Guru Poornima ki Hardik
Shubhkamnaye (24-07-2021)
|| Hari OM ||
Namaste,
There is a popular saying in Hindi that ‘Guru
bin Gyan Nahi, Gyan Bina Mukti Nahi’ meaning ‘Without (the grace of Guru), one
cannot achieve Self Realisation and with Self Realisation one cannot attain
moksha’. So the question is, How to find a Guru? And, Until I find a Guru, how
to progress spiritually? There are people who would go on a search for a guru.
They would get associated with Ashrams of popular Gurus and then they try to
understand the Guru’s teachings. In process, they interact more with volunteers
and also with the people involved in administration of the ashram and who are
in contact with the Guru. They listen and attend to the discourses of the Guru.
They try to analyze the Guru and gauge him as per their own barometers. If the
guru fails in their definition of a ‘Guru’ they move on to find another Guru.
Though we cannot say this approach is incorrect,
we in order to understand the teachings of shastras, we have to take guidance
of a Guru. However, from spiritual stand point, this approach is not correct.
It is the guru which finds the disciple and not the other way around. But then
the question is what to do until then? Well, we must keep listening to discourses
of the Guru or a Swami ji which we like, but at the same time, we all must keep
praying to Ishvara to guide us in our spiritual progress. We must pray to
Ishvara to teach us japa, to teach us the true meaning of shastras and pray to
Ishvara that we would not be able to progress until we receive Ishvara’s grace
and blessings. Until our Guru actually finds us, our Ista devata is our Guru
too. We must constantly talk to our Ishvara and share our thoughts, like we do
to with a person or a friend. We must not hesitate to share our doubts, ask for
answers, pray for guidance on any topic, be it spiritual or non-spiritual.
Treat Ishvara as a live human being and not as an idol. This will help us connect
with Ishvara and emotionally bond with our Ishvara. The strength of our prayer
and the response of Ishvara lies in the faith we have in him and how strong our
urge is to actually walk on spiritual path and accept his guidance. In other
words, fulfillment of prayers depends upon the intensity of devotion and
willingness to dedicate our life to him.
We must also continue to read shastras
ourselves in order to gain some knowledge and know the basics. There are many
shastras and at times it is overwhelming and confusing as to where to start.
For beginners, a discourse in video format is the best option. If video is not
available, try the audio. If the audio is not available, the we will have to
read the books written by a Swami. There are saints who study shastras for many
years and meditate as per their Guru’s instructions. After many years of study,
contemplation and meditation, they gain clarity on the position of shastras and
what they teach us. If such a Saint gives discourse or writes a commentary on Gita
or any of the prakaran Granthas of Adi Shankaracharya, then the saint will
cover all the essence of the Upanishads, connect the teachings of Prakaran Granths
with the teachings of Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Gita. This reduces a lots
of our work. So listening to a discourse on Gita will cover the Upanishads too
and so there would not be a need to specially study them.
If one decides to read shastras, as some may like
to read book instead of listening to audio or video, then there are basic texts
which one must begin with. The author is connected with Advaita and so the
books and authors recommended may have a tilting towards Advaita, but will try
to give references to books by Acharyas of other sampradayas.
In order to understand the teachings of Upanishads,
we must first be aware of basic terminology and basic concepts. Books teaching
basics are known as ‘Prakaran Granth’. They are composed by Sri Adi
Shankaracharya ji. Granths such as Tatva Bodh explain the basic terminology
like What is mind, what is buddhi, what is Brahman, etc. It is the first book that
the author generally recommends. Another granth is Vivek Chudamani. Though it
is a Prakaran Granth, it is very long consisting of 580 slokas. Vivek Chudamani
is very important for those following advaita way of life. Then there are other
Prakaran Granths like Atma Bodh, Aprokshanubhuti, Panchikaranam Prakriya, etc
that are helpful too.
Next comes the study of Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad
Gita or simply Gita is the most commented shastra. Therea re hundreds of
commentaries and different types of explanations available today. There are two
main types of categories of Gita. Gita with Translation and Gita with Commentaries.
First, the translation of the mula sloka meaning the author has translated the
original Sanskrit sloka without further explaining the meaning. Second is the Commentary
on the mula sloka. Commentary is further divided into three types. Many
acharyas like Adi Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Abhinavgupta, et al have written
detailed commentary on the slokas of Gita in Sanskrit. These commentaries are
then translated into English or Hindi or any other regional language. Second
type of commentary is the explanation given by the author who is closely
following commentary of any Prominent Acharya like Adi
Shankara. The commentary by Swami Sivananda of Divine Life Society is one such
Translation and commentary. Almost all authors who give commentary also
translate the mula sloka. It is always valuable to have anvaya of each sloka i.e. word-by-word splitting of a sloka and their meaning. So each the meaning of each word of sloka is also translated. In case of doubt, one can verify if one doubts the translation. Though one may not be able to understand sanskrit, one can find the meaning of the sloka by referring to offline and online sanskrit dictionaries.
