Guru-smaraNam - Part 1

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Shribhurubhyo namaH

 

Guru-smaraNam – Part 1

 

Today, the 17th October, Naraka-chaturdashi (Deepavali) is remembered as the

Jayanti Day of His Holiness Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal, the 35th

Jagadguru of Sringeri Sharada Peetham. The Acharya was a living testimony to

the scriptural declarations regarding a Self-realized soul, a jivanmukta and,

above all, an ideal Guru. He was a nonpareil Yogin and had been frequently

abiding in nirvikalpa-samadhi, the pinnacle of yoga, ever since His teens. He

was a matchless scholar of Vedanta and Tarka. Various classes of people came to

Him for guidance and succor. Acharyal graced them in myriad ways. Here is an

excerpt from the section `Glimpses of Select Facets of Acharyal' from the book

`Edifying Parables'. It is being presented here in reverential remembrance of

the Great Acharya.

 

The Ideal Disciple Who Became the Perfect Guru

 

Shortly after Paramacharyal (His Holiness Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal)

had attained Mahasamadhi, a lady from North India came to Sringeri and had

Acharyal's Darshan. She expressed some of her religious doubts to Him and also

said that she had been unable to get satisfactory replies to them from the

numerous scholars and mendicants she had approached. Acharyal gave His

clarifications in His inimitable style. The lady joyfully stated that her

doubts had been fully resolved.

 

Prompted by His innate egolessness and very great regard for His Guru, Acharyal

said: `Had you come some time earlier, you could have had the holy Darshan of My

Guru. You had to express your doubts to Me and hear My replies. But if you had

just beheld My Guru, that would have been sufficient for the answers to have

become known to you. Such was His greatness.' What Acharyal spoke about His

Guru was perfectly applicable to Him too.

 

The year was 1984. Acharyal was scheduled to leave Sringeri for Kaladi via

Bangalore. A Brahmachari from Rishikesh came a little after noon for Acharyal's

Darshan. Acharyal had already left for His afternoon bath. The Brahmachari

told me (the author of this incident), `I have seven questions pertaining to

Yoga and Vedanta which I wish to pose to His Holiness. They are very important

to me. I contacted numerous scholars, practitioners of Yoga and Sannyasis at

Rishikesh, Uttarkashi, Haridwar and Kashi but none was able to satisfy me. A

scholar at Kashi directed me to Sringeri saying, `If the Jagadguru of Sringeri

cannot satisfactorily answer you then there is none in the world to who can.'

That is why I have come most eagerly to Sringeri.'

 

I told him, `Acharyal will be starting on a tour today. If you wait here, you

can have His Darshan just prior to His departure. However, there is no time

today for you to have a lengthy private session with Him.' He said, `I will

gladly wait to behold Him even if it be for just a moment.' He then told me one

of the questions that he had in mind and requested me to tell Acharyal about

him. I fulfilled his request shortly after Acharyal completed His Bhiksha.

 

Acharyal said, `The question that he conveyed to you is good and pertinent. As

there is no time to spare today, he could, if he wishes, meet Me at Bangalore

and pose his queries to Me there. If I happen to know the answers, I shall tell

him. Else, I shall readily admit that I am not in a position to help him.' In

about half an hour, Acharyal came out to the front verandah of Sacchidananda

Vilas, His abode. Some devotees, inclusive of the Brahmachari, were there.

The Brahmachari prostrated before Acharyal. Acharyal looked at him with

compassion, raised His right hand in a gesture of blessing and said, in Hindi,

`May you be happy.' He then moved on. I quickly conveyed to him what Acharyal

had told me. Almost before I finished, he said, `The answers to all my

questions became fully known to me the moment His Holiness blessed me.'

 

In the car, of His own accord, Acharyal informed me, `When I saw that

Brahmachari, I was struck with his sincerity. So, I requested Ambal (Mother

Sharada, the presiding deity of Sringeri), `Please provide him the answers he

desires now itself.' The kind of sincerity that this spiritual aspirant has,

deserves to be rewarded.' When I submitted to Acharyal what the Brahmachari had

said, Acharyal joined His palms and said, `Ambal is so gracious.'

 

…...Even before boyhood, Acharyal was temperamentally inclined to the royal path

of Yoga. He mastered its eight steps and attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the

pinnacle of Yoga longed for by practitioners of meditation, even before He

completed His teens. In that state, all distinction of the perceiver, perceived

and the act of perception vanish, time and space cease to be. The Atma of the

nature of pure consciousness and supreme bliss alone shines in all its glory.

By repeatedly abiding in Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Acharyal became a Jivanmukta, one

liberated while alive.

 

Strange as it may seem, Acharyal's formal lessons in Vedanta under Paramacharyal

commenced years after He had already attained perfect establishment in the

Supreme. On an occasion, in response to a query of mine, Acharyal graciously

told me, `When my Guru began to teach me Vedanta, the thought that crossed My

mind was, `Ah, My experience is in complete conformity with the declarations of

the Upanishads.' `

It is said that a truly qualified, devoted disciple realizes the Truth the

moment his Guru expounds it to him. So amazing was Acharyal as a disciple that

He became fully enlightened even before His Guru taught Him.

 

The ideal disciple went on to become the perfect Guru.

 

(end of the excerpt)

 

To be continued.

Om Tat Sat