Vivekachudamani - Post 14

 Verse 8 

अतो विमुक्त्यै प्रयतेत्विद्वान्
संन्यस्तबाह्यार्थसुखस्पृहः सन् ।
सन्तं महान्तं समुपेत्य देशिकं
तेनोपदिष्टार्थसमाहितात्मा ॥ ८ ॥ 

ato vimuktyai prayatetvidvān
saṃnyastabāhyārthasukhaspṛhaḥ san |
santaṃ mahāntaṃ samupetya deśikaṃ
tenopadiṣṭārthasamāhitātmā || 8 ||

(Therefore, the learned seeker who is striving to gain this freedom within and who has renounced all his desires for pleasures in the sense objects should duly approach a good and generous Master and must live attuned to the true significances of the words of the Master.) 

 

We have here a positive declaration of what exactly a seeker should  do in order that he may be well-established on the path of Truth. 

 

A seeker in Vedanta is not a nonentity who has walked into the sanctum of a temple or has casually thought of sitting in prayer or visiting a sacred place. These constitute but the very primary steps in spiritual life. 

The word Vidvan' is used here to indicate a  rue seeker. When, therefore, a student having a cursory knowledge  f life and its meaning realises the futility of running after sense  objects, he comes to a certain amount of renunciation of desires and  thus he approaches his Master. 

Sankara in this verse also lists the special qualifications necessary for a seeker on the spiritual path. 

 

santam - The word 'santa' is often used in vernacular to indicate a  sannyasin, but rarely does one realise what exactly the term means. 

He is a santa who is firmly established in the consciousness of pure Existence (Sat). A Guru must not only be a Man of Realisation and experience but he should be a 'mahanta', a large-hearted, sympathetic, kind person. One can be a Guru only if one has the required magnanimity, intimate personal experience of the Divine and great familiarity with scriptures. 

 

A competent teacher's   qualification is given in Mundaka Upanishad as,  

"stotriyam Brahmanishtam".

Brahmanishtah means the one who abides in Brahman. That is what he preaches and what he is, both are not different. What he teaches is Brahman and he himself is Brahman. If the teacher has to reveal that Brahman as yourselves, as not something of an object to be realised in later time, then alone the student would be able to say Ahaṁ Brahmasmi. Only if it is Ahaṁ Brahmasmi for the teacher, then alone he can be a Tat Tvam Asi, then alone the student would also say Ahaṁ Brahmasmi. Therefore he is called Brahma Nishtah. Brahma Nishta is one for whom the subject matter and himself are identical.

 

And the second qualification is stotriyaḥ; he should have the methodology of communication; which is uniquely designed and developed in the scriptures. A particular method of communication, in which you introduce a concept and go to the next higher concept and negate the previous concept; then go to the next one and then negate the previous one and when everything is  finally negated; and what should be left behind? I, the negator, alone should be left behind, the unnegatable-I; which is unobjectifiable; that unnegatable; and unobjectifiable consciousness alone will be left behind; this is designed and developed in the scriptures alone.

 

Even if a seeker discovers such a perfect Master, he will not be able to react favourably in the Master's presence or even to his discussions, if he has not the necessary mental attitude, denoted by the word 'samupetya'. 

The divine attitude of full receptivity is the aroma of a heart, which has reverence for and surrender to, faith in and love for the Guru.

Again, even with all the prescribed qualifications, if a seeker were to reach the feet of a perfect Master, the transferred knowledge cannot take root in the student, unless he is himself ready to strive along the path. 

The major part of the work depends  upon our own efforts to rehabilitate ourselves. Thus, it is said, the individual should try to live the deep significances of the precepts  of the Master. 

 

Swami Sivananda says,

“He alone who sits at the lotus feet of a preceptor, who has knowledge of the Self and who is also well-versed in scriptural knowledge is able to grasp the Truth. In the Gita also, Chap. IV-34, Lord Krishna says: "Know it by means of prostration to the Guru, interrogation and service. The wise who have cognised the Truth will instruct thee in that knowledge of the Self."

Initiation into the mysteries of Brahman will fructify only in that disciple's mind who is desireless and will produce Jnana in him.

It takes a long time for the charcoal to catch fire but gun powder can be ignited within the twinkling of an eye. Even so, it takes a long time for igniting the fire of knowledge for a man whose heart is impure. But an aspirant with great purity of heart gets knowledge of the Self within the twinkling of an eye, within the time taken to squeeze a flower by the fingers.

Unless you are pure, you will not be able to realise the true greatness of a liberated sage. When he appears before you, you will take him for an ordinary man only, and you will not be benefited. You will try to find out defects in him on account of your fault-finding nature (Dosha Drishti). Even if Lord Krishna or Sri Sankara remains with you, He will not do anything for you, unless you are fit to receive Him, unless you are ready to receive the spiritual instructions.”

 

Love.