What is the basis of the Dharmic Order of India?

Why Hinduism continues to hit roadblocks despite its unparalleled rich spiritual history? The reason is the distortions, dilutions and interpolations the scriptures have undergone in the hands of some greedy Vaidikas. Let us first see what is the basis of the Dharmic Order of India? Is it based on Trimurty tradition or Manu tradition? First this should be decided. In the Trimurti tradition (Hinduism), Brahma, Vishnu, Siva and several other deities are mentioned as authorities of creation in the puranas, which are written down to satisfy various sects in India. But in Sanatana Dharma or Manu Dharma, Manu is the creator, not Brahma. 

Who is this Manu? Everything originates from Manu. For this reason, Manu is called the progenitor of mankind and the cosmic time cycles are calculated in terms of Manvantara after the name of Manu. The concept of Adam has originated from Manu. Manu and Satarupa were the first man and woman God created, it is written in the Upanishads and Puranas. But the Vedic scribes distorted the original Manu Dharma in order to promote temple-centric Trimurti spiritual order in which brahmin is also made a god (brahmana devo bhava). The history of Manu was omitted except the mention of his name in scriptures. The texts mentioning the history of Manu are lost.

Sanatana Dharma does not promote devi-deva worship, but the worship of Brahman alone through the medium of an enlightened spiritual master. This is what the Upanishads and sacred texts like Bhagavad Gita and Guru Gita teach. Sanatana Dharma is Ashram-centric or Guru-centric spiritual culture, whereas Trimurti tradition or the present day Hinduism is temple-centric or priest centric religious culture. It has caste laws attached to it. Caste laws are written down in the puranas, epics and smritis like Manu Smriti. These texts are not authoritative. They have undergone several distortions in the hands of Vedic scholars during the course of several ages. Rishis have advised to weed out these interpolations just like we separate pebbles etc. from grains bought from shops.One should accept only the original teachings of rishis. Caste system alienates people from each other as it arbitrarily makes people high and low by birth.

There is no caste system in Sanatana Dharma, whereas Hinduism advocates and practises caste system which has done immense damage to Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma) and Hindu unity. Unless this spiritual distortion brought about by selfish Vaidikas is corrected, Hinduism will continue to face its challenges and existential crisis.

If one has to understand Sanatana Dharma, Manu Dharma is to be understood. Manu Dharma is the cosmic order of spiritual evolution through the Manvantara time cycles. This spiritual evolution is presided over by an enlightened Guru in every yuga, such as Sri Ram in Treta Yuga, Sri Krishna in Dwapara Yuga. There will be gurus for shorter periods, 1500 years, 2000 years, etc. under the Supreme Guru of a Yuga. After that those religious movements get degenerated and another spiritual guide appears by the Will of God for further spiritual guidance of mankind. This is the Dharmic Order in the universe and the Rishis called it rightly as Sanatana Dharma, i.e. God's Eternal Spiritual Order. The basis of India's tolerance towards other religions rests on this concept of spiritual evolution over ascending ages lasting up to Satya Yuga, the all perfect age.

Trimurti gods Brahma, Vishnu, Siva and great gurus like Sri Ram, Sri Krishna were spiritual masters of bygone ages. The spiritual tenure of these masters does not work in Kali Yuga, because Kali Yuga has its own Supreme Guru and a Dharma of its own. It is known as Yuga Dharma. So concepts such as 'The Only Messenger of God' or 'The Final Messenger of God' are blind and irrational beliefs negating the eternal spiritual order of Almighty God. It is against God's spiritual scheme of evolution.

Now all the world religions are on the brink of a collapse as they have outlived their spiritual tenure more or less. Now this is the time for another spiritual renewal through a great Master. There are many prophecies about the arrival of such a Guru. There is the prophecy about  a Maitreya Buddha (Mettayya) in Buddhism, the Son of Man in Christianity, the Mahdi Imam in Islam and several others.  In recent times, Sri Aravind Ghosh had seen in vision the arrival of a Supramental Light on the earth plane accompanied by Sri Krishna. The great Guru in the prophecies has taken birth in India, in the southern most State of Kerala - Gods' Own Country. That supreme spiritual Master is none other than Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru, who came to re-establish Sanatana Dharma, the eternal spiritual order. Hinduism can regain its stature as the World Guru by recognising and following the footsteps of the Guru. This is a rare opportunity given by God Almighty to remove all the pollution in Sanatana Dharma.

Why Hinduism Has to Evolve?

We have only one religion – the Religion of Liberation’, said Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru (1927-1999), the founder of Santhigiri Guru Parampara about the path of Dharma he founded. Guru Dharma deals with principles related to the spiritual scheme of time cycles (Yuga Dharma), wisdom transmission (Guru Dharma) and the laws concerning soul’s transmigratory journey for the fulfilling experience of non-dual consciousness. Guru revealed the way for experiencing the pure vision of non-dual Truth living in the duality of phenomenal existence.

