Hari Aum.
I have been wanting to write about Eklavya and the Guru principle for a while and today is a good day- as it is Thursday, the day of the Guru.
There are some lessons we can learn from the story of Eklavya about how to be a true disciple. Two great lessons from his story are the vital importance of faith and obedience in order to benefit from a true Guru.
The famous Guru strothram culminates in the statement "Moksha moolam Guru kripa"- i.e. the root/basis of moksha (liberation from idea of false identity/realisation of one's true nature) is the kripa or Grace of the Guru. How is kripa to be attained? As Sivananda used to say, "First deserve, then desire"- meaning first become deserving of kripa/moksha, then only can one hope to receive this.
How then to become deserving? Well, obey the Guru, follow his/her precepts. As Sivananda was fond of saying "Exert, exert, do purushartha"- make a sincere effort in doing sadhana. Do sadhana daily no matter what, remember God frequently (or constantly depending on one's capacity) no matter what, stick to virtue no matter how others behave, keep good company to gain inspiration- again and again raise the mind up from the ditch of samsaric thoughts into the skies of noble spiritual thoughts. Hang in there no matter what. Persistence, diligence, dogged determination. This is needed. This will bring Grace. In fact, this itself is Grace. One just has to get up and do sadhana every day. Every single day.
The lower mind may complain. O my measuring stick doesn't show any results from the sadhana so why continue. Vishnu has not walked into my house and presented me with a lotus though I have been saying His Name for a while. Grumble...grumble....the mind may say, I want to see results.
Then the higher mind replies- you want to measure the effects of the Name of God? That Name which no sage, rishi or even God Himself is able to describe fully the glories? That Name O mind you want to measure with your tiny little ruler of the human intellect? That is futile.
But rest assured, O mind. If the practice of mantra was a new method invented by you, one may have rightly worried that this may lead us nowhere. But the mantra has been around a very long time. Many have practiced japa of mantra and attained God. There is nothing new or special in this. This is natural to the Name of God. Therefore have faith, and keep it up. No point brandishing the human intellect and bleating "I want proof that I am progressing". The human intellect cannot even explain it's own existence, where it came from, and why it exists.
No need therefore to try to pretend it can discover details of how the mantra of God works. Just say the mantra and feel the benefits. Simple. That's what those who felt the benefits of this practice advise.
Best to do as they say. This is called faith. Trusting someone, trusting that the sages spoke the truth, having the heart to recognise who to trust (and who not to), this is called spiritual maturity, this is called faith (wise sattvic faith, not destructive/tamasic foolish faith). When the heart becomes a little clean (i.e. a little virtuous), faith is able to develop. This faith is the basis of developing further virtue through sadhana- so faith and virtue are a positive cycle. Faith is the Grace of God.
Faith then is the basis of true discipleship. This brings us back to the topic of Eklavya and his Guru. Most of us are familiar with the story. We know that Eklavya was a child belonging to a simple hunting clan living in the forests in the era of the Pandavas. He had a natural inborn talent for archery and wanted to learn this art formally from Guru Drona, a master in archery and other forms of warrior-arts. He approached Drona and pleaded with him to accept him as a disciple. But Drona refused as he had accepted the Pandava princes as his disciples and wanted to ensure there was no-one who could match Arjuna in archery. He therefore sent Eklavya away.
Eklavya was broken-hearted by this rejection but determined to learn archery in whatever way he could. He created an image of Guru Drona from clay and worshiped it daily. He learned exceptional archery skills in this way. The sheer faith and love he had for his Guru, forced the Guru (God) principle in the image to respond by teaching him. Let us remember the true Guru is none but God Himself. And God is everywhere including in images and idols.
Later Eklavya's extraordinary skill came to the notice of Guru Drona who asked who taught him. Eklavya smilingly said it was Guru Drona himself! Drona then requested a 'dakshina'- the traditional gift from disciple to Guru, to give thanks for his teaching. He requested the thumb of Eklavya's right hand. This seemingly strange request was made because it would effectively ensure that Eklavya went from being an exceptional archer (better than Arjuna) to just a very mediocre one.
