Guru Poornima Today

[Guest guest]

OM SRI GURUVEE NAMAHA

 

OM SRI GANESHAYA NAMAHA

 

OM SRI MATHREE NAMAHA

 

SRI VIDYAAM PARIPOORNA MERU SIKHAREE BINDHU TRIKOONOOJWALAAM

VAAGEESHAADI SAMASTHA BHOOTA JANANEEM MANJEE SIVAAKAARAKE

KAMAKSHEM KARUNA RASARNAVAMAYAM KAMESHWARANGASTHITHAM

KANJYAAM CHINMAYA KAMAKOTI NILAYAM SRI BRAMHA VIDYAAM BAJEE

 

I was instructed by the Divine Mother to write about GURU. If I have

to write about the Guru's, the task that she has given me is not an

easy one. So I was thinking where to start and Devi herself showed

that I should start from Mother. In our books it is said MATHRU

DEVOO BHAVA, PITHRU DEVOO BHAVA, GURU DEVOO BHAVA, ATHITHI DEVOO

BHAVA.

 

MATHRU DEVOO BHAVA, which means treat thy mother as god. It is from

the mother that all living beings take their birth irrespective of

humans or it be animals or birds. The love of mother is

inexplicable. That may be the reason that Lalitha Sahasranama starts

with OM SRI MATHA. From the mother we know who our father is. The

most compassionate, loving, caring and what not a mother is. Is it

possible to evaluate the value of mother? Even if all the wealth in

this world is accumulated and weighed in a balance with mother, the

plate in which one has placed mother will be down.

 

Saint Adi Shankara when he wanted to go for Sanyasa promises his

mother that when she feels to see him he will be by her side. Later

in the life of Adi Shankara when he was in the Himalayas he feels

that mother is calling him. He leaves for Kaladi and finds mother in

her deathbed and asks her what she wants from him. Being a great

devotee of Lord Shiva she requests for a vision of the lord.

Shankara meditates on the lord and Shiva gives Darshan to his

mother. She finds Shiva this form and gets frightened and asks

that's she want to have the vision of Lord Vishnu and she gets it

with the help of Shankara. She merges with Lord Vishnu in the form

of a jyothi. While giving all this help to his mother he says that

even if I take a 1000 janmas I will not be able to fulfill even

1/100000th of what you have done to me when you carried me in your

womb. That is the greatness of any Mother.

 

PITHRU DEVOO BHAVA, treat thy father as god. Without father we are

not there. He is the one who passes on the lineage down. When Mother

is PRAKRUTHI, father is the PURUSHA, without these two powers there

is no world. In fact the momentum of Prakruthi and Purusha the world

lives, even the atom lives. Mother if PRAKRUTHI is Maha Maya or Devi

herself while father if PURUSHA is Shiva himself. Thus by

worshipping our father and mother we are indirectly worshipping the

SHIVA PARVATHY as DAMBATHY or COUPLE.

 

When mother gives us birth and makes a man out of us, it is father

who guides us what we should be and he paves the way for it. In fact

it is the duty of the father to show us the right way and lead us to

GURU. I recollect in Maha Bagavatham that Nandagopa took Krishna to

the Saint Sandipani for the gurukula vaasam. So the father leads his

son to be initiated by a Guru what all he has to be initiated. If

this is the case of Sri Krishna an incarnation of Lord Maha Vishnu,

who knew all what he should know, but to get the best out of

knowledge he knew he became a disciple to Saint Sandipani and took

him as his guru. This shows very well that any vidya is incomplete

without a Guru. That's why it is said

 

GURUR BRAMHA GURUR VISHNU GURUR DEEVOO MAHESHWARA

GURU SAKSHAAT PARABRAMHA THASMAI SRI GURAVEE NAMAHA

 

Guru is every thing. He is the Knowledge, He is the Shakti, He is

the Divine Soul or Paramaatman, He is the Love, He is Compassion and

He is what not. Guru's LOTUS feet, if one worships his/her sin is

washed off, attains Jnana and ultimately Moksha or salvation. How

great are the feet of a Guru. Usually in any Bajans the mangalam is

sung at last but in Sampradaya Bajans it starts with THOTAKA

MANGALAM. Reason when Saint Adi Shankara was walking his disciple

Thotakacharya walked backwards that he did not like to show his back

to his Guru and sang the Thotaka Mangalam while walking. Still this

Mangalam is sung in all Sampradaya Bajans as the first song. This

shows the love a disciple has towards his Guru.

 

In all the Tantra texts the first chapter is always dedicated to the

Guru Disciple relationship. A Big Question Why? The answer is very

very simple. Without a Guru any disciple cannot attain the mantra

siddhi. Here one thing to be noted is the DIKSHA KRAMA, which bonds

the Guru with his disciple. This bondage of a disciple with the Guru

is not only for this Janma. This is from the last birth or even

before that. Guru Shishya relation is very sacred. Only those who

are initiated will know the greatness of one's Guru.