We might take time cycles i.e. Yugas, Manvantaras, and Kalpa as some obscure concepts from an unknown past. Just like time in the form of day and night as well as year and season is bound to human destiny, Yugas and Manvantaras are the measurements of infinite time, related to the origin and evolution of life and consciousness in the solar system. The solar system has come into being with such matchless perfection by the Will of Brahman, the Transcendental Light (Brahma Prakasham).

How can the Absolute Nondual Truth create a world of plurality is a question that continues to perplex man.  Existence cannot come into being from non-existence, declare the Upanishads (Chandogya Upanishad, VI.II.1). Although the Divine Light is non-dual primordial consciousness and also the basis for phenomenal existence, it creates the world of plurality with names, forms, qualities and different potencies by launching itself through a primordial kinetic urge (Adi Sankalpam).

Adi Sankalpam means the first thought or the Word of God as reflected in the Upanishads as ‘May I Be Many’, ‘May I Create the World’. (Chandogya Upanishad, VI.II.3, Aitareya Upanishad, I, Taitiriya Upanishad, II.vi.i). This primordial urge, the spontaneous self-expression of the nondual Truth creates the boundaries of time and space as well as the whole phenomena of existence, the cosmic plan.  

Some religions are against anthropomorphizing God, as they argue that the Absolute Truth is arupi, i.e. formless. Advaita Vedanta even deny that the creation is only a mirage, an illusion.  However, the argument is only partially true.

Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru said:

‘Although God is arupi (formless), there is swarupam (form). When we say the love of God, we should imagine a ‘swarupam’ (an embodiment) for God in mind, because God indeed is a ‘swarupam’. Saying that God is omnipresent and interpret in some other way, we would never be able to understand God’.

The pure absolute consciousness has to first transform itself into an entity for the purpose of creation, the scriptures reveal. The Brihadaranya Upanishad mentions: ‘In the beginning, this was but the Self in a form similar to that of a Man’. (Rig Veda, 10.90.2, Yajurveda 31:18, Aiteraya Upanishad, 1:1:3).

This progenitor is known as Manu in Indian cosmology. He is the first born of God, the Purusha or the Hiranyagarbha of the Vedas and Upanishads and the Logos in western theology. The Indian rishis calculated the age of the universe in terms of Manvantara after the name of Manu, the archetypal Guru, the primordial Purusha, through whose volition (sankalpa) every solar system comes into existence. Man has lost the awareness about this archetypal heavenly father. Therefore, Indian rishis calculated the age of the universe in terms of Manvantara, the age of a Manu.

Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru said:

‘Manu Parampara (lineage) is to provide God’s dharma to the world. It is a long time now since we have reached to this helpless state of not knowing about Manvantara, Chaturyuga, how many chaturyugas constitute a Manvantara…’

Nine heavenly bodies revolve around the sun creating the conditions for the origin, sustenance, and evolution of human life. The Rishis revealed that a Manvantara has seventy-one age-quartets or Chaturyugas (306,720,000 human years) consisting of Satya, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali, which cyclically evolve to a pre-determined goal of perfection. Then another solar system begins with the next Manu. Fourteen such archetypal Manus appear in an episode of creation called Kalpa.

‘When we talk about the origin of the universe, the yuga-cycles and dissolutions happen with such a long age. Manvantara comes at the transition to another yuga-cycle after dissolution’ (Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru).

This process of creation goes on infinitely, without a beginning and end, which explains the theory of an expanding universe with its billions of galaxies and the possible existence of countless solar systems. Therefore, the Indian name for God is Brahman, which means that which expands.

‘There is a measure of Brahma Prakasham (Divine Light) for the movement of the solar system’ said Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru. The universe moves on the wheel of time, therefore, the human race cannot move forward without the proper awareness of time. Time is the synonym for change. Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru said about it as avastha bhedam (change of nature or stage).

‘Evolving through each age, developing through centuries, we are crossing stages. When we say ‘avastha bhedam’, the stage from a base entity to a Deva is a unique stage (avastha) of ours’ (Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru).

When Darvin’s theory of evolution is taken further to ethereal planes (mandalas), the soul of man further evolves into the status of greater luminous bodies of a deva, Rishi, sanyasi and other higher levels of manifestation. The soul goes through ten spiritual stages of transformation, according to the Guru. The worlds mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana and other texts relate to these stages of soul evolution.

After the age of Kali, the Chaturyuga cycle again begins with Satya, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali. Satya Yuga is the age of perfection, when God realization is direct, according to the Rishis. While the perfected souls in Satya Yuga adorn the heavens as radiant entities and merge with Brahman (the absolute nondual state) at the end of a Kalpa, souls in the various states of evolution such as an animal, human, deva or a rishi also have to go through the long process of evolution through the cycle of ages. The soul might go down in the process of evolution when righteous dharma and karma are violated.

The present age is the Kali Yuga of 28th Chaturyuga, with 43 Chaturyugas to go, to complete this Manu cycle. Kali Yuga is a period of spiritual perfection. The spiritual order of Kali yuga requires that man attains necessary soul luminance to qualify for the all perfect Satya Yuga, rectifying the mistakes that might have happened in the karma and dharma of previous yuga cycles dwapara and treta.  Sanatana Dharma is related to this eternal spiritual order.

