Sri Guru Gita (eBook)

Verse 1

Suta uvāca

Kailāsa śikhare ramye
bhakti sandhāna nāyakam
Praṇamya pārvatī bhaktyā
śaṅkaraṁ paryapṛcchata

Suta says:
Once, while Lord Shiva, who knows the secret
of devotion, was seated on the beautiful
Mount Kailash, Parvati bowed to Him with
reverence and asked:

“Lord Shiva, who knows the secret of devotion...” Here we have to note that the secret of devotion is known through the sadhana. And Lord Shiva is considered to be the greatest of all sadhaks, because He is in constant meditation. He is always meditating on Narayana, because He knows that everything comes from Narayana. Therefore, as He is submerged into His sadhana, due to His devotion, Lord Shiva in this verse is referred to as the one “who knows the secret of devotion”.

Devotion is not just something superficial; there is deepness in it. Even if it appears very plain when you don’t feel much and your prayer seems mechanical, in reality it is not! Even the uttering, the chanting of the Divine Names is not merely superficial. In its depth, it is cleansing the impurities which one has carried throughout many lives.

So, here Sage Suta says that Lord Shiva is the one who knows that deepness, that secret of devotion, because He is fully absorbed into that devotion. This means that He is enjoying bhakti! If people are not absorbed into their devotional practices, then they get bored with it. But if you know the secret which lies behind what you are doing, you will love to do it! And when you love to do something, it bears different fruits. Behind everything that you do, there is a certain secret! And by knowing that secret, you will enjoy whatever you do.

Here Bhagavan Shankar is enjoying His devotion to Lord Narayana because He knows the secret behind that. That’s why we can say that He is the embodiment of sadhana Himself.

Suta continues describing the scene, as Lord Shiva “...was seated on the beautiful Mount Kailash, Parvati bowed to Him with reverence and asked...” Here you have to see that Mount Kailash stands for the topmost spiritual level. It’s not just a place, or a mountain, but it stands for a high level of spirituality.

Bhagavan Shankar is seated there together with Parvati. Here you see the two qualities, Shiva-Shakti, the form and the formless. Shiva is considered to be the formless and Shakti the manifest, so both go hand in hand: Purusha and Shakti. In this verse, Parvati, who is the manifestation of Shakti, asks Lord Shiva, with deep reverence and humility, to explain the deepness which lies within the One whom Lord Shiva is meditating on and which aspect it is.

Verse 2

Śrī Devī uvāca

Oṁ namo devadeveśa
parātpara jagadguro
Sadāśiva mahādeva
gurudīkṣāṁ pradehi me

The Goddess says:
O Lord of gods! O supreme preceptor of the
universe! O benign and benevolent Mahadev,
God par excellence! Unravel and explain to
Me the mystery of the Guru.

Here the Goddess says, “O Lord of gods! O supreme preceptor of the universe! O benign and benevolent Mahadev.”

In this verse Goddess Parvati addresses Lord Shiva as the Lord of gods, although Narayana is eternally the Supreme Lord, the Supreme God Himself. The Supreme Lord Narayana manifested Himself three-fold as Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva; Brahma deals with creation, Maha Vishnu with preservation and Shiva with dissolution. Among these three, Maha Vishnu is the direct manifestation of Narayana. That’s why He sustains everything. Brahma and Shiva are also manifestations of Narayana, but they are His co-workers.

While Brahma is just creating, the greatest work is to sustain the creation! It is easy to create something, but to sustain, to make it work, it’s more difficult, isn’t it? That’s the work of Maha Vishnu. And then of course, Lord Shiva is responsible for the dissolution. He removes everything so that a new reality may come into being. Here, dissolution doesn’t mean just to destroy and finish! It means also a renewal of things. That’s why Devi refers to Him as the supreme preceptor of the universe, because through destroying, He also allows creation to happen.

The Goddess continues, “God par excellence! Unravel and explain to Me the mystery of the Guru.” Here the Goddess is asking, “You are the Lord! You who are the great Deva of devas, whom all demigods praise! You are the dearest to Narayana, the dearest to Maha Vishnu! Nevertheless, You praise the Guru! Please explain to Me: what is the secret that a Guru holds? Why is a Guru different from anybody else?” So, this verse shows that even the Goddess Herself needs to know and to have this understanding.