 

To get a good guru for a disciple and to get a good disciple for a

guru is purely due to the grace of Goddess. This guru disciple

relation is based on the poorva Janma punya only. All the Tantra

texts even discuss this relation and who a guru is as well as who a

disciple is. How to match the relation between a guru and a disciple

according to the birth stars and rasi is also mentioned. But if one

looks into this entire aspect one may not find a good guru or a guru

may not find a good disciple. After initiation all the good and the

bad deeds done by the disciple will affect the guru. So the first

and foremost duty of a disciple is to adhere the norms laid by the

guru as far as the mantra with which he has initiated the disciple.

There are so many rules that a disciple has to adhere when gets

initiated to a mantra. These rules are laid down after the

initiation. The main important aspect in the initiation is that,

after the mantra diksha the guru changes the name of the disciple.

For e.g. Ramakrishna's name will be changed to ……… ANANDA NATHA. The

reason is that the worldly name has no relevance as to the initiated

name. That is the initiated person becomes a born again here.

Usually an initiation will be followed after the Devi pooja. The

question arises as to what is the day or when the guru will initiate

the disciple. ANY DAY THE GURU INITIATES THE DISCIPLE IS THE BEST

DAY FOR THE INITIATION. Mind of the Guru tells him what should be

initiated to the disciple. What mantras to be given at the time of

initiation etc.

 

The initiation process is elaborate and will depend upon the guru

what form of initiation is to be given. There are various ways of

initiation and the initiation method depends on the guru parampara.

 

The way of worshipping Devi is in 3 ways, which are 1.

Dakshinamoorty matam (way), 2. Hayagriva matam and 3. Aananda

Bhairava matam. The Lord Dakshinamoorty initiated his disciple

Dattathreya and Dattathreya to Parasurama. Parasurama initiated his

disciple Sumedas and he came out with a book called PARASURAAMA

KALPA SUTHRAM. There are evidences that Dakshinamoorty matam was in

prevalence, which consisted of 24 lakhs granta Sankhya. Dattathreya

reduced this voluminous book to 24,000 slokas. Parasurama reduced

these 24,000 slokas to 336 and initiated Sumedas. There are so many

tantras, which has come down from Lord Dakshinamoorty.

 

Now let us try to understand how this guru parampara came into

being. All the tantras have come in the form of question and answer

form between Devi and Shiva. When Shiva was guru Shakti became the

disciple and when Shakti was guru Shiva became disciple. This is

called SAMPRADAYA NYAYA. Sitting in MAHODYANA PEETA, which is in the

form of PRAKAASHANADA, Maha Kameshwara (SARYANANADA NATHA) initiated

Devi (PARA BHATTARIKA) the Sri Vidya mantra and the pooja

principles. She initiated UDDESANANDA NATHA (MAHA BHAGAMAALINI)

(THRETHA YUGA), SASHTESANANDA NATHA (MAHA VAJREESWARI) (DWAPARA

YUGA) and MITHRESANANDA NATHA (MAHA KAMESHWARI)(KALI YUGA). These 3

persons represent each AUKA in the guru mandala. Uddesananda Natha

represents Divyaukha, Sashtesananda Natha represents Siddaukha and

Mithresananda Natha represents Manaaukha. Uddesananda Natha

initiated PRAKASHANANDA NATHA, VIMARSHANANADA NATHA and ANANDANADA

NATHA in Thretha Yuga. In Dwapara Yuga Sashtesananda Natha initiated

JNANANANDA NATHA, POORNANANDA NATHA and SATYANANDA NATHA. In Kali

Yuga, Mithresananda Natha initiated SWABHAVANANDA NATHA,

PRATIPANANDA NATHA and SUPAKANANADA NATHA. This 3 x 3 Nathas form

the NAVANATHAS of guru parampara and are worshipped in the Sri

Yantra.

Ananda Bhairava beeja is also called as NAVANATHA BEEJA. The NAVA

VEERAS mentioned in the Skanda purana as the brothers of LORD

SUBRAMANYA are this Navanathas. Adi Sankara in SAUNDARYA LAHARI has

mentioned that Shiva and Devi are ANANDA BHAIRAVA and ANANDA

BHAIRAVI. So Shiva and Shakti are part and parcel of the Navanathas

also.

 

The sloka, which praises the GURU, is worth mentioning here.

 

KOTI KOTI MAHA DHANATH KOTI KOTI MAHA VRATHATH

KOTI KOTI MAHA YAJNATH PARA SRI PAATHU SAMSMRUTHI

KOTI KOTI MANTRA JAPAATH KOTI THEERTHA VAKAHANAATH

KOTI KOTI DEEVAARCHANATH DEVI PARA SRI PADUKA SMRUTHI

MAHA ROGEE MAHOTH PAAKEE MAHA DOSHA MAHA BHAYEE

MAHAPATHI MAHAPAAYEE SMRUTHAA RAKSHATHI PAADUKAA

DURAACHAREE DURAALAABHEE DUSSANGEE DUSHPRATHIGAAHEE

DURAAKAAREE CHA DURBHUTHAU SMRUTHAA RAKSHATI PAADUKAA.