However, the mediums of revelation, as well as the modes of application, change from time to time because of socio-environmental changes and human errors that trigger periodical civilizational changes. This change is continuous. Spiritual guides appear for various durations such as 1000, 2000, 3500 or 5000 in a yuga cycle.

‘When the Treta Yuga is completely traversed in the order of Yuga Dharma, an ideology cannot remain more than 5000 or 10000 years. With the passage of time, many failings come in those ideologies’ (Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru).

In view of the above, Yuga Dharma embodies the concept of age-specific renewal of the Dharmic order.

Karunakara Guru said: ‘Yuga Dharma is not only for any particular caste, religion or person. Yuga Dharma is for the whole world… we should know what is Yuga Dharma. There is no use taking up all the four without following what is to be followed in each Yuga. But, we have a tradition that has taken up all the four’.

The ways of worship and social laws of bygone ages (Treta and Dwapara) are practiced in Kali Yuga against the age-specific spiritual order of Sanatana Dharma. The regime of Mahatmas and their spiritual guidance pertaining to Kali Yuga according to the concept of yuga dharma are ignored. Sri Ram, the guru of Treta and Sri Krishna, the guru of Dwapara, whose spiritual incumbency belonged to their respective ages, as well as the rituals and the sacred chants of those yugas are followed in the Kali Yuga. The rights and wrongs of the past yugas are repeated arresting the age-related spiritual evolvement.

While the Vedic tradition portrayed Kali Yuga as an age of ruin, Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru said that Kali is the best age after Satya Yuga since it is an age of spiritual evolvement. The revelations of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru regarding the Dharmic order of Kali Yuga deserve serious attention:

*. We should make changes according to the time. Time will not step aside for us. Since this is the age of Kali, what is required is the propagation of Dharma suitable to Kali Yuga.

*. If the time of Deva in the Treta and Dwapara had been fulfilled through mantra and tantra, it has to be fulfilled through austerities and knowledge (tapas and jnana) in the age of Kali.

* Most jnanis have not been able to understand what the Dharmic order of Kali Yuga is.

* In order to implement Kali Yuga Dharma, a correction and a new path is required. The new path is to develop a good character among the people.

The effort for the transition to Kali Yuga Dharma had begun from Sri Krishna. After Sri Krishna, the Upanishad Rishis, Sri Buddha, Mahavir and other Mahatmas tried to rejuvenate the jnana tradition of India. However, their efforts remain unfulfilled because of spiritual distortions.

Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru referred to it as ‘the error that denied Guru Dharma in the name of Vedic dharma’. Guru said that there would be a change only when we accept the path opened by the Mahatmas:

‘What is required first is the removal of ignorance. That only will lead to victory. What is required for that? We should understand the vision of Mahatmas; should think about it and then try to actualize it. Thus, if we strive step by step, we can reach the desired shore…. Our destined karma is to knock at the door and find out the self-sacrifice of every great soul, that they did for our sake…Mahatmas are the means to love truth and to know the karma with discrimination.’

But the Mahatmas did not get the desired status in India. The Rishi tradition gave way to the Vedic tradition which tried to cement the Trimurti tradition, the worship of trinity gods (Siva, Vishnu and Goddess) and their large family of gods, divinities and gurus under it. The Hindus of India are thus divided into many sects and caste groups leading to their spiritual disunity.  Therefore, the efforts to unite Hindus have always failed.

 Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru said:

‘An effort has taken place to unite us through Vaishnava, Shaiva and Sakteya traditions. But people would not be united in that way because these three had come in three different ways. What is required for unifying is some awareness.’

The mistake prevailing in the world now is that the dharma of the fourth epoch (Kali Yuga) has not been implemented here. Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru said that the worship of One Almighty God has to be perfected in Kali Yuga. The doctrine of One Absolute God was put forward by India first. However, for the last few millenniums, Vedic tradition functioned without giving respect to the jnana tradition; therefore, Yuga dharma could not be established here.

The idea of One God worship was propagated by prophets such as Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad in West Asia, which has spread throughout the world. But in the prophetic religions, there is no clear concept about cosmic time order – about the Yugas and Manvantaras. They also do not accept the theory of spiritual evolution, reincarnation, etc.

Nature has an inherent character to evolve the soul to its Absolute status through a series of evolutionary incarnations. There exists, also a divine intervention that creates or directs this rhythmic evolution. The uniqueness of Indian spirituality is this idea of a divine intervention, in the form of a spiritual embodiment that exists as the ‘witnessing authority of all actions and knowledge (Karma-Dharma-Saakshi, i.e. Guru Incarnation). Indian spirituality considers the relationship between an enlightened Guru - who is the embodiment of absolute realization- and the souls who are struggling to attain freedom from the chains of imperfection as the fundamental dharma for the evolvement and fulfilment of all living beings. 

