Guru and Self – Knowledge

 

(adapted from Swami Paramarthananda’s Gurupurnima talk)

One can have a doubt whether a Guru is necessary for gaining Self-knowledge and whether one cannot gain Self-knowledge through self-study of sastras. Scriptures say that Self-knowledge, Athma Jnanam, is about the spiritual truth which is beyond the material world of time and space, and with the limitations of human intellect one cannot attain it by oneself without the guidance of a proper Guru. First let us see the six-fold limitations of human intellect i.e. purusha buddhi doshaha shat, that scriptures talk about.

The six-fold limitations are:

1)    Ajjnanam, ignorance

2)    Samsayaha, doubt

3)    Viparyayaha, erroneous perception

4)    Pramadhaha, negligence or oversight

5)    Vipralabdihi, being misled by other’s teachings or discoveries

6)    Apatukaranatvam, limitations of the instruments i.e. sense-organs

Now let us see them one by one.

Ajnanam – Ajnanam means ignorance.  The intellect is ignorant by itself.  It is through learning, the intellect gains knowledge; degree of knowledge depending on the degree of learning.  For example a doctor will have greater knowledge of one’s body than oneself.  

Samsayaha – Samsayaha means doubt.  One’s study generates doubts and as the understanding of a thing improves with more study, old doubts get cleared only to give rise to new doubts.  So one’s knowledge will always be assailed by Samsayaha and one cannot be absolutely sure about the knowledge one acquires.

Viparyayaha – Viparyayaha means erroneous perception or wrong perception like the parallax error. Looking at something one can make a wrong conclusion due to mistaken perception like concluding the star’s size as small by only looking at it.

Pramadhaha – Pramadhaha means negligence or oversight.  Where many factors are involved, one may miss some hidden factors, some hidden variables in making a conclusion.  This we can see in physical diagnosis or prediction.

Vipralabhdhi – Vipralabhdhi means being deceived by other people’s discoveries or teachings.  Human intellect is subject to be misled by many factors like the false news circulated in the social media.  This susceptibility of human intellect in being prejudiced by other factors is called Vipralabhdhi 

Apatukaranatvam - Apatukaranatvam means being limited by one’s sense organs. The world that one is seeing is as presented by one’s sense organs. One does not know what is there exactly as sense-organs have their limitations.  

So it is said that with defective intellect and defective instruments of knowledge, sense-organs, one can never know the truth of the world by oneself.  So if one requires a Guru or coach to gain correct knowledge even in worldly matters like arts, science etc then what to talk of the highest spiritual knowledge.  That is why scriptures uniformly echo the words of Mundakopanishad, Mantra 1-2-12; “--tad vijnaanaartham sah gurum eva abhigacchhet, samitpaanih shrotriyam brahma-nishtham.( In order to obtain that knowledge (Brahma Vidhya), let him approach that spiritual preceptor, who is well-versed in the scriptures, and who is firmly established in Brahman, in the prescribed manner with fuel in hand)”. Lord Krishna also tells Arjuna as follows in Gita (4-34)

Tadviddhi pranipaatena pariprashnena sevayaa I

Upadekshyanti te jnaanam jnaaninas tattwadarshinah II

Know that through prostration, enquiry and service.  The wise who have realised the Truth will instruct you in (that) knowledge. (4-34)

Vidhyaranya Swami points out in Anubhuthi prakasa that scriptures contain many statements which are seemingly contradictory.  In one place Advaitam is talked about and in another place Dvaitam is talked about and in another place, Visishtadvaitam is talked about. All of them quote Vedic support.  The subject of study, Brahman is subtler than the subtlest. With the result, more one studies by oneself, more will be the doubts. So all the more the necessity for the guidance of Guru in the study of scriptures, Vidhyaranya swami declares.  If we have instances of some Mahathmas who have gained Brahma Vidya and blossomed into Jnanis without the guidance of Guru, we should consider them as exception to the rule that proves the rule.

Granted Guru is required for study of Brahma Vidya, then we come to the next question as to who is a Brahma Vidya Guru.  Guru is a live person who exists in flesh and blood and who communicates the teaching of the Truth contained in the scriptures to the sishya.  Self Knowledge is always the result of a samvadaha.  Samvadaha means a dialogue while Vadaha means an argument.  That is why Upanishads that reveal Self-knowledge are in the form of Samvadha where Guru’s teaching is in the form of reply to sishya’s question.   Guru gives the teaching on the basis of the Scriptures which have come from the Lord who is free from the six-fold Dosha.  The student gets his doubts cleared through discussion with the teacher. That is why the teaching is called a dialogue.

In the Scriptures, the Gurus are divided into three types. They are Uttama Guru, Madhyama Guru and Adhama Guru.  Uttama Guru is a shrotriya, the one who has got the scriptural knowledge by studying under a competent teacher and Brahma Nishta, the one who has assimilated and internalised the knowledge.  Madhyama Guru is one who has the doubt-free knowledge but has not assimilated the knowledge.  So he has the academic knowledge as information only without any impact on his life-style.  Such a person is called kevala shrotriya and he is not a Brahma Nishta.  Adhama Guru is the exceptional case of one who has gained Athma Jnanam without Guru and the systematic study of scriptures and so does not have the methodology of teaching though he is a Brahma Nishta.  So if one wants to learn the scriptures one should approach an Uttama Guru or at least a Madhyama guru.

This brings us to the question, how to find an Uttama Guru.  One can never search and find a Shrotriya Brahma Nishta Guru as one can never know who is a Shrotriya Brahma Nishta Guru because to identify a Shrotriya Brahma Nishta Guru, one should oneself be a Shrotriya Brahma Nishta. With the thirst for guidance, when one prays to the Lord, then through Lord’s Grace one will be blessed with such a Sadguru.  Sri Adhi Sankara affirms this in Viveka Chudamani verse 3.

Durlabham triyamevai tad devanugraha hetukam I

Manushyatvam mumukshutvam mahapurusha samshrayaha II

Very rare indeed are these three things and happen only due to the utmost Grace of God—a human birth, yearning for liberation, and the blessed association with an illumined sage (for getting Self-Knowledge).

Lastly an Uttama Guru does not encourage a cult to grow around him by declaring that whatever greatness attributed to him, that belongs to the Sastras only and also to his own Guru who taught him the sastras.  It is the lineage of such Uttama Gurus that is keeping the tradition alive teaching scriptures to qualified students.  This Guru parampara is remembered and honoured on the Gurupurnima day.

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