गुरुध्यानम् Gurudhyānam

[For becoming liberated from transmigratory existence, I meditate on the crest jewel of Gurus, (His Holiness Jagadguru Śrī Abhinava) Vidyātīrtha:]

Here, His Holiness is referred to as the gurūttaṁsa – the crest jewel of Gurus. Information supporting His being a pre-eminent Guru is found in the second half of the first verse, the third verse, the fourth verse and the first half of the fifth verse. He is adored as the Supreme Brahman in the first half of the first verse; His identification with the Supreme Brahman is buttressed by the word mahāprabhaṁ, the last word of the second verse – a word employed in this stotra to convey that He is of the nature of consciousness, the light of lights. He is described as Īśvara through the last word of the third verse – the word śivam, used not merely to indicate that His Holiness is auspicious, but that He is Śiva, and that too Śiva as the formless Supreme Lord. His being the Supreme Brahman and Īśvara is a reason why meditation on Him is a comprehensive means to enlightenment and, thereby, liberation from saṁsāra. If meditation on Him could not culminate in liberation through enlightenment, the statement in this line – that the aim of meditation on Him, as described in the stotra, is liberation – would be on shaky grounds.

In the Uddhava-gītā, of the Bhāgavata-purāṇa, Lord Kr̥ṣṇa neatly explains to Uddhava how a devotee should progress in meditation, step by step, to attain enlightenment: first, by firmly meditating on His lovely form; then, by focusing on just a single part of that form; next, by giving up even that part and meditating on Him as Īśvara, the ultimate cause of everything; and finally, by going beyond even that – identifying oneself with Him, the Supreme Brahman, and not thinking of anything whatsoever. The Lord’s words in four verses are: ‘indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyo manasākr̥ṣya tan manaḥ / buddhyā sārathinā dhīraḥ pranayen mayi sarvataḥ – Having, by means of the mind, withdrawn the senses from all sense-objects, the resolute devotee should, with the aid of the discerning intellect, firmly fix his mind on My complete form.¹

‘tat sarvavyāpakaṁ cittaṁ ākr̥ṣyaikatra dhārayet / nānyāni cintayed bhūyaḥ susmitaṁ bhāvayen mukham – He should then withdraw His mind from My complete form and steady it on one part of My body, visualizing only My smiling face and thinking of nothing else.¹

‘tatra labdhapadaṁ cittam ākr̥ṣya vyomni dhārayet / tac ca tyaktvā madāroho na kiñcid api cintayet – After the mind has attained steadiness there, he should withdraw it from even that part of My form and focus it on the ultimate cause of everything (on Me as Iśvara Himself, beyond all form). Then, he should transcend even samādhi on even Me as Iśvara and identify himself with Me, the Supreme Brahman, and think of nothing whatsoever.²

‘evaṁ samāhitamatir mām evātmānam ātmani / vicaṣṭe mayi sarvātman jyotir jyotiṣi saṁyutam – He whose mind is thus totally absorbed in samādhi realizes Me, the Ātman, in his self and his self in Me, the Ātman of all – like light united with light.’ ³

His Holiness enacted His divine līlā of practising intense sādhana and of thereby attaining enlightenment and jīvanmukti on 12 December 1935. Three and a half years after this, when He was observing cāturmāsya in Sringeri in 1939, He responded to a spontaneous urge one morning and meditated first on Kr̥ṣṇa’s full form as described in the Uddhava-gītā; then on just the Lord’s smiling face; thereafter on Kr̥ṣṇa not with form but as the Supreme Lord; and finally on Kr̥ṣṇa as the Supreme Brahman. He implemented the steps exactly as described by Kr̥ṣṇa to Uddhava. A few days later, He meditated on Lord Narasiṁha, His iṣṭa-devatā, in a similar fashion. However, in the second step, He fully focused on Narasiṁha’s pair of lotus-like feet. Recalling all this years later, His Holiness told me, ‘It does not matter whether, in the second step, one meditates on the Lord’s smiling face or on His feet. The end result is the same.’ He added with a laugh, ‘To one who is unable to focus unwaveringly on the Lord’s lovely full form, it may seem that focusing on a part of the form is a better option – with the smaller and the more featureless that part, the better! In the steps described by Kr̥ṣṇa, one shifts attention to a part of the Lord’s form after mastering meditation on the full form and as a means to progress from form to the formless.’