The path of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru is the hope for the whole human race to unite spiritually. It is an opportunity for Hinduism and India to evolve with universal acceptance.

Mukundan P.R.

Senior Coordinator, 

Santhigiri Social Research Institute

Thiruvananthapuram

Reference:

Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru, A Dialogue on Human Prospect, Santhigiri Publications

Mukundan P.R., The Riddle of Manu, Manvantara Avatars and World Teacher Prophecies, Santhigiri Publications

Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru, The Liberating Dharma, Santhigiri Publications

Sanatana Dharma Will Rule the World

“Islam and Christianity are prophetic religions which do not have a long history. Besides, there is a deviation from the time of Moses. Also these two religions have more or less performed their functions, in their respective paths. The changes brought about by the Christian and Islamic presence in India were considerable. The Christian British bettered the lot of the lower castes and educated them. They started getting sufficient to improve their physique. Some from among these sections identified themselves with the occupying suzerain and became part of the new religious and educational institutions. They soon participated in the governance and outstripped the Brahmins in cleverness. Those who embraced Islam practiced it as a rigorous discipline. They relied on physical aggression at times and expanded the areas of their influence. Still, the majority of them are disadvantaged as they came from these Hindu communities which were uncultivated in the finer graces of religious culture. However elevated these religious groups might have become through education and affluence and however long they might have stayed close to political power, there is something lacking. The refinement of Sanatana Dharma is that it comes with a virtuous way of life combining cleanliness, tidiness and humility envisaged in the Hindu way of life.
 
The Sanatana law has come to mean a mixing of myths and legends of the ancient past and more recent stories up to the propounder of the Gita. All these are put together with an eagerness to establish Advaita. Those who spout this Advaita, non-duality, are often unsympathetic to neighbors and even to their own brothers and sisters. We are talking all the time. Vedanta degenerates into pedantry. That is why a correction is difficult in this path. As far as Islam and Christianity are concerned conflicts and consequent divisions occurred within them even as they were coming up. This divisive tendency had led to disasters. It is not yet time for another coming (of a prophet or great soul), bringing peace and rejuvenating these faiths. Besides, other paramparas have not been able to go deep into spirituality as the Sanatana or perennial law of the Manvantara system. It is a matter of divine intervention. Such depth of spirituality as this is difficult to find elsewhere. And so is such extensive history and religious culture. Still more significantly, the responsibility of working for the remaining time period of this Manuparampara is vested in the Dharma of the Hindus.
The Manuparampara is the means to impart the Law of the Supreme to the world. Therefore the essence of all religions inheres in this system. An alternative to this way cannot evolve easily in the world.

India is a land of great wisdoms and great civilizations grown over vast periods of time. It should, therefore, strive to establish the perfect culture willed by the Almighty. Not only Christians or Muslims alone, all religions ought to heed this. Though each world religion is essentially part of a totality, each has been separately ennobled by many great men from time to time with their self-sacrifice and effort which have given rise to different customs and traditions. Many such traditions are visible in Hinduism itself. It is doubtful if any other religion is enriched to this extent. In order to mold life in keeping with this Age -the Kali, theologians and all believers of various religions should assess this Kali and its composite culture – the samkara mentioned in the Gita. This is a process to be achieved by the present and future generations…

A reorganization of our society, of our country, is required. All of us, believers, should free ourselves from the destructive effects of the caste system. We should overcome ethnic and religious differences. All children of this land should come together in humility and in devotion to God. That is the way to reorganize. This will give us the strength of mind, and power. The community that could contribute greatly towards this reorganization is the Brahmin community. In them intelligence, skill, ability and shrewdness blend as it were. They should give up their varnasrama caste trappings completely and lay the foundation of a composite—samkara—culture, the culture that is meant for Kali, indicated by the author of the Bhagavad Gita. They should unite with others to build a complete society, totally free from caste or class. They should not be distracted by the differences seen today. The pattern of having one mode of worship for themselves and other modes for the rest should change first. Instead of securing tantric rites people should be firm in the experiential worship of the Divine. Those who strive wholeheartedly for this should lead others who lack awareness. If we do not do this, the births of great souls would be diverted elsewhere away from our ethnic stream. The focus of redemption will move away and we will be left in a complex of Karma…” (Quoted from the book ‘A Dialogue on Human Prospects’ by Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru, published by Santhigiri Ashram) 

Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru (1927-1999) is the Founder Guru of Santhigiri Ashram at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

The Riddle Called Guru

Unshakeable Devotion and Love of Disciple that leads to the Riddle called Guru.
(By Her Holiness Sishyapoojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini)

O’ Guru, innumerable are the shades of emotion that I saw in the glimmer of your graceful look. I am merging in you, the immense and eternal figure of cosmic manifestations, melting unaware even to a speck of life. O’ Guru, You exist in the border-less cosmic expanse of love, as the Truth that could be experienced by anyone. Brightly present in me are the hymns of your praise and its sweet reminiscences.

