Today is the auspicious Guru Pūṛṇimā which has been observed as the day to pay our obeisance to our Guru. But who is a Guru? There are indeed many answers, some technical, some experiential, and some contextual. Clearly, the way it is used in the English language is way different from how it is invoked in the Sanskrit.
Talking of Guru, the first English word that comes to our mind is ‘teacher.’ A Guru is indeed a teacher but not all teachers are Gurus. Ādi Śaṃkara himself gives a beautiful revelation of who is a Guru in one of his compositions called Mānīṣā Pañcakam. It is indeed a very dramatic episode that has come down to us through tradition.
It was in the city of Kāśī. One fine day when Śaṃkara was coming after his holy bath in the Gaṅga and proceeding towards the Viśvanātha temple, an outcast, clad in tatters, apparently engaged in attending to the cremation service, blocked Śaṃkara’s way. The person referred to as caṇdāla in the local terms, did not budge even after being shooed away by Śaṃkara and his disciples.
The theatrics build-up to the climax now. The lowly person, the caṇdāla looks at Śaṃkara and asks thus,
annamayād annamayam athavā caitanyameva caitanyāt
yativara dūrīkartum vānchasi kim brūhi gaccha gaccheti
“Oh noble among the men, who are you commanding to move away by saying go, go? Do you want this body made up of food to move away from another body made up of food? Or do you want consciousness to move away from consciousness?”
The caṇdāla does not stop with this intriguing question. He adds another equally intriguing one with a play of metaphors. He asks thus,
kim gaṃgāmbuni bimbitēmbaramaṇau caṇdāla vāṭīpayaḥ
pūre cāntaramasti kāñcanaghaṭīmṛtkumbhayoṛvāmbare
pratyagvastuni nistaraṅgasahajānandāvabodhāmbudhau
viprōyam shvapacōyamityapi mahān kōyam vibhedabhramaḥ
“(Tell me) Oh great one, what is the difference whether the sun’s beam is reflected from the water of the Ganga or from water running in the ditch near a caṇdāla’s house? Is it not the same space/sky present inside a pot irrespective of whether the pot is made of gold or earth? When the indwelling self is residing in the ripple-free calm ocean of supreme bliss and pure consciousness, of what use is to harbor the grandeur of illusion this is a Brahmin and this is an outcast?”
These two questions came as a bolt to Śaṃkara and they were the keys that opened the final locks in his own consciousness thereby elevating him to the highest levels. He soon realized that the caṇdāla was none other than the great master, the supreme teacher who has come as a Guru before him to impart to him the highest truth. Lo and behold, Śaṃkara fell at His feet calling Him his Guru for He has shown him the truth.
As a response to the questions, Śaṃkara composes a set of 5 verses and they are verily the most esoteric definitions of Guru. Let us look at the first stanza. Śaṃkara says,
jāgrat svapna suṣuptiṣu sphuṭatarā yā samvid ujjṛmbhate
yā brahmādi pipīlikāntatanuṣu protā jagatsākśiṇī
saivāham na ca dṛśyavastviti dṛḍhaprajnāpi yasyāsti cet
caṇdālōstu sa tu dvijōstu Gururityeṣā manīṣā mama ||1
He who has realized that he is not merely an object of perception but is that very pure consciousness shining forth with the highest effulgence in all three forms of physical existence namely, in the wakeful, dream and deep sleep states, and with a firm knowledge that it is the same self that dwells in all forms, right from a tiny ant to the mighty creator, as a witness of all, then it is indeed my firm conviction that he alone is my Guru irrespective of whether he is a Brahmin or an outcast.”
The words the caṇdāla were the key with which the doors of Śaṃkara’s mind was opened and then gushed in the breeze of supreme knowledge. From this whole episode, we get a clear definition of who indeed is a Guru. We not only get the attributes of a Guru but also a lesson of life that however accomplished may an individual be, however mighty an individual one may be, without a Guru, getting elevated to a higher level is impossible. Śaṃkara makes this amply clear in one another set of 8 stanzas called Guṛvaśṭakam where he has listed all tall attributes that any individual can have or dream to have. With a constant refrain, Śaṃkara has unequivocally said that these attributes are worth nothing without a Guru.
Mānīṣā Pañcakam has 4 more stanzas and they together serve as the most comprehensive definition of a Guru and this set of 5 stanzas are, by the way, the sublime truths in the non-dualistic tradition called advaita.
In the subsequent parts, I will describe the other 4 stanzas.