Verse 3

Śrī Devī uvāca

Kena mārgeṇa bho svāmin
dehī brahmamayo bhavet
Tvaṁ kṛpāṁ kuru me svāmin
namāmi caraṇau tava

The Goddess says:
O Lord! My salutations at Your Lotus Feet. Tell
Me by which path a human being can become
one with the Absolute? O benevolent great God!

Here the Goddess continues, asking, “O Lord! My salutations at Your Lotus Feet. Tell Me by which path a human being can attain the Supreme Lord Narayana? O merciful One! O Deva, Lord of the demigods!”

In the previous verse, Goddess Parvati asks Lord Shiva to explain to Her the secret of the Master and now She asks about the path by which a human being will be saved.

Bhagavati knows that the mind of man is constantly creating karma. Each breath is creating karma. Each action, each thought, is creating karma, so the Mother is very concerned. She is concerned for everybody! That’s why She is asking Lord Shiva how can one attain the Lotus Feet of the Lord? How can one attain the Grace of the Lord?

Seeing such a devotion in Her and Her concern as a Mother for Her children, Lord Shiva says:

Verse 4

Isvara uvāca

Mama rūpāsi devi tvaṁ
tvat prītyarthaṁ vadāmyaham
Lokopakārakaḥ praśno
na kenāpi kṛtaḥ purā

Ishvara says:
O Goddess, You are My very form and Self! I
answer and explain this out of My Love for You.
No one has ever before asked Me this question
for the benefit of all the lokas (worlds).

Bhagavan Shankar says, “O Goddess, You are My very form and Self!” Here Lord Shiva tells Parvati that there is no difference between Him and Her. Even if they are separated into two forms, still they are One! She is the very form of Himself. Not only the form, but even the Self Itself – Shiva and Shakti are One. That’s the same as when we say that Radha and Krishna are One.

Lord Shiva says that He will explain this mystery out of His Love for Her. He will explain what lies behind this secret of devotion, the secret of the Guru.

Then He says to Her, “No one has ever before asked Me this question.” She was the first one to ask Him this question. And His answer to this question will be of benefit to all the universes, to all the lokas. The Sanskrit word Lokopakārakaḥ means that what Shiva will explain to Parvati is not just for Her ears. It is not only for Her own understanding. In fact, all the lokas, all the universes themselves, will benefit from the blessing of Her own understanding.

Verse 5

Durlabhaṁ triṣu lokeṣu
tacchṛṇuṣva vadāmyaham
Guruṁ vinā brahma nānyat
satyaṁ satyaṁ varānane

I reveal to You the mystery inscrutable of all
the three worlds. O Beautiful One! Listen! The
Absolute is not different from the Guru. This is
the Truth. This is the Truth.

Lord Shiva says to Parvati, “I reveal to You the mystery inscrutable, the greatest and deepest secret, of all the three worlds. O Beautiful One! Listen!” Here Bhagavan Shankar addresses Goddess Parvati as the Beautiful One. He is saying that She, the creation, the Mother, is the most Beautiful One. He is not referring only to Her external beauty, but also to Her inner beauty as the most concerned, the most caring, the most joyful One.

Guruṁ vinā brahma nānyat: The Guru is not different from the Absolute. So, the first thing that Lord Shiva reveals to Parvati about the mystery of the Guru is that there is no difference between the Guru and the Absolute. Lord Krishna also says in the Uddhava Gita that one should know the spiritual Master as Himself. If people perceive a difference, then they are completely wrong. On the other hand, if they perceive the Guru in that supreme state, if they perceive the Lord seated in the heart of the Guru, and if they perceive that there is no difference between the Guru and Bhagavan Himself, they will attain Him.

So, here Bhagavan Shankar reveals, “The Absolute is not different from the Guru. This is the Truth. This is the Truth.” Satyaṁ satyaṁ. And this is the reality! If one sees the difference between the Guru and God or the deity, then one is in delusion. But if one perceives the Guru as God and as the deity, then one is in the Truth.

Verse 6

Veda śāstra purāṇāni
iti hāsādikāni ca
Mantra yantrādi vidyāś ca
smṛtir uccāṭanādikam

This is the Truth not revealed by the Vedas,
various other scriptures, epics, the sciences of
mantra and yantra, magic formulas, etc., or the
smritis and...