The disciple who examines your whole birth cycles sees the great glory of Light. That is an experiential aspect, which remains as the greatly profound and greatly silent principle. Everyone can know that truth discreetly only through their self-experience. They are fortunate who are capable to take that type of discretion bowing down. They are people who have seen innumerable ‘visions’ before.

When seen about you, it could be seen that you go beyond kalpas and the plains of kalantara gurus. In those pathways, in the long and sweet memories, innumerable clusters of beautiful shapes are seen gathering in you. The magnitude of the sacrifices that remain powerfully in you is a riddle that is inexhaustibly uncountable and inexpressible. O Lord! Do the others know even a little about the greatness of the radiant stream of love that exists in you infinitely?

Once, your Guru locked you up inside an abattoir in its pools of blood. You had known for what it was. Those were the pages of life afire with sacrifice that had been arranged for passing the myriad ridges of mystic experiences related to spiritual planes. Who else can know about this type of punya? Only you could have gained it absorbing the complete character of numerous visionary aspects.

You were a disciple who became the synonym for patience, suffering whatever sacrifice. You had known that the disciple who absorbs this sacrifice crosses over big phases of life. You understood how a disciple should live honouring the wish of Guru and how to accept the decisions of Guru beyond any room for doubt. Through this, you taught the world that it is the unshakeable devotion and love of the disciple that leads to the riddle called Guru.

That saturating attainment is the absoluteness that cannot be shared or gained by anyone in the world now. It is the tatvamasi - the blissful union of soul that cannot be retrieved from anywhere. Praying that everyone should be able to be unified with your boundless, affectionate and ambrosial love!

(Translated from the original Malayalam by Mukundan P.R.)

The Subtle and Manifest Figure of Guru

Among a few who could realize the divine nature of Guru, Her Holiness Sishyapoojita is the foremost. I had tried to translate some of her sublime and profound words and visions although imperfectly. One such piece is here:

The Subtle and Manifest Figure of Guru
(Her Holiness Sishyapoojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini)

I testify before the world my vision that Guru reveals indescribably, as the Guardian of the astral conception of God-ordained destiny, as the Indefinable Source of Radiance and the Conceptual Spectator, as the Ideological Thought in the primordial Vedas, as the Effulgent Sparks in the zodiacs and constellations reaching their depths, as the Minute in the Minutest, the Absolute in the Absolutes, as the Pure Resplendent Light behind all cause and effect, and as the Soul of Dharma of everything.

That Guru apportioned His life to lift up the disciple to His level is indeed great luck among luck and great virtue among virtues! However, I have witnessed every day and moment, the pain of Guru’s mind while sharing it, caused by the unbearable hurts, bitter than when the heart is dissected.
Unseen indeed is this universal God ordained Guru-Disciple bond, which becomes the loftiest example of guru-disciple relationship. Behind Guru’s sharing of His sacrificial virtue for curing the severe afflictions of the disciples is the mighty Will of God that human intelligence cannot perceive.

To mention an aptest comparison about this sharing between Guru and Disciple, it is most beautiful and delicate like the nest- building of a hornet. The wait of Guru for the sake of disciple is similar to the wait or self-denial of the hornet, which confines a worm inside a hole and waits until it comes out as a wasp. To share Guru, that would be according to the merit and right of the disciple. However, the wait of Brahman for the transformation of Guru to a state constituting the Original Will of Brahman lengthened to several ages.

Inanimate and animate beings, the oceans, waters, and all those varied manifestations are the radiating love and medium of Guru’s Will in the creation. Guru walks the disciple to the pathway of wisdom that exists as the under current in the Vedas, Upanishads, mythology, epics, Yoga Sutras etc. and to the endless plateaus of hidden spiritual secrets. Having come into that procession, I always see Guru in vision, and know Him as the one who sunders the subtle threads in the disciple’s karmic planes, as the astral substance for the building anew of panchendriyas, panchabhutas and panchakosas (five senses, five elements and five sheaths) becoming the witness of all and the fulfillments in wakeful and self-manifest states.

I have no words to describe Guru who exists as the imperishable form of human consciousness and as the everlasting expression of all that with and without form.
For many aeons, countless millions of ‘blessed abodes’ and ‘celestial soul embodiments’ were standing there claiming and beseeching (spiritual elevation). To give them what they deserved, Brahman had been keeping Guru dearly for several yugas to qualify Him for it. On its accomplishment, Word was received from Brahman that ‘what I desired for many ages has been fulfilled’. No other lineage in the world has received this luck. Ours is the first lineage, which has been blessed to receive that great luck.

Those joyful scenes savoring that luck, compassion and right are indeed astonishing. Still more astonishing are the innumerable perceptions and expressions of the tender love that Guru shares with the disciples and the beauty of the emotions of that ‘Willful (Astral) Figure’, the Witness of it. I see that ‘Willful Figure’ and ‘Wakeful Figure’ of Guru simultaneously in the physical and manifest state between the distance of a foot.