 

One who remembers the guru and worships his Paduka will really

attain Moksha. Where is the PADUKA of Guru? In our Sahasrara Cakra

there is said to be a lotus with 1000 petals. Outside the center of

the lotus a 12-petal lotus is there. In the center of this lotus

there is a triangle, which is called AMALAALAYAM. In the Amalaalayam

Guru's foot has to be worshipped. Devi is mentioned in Lalitha

sahasranama as GURU MANDALA RUPINI. In this 12-petal lotus shrines

the beeja mantras of guru mantra. In this triangle, each angle

comprises of 16 mathrukas and on the edge are HA, SA and KHSA,

totaling to 51 letters. Each angle of the triangle is NADA, BINDHU

and KALA. The bindhu in the center of the triangle is called as

PARABINDHU. This 12-petal lotus's bujas are HA, SA, KA, PFREM, HA SA

KHSA MA LA VA RA YUUM. HASAKFREM- these 4 beejas are called KECHARI

BEEJAS. HA SA KSHA MA LA VA RA YUUM (YEEM) is NAVANATHA BEEJAS.

HAKARA and SAKARA are the foot of the guru. HAM SAM is KAMA KALA.

The universe, at the time of Maha Pralaya will merge into the HAMSA

swaroopa Kamakala and when the procreation starts it starts from

there. In this HAMSA throne sits the Guru's foot. The 2 feet of the

guru is combination of Prakasha and Vimarsha. Guru's foot is the

representation of Ardhanaareeswara or Eeswari. So falling at the

foot of the Guru and taking his blessings is equal to falling at the

foot of Shiva and Shakti. If the Guru's kadaksha falls at the

disciple no one can ever surpass him. This guru kadaksha comes in

various ways to the disciple. We can say that Guru's kadaksha is the

way in which the Guru initiates the disciple. There are so many ways

by which Guru blesses his disciple. The process of Guru's blessings

takes the name of DIKSHA. A Guru may give Diksha when he imparts to

the disciple the sacred mantra of Devi as well as MAHA VAKHYA.

 

Any day the guru feel is auspicious is always auspicious. As

mentioned earlier Guru imparts the knowledge about PARA BRAMHAN in

various ways as he deem fit for the disciple, which is called

Diksha. The various Diksha kramas are NAYANA DIKSHA, SPARSHA DIKSHA,

VACHAKA DIKSHA, MANASA DIKSHA, MANTRA DIKSHA, YOGA DIKSHA, AUTHIRI

DIKSHA and others. Among these Diksha kramas Authiri Diksha is done

with a homa.

 

If one refers SKANDA PURANA where by Lord Subramanya, initiates

Lord Shiva with the meaning of Pranava Mantra, and Put Lord Brahma

in prison for not knowing the meaning of Pranava Mantra, after

kicking Brahma with his legs. Lord Brahma gets unconscious and was

dragged to prison by the commander of Lord Subramanya – VEER BAHU.

The question is amoung Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma, who is more

fortunate. It is of course Lord Brahma as he gets Lord Subramanya's

PAADA DIKSHA.

 

Amoung devas, rishis and human beings, Lord Subramanya has initiated

one in this entire category.

Amoung devas Lord Shiva, rishis Saint Agasthya and human being Saint

Arunagirinaadar, leaving alone Lord Brahma.

Lord Muruga, The Commander in Chief of the devas or called as DEVA

SENAPATHI, has been given the VEL or the Spear which He hold in his

hand by Devi Herself when He was going to the battle field to fight

the SURAPADMA'S. The VEL itself is DEVI, as she has taken it from

her own body and given to Him. So worshipping the VEL is worshipping

Devi.

 

According to the PRAPANCHASAARA SAARA SANGRAHAM complied by Saint

Adi Shankara, there are 12 devotees who have worshiped Goddess

Mother LALITHA MAHA TRIPURASUNDARI. They are MANU, CHANDRA, KUBERA,

VISHNU, SIVA, SKANDA (LORD MURUGA), NANDI, KAAMA, AGASTHYA,

LOPAAMUDRA (Wife of Agasthya), DURVAASA and BRAMHA. All these

devotees had worshipped by making or inventing their own mantras of

SRIVIDHYA. These mantras are available in the Prapanchasaara Saara

Sangraham. But due to the link or lack of disciples the mantras are

either lost in the line or the lineage stopped with out a disciple.

So those mantras are available but there are no Gurus to transfer or

to continue the lineage. The only Vidya's which are prevalent now

are the mantras which were used by KAAMA and LOPAAMUDRA. The

Srividhya mantra used by KAAMA or the God of Love, is called KAADI

VIDHYA and the mantra used by LOPAAMUDRA is called HAADI VIDHYA.

Loopamudra vidhya is also called SWAROOPAVIMARSHINI vidhya.

 

All these mantras can give the Upasakaas effect only if these

mantras are obtained from a Guru by way of diksha and the

punascharanas done as said by Guru. As said if god gets angry the

guru can save his disciple but if Guru gets angry no one can help

the disciple.