A list of publications and authors is given
here
Reading the Puranas
Puranas are very popular amongst masses as they
teach us in the form of stories. Several purANa-s list pancha lakshana (
pañcalakṣaṇa) or ‘five characteristics’ or ‘five signs’ that purANa must
contain. They are:
1.
sarga:
First or primary creation. Major creation followed by maintenance and
destruction of all worlds, lower and higher spiritual worlds. Cosmogeny. How
universe was created.
2.
pratisarga:
secondary, subsequent creation and maintenance followed by partial destruction
of lower worlds. Cosmic cycles.
3.
vamśa:
Vamsha means family dynasty or clan or kula or lineage. Lineage of deva-s,
rishi-s and mahArAja-s (kings). Genealogy.
4.
manvantara:
Period or age of manu. One cosmic cycle.
5.
vamśānucharitam:
Legendary stories of popular kings and their lineages. Genealogical list
of popular clans.
In the beginning, some may find it difficult to
read such a big book. So we omit the parts which we are not interested into like
the list of kings of a particular clan or on the theories of creation or
cosmology. We can first begin with reading the stories or rather the life of
important characters. For example, In Srimad Bhagavat Purana, there are many great
stories like Druv Charitra (Character of Druv), Prahlad Charitra, Gajendra
Moksha to name a few. One can refer to the index and can filter out such
sections. Later we can go and read other parts of Purana. Also reading all 18
Puranas is practically not possible for a layman and one need not read them
all. The important Puranas are Srimad Bhagavad Purana, Vishnu Purana and Shiva Purana.
Other Puranas like Ganesh Up-Purana, Devi Bhagavat, Markendeya Purana and
Garuda Purana can be taken up for study as per liking and availability of time.
Linga Purana and sections from the very large Skanda Purana are taken up for
study by the enthusiasts.
There are books or booklets published by many
ashrams and mathas which are collections of such inspirational stories from
Puranas. To begin with one can read them as well.
Ramayana and Mahabharata
These two epics are known as itihasa meaning
history. Unlike Puranas which may have an element of imagination, both epics
enjoy a higher authority over Puranas. Mahabharata has 1,00,000 slokas. It may
take upto a year to read them. Honestly, many people skip these epics. There
are many versions of Ramayana. Two popular one are Valmiki Ramayana, the main original
poetic work and Tulsidas ji’s Ramayana. All versions of Ramayana are inspired by
Valmiki Ramayana. One must note that Ramayana is composed as poetry and not compiled as a historical document. It was written as per the divine vision of Sage Valmiki by the blessings of Lord Brahma ji. It is not written by a historian or a king's scribe. Mahabharata is also written as a 'story'. Like Ramayana too, it has been written by a saint, an Avatar, Bhagavan Veda Vyasa. Both epics impart us with may moral and spiritual values. They give us direction as what to do when one is on the cross roads and need to decide which way or response to choose. They cover all four purusharthas - dharma, artha, kama and moksha.
There is a misconception amongst few that one
should not keep Mahabharata in the house as it may result into quarrels in
home. This is completely wrong. Infact it is said that, ‘What is found
elsewhere is definitely found in Mahabharata, but what is found in Mahabharata
may not be found elsewhere’. Mahabharata
has everything that can happen in life and teaches many things covering many
fields from Governance to war to spirituality. It teaches consequences of
betrayals, consequences of not following one’s dharma, it talks on death and moksha (ref Sanata
Sujatiya) and much more.
As said earlier, since these epics are lengthy
and many of us rely and remain contended with the knowledge gained by TV
serials, most people do not read this epics. Only Sunderkand from Tulisdas ji’s
Ramayana is popular.
Stotras and Stutis
Puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharata has many
stotras and stutis of devi-devatas. There are also very popular heart touching
independent compositions. One can read listen to them too.
In this way, one can begin with Prakaran
Granthas, then read Gita or listen to discourses on Gita. We may also read various
popular stories that inspire us to progress spiritually like Druv and Prahlad
Charitra from the puranas. There are stotras and stutis, various Sahasranama
stotras including the famous Vishnu Sahasranama Stotra and Shiva Sahasranama
Stotra. If time permits, one can read puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharata.
An Important point note is that it is best when
shastras are read or listened in our mother tongue and the book along with translation
has the original Sanskrit sloka too.
Wishing you all a very Happy Guru
Poornima.
May the grace of Guru and Ishvara
by upon us all.
May we all progress spiritually.
|| OM Tam Namami Gurum Sharanam||
|| Gyanadev tu Kaivalyam ||
|| Hari OM ||
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