In plain words
‘This world has its root in Manas’: that is, Manas has pervaded the whole world. So it is this Manas that has the name Viṣṇu-hood. People believe that the one born from the navel of this Viṣṇu is Brahmā. That is, what has come forth from this Manas is speech. Speech itself is the form of Brahmā. That is precisely why, of Brahmā,
made of the Word that is Brahman, of all that moves and stays still, made of light, made of speech; made of eternal Ānanda, beyond the highest, made of Māyā, made of auspiciousness:
so saying, they have likened speech to the Brahmā-principle. So what do Īśvara, Viṣṇu and Brahmā mean? The heart itself is Īśvara. Manas itself is Viṣṇu. Speech itself is Brahmā. The combined form of these three is the principle of the Ātma, which is divinity. So this Brahmā himself is our guru. Viṣṇu Himself is our guru. Īśvara Himself is our guru. Within this principle, so stated, they have held it to be oneness. To a śloka full of such sacred meaning, we have taken guru-hood as some petty … , divided it into the many, accepted multiplicity, and have kept forgetting what is true.
The guru is Brahmā, the guru is Viṣṇu, the guru is the god Maheśvara; the guru is the supreme Brahman itself: to that holy guru, salutation.
What is its inner meaning? Gurur brahmā is not Brahmā the creator. Speech itself is our true guru. Gurur viṣṇuḥ is Manas: Manas that pervades all, Manas that roams everywhere. Manas that is in all beings. Manas that is installed in every field. That is Viṣṇu-hood. Gurur devo maheśvaraḥ. That is the seat of the heart. Guruḥ sākṣāt parabrahma tasmai śrī gurave namaḥ. The divinity that is the oneness of these three is the principle of the Ātma. That itself is our guru, they said.
What does guru-hood mean? The principle that does away with darkness is this guru-hood. So as long as these three guṇas are there, darkness is bound to be there. That is why they said that only when we reach the state beyond these three guṇas is that guru-hood. It is not teaching. Or, only when one feels the oneness of these three guṇas is this the true teaching of the guru. The oneness of these three, that is: My Ātma is the inner Ātma of all beings; that is the true principle of the Ātma. What is in all is one. The One who dwells as the inner Ātma of all beings: forgetting such oneness and building up difference, we are falling prey to unrest.
It is through the changes of the three guṇas that this world is created, sustained and destroyed. For the whole of this creation the three guṇas alone are the foundations. The three guṇas alone are the supports. The three guṇas alone are the life-breath. Through the form and nature of these three guṇas the principle of this Prakṛti goes on unfolding. The sum of the workings of these three guṇas is this world. So the Veda goes on revealing this world through the form and nature of the three guṇas, through their particular changes, and through their play and laughter.