Guru Gita Slokas -1 and 2

Hare Krishna,

Guru gita is from the skanda puran, where Lord Shva explains Goddess parvati, the significance of a Guru.We are going to look into some of the slokas of Gurugita in the coming days. Guru gita consist of 200 to 300 slokas. But we shall discuss 12 of the popular and important slokas from guru gita.Guru gita explains the nature of a guru, the significance of a Guru who is our guide in the spiritual path.Reciting these slokas would help us seek the blessings of guru, without which its impossible to progress in the spiritual path. As part of sadhana, its good for initial seekers to learn guru gita.

In Guru Astakam written by Adi Sankaracharya , he explains the word guru thus, "Gu karascha andhakaroo, ru kara sthan niroodhakrith, ajnaana graasaka guru brahmaiva na samshayaha".

The word Gu stands for darkness and ru stands for dispelling darkness , thus it means that Guru is one who dispels darkness or ignorance.

Sloka -1

Akhanda mandalaakaaram vyaaptham yena charaacharam
tat padam darshitham yena tasmai sree gurave namaha

Word Meaning
Akhanda --- Indivisible
mandalaakaaram -- shape of the universe
vyaaptham -- pervades
charaacharam --- living and non-living
tat padam -- the mahavakhya tattvam asi
darshitam -- shows
tasmai sree guravee namaha -- prostrating before the guru


Explanation --- Guru is indivisible, he pervades the whole universe , in both the living and non-living things. He is the emodiment of the ultimate reality and shows us the ultimate reality , through paroksha and aparoksha anubhuti.

By indivisible it means one without parts.Anything which has parts is subject to change, the shad vikaras ,birth and death and hence is temporary, whereas brahman is indivisible, it has no parts.Its expalined as "ekam eva adviteeyam "-- meaning it alone exists and is not divisible. Hence it stands for eternality. Hence the Guru who is brahman is indivisible as its eternal.

Brahman pervades the entire universe. He is the substratum of the world.As pot is made out of mud, similarly the world is made of brahman alone, and brahman alone exists. the effect of pot has its cause as mud, similarly if the world is considered as an effect, the cause is brahman.Thus guru or brahman pervades the universe made of both living and non-living things.

Guru is the person who symbolizes utlimate reality,He is brahman alone. He stands for the mahavakya "tatvam asi". He also makes us realize the ultimate reality, through paroskha Jnaana initially and also aparoskha jnaanam.Experiencing brahman through guru , by listening to him one gets paroskha jnaanam.Being established in brahman is aparoskha jnaanam.To such a Guru who is the embodiment of Brahman, who shows us the path and makes us realize the ultimate reality, I offer my prostrations.

In the earlier sloka we have seen that Guru is all pervading and is brahman and helps us in realizing brahman. Lets discuss the next sloka of guru gita today. This sloka also explains the significance of the Guru in the same lines.

Sloka -- 2

Ajnaana thimiraandhasya jnaanaanjana shalaakhaya
chakshurunmeelitham yena tasmai sree gurave namaha

Word Meaning

Ajnaana -- Ignorance
Thimiraandhasya --- darkness
jnaanaanjana shalaakhaya --- stick of Knowledge
chakshurunmeelitham -- opening the eyes

Explanation

Comparision is done here with blind person who uses a stick as a support to walk. As a stick is the support for a blind man to walk, so also for people who are blind by ignorance, the guru like a stick of knowledge guides us into the spiritual path. He is one who leads us from darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge.He removes the ignorance by imparting knowledge.

Through knowledge he opens our eyes and shows us the path to bliss, leads us to self realization.To such a Guru who removes ignorance, who guides us from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge I offer my prostrations.

Hare Krishna,
Aparna