The Guru

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!! Sri Rama Jayam !!

 

The mercy & greatness of a GURU cannot be revealed in thousand words. 'Guru' is

the one who enlightens the way to Govinda. What to talk about ordinary mortals,

even Sriman Narayana seeks the shelter of Gurus like Lord Siva (as Parashurama),

Vasishtha & Vishwamitra (as Rama) & Sandipani (as Krishna). So high is the Guru

seated. It is customary to remember the Guru prior to any work we start. For

instance, Tulasidas in Hanuman Chalisa remembers the holy feet of his beloved

guru, the dust of which will cleanse the dirt-filled mirror of his heart, mind &

soul. Poonthanam in 'Jnanapana' cries for the mercy of his guru as follows - 'Oh

Guru ! bless me always so that my tongue always bear the holyname of Govinda'.

Saint Kabir's famous doha hails 'Guru-Govind dou khade, kakhe lagoo paye ....

balihari gurudev ki govind diyo bataye' and it means " I see my Guru & Govinda

standing in front of me, but to whom I should bow first ? ... No doubt, I sing

the glory of my guru at first who showed me Govinda. " There goes a phrase very

common in northern India - " If Mahadeva is angry on me, my Guru will come to my

rescue and if my Guru is unhappy with me, even thousands of Mahadeva wont be

able to help me out. "

 

 

In this regard there is a story in Tulsidasa's Ramacharitmanas. There was a

shudra residing in Kasi who worshipped Siva, but his spiritual master was a

Vaishnava who chanted rama-nama. The guru instructed this shudra to also worship

Rama but the shudra's primary interest was worshipping Siva.

One day the guru said, " Siva himself worships Rama, so why don't you worship

Rama? " The shudra replied, " Oh, you are inimical to Siva? "

All devotees of Siva say this. If you tell them that the worship of Rama is

superior to the worship of Siva, they accuse you of being an offender. But this

is not correct. So this shudra said, " To promote the worship of Rama you

blaspheme Siva? " He became very angry and began insulting his spiritual master.

Then Siva himself appeared from the mürti that was nearby and cursed the shudra,

" You must reside in hell for millions of births. " Hearing this, the merciful

guru offered many prayers and pleased Siva, saying, " Lord, please be kind to

him. No matter how fallen your devotee may be, he still belongs solely to you.

Be merciful. "

Siva then asked, " What do you desire? " The guru replied, " That you please

forgive him. "

Pacified Siva replied, " I have said that he must take birth in hell for millions

of births, yet now I give my blessing that this curse will be completed very

quickly. He will take birth and then die immediately afterwards until the curse

is fulfilled. In this way it will take no time at all. "

And it happened this way, by the spiritual master's having prayed to Siva. Soon

afterwards the shudra took another human birth, then he took birth as

Kakbhusundi (the crow)and became one of the greatest devotee of the Lord. This

is the mercy of the spiritual master.

 

The Balakanda of Ramcharitmanas gives a clear reference about kakabhusundi

visiting Ayodhya in every Treta of chaturyuga where he use to spent the first

five years of Ramavataram enjoying the blissful passtimes of the lord born as

the beloved son of Dasharatha. There is a special mention in the epic about

Rama's kid-cry for food. In the sportive spirit, the crow snatched the food

piece & flew high. To the surprise of everybody, Lord started crying higher &

running to catch the crow. The crow was very far from the little Rama now.

Brahma, Siva, Narada, saptarshis & all the celestial beings witnessed this

unordinary sport of the supreme lord. The mistaken crow at his next sight sees

the divine kid now reaching him through the sky-path with extending arms. The

crow finally vanishes into the stomach of little Rama where all the fourteen

worlds are witnessed one-by-one, all the happened incarnations, great sages and

immortals headed by Siva-Brahma offering their humble prayers at the holy feet

continuously washed by heavenly waters of Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, kaveri,

gomati & many others. Hypnotized by this mega-divine vision, the crow becomes a

self-realized soul.

 

There is another very IMP event in the epic when garuda comes to the rescue of

Rama-Laxmana from Nagapasha. In the Uttarakanda, Garuda relates this event to

Mahadeva & asks clarification regarding Rama's lordship. Though Mahadeva was

self sufficient to provide a proper answer to the ego-filled garuda, he advised

to seek the shelter of kakbhusundi. It was not easy for the celestial bird-king

to seek clarification from just any ordinary crow. Finally, garuda come to meet

kakbhusundi & receives enlightenment. There is one ghat (bank) of Ramcharitmanas

were the entire epic is retold to gauda by the crow-devotee.

 

Salutations to the glory of Guru !

 

Hare Krishna

Hare Rama