Vivekachudamani - Post 39

  Verse 33   

श्रोत्रियोऽवृजिनोऽकामहतो यो ब्रह्मवित्तमः ।
ब्रह्मण्युपरतः शान्तो निरिन्धन इवानलः
अहेतुकदयासिन्धुर्बन्धुरानमतां सताम् ॥ ३३ ॥

 

śrotriyo'vṛjino'kāmahato yo brahmavittamaḥ |
brahmaṇyuparataḥ śānto nirindhana ivānalaḥ
ahetukadayāsindhurbandhurānamatāṃ satām || 33 ||

 

(He who is well versed in the scriptures, sinless, unafflicted by desires, a full knower of the Supreme , who has retired into the Supreme, who is  as calm as the fire that has burnt up its fuel, who is a boundless ocean of mercy that needs no cause for its expression and who is an intimate friend of those who have surrendered unto him). 

Sankara exhausts his list of adjectives in enumerating the qualities of the true Guru to supplement his declaration that the Master should be well-established in the supreme Consciousness. He adds here certain qualities which, on a closer observation reveal  that every Man of Realization and Wisdom cannot aspire to and  become an efficient teacher of spirituality. 

To guide and instruct a deluded soul and help him to unwind himself and unravel the knotty traits in him, one must have something more than a perfect experience. The Teacher must, no doubt have full realization but he  must also have a complete grasp of the great scriptures. 

A jnani without having a guru will become a mystic but he will never become a teacher. But a jnani who has studied the scriptures in a traditional way, he alone can become a guru. Sankara calls him a sampradayavith, the one who has the key of opening the scriptures and Sankara goes one step further and says asampradayavith murkavath upekṣaṇiya. 

If there is a person who claims himself to be a jnani but who does not come under the traditional guru sishya parampara, that non-traditional person should be upekṣaṇiyaḥ. 

Then the next qualification is avr̥ jinah. avr̥ jinaḥ means the one who is pure; papa rahitah; adharma rahitah; the one who has the values mentioned in the scriptures; amanitvam, adambitvam, ahimsa, santiḥ; the one who is not immoral; the one who does not lead an immoral life; the one who does not lead an unethical life; moral ethical person. 

Then the third qualification is akamahataḥ. So the one who does not have any expectations out of the student. He does not want to teach for the sake of money or to make the student as his own client; he does not want the status of money or fame or anything, because once it is motivated, he can never be true to the teaching. Therefore, akamahataḥ means the one who does not have any motive or expectation.

Then Brahmavittama rahitaḥ; the one who is brahma or sthira prajnaḥ, the one who has got clear knowledge of Brahman. If Guru have to tell the student that you are Brahman, it is possible only when for me it is very clear that He is Brahman. 

And then the next qualification is Brahmani uparataḥ; the one who abides in Brahman, his own nature; with total satisfaction. Atmaneva Atmana tustaḥ. So his satisfaction does not depend upon any external factor. 

And when there is no dependence at all; there is a totally anxiety free mind. And that is called uparatah; uparataḥ means a mind that has subsided, which has resolved; which is totally tranquil. So Brahmani uparataḥ; abiding in Brahman. Earlier we talked about stotriya, here we talk about brahma nistah. And therefore only santah. 

He must have an irresistible flow of mercy which demands no special cause for its manifestation, especially when it descends upon those who have surrendered themselves to him, having reached his feet as spiritual refugees. Thus, He becomes an intimate friend of those who have surrendered to Him.

 

Love.