Guru stood manifesting in front of me in the astral form radiating extreme beauty and as the Supreme Radiance ablaze in glory in pure effulgent light. Forgetting myself and mustering courage, I began to think beholding that eternal form in humanly ways. ‘Now Guru cannot touch me physically’! After that, tears began to flow down from my eyes. Then Guru said:

‘You thought that you cannot touch me, didn’t you? You try and touch me!’ I not only touched but also prostrated before the physical form of Guru. And that Radiance embraced me strongly. Guru then asked:

‘Kid, what else do you want? Do you have any doubt about your divination? If you have, I would tell you’. That moment, I reached the acme of bliss. The utterly beautiful reflections of that experience existed gloriously in that atmosphere.

Beyond all the exalted verses, immersing strongly in that radiant Absoluteness, with glowing eyebrows, shapely ears, eyes closed in deep meditation, with muscles of perfect shape, with luminescent hands and feet, nails, hair and as the source of the spectrum of colors, I saw Guru glowing with extreme radiance. I also saw constellations, stars, and innumerable millions of solar systems in Him.

O’ God! You who have attired human form! Existing in your mirror image and by your Will, I adorn my soul collecting countless experiences. O’ Guru! You exist as the gracious, all-auspicious witness of ceaseless experiences, as the subtle flow of waves, as astounding joy, as the form of cause and effect and as the Supreme Radiance! You who are the all-witnessing dharma and God anointed, I pray with all my consciousness!

Guru Gita –The Arcanum of Cosmic Law of Guru

Guru Gita is lesser known among the ancient sacred texts of India. It is an intriguing fact that an important scripture like Guru Gita had for a long time remained eclipsed. But the past decade has seen the growing popularity of Guru Gita. Most of our spiritual texts reflect a pantheistic view of religion. They have given rise to multifarious traditions of worship and led to the fragmentation of Indian society. Against these popular traditions, we can identify another stream of spiritual pursuit in India for the realization of transcendent truth. This is reflected in texts like the Upanishads, the Bhagavat Gita and Guru Gita. They show the path to god realization through Guru, the bearer of Truth and who connect the consciousness of man to a higher realm of spiritual experience. Their contents are eternally universal, i.e. Sanatana. The seekers of truth the world over from time immemorial have turned to these sources of wisdom for guidance.

Sanatana Dharma is the backbone of Indian culture evolved from the vigilant knowing of the Guru and disciple through their sacrifices for realizing the truth. Guru Gita, which reveals the secrets of this vital Guru Principle, is the quintessence of Sanatana Dharma, the Veda of the Age. Guru Gita is a text that should adorn every home like a shining priceless gem. Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru has opened up an astounding vista of spiritual freedom through a newly found, vibrant Guru-Disciple mutuality. May the glory of Guru be celebrated again in this land of Rishis.

The grand narrations of ancient India are mostly found in Sanskrit verse, have a meandering form and are made up of numerous interconnected stories and advices. They often enshrine laws of life, great mystical truths and cosmic visions. Skanda Purana is one such grand narration depicting the ancient saga of Skanda, the mighty warrior who fought with skill to overcome the dark powers that troubled the world. Skanda, whose many other names include Kumara, Shanmukha, Subramanya, Karthikeya and Muruga is fabled in Indian mythology to be the son of a greater father, none other than the Siva, lord of dance, the conqueror of death and the powerful deity of dissolution and destruction.

Guru Gita occurs as part of the Uttarakanda of Skandapuranam. In spite of being only a part of a larger text, it is complete in itself. Further, it is an Arcanum containing the most vital law of life – the cosmic law of GURU – and is therefore perennially relevant to the world. It would not be wrong if we conclude that such visionary literature was made possible by a great tradition of spirituality that thrived in those times in the distant past as a result of austerities of a long line of rishis, who were seekers of Truth. Such is the uniqueness and grace of this treasure trove in world literature.

It is not the literary quality alone that makes this text outstanding, nor its sacredness. Guru Gita contains that sense of direction which is crucial to save planet earth itself from the man-made disasters it is riddled with. The human race has to return to the righteous path by restoring its connection with the Light of the one Universal God and through this finding, its proper relationship with Nature.  Needless to say that this involves the purification or cleansing of the human content.

Only when the human factor is correct can life be renewed with the infusion of compassion at all levels, ending violations of all kinds. All human affairs including politics, government and international relations need to be re-oriented on this basis. According to Navajyotisree Karunakara Guru, the powerful in the world is ‘conforming to the Vaisya’s way, a life-view clouded by ignorance and apathy’. The Vysya being the trader, who has created the market economy, considers only what is expedient. Expediency is the key word in today’s market culture. This can change only through individuals who change subject to spiritual intercession at the subtle planes and get oriented to basic values.

There is an interesting point to be noted here. Siva and Parvati are bonded in an ideal relationship. In sharing the secretes of god head Siva, the husband becomes Parvati’s guru. Parvathi, the wife is such an evolved disciple as to elicit those spiritual secrets from him. Conventionally Indians fancy that a wife should treat the husband as a deity. That the husband has to earn such a position is never highlighted. Guru Gita by the very form it is conceived implicitly conveys this idealistic message to householders.

