is that I might occupy a very high and honourable position and many people including emperors may offer their respects. But all these things do not make me great if the mind is not devoted to the teacher. All these accomplishments really don’t matter. So what? So what? In Anashri Vigraham, Adi Shankara begins with this statement – a person might have education or wisdom, which even Kings may respect. That doesn’t matter. There is a particular yagna – if it is performed , the emperor of that kingdom will have to hold an umbrella to that Vajapayee. Vajam means annam and payee means in a liquid form. Gruel, with that he has to do yagna. This yagna is held in such a high respect that even a king has to hold umbrella to this person during the conclusion of the yagna. I might be so great and it does not have any value if I don’t have guru bhakthi.
Verse 6: My fame might have reached far and wide in all the ten directions because of my power of charity. Because of this name and fame, the whole world may be under my control. I might have the whole creation under my control. But all this is futile, if I don’t have faith in the lotus feet of the guru.


Verse 7: Here the author says that I have understood the value of guru bhakthi and therefore I am not interested in any other purushartha. Because guru bhakthi stands for Athma Jnanam which stands for moksha purushartha. And once a person has understood the value of moksha purushartha, then he knows the limitations of Artha, Kama, and Dharma. Therefore, he is not enamoured by them and such a state of mind is described here. My mind is no more in all these worldly things like sense pleasures. My mind is not even interested in other yogas other than Jnana Yoga. My mind is not fixed in a group or multitude of horses. Horse stands for vehicles and other possessions. I am not enamoured by the face of a beautiful woman. Woman standing for sense attachments or sense objects. My mind is not attached to wealth. Why? If my mind is not at the feet of the teacher, I know all these achievements are worthless.

Verse 8: My mind is not obsessed with them. Using the things is one thing and being obsessed is another. What are they? I am not interested in the forest, for the forest sake because I am more interested in the Guru because the guru is in the forest. So I like the forest because my guru is there. Meaning, I am not interested in the place but the teacher alone. My mind is not obsessed with a particular house also. My mind is not obsessed with any particular pursuit or activity also. My mind is not obsessed with the body because I know that the body is only a means and not an end in itself. I am not interested in all of them because they are Anathma. It means all these are worthless when compared to the infinite Brahman. By itself they have their own value but compared to the infinite moksha all of them are insignificant. Because I know that if my mind is not at the lotus feet of the teacher, what is the use of all other things?

Verse 9: Here the Acharya points out that a person might be successful in the pursuit of artha and kama purushartha. He might be successful in the outside world of earning money and also in the family life. He might have earned a lot of wealth in the form of ratnas (precious stones), and pearls which are priceless. A very successful business. Suppose he comes home in the evening and he has a troubling and nagging wife, then life becomes miserable. Here let us assume that his family life is also wonderful. He has the association of a kamini (a loving wife). Outside home he has a successful business and inside home he has a loving wife. So, outside and inside he is happy. That is, both at day time and night time, he is contended. But in spite of all these successes, life is not worthwhile or valid if the mind does not dwell on the lotus feet of the guru. So, what is the use of successful business, a happy family, happy children. They are all useless.

Verse 10: When this the guru strotram is complete. The last stanza gives the phallam. The phallam shruthi is given for two fold purposes. One is parayanam which is a karma and that will give phallam and the second is if a person knows the benefit then alone he will have that interest. Like advertising value. It is like an incentive, like a carrot. And it is a mere advertisement but a phallam one can attain. Suppose a fortunate human being – one who is an asthika, who believes in the glory of the teacher, the teaching and the tradition. Such a punya dhahi (a fortunate jiva) he reads guruvastakkam regularly. There are no restrictions in the parayanam. Anyone can read regardless of Brahmacharya or a Grihastha or a Sanyasi or a Vanaprastha. Whether he is a king or a pauper on the street. Suppose he reads the gurustrotram, he can accomplish any purushartha he seeks. Whether it is Dharma, Artha, or kama he can get by this. Moksha, one cannot get by mere parayanam (it is not a joke). He can get moksha if his mind dwells on the teaching also. The parayanam will give Sadhana Chattustaya Sampathi (a prepared mind) but also he does Shravanam, Mananam and Nidhi Dhyasanam of guru Vakyam (scriptures). Then the benefit he can attain is the supreme goal which is Brahman or Moksha.