Eklavya, though understanding the unfair intention of his Guru Drona, unhesitatingly cut off his thumb and gave it to his Guru. This act in particular demonstrated the outstanding and glorious discipleship of Eklavya and made his name famous everywhere as the very embodiment of a true disciple.
Fortunately true spiritual Gurus who are One with God (unlike Drona who was simply a warrior-arts Guru) want only our own spiritual growth and welfare as their dakshina/gift (not our thumbs or anything else- though in truth, all things that belong to us in reality belong to the Guru/God).
Legend has it that Eklavya's father was a supporter of the evil king Jarasandha who was against Krishna. Eklavya later fought on Jarasandha's side and was slain by Krishna. But this does not make him less of a great disciple. His name is still remembered as a example of perfect discipleship. He was truly a marvelous character.
Obedience to the Guru is everything to the disciple. The disciple chooses the Guru, not the other way around. Actually God matches the Guru and the disciple.
Once the Guru has accepted the request of an individual to be taken on as a disciple, the onus is on the disciple to obey the Guru and learn from him/her. No true Guru asks for the disciple to come to him/her. It is the disciple who requests the Guru to teach him/her so that the disciple can attain the highest goal of life.
The Guru and disciple both then play their roles to allow the relationship to bear fruit i.e. lead to the realisation of the disciple as one with Guru and God.
The Guru who is One with God gives true instructions to the disciple that will lead to the latter's highest welfare. And disciple is expected to make full use of the Grace of the Guru by faithfully following and practicing the precepts of the Guru.
Eklavya is an inspiration to all of us as spiritual disciples as an excellent example of faith and obedience to the Guru. He did not live near his Guru but he learnt everything from his Guru.
Our Guru also may have left His/Her physical body. We may lament- alas I never got to meet my Guru. But this is all destiny. This is how it was meant to be. If we are meant to meet our Guru in their living frame/body, we will. If we are meant to discover our Guru after they leave the physical cage, then so be it - that is also the will of God. Both are equally good as both are the will of God.
Living in close proximity to a Guru physically does not necessarily grant faster spiritual progress than living further away. It is the practice of the Guru's teachings that draws the presence of the Guru and the kripa of the Guru. Physical contact with a Guru is less important that mental contact with the Guru via His/Her teachings and practicing these in right earnest.
(One example of this is that Malati Tapovan living far away from her Guru Sivananda attained God, but many others living in close proximity to him in the Ashram did not).
Guru is a principle, Guru is the wise teacher aspect of God. Guru is not a human cage. Guru is the Consciousness of the Supreme Being that temporarily inhabits a physical cage so that some work can be done on this planet through that cage. When the cage is dropped, it does not mean that the Consciousness of the Guru also drops out of existence.
The Guru is Eternal Consciousness, God Consciousness, eternal, immortal, ever-accessible by the sincere disciple.
Our pictures of our Gurus in our meditation rooms and our altars are as alive as the Guru in his/her physical cage was. Why? Because as mentioned above, God is everywhere, God manifesting as Guru is everywhere. The Guru watches us do our sadhana in front of Him/Her, listens to our woes and miseries, our exultation and joys.
The Guru is our closest friend and confidante. The Guru mantra is the greatest treasure in the three worlds given by the Guru Himself/Herself as a great tool to realise one's nature as the same as God and Guru. The Guru keeps nothing from us, and gives us everything. As the scriptures say, there is no relative or friend like the Guru. Earthly relatives are for this lifetime only; in the next lifetime, they may not be related to us or know us.
But the Guru knows us in every life, the Guru never leaves us. We may leave the Guru, but the Guru does not abandon us. The Guru stays with us until we complete our journey and attain to the same pristine state as the Guru Him/Herself, as God Himself/Herself.
Om Sri Gurave Namah.
Prostrations again and again at the holy feet of all true Gurus. May they bless us to become worthy disciples and attain the Supreme Goal of life, which as Sivananda says, is our birthright.