Guru Gita is in the form of a dialogue between Siva and his consort Parvati – the parents of Skanda. Again, the dialogue is conceived as a retrieval from the past (possibly from what might be termed as ‘aakashic records’) by sage Suuta who is endowed with the faculty of transcendental vision of a higher order. Sage Suuta was a disciple of Vyasa and the son of sage Loma. He was approached by a group of rishis who were eager to go into the depths of the law of Guru. Suuta, then contacts through his visionary wisdom the knowledge that was given by Siva to Parvati on the mystery of GURU. And Suuta relates it to the eager rishis. This exchange between Suuta and the rishis, it is said, took place in Naimishaaranyam, a forest endowed with great natural beauty where a number of spiritually evolved sages lived and strived for perfection. (This area is supposed to be the present Nimasar in Sitapur district in Uttarpradesh).

The number of verses in Guru Gita appears to vary from version to version.  To wield a metallic stylus on palm leaves treated for the purpose of inscribing in order to make a copy of any book must have been a time consuming task before printing was invented. Patient and expert scholars only could have undertaken such a task. In the process of making such copies, omissions and additions could have naturally taken place. Among the disciples of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru there are many with awakened faculty of inner vision. The most evolved of them, Sishya Poojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini is the present spiritual head of the parampara. A mantra was revealed to her from the Supreme Light:

‘ AUM Sri Karunakara Guru Ateeva Satyaprakashaya Namah’

This is being chanted by the Santhigiri parampara along with two earlier lines revealed around 1968-69.

‘ AUM Sree Karunakara Guru Parabrahmane Namah

AUM Sree Karunakara Guru Sathyapradaya Namah’

These three lines show GURU as:  1) the ocean of mercy, 2) the Absolute Brahman, 3) the giver of Truth (Jnana) and 4) the Light Supreme. Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru represents the Light of God.

Guru

Guru – the two Sanskrit syllables ‘Gu’ and ‘Ru’ means the dispeller of darkness. That is a fully realized Guru is the Light of God. Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru is such a fully realized Guru who brings the Light of God to our world. An experienced disciple Carloz Guzman who came to Guru, like the three Maji of the East went to infant Christ, without address or information, was led by this Light. Gifted by strong extra sensory vision Carloz vouches for the greatness of Guru’s Light. He speaks of the process of transformation individuals undergo in Guru’s presence thus:

‘By simply being near Guru his immense Prakasham – Light will immediately start purifying your soul in a very powerful way’. This experience of Carloz can be related to following verse from Guru Gita:

Abhyastai Kimu Deergha-kaala-vimalair-vyaadhi-pradair-dushkaraih

Praanaayaama-satair-aneka-karanaih Dukhaatmakai Durjayaih

Yasminnabhyudite Vinasyati Balii Vaayuh Swayam Tatkshanaat

Praaptam Tat Sahaja-swabhaavam-anisam Seve Tamekam Gurum

(What is the use with practices like Pranayama and several hundreds of other means that cleanse the soul prolonged, that produces affliction, that are strenuous, miserable and unattainable? On whose appearance (or presence), the uncontrollable life force (the Prana) becomes immediately subdued on its own, only that Guru, who has attained the ever abiding form, should be served always).

Guru is the Master of not only our soul but all the influences that affect it. He is the Master of our destiny, our ancestors and successors. Hear what Herman Nenning, another disciple of Guru has to say about it.

‘The complexities of the spirit world have direct influence on this life on the earth plane. Spirits of our ancestors (pitrus) and the deities they worshipped while they lived have astral links with us. From their various spheres, these entities could be good or evil. Guru severs their links with us, and they are helped at the astral level by Guru.  According to what they deserve, some of them are even liberated by Guru, some others are guided to be reborn. Those who are irretrievably evil could be even destroyed’.

Mr. Nenning had an issue to tackle:

‘My younger brother had taken to heavy drinking. He had closed up and after repeated efforts and much coaxing, he let his secret out. He was being haunted by evil apparitions. These entities even entered his body and tried to push him out of his body. No matter where he slept, these forces followed him. Every night he had these terrifying experiences. His way out was alcohol, even as a temporary solution, from this astral tyranny…’

Nenning had approached several adepts before for a solution to this problem. All of them had prescribed elaborate rituals in temples… Guru when informed of this responded differently. Your brother is attacked by spirits’, He said, ‘there is a solution here – Guru Pooja. But it is not easy. Means a lot of responsibility for you, you have to understand many things as well’.  In the Guru Pooja, there was no pooja, rites or ritual involved. The disciple ordained by Guru to do the ‘sankalpam’ to effect this spiritual intercession, did it at Guru’s behest. All Nenning did was to attend all the prayers in the Ashram prayer hall on the day this was done.Here is what Nenning had to say about the result.

 ‘After two weeks I reached Germany. My brother came to receive me. I asked him: ‘How are you?’ He answered, ‘I don’t know how, since two weeks I could sleep well and am completely free of the fear which troubled me’.

