DEIVATHIN KURAL # 22 (Vol # 7) Dated 08 Aug 2013
DEIVATHIN KURAL # 22
(Vol # 7) Dated 08 Aug 2013
(These e-mails are
translations of talks given by PeriyavãL 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 going ahead
from page No 150 of Volume 7 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 continually)
207. Whether it is a passage through an
inaccessible forest or a walk on the razor's edge, or floating along the
current on a suitable boat, the one to show us the way is the Guru. At the place where the Upanishad talks about
the relative difficulty of the aspirants' path as comparable to the walk on
razor's edge, it says that they should go to the 'varãn' – 'वरान्' in plural. What is the
meaning of this word 'varãn'?
We often come across words such as 'Rishivarar
and Munivarar', meaning the best among the lot of Rishis or Munis. Like when you select the best amongst
suitable, prospective match for your daughter in marriage, the one you select
as the best is called the Varan, isn't it?
These words come from the root 'vru' – 'वृ', meaning the process of choosing and selecting. So, the best choice is the choicest and that
is Varan and with respect the same word becomes Varar. Two
other synonyms for this in Sanskrit are 'utkrushta and prakrushta' – 'उत्कृष्ट & प्रकृष्ट'.
In his Bhashyam our ÃchãryãL has used this word while interpreting the
word 'Varar', saying that they are highly accomplished beings as 'Prakrushta
Ãchãrya' – 'प्रकृष्ट आचार्य' and 'tat vida' – 'तत् विद' meaning 'he who knows that'! 'Such people should be chosen as one's own
Guru', he says and continues to add that, 'at this point the Upanishad is
advising us as a Mother tells the son with extreme compassion' –
'sruti: anukampamãha mãtruvat' – 'श्रुति: अनुकंपमाः मातृवत्', as though telling us not to get too fearful of the razor's
edge as the mother's love makes it easily manageable!
Guru for the
Final Destination and the Transit Areas
208. Other than the Guru for the final leap,
the Upanishads often talk of Gurus for the various stages enroute. In many places in the Upanishads we come
across disciples learning one particular Vidya from one Guru and proceeding to
another Guru for the next, progressing step by step. There have been also some disciples who were
not interested in learning all sorts of things and were keen on 'Ãtma
Sãkshãtkãram' – 'आत्म साक्षात्कारं' as the only aim worth
aspiring for! So also there were
preceptors who were not interested in other subjects and were paying attention
only to this one aspect of self-realization.
Our ÃchãryãL was like that only.
Though to the general public he did advise them on devotion to various
Gods through a large number of his devotional stotras and slokas, when it comes
to the critical crunch areas of philosophy, all his Bhashyams and PrakaraNa
Granthas, they were all directly about the central issue of Adwaita Ãtma
Anubhuti only!
209. Another point to be taken note of is the
fact that, even those who were self-realised, depending on the level of
maturity of the disciple, taught them instead of Brhma-Vidya some preliminary
or auxiliary or ancillary subjects as required by that individual's
progress. Another factor is that just
because the Guru was a Brhma Gnãni it does not mean that he would have been
aware of all that is to be taught!
Though they may be aware of the all comprehensive 'ãdhãra tatva' – 'आधार तत्व', it did not necessarily mean
that they were knowledgeable of everything to be taught to the student! So keeping him as the 'Mukhya Guru' there
could have been other teachers of subsidiary Vidyas.
Whatever the
Guru Knew for the Disciple
210. Whether the way for Brhma Vidya or
depending on the level of maturity of the disciple the way for other
preliminary Vidyas or whatever, in our Sanãtana tradition invariably each and
every Guru was magnanimous enough to give his all, knowledge and Anubhava
totally to the student, without holding anything back. This quality is noticeable uniformly in all
the Gurus we come across in the Upanishads without any exceptions! The way they felt compelled to give their all
to the Sishya, though astonishing to note, is taken as part of their duty, as a
Guru has confirmed in Mundakopanishad, "A Guru is meant to transfer his
entire knowledge to the student and that is why he is known as a Guru!"
211. In that Upanishad at the end of the
first part, it is said that however much advanced, however perfect in his dispassion
a disciple may be, he has to go to a Guru for Brhma Gnãna. Then it says for a student who has come to
him as a Sishya correctly and formally, the Guru will give wholesome Upadesa. That is how it is stated in the text of the
Upanishad that, 'the Guru will give complete Upadesa'! While explaining this in his Bhashyam our
ÃchãryãL has said, the Guru is duty bound to do so. In the original is the word 'provãcha' – 'प्रोवाच' and our ÃchãryãL has made it 'prabruyãt' – 'प्रब्रूयात'; that is, converting what the
Upanishad says as, 'the Guru will' in to 'so the Guru has to'!
212. What is telling as it is? It means that the Guru completely and
wholesomely conveys to the disciple his own knowledge without any
reservations. Here our ÃchãryãL uses the
word 'yatãvat' which means, sincerely, directly, without any additions and
subtractions, and so as it is! Whatever has been traditionally the Brhma Vidya
Sãstrã that has been conveyed to him by his Guru has to be passed on to the
disciple. It is here that our ÃchãryãL
has spoken about the bounden duty of the Guru as 'ãchãryasya niyamam' – 'आचार्यस्य नियमं'. Here this word 'niyamam' has to be taken as
the duty of the Guru, the rules and regulations all included. There is 'Yati Niyama', 'Gruhasta Niyama',
'Brhmachari Niyama' and like that 'Acharyasya Niyama'. If the Brhmachari Niyama is to do three times
a day Sandya Vandana, that becomes his duty also, isn't it? Whatever the systematic, regular, iterated actions
required to be done, were laid out as the duties in the Sãstrãs. They included the Do's and Don'ts, thereby
ensuring discipline and regulated behaviour.
