[Advaita-l] The Enlightened Guru as Jagatkāraṇam

[V Subrahmanian]

The Enlightened Guru as Jagatkāraṇam

The Mundakopanishat, for instance, teaches that the aparokṣajñānin, if
worshiped with desire for aishvarya, lordliness, wealth, etc. these will be
granted.

यं यं लोकं मनसा संविभाति विशुद्धसत्त्वः कामयते यांश्च कामान् ।
तं तं लोकं जयते तांश्च कामांस्तस्मादात्मज्ञं ह्यर्चयेद्भूतिकामः ॥ १० ॥

10 Whatever world a man of pure understanding envisages in his mind and
whatever desires he cherishes, that world he conquers and those desires he
obtains, Therefore let everyone who wants prosperity worship the man who
knows the Self.

For 'worship', Shankara says
ह्यर्चयेत्पूजयेत्पादप्रक्षालनशुश्रूषानमस्कारादिभिः  by devout washing of
his feet, by serving him and prostrating, etc. to him.

However, if one worships the Jnāni with no desire for any worldly goals,
can gain liberation itself:

स वेदैतत्परमं ब्रह्म धाम यत्र विश्वं निहितं भाति शुभ्रम् ।
उपासते पुरुषं ये ह्यकामास्ते शुक्रमेतदतिवर्तन्ति धीराः ॥ १

Shankara says:

यस्मात् स वेद जानाति एतत् यथोक्तलक्षणं ब्रह्म परमं प्रकृष्टं धाम
सर्वकामानामाश्रयमास्पदम् , यत्र यस्मिन्ब्रह्मणि धाम्नि विश्वं समस्तं जगत्
निहितम् अर्पितम् , यच्च स्वेन ज्योतिषा भाति शुभ्रं शुद्धम् ,
तमप्येवंविधमात्मज्ञं पुरुषं ये हि अकामाः विभूतितृष्णावर्जिता मुमुक्षवः
सन्तः उपासते परमिव देवम् , ते शुक्रं नृबीजं यदेतत्प्रसिद्धं
शरीरोपादानकारणम् अतिवर्तन्ति अतिगच्छन्ति धीराः बुद्धिमन्तः, न पुनर्योनिं
प्रसर्पन्ति । ‘न पुनः क्व रतिं करोति’ ( ? ) इति श्रुतेः । अतस्तं
पूजयेदित्यभिप्रायः ॥

The Jnani is the one who has realized his oneness with the Brahman that is
the abode of the entire creation and which is the abode of all desires. So,
he is the one who has transcended creation, samsara and is the pūrṇa kāma.
Worshiping him also is by the same means as described by Shankara above.
The fruit of such worship by such a seeker  is liberation from samsara.

We have in our tradition the famous verse that everyone who is a Vedantin
chants: Gurur Brahmā (Guru is Brahmā) Gurur Vishnu: (Guru is Vishnu) Gurur
Devo Maheshwarah: (Guru is the Maheshwara i.e. Shiva)  Guru Sakshat
Parabrahma (Parbrahma considerd to be supreme god or Bhagwan, So, Guru is
that Parbhrahma) Tasmai Shree Gurave namah: (obeisance to that Guru).

Sri Gauḍapāda has cited a smṛti in the Uttaragītā bhāṣya to the same effect
as above:

 हंसो विधिः शंकर एव  हंसो हंसश्च विष्णुर्गुरुरेव  हंसः  [Hamsa=
Ātman/Brahman. Brahmā is Brahman, Brahman is Śiva, Brahman is Viṣṇu and
Guru alone is Brahman].

We have in our tradition an open declaration of such Ishwara-Guru identity:

Swami Vidyaranya (Sāyaṇāchārya) in all the invocations to their works like
the Jivanmukti viveka, the Taittiriya, etc. Bhashya, make a prayer thus:

यस्य निश्वसितं वेदाः यो वेदेभ्योऽखिलं जगत् । निर्ममे तमहं वन्दे
विद्यातीर्थमहेश्वरम् ॥

[I bow to Sri Vidyatirtha (1229 - 1333 AD https://www.sringeri.net/ja
gadgurus/the-early-acharyas), the Maheshvara, whose very breath are the
Veda-s and who, from the Veda-s evolved the entire cosmos.]

Sri Krishna has said in the BG: jñānī tu ātmaiva mey matam - I consider the
aparoksha jnani to be verily My Self. Surely the Mundaka mantra applies
here.

In the Uddhava gītā, the Lord says:

आचार्यं मां विजानीयान्नावमन्येत कर्हिचित्। न मर्त्यबुद्ध्यासूयेत सर्वदेवमयो
गुरुः।।27।। [11.17.27] Look upon the Acharya to be verily Me, and never
belittle him, for he is the abode of all divinities, deva-s.

The Guru, Acharya, in the above exhortation may or may not be an aparoksha
jnani, but the instruction is quite telling.