Here is a beautiful rendition of the Guru ashtakam composed by the great Adi Shankara.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqCji-oDTlA
I have been wanting to write about Eklavya and the Guru principle for a while and today is a good day- as it is Thursday, the day of the Guru.
There are some lessons we can learn from the story of Eklavya about how to be a true disciple. Two great lessons from his story are the vital importance of faith and obedience in order to benefit from a true Guru.
The famous Guru strothram culminates in the statement "Moksha moolam Guru kripa"- i.e. the root/basis of moksha (liberation from idea of false identity/realisation of one's true nature) is the kripa or Grace of the Guru. How is kripa to be attained? As Sivananda used to say, "First deserve, then desire"- meaning first become deserving of kripa/moksha, then only can one hope to receive this.
How then to become deserving? Well, obey the Guru, follow his/her precepts. As Sivananda was fond of saying "Exert, exert, do purushartha"- make a sincere effort in doing sadhana. Do sadhana daily no matter what, remember God frequently (or constantly depending on one's capacity) no matter what, stick to virtue no matter how others behave, keep good company to gain inspiration- again and again raise the mind up from the ditch of samsaric thoughts into the skies of noble spiritual thoughts. Hang in there no matter what. Persistence, diligence, dogged determination. This is needed. This will bring Grace. In fact, this itself is Grace. One just has to get up and do sadhana every day. Every single day.
The lower mind may complain. O my measuring stick doesn't show any results from the sadhana so why continue. Vishnu has not walked into my house and presented me with a lotus though I have been saying His Name for a while. Grumble...grumble....the mind may say, I want to see results.
Then the higher mind replies- you want to measure the effects of the Name of God? That Name which no sage, rishi or even God Himself is able to describe fully the glories? That Name O mind you want to measure with your tiny little ruler of the human intellect? That is futile.
But rest assured, O mind. If the practice of mantra was a new method invented by you, one may have rightly worried that this may lead us nowhere. But the mantra has been around a very long time. Many have practiced japa of mantra and attained God. There is nothing new or special in this. This is natural to the Name of God. Therefore have faith, and keep it up. No point brandishing the human intellect and bleating "I want proof that I am progressing". The human intellect cannot even explain it's own existence, where it came from, and why it exists.
No need therefore to try to pretend it can discover details of how the mantra of God works. Just say the mantra and feel the benefits. Simple. That's what those who felt the benefits of this practice advise.
Best to do as they say. This is called faith. Trusting someone, trusting that the sages spoke the truth, having the heart to recognise who to trust (and who not to), this is called spiritual maturity, this is called faith (wise sattvic faith, not destructive/tamasic foolish faith). When the heart becomes a little clean (i.e. a little virtuous), faith is able to develop. This faith is the basis of developing further virtue through sadhana- so faith and virtue are a positive cycle. Faith is the Grace of God.
Faith then is the basis of true discipleship. This brings us back to the topic of Eklavya and his Guru. Most of us are familiar with the story. We know that Eklavya was a child belonging to a simple hunting clan living in the forests in the era of the Pandavas. He had a natural inborn talent for archery and wanted to learn this art formally from Guru Drona, a master in archery and other forms of warrior-arts. He approached Drona and pleaded with him to accept him as a disciple. But Drona refused as he had accepted the Pandava princes as his disciples and wanted to ensure there was no-one who could match Arjuna in archery. He therefore sent Eklavya away.
Eklavya was broken-hearted by this rejection but determined to learn archery in whatever way he could. He created an image of Guru Drona from clay and worshiped it daily. He learned exceptional archery skills in this way. The sheer faith and love he had for his Guru, forced the Guru (God) principle in the image to respond by teaching him. Let us remember the true Guru is none but God Himself. And God is everywhere including in images and idols.
Later Eklavya's extraordinary skill came to the notice of Guru Drona who asked who taught him. Eklavya smilingly said it was Guru Drona himself! Drona then requested a 'dakshina'- the traditional gift from disciple to Guru, to give thanks for his teaching. He requested the thumb of Eklavya's right hand. This seemingly strange request was made because it would effectively ensure that Eklavya went from being an exceptional archer (better than Arjuna) to just a very mediocre one.
