DEIVATHIN KURAL # 12 (of Vol 3) Dated 29 Oct 2008

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 12 (of Vol 3) Dated 29 Oct 2008

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyavaal of Kanchi Kamakoti peetam, over a period of some sixty years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of last century. These have been published in Tamil by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each, as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from the middle of page number 50, of Vol 3, of the Tamil original, as a continuation of Deivathin Kural # 11 (Vol 3) Dated 27 Oct 2008. )
(Note:- Deivathin Kural e-mails are available at http://advaitham.blogspot.com which is being updated every time this e-mail is sent. )
74. There is Guru Kula Vaasam. We have never heard of Acharya Kula Vaasam! The day of expressing gratitude to one’s preceptor is ‘Guru Poornima’. The lineage of Vyasacharya, Sukhacharya, Gouda Paada Acharya, Govinda Paada Acharya, Sankaracharya, Sureshwaracharya and Thotakacharya; together are known as ‘Guru Parampara’ only. Similarly paying obeisance to the lineage after Ramanujacharya or Vallabhacharya or Madhvacharya; are also known as ‘Guru Vandanam’ only.
75. The old customs and traditions of the Tamil language and culture very closely follow the Vedik methods. So, the dictates of the Veda such as, “matru devo bhava, pitru devo bhava, acharya devo bhava”, gets reflected in ‘mata pita guru deivam’. Here too, the word ‘Guru’ replaces the word ‘Acharya’. In the tradition of Saiva Siddhantam too, their lineage of preceptors are known as, Meikandacharyar, Samayacharyar, Sandanacharyar, Sivacharyar and so on. Their rememberance day Aaradana is called ‘Guru Pooja’.
76. So, instead of being in a state of attachment and involvement, like the rest of us, Guru is someone in a state of absolute freedom like a bird of paradise! For our sake, so as to motivate and encourage us to follow a life of discipline, he leads the life of a role model to be emulated. We should look at Guru as an incarnation of the God and adore him. That reverence will give us faster results. Since it is God who is everything, in the form of Acharya and Guru too, it is God only. So there should be no problem in looking at the Guru as an incarnation of God!
77. From that perspective, the question arises, "Are we also not the same God?" That leads to, "When we are ourselves God, why should we be subservient to somebody else, thinking of him to be God?" Yes everyone and every thing is God! But, how many of us are truely aware of our Godlyhood? Even if we were fractionally aware, will we be slave to so much of, passion, greed, anger, hate fear, untruth and falsehood? So though we are all Him only, unaware of our greatness, we seem to be play acting only the minor roles! We are blind to our true being and are totally unrecognizable. Acharyar on the other hand is not play acting the joker's role!
78. In him Godliness is easily recognizable. So, if we rever and adore him as a form of God, we will eventually get rid of the unwanted qualities and characteristics in ourselves. The very Easwara who play acts all these roles, comes infront of us as the Guru to cleanse ourselves of all the dross. If we understand this much and be devoted, he will remove all the make-up and reveal the truth to us. Reveal Himself to us! Then and only then will we be cleansed of our foolishness and made to realize our oneness with Him! To reach that destination, all that we have to do, is to think of the Guru as God and abide with his instructions!
Adopt the Customs and Traditions to which Born.
79. Saastraa-s say that, "our birth is decided by our own past actions by inviolable and interconnected set of rules of nature, that is God!" So if we are born in any religion of any tradition, we should think that as His Decision (by our actions of the past). Having accepted that, we should try to remove the Karma by refining and ennobling ourselves. For this all that we have to do is to follow the advice, "While in Rome do as Romans do"! Abide with the instructions of the Aacharyar in the Kulam or Gothram to which born. There will be an Acharyar, if you belong to Adwaitam or Dwaitam or Visishtadwaitam or Saivam. There will be a Monk or Pastor or Mullah or Rabbi or a Woodoo Priest; if you were born in any one of those religions! It makes no difference if the concepts and principles of them were somewhat lacking in refinement in your opinion. All that you are required to do is accept those as 'God given' and abide by them.
80. See the beauty of it all! You are born in that due to some deficiency in your past actions. Accept your birth as God's own direction and that very religion which you think is not good enough will do the needful to make you complete! There will be a preceptor in that religion. Simply but sincerely follow his instructions and advice. Have complete faith in God and say, "Oh! God! You have given me this life in this tradition. I follow this Acharyar. Decision is all Yours!" Leaving everything in the hands of the very competent and capable hands of the God, do as Acharyar tells you to do. Once you have the trust, belief and faith that Acharyar is God in human form, He will never let you down. Upanishad Santi Pata Krama, says exactly this. Once you surrender to any Acharya / Guru / Preceptor, thinking of him as God only, it is as good as having surrendered to God. The effect is the same.
81. "yo brhmaanam vidadaati poorvam - yo vai vedaascha prahinoti tasmai I tam ha devam aatma buddhi prakaasam - mumuktchur vai saranam aham prapadye. II" This means, 'The one who created Brhma and gave Him the Veda-s that God of Gods is the one who makes our minds and intelligence shine. Having decided to follow the path of liberation from all limitations, I surrender unto that God'.
82. If we do not submit ourselves to any system, by our own selves, we are bound to create more chaos and confusion. Such brilliant self righteous characters do more harm than is done by all the fools put together. Our Acharyal says so in 'Upadesa Manjari', that those who do not follow any system are worse than idiots! For Gnaanam, more than bookish knowledge, devotion to one's Guru is what is essential!
(The discussion on Guru - Acharyar comes to an end with this. Next topic is, 'The Guru-Bakti as Shown by Great Mahatma-s!')
Sambhomahadeva.