DEIVATHIN KURAL # 40 (Vol # 5) Dated 18 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 40 (Vol # 5) Dated 18 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from page No 241 of Vol 5 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
93. When Guru has been described as equivalent to Brhma, Vishnu and Maheswara, there must be points of similarity as well as dissimilarity. We saw that the three who are doing the three major jobs of Creation, Sustenance and Destruction (including re-absorption), are not to be revered or respected simply for doing their appointed duties. So, now with a slight change in our approach, that idea will change and the sloka instead of being a case of ‘confusion confounded’ will be reconciled as being OK! Let us see as to how this can be!
94. As all the three names of Brhma, Vishnu and Maheswara have been equated to Guru, it seems that he is also doing something like them; that is Guru is also doing Srushti, Sthithi and Samhaara. How? This becomes clear with some deep cogitation. Guru gives us birth into the world of Gnaana Loka, the world of Aadhyaatmic life. Opening our eyes to reality, changing our attitude of material involvement, he gives us a new form of existence. That is as good as giving us a new life and that means the job of Creation. As Guru causes Gnaana to be born or awakened, he is doing the job of Brhma.
95. Then is the job of Vishnu that is Sthithi or Paripaalana involving sustenance, nourishment and protection. How does he do it? In our life and growth in the path of Gnaana Guru gives us the Adhyaatma assets and other wherewithal. For bodily growth as Mahavishnu gives us wealth and health, for the nourishment of our inner being Guru gives us Upadesa, books, scriptures and sets targets for us to achieve in Saadhana, caring for our well being. For us he sacrifices his own peace and comforts to pull us out of the mire and quicksand of Agnaana. Even in this ‘Iha Loka’, he supports us in all ways. He takes his pound of flesh only in these modern days, in terms of fees by pseudo Gurus. But in the olden days gone by, it was the disciple who gave Guru Dakshina, within his capabilities out of a sheer sense of gratitude! He gives us ‘Nayana Deeksha, Sparsa Deeksha and Mantropadesa’! He mainly does ‘Aadhyaatmic Gnaana Paripaalana’ and thus does the job of Mahavishnu in the lives of the disciple.
96. Now about Samhaara as done by Maheswara. Guru is too humble and unconceited. How can he be ferocious to do the act of Samhaara? To hear words such as Rudra, Rudra Thaandavam and Roudraakaaram itself is fearful is it not so? Whereas this Guru is peacefulness and piety incarnate. May be so as not to scare us, instead of the word ‘Rudra’, the word Maheswara has been used, saying ‘Gurur Devo Maheswara:’ possibly. Still the very word Samhaara meaning destruction cannot be thought to be a pleasant experience! ‘You only said that in ‘Upama Alankaara’ instead of similarities there could be similarities and differences’. So can this be that? No, having given two similarities with the responsibilities of Brhma and Vishnu, the third Upama cannot jump to a comparison of difference. Guru as Brhma having given birth to Gnaana in the disciple, and then as Vishnu having nourished and ensured the growth of that Gnaana, as Rudra will he destroy that Gnaana?! (PeriyavaL laughs saying this.)
97. There are many forces that keep us tied down in Agnaana preventing us from Self Realization, is it not so? Guru as Maheswara destroys those forces patiently fighting with them till he is able to fully rid us of those obstacles. When you cultivate as a farmer, is it not essential to remove the weeds, however persistent they may be? So, while advising and tutoring us on Gnaana, our die-hard Agnaana has to be got rid of. This is a more difficult job. If you move up an inch with great difficulty, you can easily slip a yard or come sliding down, like in the Malkhamb. That is the sort of hazard we are facing in this effort for Gnaana. Before some good and positive attitudes are imbibed, the bad and negative tendencies predominate! Before the slightest move towards enlightenment, the darkness of ignorance envelops us. It is this darkness of Tamas that Guru destroys as the Rudra Murthy. The very name Guru is defined as the one who destroys the darkness. ‘Gu’ means destroyer and ‘Ru’ means the darkness!