In this stotra, the full form of His Holiness is described – for instance, that He is seated in padmāsana. A special mention is made in the final verse of one part of His form – His pair of lotus-like feet. He is stated to be Īśvara through the word śivam. He is identified with the Supreme Brahman through the opening half of the first verse and the word mahāprabhaṁ. Thus, paralleling the meditation prescribed by the Lord to Uddhava, the steps here are as follows. First, meditate on His Holiness’s full form. Next, meditate on just a part of His form – namely, His pair of lotus-like feet. After this, meditate on His Holiness as the formless Supreme Lord. Finally, meditate on Him as the Supreme Brahman, identifying oneself with Brahman and not thinking of anything whatsoever. With each successive step undertaken only after the preceding step has been mastered, and with a clear understanding of Īśvara and the non-dual Supreme Brahman as revealed by the Guru and the scripture, one attains enlightenment, characterized by the realization of the non-dual Supreme Brahman – and, thereby, liberation.

[Whose is the sunlight that dispels the darkness of ignorance; whose mind is established in the Supreme Brahman of the very nature of absolute existence, pure consciousness, and infinite bliss;]

The first half of this verse – which conveys that His is the sunlight that dispels the darkness of ignorance – presents His Holiness as the Supreme Brahman, since the Brahman-consciousness that manifests in the mind at the time of enlightenment is what removes that ignorance.

It is said in the Parāśara-upapurāṇa: ‘ataḥ sarvāṅganiṣṭhasya pratyaṅ-brahmaikyagocarā // yā vr̥ttir mānasī śuddhā jāyate vedavākyataḥ / tasyāṁ yā cidabhivyaktiḥ svataḥsiddhā ca śāṅkarī // tad eva brahma-vijñānaṁ tad evājñānanāśanam – Hence, for the person who is steadfast in all the requisite means, there arises in his mind because of the Vedic mahāvākya (such as tat tvam asi, ‘You are That’) a pure mental vr̥tti that apprehends the unity of the jīva and Brahman. In that vr̥tti there occurs the manifestation of pure consciousness, which is self-evident and beneficial. This alone is the realization of Brahman; this alone is what destroys ignorance.’¹ These verses are cited as authoritative in the Vivaraṇa-prameya-saṅgraha.

It is clear from these that in the duly qualified sādhaka, the mahāvākya, which reveals the identity of the individual jīva with the non-dual Brahman, gives rise to a plenary mental mode – the akhaṇḍākāra-vr̥tti – that has the non-dual Brahman alone as its object. Brahman-consciousness manifests in that vr̥tti and dispels ignorance. Thus, the entity whose ‘sunlight’ destroys the darkness of ignorance is the Supreme Brahman. Since the first verse states that the one whose sunlight dispels the darkness of ignorance is His Holiness, it clearly identifies His Holiness with the Supreme Brahman.

The second half of this verse conveys that His Holiness’s mind steadily abides in the Supreme Brahman, whose very nature is absolute existence, pure consciousness, and infinite bliss. The use of the word niviṣṭa, which means ‘fixed upon’, rather than the causal niveśita, meaning ‘made to be fixed upon’, is significant. Its employment here indicates that His mind abides in the Supreme Brahman without any need for effort – either to direct it towards Brahman or to ensure its continued absorption therein. Such effortless, unwavering abidance is characteristic only of the mind of a great jīvanmukta. Thus, this portion of the verse indicates that His Holiness is indeed a great jīvanmukta. Moreover, since this stotra speaks of His Holiness as seated in nirvikalpa-samādhi, the statement that His mind is thoroughly centred on the Supreme Brahman is entirely appropriate – even as a description of His nirvikalpa-samādhi itself.

[Who is seated in the padmāsana; whose eyes are motionless during meditation; who holds His torso, neck, and head erect; who has great effulgence (as consciousness, the light of lights);]

This verse begins by describing His Holiness as seated in padmāsana. Its third quarter – identical to the first quarter of Bhagavadgītā 6.13 – conveys, in conjunction with the word dhāryantam of the fourth quarter, that He holds his torso, neck and head erect.

Lord Kr̥ṣṇa says, in the context of dhyāna: ‘saṁprekṣya nāsikāgraṁ svaṁ diśaś cānavalokayan – looking at the tip of his own nose and not looking around’. Bhagavatpāda clarifies in his bhāṣya that gazing at the tip of the nose is not the aim; the purpose is the establishment of the mind in the Ātman. Were one actually to see the tip of the nose during meditation, the nasal tip would become the focus of the mind. Thus, what is meant is ‘gazing at the tip of the nose, as it were’. Madhusūdana Sarasvatī points out in his gloss, Gūḍhārtha-dīpikā, that the eyes should not be kept fully closed, lest torpor arise, nor should they be directed towards external objects, which would cause distraction. All this is conveyed here by the expression dhyānastimitalocanam, which means ‘whose eyes are motionless in meditation’.

The final word of this verse — mahāprabham – means ‘he who has great effulgence’. It points to His being the Supreme Brahman of the nature of consciousness; the effulgence referred to here is the effulgence of consciousness, the light of lights. The śruti says: ‘tasya bhāsā sarvam idaṁ vibhāti – All this shines diversely by His effulgence.’¹ Were perceptible, physical effulgence intended here, then either this word or the first half of the next verse – which refers to His bodily effulgence – would have been superfluous.