On hearing this Nenning introduced Guru to his brother for the first time. He was naturally astonished. Herman says that ‘Guru could, from such a distance and, without ever seeing effect a remedy to his problem was unbelievable!’

Later when Herman got closer to Guru he mustered the courage to ask Guru how many souls were freed from their stagnation through Guru Pooja.  ‘Between five to ten thousand’ was the answer. The Ashram does not have an exact account of families Guru has accorded this rarest of the rare act of grace. The number runs to several thousands. This act of grace had started in 1972.  This aspect of Guru can be related to:

Kulaanaam Kula-kotiinaam Taarakah Tatra Tatkshanaat

Atastam Sadgurum Jnaatwaa Trikaalam-abhivandayet

(It takes mere seconds for the Guru to save clans of men, millions of them. Therefore, knowing that perfect Guru, worship him during the three turns (sunrise, noon and sunset) of the day).

This work of unparalleled grace is going on ever after Guru left his physical form and merged in the Supreme Radiance of the Almighty. His Will works through Sishyapoojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini, his closest disciple who is the present spiritual head of the parampara. Guru’s picture comes to our mind in the lines:

Hridambuje Karnika-madhya-samsthe Simhaasane Samsthita-  divya-moortim

Dhyaayet Gurum Chandra-kalaa-prakaasam Sachit-sukhaabheeshta-varam Dadhaanam

Swetaambaram Sweta-vilepa-pushpam Muktaa-vibhuusham Muditam Dwinetram

Vaamaanga-peetta-sthita-divya-saktim Mandasmitam Poorna-

kripaa-nidhaanam

(That divine form of Guru is to be meditated upon, who is in the throne, situated in the middle of the petals of the lotus-shaped heart, radiating like the luminous moon, and giving the coveted boon of transcendental joy. I ever salute that Guru robed in white, wearing white flowers and pearls, who is the basis of absolute compassion, who is with jubilant eyes, and ever abiding ‘divine power’ and pleasant smile).

He did not customarily wear white flowers and pearls but was always dressed in immaculate white. We get a clear picture of our Guru in:

Mohaadi-rahitah Saanto Nitya-tripto Niraasrayah

Trineekrita-Brahma-Vishnu-vaibhavah Paramo Guruh

(Free from all delusions and sorrows, calm and eternally satisfied, needing no support, and wielding incomparable power that makes naught the power of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara, is the Supreme Guru)

We have realized:

Na Guroradhikam Tatwam Na Guroradhikam Tapah

Na Guroradhikam Jnaanam Tasmai Sree Gurave Namah

(My salutations to that auspicious Guru, other than whom there is no greater truth, no greater penance and no greater knowledge).

As far as we, Guru’s disciples, are concerned there is no philosophy, no law that is above our Guru. Guru’s words are the mantras that rescue from life’s crises. Guru’s form is a reason for us to meditate. We spontaneously keep on remembering Him. His sacred lotus feet inspires all our worship.

Dhyaana-moolam Guror-muurthih Poojaa-moolam Guroh Padam

Mantra-moolam Guror-vaakyam Mukthi-moolam Guroh Kripaa

(The basis of meditation is the form of Guru. The basis of worship is the feet of Guru. Mantra results from the words of Guru. The basis of liberation is the compassion of Guru).

In short we are convinced that our Guru Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru is none other than God – the Absolute Brahman:    

Durlabham Trishu Lokeshu Tacchrunushwa Vadaamyaham

Gurum BrahmaVinaa Naanyat Satyam. Satyam Varaanane.

(Oh beautiful one! I will tell you that which is very rare in the three worlds. Please listen. Guru is none other than the Absolute Brahman – God Himself. This verily is the truth).

Our Guru is God, though he himself said:  “I am only a means......”

How else can we experience God except through the perfect, fully realized, true GURU. And a number of persons who came in contact with our Guru have realized that He is a perfect, fully realized Guru.

The spiritual head affirms this through her exalted vision. Other visionary renunciants affirm this. Several householder disciples affirm this. All have seen Guru being worshipped by countless devis, devas, angels, prophets – souls of great evolution. Rishi Ratna Jnana Tapaswini gives an account of her experiences thus:

‘Once during our school excursion it was planned that we would be visiting Dharmasthalam, which is famous for its ancient temples and other holy places. Along with my friends when I came in front of the sanctum where the idols were placed, I saw the deities in reality and they were standing with folded hands in the prostrating manner.  A question crept up in my confused mind why should these powerful deities offer namaskaram to me, when lacks of people all over the world came here to offer salutations to them. The teacher from back started to call us to come fast. When I turned back, it was then that the doubts in my small mind were cleared. Guru with his gentle and consoling smile was standing in a bright radiance greater than that of these deities just back of me. Then only I realized that these deities were actually prostrating to Guru. In a similar manner, I started to receive visions where I saw crores of Devi-Devas, rishis, sanyasins, and prophets of all religions with their entire parampara surrendering to my Guru. It was from then on I started to realize and recognize the greatness and the mission of my Guru”

By Smt. O.V. Usha (The author is a well known Poet, Writer and Social Activist)