What about the saying: "ज्ञानमिच्छेत् महेश्वरात्; मोक्षमिच्छेत् जनार्दनात्"
[Seek to get Knowledge from Śiva and liberation from Viṣṇu]?  In Vedānta,
mokṣa is contemporaneous with attaining aparokṣa jñānam. The idea of
traveling to some other geographical plane for liberation is not admitted
in the Vedanta. They are not two different events. The jiva's native nature
is mokṣa, he is nitya mukta svarupa; only that is not realized by the jiva
when under the throes of ignorance. When sādhana results in realization, he
comes to know that he is ever liberated, never bound. So, the jñānam is
graced by Brahman, Ishvara. Shankara says in the Brahma sutra bhashyam:
2.3.41  तदनुग्रहहेतुकेनैव च विज्ञानेन मोक्षसिद्धिर्भवितुमर्हति । [By the
Knowledge caused by the grace of Ishvara alone liberation can be attained]
Shankara cites the Antaryāmi passage here too: ‘ य आत्मनि
तिष्ठन्नात्मानमन्तरो यमयति’. Ishwara, stationed in the jīva, impels him
from inside. Thus the knowledge is caused by Ishwara to happen. Hence the
'bestower' of knowledge and the 'bestower' of liberation are non-different,
only because these two are not two different events. Maheshvara is the
Guru, verily Ishwara.

Sureshwara has said in the Mānasollāsa: Ishvaro gururātmeti
mūrtibheda-vibhāgine. vyomavad vyāptadehāya dakṣiṇāmūrtaye namaḥ.
Obeisance to Lord Dakshinamurti, the all-pervading Consciousness that alone
appears as the Ishwara, the Guru and the Self (jiva).  Here too, Sureshwara
is consistently voicing the 'one only appears as many' that he has said in
the Bṛ.Up.Bh <http://xn--nig.up.bh>āṣya vārtika.

Krishna asks Arjuna to go to a Jñāni and seek knowledge from him, by
serving and initiating enquiry and by that one can get the upadeśa.
Jnānadātā, and therefore, mokṣadātā, is the Guru alone. Says the
Praśnopaniṣat in the very last mantra:

ते तमर्चयन्तस्त्वं हि नः पिता योऽस्माकमविद्यायाः परं पारं तारयसीति । नमः
परमऋषिभ्यो नमः परमऋषिभ्यः ॥ ८ ॥

 The disciples, having received the knowledge and the realization thereof,
in their utmost gratitude, addressed the Guru Pippalāda: You are our Father
who has ferried us across to the other shore of ignorance. Salutations to
the Supreme Preceptors...

Shankara says: ततः ते शिष्या गुरुणानुशिष्टाः तं गुरुं कृतार्थाः सन्तो
विद्यानिष्क्रयमन्यदपश्यन्तः किं कृतवन्त इत्युच्यते — अर्चयन्तः पूजयन्तः
पादयोः पुष्पाञ्जलिप्रकिरणेन प्रणिपातेन च शिरसा । किमूचुरित्याह — त्वं हि नः
अस्माकं पिता ब्रह्मशरीरस्य विद्यया जनयितृत्वान्नित्यस्याजरामरणस्याभयस्य ।
यः त्वमेव अस्माकम् अविद्यायाः
विपरीतज्ञानाज्जन्मजरामरणरोगदुःखादिग्राहादपारादविद्यामहोदधेर्विद्याप्लवेन
परम् अपुनरावृत्तिलक्षणं मोक्षाख्यं महोदधेरिव पारं तारयसि अस्मानित्यतः
पितृत्वं तवास्मान्प्रत्युपपन्नमितरस्मात् । इतरोऽपि हि पिता शरीरमात्रं
जनयति, तथापि स पूज्यतमो लोके ; किमु वक्तव्यमात्यन्तिकाभयदातुरित्यभिप्रायः ।
नमः परमऋषिभ्यः ब्रह्मविद्यासम्प्रदायकर्तृभ्यः । नमः परमऋषिभ्य इति
द्विर्वचनमादरार्थम् ॥

The disciples worshiped the Guru by showering flowers at his feet and
prostrating to him. 'You are our Father since you have given birth to our
Brahmaśarīra by imparting knowledge to us. This Brahman-body of ours is
eternal, free of old age and death and fear. ...You have ferried us to the
other shore of the terrible ocean of samsāra beset with all ills and
established us in liberation characterized by non-return to samsara. Your
fatherhood is even more appropriate to us when compared to the worldly
father. The worldly father is the cause of just this body, even then he is
supremely worthy of reverence. What to say of you who have bestowed us the
ultimate fearlessness! Prostrations to the exalted preceptors again and
again.

One can see here that it is the Guru that is shown by the Upanishad and the
Bhashya to be the bestower of both knowledge and liberation. Hence the
saying  "ज्ञानमिच्छेत् महेश्वरात्; मोक्षमिच्छेत् जनार्दनात्" only results
in the identity of the two divinities as demonstrated by this Upanishad.

नमो नमः श्रीगुरुपादुकाभ्याम्