98. Thus by Guru’s Grace, we are reborn in to Gnaana, we are nurtured, nourished and cultivated and the countervailing and contrary forces are destroyed. So through Guru the three important jobs of Srushti, Sthithi and Samhaara occur. So Gurumurthy becomes the Thrimurthy! The difference lies in what Brhma creates and Vishnu nourishes is the body-mind-intellect complex, that is finally destroyed by Maheswara. Whereas Guru enables the rebirth in to Gnaana, nurtures and nourishes the Atma-Gnaana and destroys the Deha-Atma-Buddhi of Agnaana. Amongst the Thrimurthys, the three have different jobs while the Guru does all three, creating and protecting Gnaana and destroying Agnaana. The Gnaana that he creates and protects is never destroyed but, is everlasting and eternal.
99. Thus, what the three deities do together in this life of involvement, Guru does singlehandedly in the life of Gnaana. To think of it is awe inspiring and amazing! To be born in this ephemeral world of Maya and manage it we need three great important deities of the Holy Trinity and to extricate and save us from it and give us the everlasting Anubhava of Gnaana, this one Guru in human form does it so skilfully apparently! You can try to vindicate by saying that, ‘The Thrimurthys have to do for millions and trillions of lives whereas Guru has to cater for only some select group of disciples’. But that argument will not clinch the issue anywhere. We saw as to how the Guru takes up the role of the three deities. We also saw as to how the three deities together became the Dattaatreya Guru. So are all the Gurus. We have seen that thus Guru has been compared with the three major deities on the basis of functional similarities.
100. Guru as Worthy of our Respect and Namaskaara. We have already seen as to how those three deities do not deserve our Namaskaaraas, for doing their duties. But the sloka says, ‘tasmai sri gurave namaha’. Here is where, we have to bear in mind that Upama Alankaara while based on similarities, touches the dissimilarities also. Why did we find that we could not do Namaskaara to them? When do we do Namaskaara to anybody, first of all? We thank somebody and express our gratitude when we are satisfied by what they have done to us. If they happen to be elder to us in age or status we will do Namaskaaram to them. Or when we have requested them for something we like or need and expect that they will do so, we will do Namaskaara and pray in anticipation. We are not happy with our being created by Brhma or the way Vishnu looks after us or the likelihood of eventual Samhaara by Siva. So we are not happy with the past and present. Looking at the future, Brhma can do nothing more for us. His job is over as far as we are concerned. Even for the next life, there isn’t much in his hands as he is to bounden by the Laws of Karma without much freedom of discretion! So, there isn’t much scope for doing Namaskaara to him. Similar is the case with Vishnu. He cannot do more than what we deserve as per our own Karma. The very fact that we become devoted is an indication of the fact that we have turned around towards the Godhead.
101. If we are still alive as we are discussing this, Maheswara’s job is yet to be, as far as we are concerned. There is nothing we can pray to him for. If he has annulled and cancelled out many of our past lives, we do not know anything about all that. For that there is no chance that we should thank him and do Namaskaara. Later also, there is no cause for our happiness that he is going to do Samhaara. We cannot even request him to not to do so, as anyhow at the end of our this life time, he will just do his job! There is nothing in what they have done or doing or going to do that could make us indebted or beholden to them. So we do not feel like doing Namaskaara to them!
102. Now with this as the background, let us see what the Guru has done, doing and going to do. When we were shackled by the chains of attachment, buffeted by the ups and downs of Samsaara, he opened our eyes to the possibility of peace and quietude of Aatma Shanti, didn’t he? For that and for the fact that having opened our eyes he also showed us the way, and catching hold of our hand guided us along the path towards salvation, didn’t he? For these acts of kindness we cannot but be overflowing with a sense of gratitude, isn’t it? To thank him so far, you tell me as to how many Namaskaaraas would be the right number?
103. What he is going to do is still bigger than all that has gone earlier! We have so far only seen some glimpses of the ray of brilliant light at the end of the proverbial tunnel! As of now we only know that there is the effulgence of the world of Aatma Swaraajya of freedom and independence, sometime, somewhere on the way. Till we reach there and till we become one with that Enlightenment, we know our Guru will not give up. It is alright if we do not reach there in this life. In our next life, any number of life times that may be in store for us, he will be with us and will not quit till this job is over! Real Guru will not only create this trust, belief and faith in the disciple; but will also not rest till we become one with that eternal state of being blissfully happy, that is Sat – chit – Ananda!
(To be continued)
Sambhomahadeva.