[Who shines with bodily radiance that rivals the sun; who abides in nirvikalpa-samādhi; whose limbs are motionless; who is Śiva;]

The first half of this verse speaks of Him having bodily splendour that rivals the effulgence of the sun. The purpose of this description is to stress His greatness.

The Chāndogya-upaniṣad says about one who meditates on Vaiśvānara: tr̥pyati prajayā paśubhir annādyena tejasā brahmavarcasena – He becomes satisfied with progeny, cattle, edible food, tejas (lustre) and brahmavarcas (lustre due to spiritual means).² Bhagavatpāda explains the word tejas (lustre) as: ‘tejaḥ śarīrasthā dīptiḥ ujjvalanatvaṁ – Tejas is brightness of the body; the state of being lustrous.³’ As for the other lustre spoken of, ‘brahmavarcas’, Bhagavatpāda clarifies: ‘brahmavarcasena śama-dama-jñānādi-nimittena tejasā – ‘With bramavarcas’ means with tejas (lustre) that arises because of mind-control, sense-control, knowledge, etc.”⁴

Bodily effulgence in persons has been spoken of in the śruti, itihāsas and Purāṇas. The Chāndogya-upaniṣad narrates that when Hāridrumata-gautama saw his disciple Śvetaketu after a long time, he asked him: ‘brahmavid iva vai somya bhāsi ko nu tvām anuśaśāsa – Amiable boy, you certainly shine like a knower of Brahman. Who instructed you?’⁵ It is said in the Maitrāyaṇī-upaniṣad: ‘athāpahata-pāpmānas tigmatejasā ūrdhvaretaso vālikhilyā iti śrūyante – We hear that the Vālikhilyas were free from sins, perfectly chaste and highly effulgent.’¹ Describing Śuka as He approached Vyāsa’s aśrama after having met King Janaka and become fully enlightened, the Mahābhārata says: ‘āraṇeyo viśuddhātmā nabhasīva divākaraḥ – The extremely pure-minded Śuka shone like the sun in the sky.’²

In the third quarter of the verse, His Holiness, the object of meditation, is described as being absorbed in nirvikalpa-samādhi, and in the fourth quarter His limbs are said to be motionless. He was spoken of earlier as having His torso, neck and head erect, and is now said to be motionless. This reflects Lord Kr̥ṣṇa’s instruction that the one sitting for meditation should have his torso, neck and head in a straight line (samaṁ kāyaśirogrīvaṁ) and should be motionless (acalaṁ). Bhagavatpāda explains in his Bhagavadgītā-bhāṣya: ‘samaṁ dhārayataś calanaṁ sambhavati ato viśinaṣṭy acalam iti – Movement is possible even when the torso, neck and head are held in a line, and hence the Lord specifies that he should be motionless.’³

The last word of the fourth quarter – śivaṁ – conveys that His Holiness is Īśvara: Śiva, the omnipresent Supreme Lord, the creator of even Brahmā. The Śvetāśvatara-upaniṣad states: ‘sarvavyāpī sa bhagavāṁs tasmāt sarvagataḥ śivaḥ – He pervades all (like clay, an earthen pot) and has the hexad of bhagas: all divine powers, virtue, fame, majesty, detachment and liberation (that is, its cause, enlightenment). Therefore, He is the omnipresent Śiva.”⁴ Further, prescribing meditation on Lord Śiva, the Kaivalya-upaniṣad says: ‘…praśāntaṁ amr̥taṁ brahmayonim // tam ādimadhyānta-vihīnam ekaṁ vibhuṁ cidānandarūpam adbhutam – He is peaceful, immortal, the source of even Brahmā, all-pervading, without beginning, middle or end, of the nature of consciousness and bliss, and wondrous.’⁵ Lord Śiva as described in the Upaniṣads with whom His Holiness is identified here is supremely auspicious. As explicated in a gloss on the cited mantra of the Śvetāśvatara-upaniṣad: ‘avidyātatkāryamalarahitatvat paripūrṇānandarūpatvāt śivaḥ – Because He is untainted by ignorance and its effects and since He is of the nature of infinite bliss, He is Śiva, the auspicious one.’⁶

[Who considers all objects of enjoyment from the body right up to the state of Brahmā as trifling; who removes the suffering of the afflicted; who ends the doubts of those seeking to know the Truth;]

This verse points to the greatness of His Holiness by highlighting His dispassion, role as a Guru in guiding seekers of the Truth, and His compassion, shown in removing the afflictions of the afflicted.