The Duty of a
Guru as Delineated by our ÃchãryãL
213. OK, right. What is that Niyama as delineated by our
ÃchãryãL as the duty of a Guru? You may
answer that yourself as after all his duty is to teach. But that is what it has become these days
that, the duties of the teacher ends with teaching only. But that is not the end but only the
means! Through teaching and coaching the
Guru has to make the student comprehend the usefulness of the teaching. From learning, the student has to practically
come to understand and comprehend the purpose in his personal, practical
Anubhava. If a teacher is to give the
'yatãvat' coaching in
Brhma Gnãna, the student is being taught that to practically cross the
ocean of this Samsara and so, that has to be achieved in the student's
Anubhava. To make him do that is the
duty of the Guru as per our ÃchãryãL!
Satguru and Sachchishya
214. The Guru who is
very good in his teaching and commitment to the task of giving Brhma Vidya
Upadesa and causes the student to reach the aim is known as a Satguru. Similarly the student who is a very good student
is known as 'Sat + Sishya = Sachchishya'.
A Sachchishya should be having a good character especially Adakkam that
is, humility, with a sharp intellect and have the thirst for Self-Realization and
should not be interested in short cuts but be ready go exactly as per the
dictates of Sãstrãs as understood and followed traditionally. To get the disciple out of the 'avidya
mahodadhi' – 'अविद्या महोदधि', that is the ocean of
ignorance, is the duty of the Satguru, says our ÃchãryãL. Appar SwamigaL called it in Tamil as 'poi mãyap
perunkadal'! To get
the disciple out of that imaginary ocean which is unreal, is the task of the
Guru. ÃchãryãL uses the word
'nisdharaNam', that is to recover
this lost Jiva from that ocean. Such
recovery is as good as Mukti. For a person
born in this world, that is the ultimate recovery. To make this mortal, limited being to realize
his reality of oneness with immortal life is the task of the Guru.
215. You might have heard of this pithy statement
in Tamil, 'kalviyinoongillai sirtruyirku urtra thuNai', meaning, 'there is nothing greater than
education, as the safe guard for this small mortal being'! To conduct one's worldly life with the right attitude,
behaviour and discipline was the aim of education in the olden times, as
emphasised by this above statement.
Though to improve one's knowledge was the main aim, when you add
discipline, devotion and Gnãna; such
education eradicates ignorance and makes this 'Sirtru Uyir' to become 'Peruyir',
removing his smallness and imparts greatness!
So, to do so is the highest gift to the individual, isn't it? Thus when we realise that through Brhma
Vidya, this small, infinitesimal, fractional and mortal being is made to
realise his greatness and immortality; isn't so doing the greatest gift from
the Satguru? That too when he not only tells
you the way but also leads you to the destination as his duty, isn't that the
most magnificent safe guard?
Guru's Entire Assets Goes to the Disciple
216. I
wish to enlarge on this 'yatãvat' – 'यतावत', a little more. Like the father transferring all his
properties to the son, is this 'yatãvat' principle of the teacher transferring all his intellectual
properties to the disciple. A father
cannot transfer all his assets to his son, if he has more than one son! But a Guru can and does transfer all his
knowledge to all his disciples and can give them 'poorNa mahã vidya abhyãsam' –
'पूर्ण महा विद्याभ्यासं'! This is the greatness of Vidya!
It is a 'Sri' that does not lessen, however much the dissemination and
distribution! Unless the Guru has
absolute love for the disciples, total involvement in his commitment to show
the way to them and has equal amount of love in his subject knowledge; he
cannot so completely transfer all his knowledge to the student. This is rather rare nowadays, but not totally
absent either, as I gather from experts in various fields when they talk about
their teachers and professors. Many
youngsters bring their thesis for my blessings before submitting the same to
the University authorities for their doctorates. From those children I get to know that there
are many teachers who teach and transfer all their knowledge to the students. I also hear some complaints contrary to this.
217. But when we
look into these Upanishads, we see that but for rare exceptions in the olden
times the teachers believed in transferring all their knowledge to the
disciples. Take the case of Swetaketu
himself who came back from Guru Kulam with a supercilious attitude, when his
father asked if he has learnt about Brhmam replied that he was not aware of it
as his teachers had not told him and that possibly they may not have known
about it, since otherwise they would have told him! This one answer coming from him is good
enough to prove the reputation of those teachers.
218. I quoted from the
end part of 'Prasnopanishad' some time back about how the students told their
Guru, "It is you who should be considered as our Father, as you have taken
us across to the far shores of this ignorance of Avidya! You are our Father positively!" Let me take you to the early parts of the
Upanishad. Six students get
together. They are each one of them
great Rishis by their own rights! They
were Sekesa, Satyakãma, Gargya, Kousalaya, Bhargava and Kabandi. Though they were very knowledgeable about
Brhma Vidya, they wished to clear their doubts and fill in the gaps. So they opted to go to Pippalada, whom the
Upanishad refers with the title as 'Bhagawanta'. As their offering to the Guru they carry
Samit. Samit means only twigs used in
Yagnya. We should take note of the fact
that more than the thing that is offered, those who were Gurus then, paid more
attention to the spirit and attitude of the students in this act of theirs!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva
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