Eklavya, though understanding the unfair intention of his Guru Drona, unhesitatingly cut off his thumb and gave it to his Guru. This act in particular demonstrated the outstanding and glorious discipleship of Eklavya and made his name famous everywhere as the very embodiment of a true disciple.
Fortunately true spiritual Gurus who are One with God (unlike Drona who was simply a warrior-arts Guru) want only our own spiritual growth and welfare as their dakshina/gift (not our thumbs or anything else- though in truth, all things that belong to us in reality belong to the Guru/God).
Legend has it that Eklavya's father was a supporter of the evil king Jarasandha who was against Krishna. Eklavya later fought on Jarasandha's side and was slain by Krishna. But this does not make him less of a great disciple. His name is still remembered as a example of perfect discipleship. He was truly a marvelous character.
Obedience to the Guru is everything to the disciple. The disciple chooses the Guru, not the other way around. Actually God matches the Guru and the disciple.
Once the Guru has accepted the request of an individual to be taken on as a disciple, the onus is on the disciple to obey the Guru and learn from him/her. No true Guru asks for the disciple to come to him/her. It is the disciple who requests the Guru to teach him/her so that the disciple can attain the highest goal of life.
The Guru and disciple both then play their roles to allow the relationship to bear fruit i.e. lead to the realisation of the disciple as one with Guru and God.
The Guru who is One with God gives true instructions to the disciple that will lead to the latter's highest welfare. And disciple is expected to make full use of the Grace of the Guru by faithfully following and practicing the precepts of the Guru.
Eklavya is an inspiration to all of us as spiritual disciples as an excellent example of faith and obedience to the Guru. He did not live near his Guru but he learnt everything from his Guru.
Our Guru also may have left His/Her physical body. We may lament- alas I never got to meet my Guru. But this is all destiny. This is how it was meant to be. If we are meant to meet our Guru in their living frame/body, we will. If we are meant to discover our Guru after they leave the physical cage, then so be it - that is also the will of God. Both are equally good as both are the will of God.
Living in close proximity to a Guru physically does not necessarily grant faster spiritual progress than living further away. It is the practice of the Guru's teachings that draws the presence of the Guru and the kripa of the Guru. Physical contact with a Guru is less important that mental contact with the Guru via His/Her teachings and practicing these in right earnest.
(One example of this is that Malati Tapovan living far away from her Guru Sivananda attained God, but many others living in close proximity to him in the Ashram did not).
Guru is a principle, Guru is the wise teacher aspect of God. Guru is not a human cage. Guru is the Consciousness of the Supreme Being that temporarily inhabits a physical cage so that some work can be done on this planet through that cage. When the cage is dropped, it does not mean that the Consciousness of the Guru also drops out of existence.
The Guru is Eternal Consciousness, God Consciousness, eternal, immortal, ever-accessible by the sincere disciple.
Our pictures of our Gurus in our meditation rooms and our altars are as alive as the Guru in his/her physical cage was. Why? Because as mentioned above, God is everywhere, God manifesting as Guru is everywhere. The Guru watches us do our sadhana in front of Him/Her, listens to our woes and miseries, our exultation and joys.
The Guru is our closest friend and confidante. The Guru mantra is the greatest treasure in the three worlds given by the Guru Himself/Herself as a great tool to realise one's nature as the same as God and Guru. The Guru keeps nothing from us, and gives us everything. As the scriptures say, there is no relative or friend like the Guru. Earthly relatives are for this lifetime only; in the next lifetime, they may not be related to us or know us.
But the Guru knows us in every life, the Guru never leaves us. We may leave the Guru, but the Guru does not abandon us. The Guru stays with us until we complete our journey and attain to the same pristine state as the Guru Him/Herself, as God Himself/Herself.
Om Sri Gurave Namah.
Prostrations again and again at the holy feet of all true Gurus. May they bless us to become worthy disciples and attain the Supreme Goal of life, which as Sivananda says, is our birthright.
Here is a beautiful rendition of the Guru ashtakam composed by the great Adi Shankara.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqCji-oDTlA