His Holiness accorded high priority to spiritual aspirants. An Italian came to Sringeri in November 1974, hoping to receive some clarifications regarding Gauḍapādācārya’s Kārikās on the Māṇḍūkya-upaniṣad. However, His Holiness was rather busy at that time; He was to accomplish ‘śiṣya-svīkāra (initiating a disciple into saṁnyāsa and nominating him as His successor-designate)’ on 11th November. Hence, it was felt that it would be impossible for the foreign aspirant to have a private audience with His Holiness. Yet, when he made a request to His Holiness, He readily consented to spare time for him and, with Sri Subbaramaiya acting as an interpreter, answered his questions and resolved his doubts. On being asked about this, His Holiness said, “He is sincere and has come all the way to India to learn. It is my duty to provide him clarifications and, hence, obligatory on me to spare time for him.”

On another occasion, three brahmacārins from North India came to Sringeri to have His Holiness’s darśana and obtain spiritual guidance and blessings for their spiritual progress from Him. It was around 6.40 in the evening when they reached Narasimhavana. As His Holiness had finished granting audience that evening and was to proceed for His evening bath in a few minutes, His attendant was hesitant to inform Him about their arrival. His Holiness, however, specifically asked him, ‘Has anybody come for darśana now?’ The attendant answered in the affirmative. ‘Usher them in,’ ordered His Holiness. Accordingly, the brahmacārins were led upstairs to the presence of His Holiness. They prostrated before Him. He gestured to them to sit down. After asking them, in Hindi, where they were from, He asked them the purpose of their visit. They said that they were interested in progressing in the spiritual path and reverentially posed their questions.

His Holiness began His reply in right earnest. Since He chose to give elaborate answers, it was around 7.15 p.m. before the first of their major questions was dealt with. As was his duty, the attendant came and informed His Holiness the time, by way of indicating that it was getting late for His Holiness (who, after His evening bath and āhnika normally commenced His Candramaulīśvara-pūjā in public around 8 p.m.). His Holiness continued as if no interruption had taken place. The spiritual question-and-answer session progressed, with both the enquirers and His Holiness fully engrossed in it. Time passed on and at 8 p.m., the attendant again made his appearance, only to be waved off. It was around 9 p.m. before His Holiness finished answering all their questions. He then gave them His complete blessings and prasāda. They were visibly overjoyed and expressed their gratitude. They left spiritually charged, with joyful hearts and fond memories. I was present during the discussion and, in the middle of it, His Holiness had turned to me and said, ‘How sincere they are! It is delightful to be of some help to them. It does not matter however much my bath is delayed. Their requirements deserve top priority.’

Some examples of His compassionately removing the afflictions of others have already been given earlier in this book, in the commentary on the third verse of the Śrīmad-Abhinava-Vidyātīrtha-Akṣaramālā-Stotram.

Here is an example of His dispassion, which was intense.

Justice Somanatha Iyer (who retired as the Chief Justice of Karnataka and had also served as the Governor of Karnataka for some time) once asked His Holiness: ‘Your Holiness can enjoy all comforts in the Maṭh. Instead of experiencing any comforts, Your Holiness strains Yourself so much every day, from early in the morning until late at night. What does Your Holiness gain from this?’ His Holiness smiled and said, ‘Suppose you are offered a choice between plain jaggery and badam halwa (a sweet made of almonds), which would you choose?’ Somanatha Iyer replied, ‘Where is the doubt? I would choose badam halwa.’ ‘Likewise,’ responded His Holiness, ‘those who have tasted the bliss of the Supreme do not seek mundane comforts.’ [This was reported by Justice Somanatha Iyer’s son, S. Sivaswamy.]

[Who purifies the entire world by just His glance; and whose feet have been placed in the lotus of my heart.]

The first half of this verse serves to accentuate His greatness. The scriptures contain several passages stating that those who are established in Brahman effortlessly purify the entire world. For instance, the Devī-bhāgavata asserts: ‘viśvambharā puṇyavatī cillayo yasya cetasaḥ – The entire world becomes sanctified by the person whose mind is absorbed in pure consciousness.’

The repeated highlighting of His Holiness’s greatness in various ways – beginning with His being shown as a great jīvanmukta in the second half of the first verse – establishes beyond doubt that His Holiness is indeed a gurūttaṁsa, the crest-jewel among Gurus.

Although His complete form is meditated upon in the eight-petal heart-lotus, His pair of lotus-like feet are specially glorified in the second half of this verse by saying that they are placed in the heart. To a disciple, the Guru’s feet are supremely worshipful, and many are the verses by the great that refer reverentially to the feet of the Guru.

The specific mention of His Holiness’s feet here also points to how the second of the four steps taught by Kr̥ṣṇa to Uddhava may be implemented in meditation on His Holiness – meditation that can culminate in the realization of Brahman and thereby liberation.