Who is a Guru?? By: Atmaprajnananda Saraswati

Definition of a Guru

So Mundaka says - ‘tad vijnänärtham gurum eva abhigacchet, srotriyam brahmanishtham’ - Mu.Up.- I.2.12, meaning - ‘to know that (Brahman), one should go to a Guru who is a ‘srotriya’ (one who has studied the Sruti traditionally), and ‘brahmanishtha’ (whose only pursuit is Brahman).

In the teaching tradition of Self -knowledge, gurus have been categorized into three types - there isbrahmanishtha - He knows the vastu, but cannot pass it on, since he does not have the pramäna. Get his blessings.

A srotriya – he has studied the sästra. Go to him, at least he will not misguide you.

A srotriya and brahmanishtha - Go to him, if you can find one.

Brahmanishtha is a difficult word. There is no measuring device to find who is a brahmanishtha. Sankara explains the term in his Mundaka-bhäshyam as - ‘one who has no other pursuit other than non-dual Brahman.

In Bhagavadgitä also, when Arjuna asks Krshna what is the signs of a sthitaprajna, Krshna replies,

‘prajahäti yadä kämän, sarvän pärtha manogatän |

ätmani eva ätmanä tushtah, sthitaprajnas-tad-ucyate|| Bh.Gi.-II.55

meaning - ‘when one fully renounces all the desires that have entered the mind and remains contented in the Self (knowledge of the Self, seeing everything as Brahman) alone, by the self (in his mind, understanding), the he is called a wise person.’

The definition is not much different from Mundaka.

Chändogya says – ‘äcäryavän purusho veda, tasya tävad eva ciram’- Ch.Up.- VI.14.2

Wonderful statement! A young child with the mother is returning from the fair at night, and waiting for the bus to go home. The child is extremely tired, the mother takes him/her in her arms, and the child dozes off. As far as the child is concerned, s/he has reached home.

Somebody told me this analogy twenty years back. Most in ST already have their own Guru. I see their devotion, and am always touched.

What does the guru do? Well, it is like psychotherapy, cannot be taught through books. One has to attend so many hours of psychotherapy sessions to get a license to practise. The Guru brings in thesampradäya - that this is the meaning, anything else is not the meaning.

The disciple always asks the guru - madartham smara – ‘please recollect for my sake’.  That is the spirit in Taittiriya Bhrguvalli, when Bhrgu asks his father Varuna - ‘adhi hi bhagavo brahma’. It is almost like learning music. The teacher will bring out his first notebook, and will teach from that old notebook.

To eulogise the guru, the paramparä says –

‘näräyanam padmabhuvam vasishtham saktim ca tat putra paräsaram ca ---‘

Also,

gukäro andhakäro vai rukäro tan-nivartakah|

andhakära-nirodhitvät gurur-itybhidhiyate||

‘gu’ represents darkness (here ignorance), ‘ru’ represents destroyer of that darkness. Since the person destroys the darkness (of ignorance, that results in knowledge of the equation between the jiva, Isvara, and jagat), he is called guru.

Sästra defines - mahäväkya updesakartä is guru. What is a mahäväakya? That, which equates you with Isvara.

The first Guru is Dakshinämurti. Krshna is Gitächärya.

Guru is a relative term. It has a co-relative - the sishya/s. Like one is a husband to one’s wife only, father to one’s child/ren, brother to one’s sibling. Similarly, there is a Jnäni, who knows, there is a seeker who wants to know. When they come together, one becomes the Guru for the other who becomes a sishya.

Why Guru? Because Sästra has to be listened to

People ask why should I go to a Guru. Sästra is available, English translation is available, I am educated enough. I will study by myself. I do not want to deal with a live teacher with all his eccentricities.

No. Yäjnavalkya told Maitreyi - ‘ätma va are drashtavyah, srotavyo mantavyo nididhyäsitavyo’ (Br.Up.-II.4.5 and IV.5.15). He did not say ‘pathitavyah’.

In fact, this mantra of Brhadäranyaka is the origin of the tradition of ‘sravana’ ‘manana’ ‘nididhyasanam’ in our paramparä to gain Self-knowledge. Here, sravana is the pramäna, manana is for clarification of doubts, and nididhyäsanam is to assimilate. And sravana is gurumukhät, not reading translation/s.

Sankara on Sampradäyavit

Sankara has emphasized in his Mundaka-bhäshyam - sästrajno’pi svätantrena brahma-anveshanam mä kuryät. Meaning – ‘one may have the whole vyäkarana, mimämsä, nyäya etc. under one’s belt, nevertheless one should not start enquiring into Brahman independently. Because sästra has to be handled by an äcärya, who himself has studied under an äcärya, who has been a sampradäyavit.

Elsewhere Sankara has been more strong – ‘asampradäyavit, murkhavat upekshaniya – meaning ‘a person not belonging to the tradition should be dismissed’.

Not following the sampradäya, has resulted in neo-Vedantic concepts that - ‘One has to experience’.

How to approach a Guru

Gitächärya Krshna has made it simple –

‘tad viddhi pranipätena, pariprasnena, sevayä|

upadekshanti te jnänam jnäninah tattvadarsinah||Bh.Gi.-IV.34

‘Know that knowledge by salutation, by asking appropriately (not prasna, but pariprasna), and service.

There is no other way. May I say ‘nänyah panthä vidyate’yanäya.’

***

Swamini Atmaprajnananda Saraswati is a student-disciple of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, founder of Ärsha Vidyä tradition. Swamini is the author of texts ‘Nomenclature of the Vedas’ and ‘Rsikas of the Rgveda’. She teaches Vedanta and Panini in Ärsha Vidya Vikas Kendra in Bhubaneswar. She can be contacted at atmaprajna@gmail.com.)