Guru-Upasatti and Pramāṇika Buddhi

 

Dhyānam in Vedānta is enabled by training the mind to steadily abide in the Self (Ātman, as Śruti calls it) , one’s true nature, svasvarūpam.

To be able to successfully accomplish this, many things must fall into place in one’s life. This is where sādhana-chatuśtayam (viveka, vairāgya, śama-damādi-ṣaṭka-sampatti, mumukṣutvam) and/or yoga-prakriyā (yama, niyama, etc.) all play a role.

A certain level of preparedness is needed to gradually let the mind absorb the teachings of one’s āchārya or sampradāya (through śravaṇam and mananam), and learn to recognize one’s essential nature as śuddha-caitanyam, the light of awareness in which dance all thoughts, including the thought “I,” also known as ahamkāra-vṛtti.

It is true that the ability to succeed in the process of Vedānta śravaṇa, manana, etc. , and the capacity to turn inward, does not arise by effort alone. It blossoms through guru-kṛpā, the grace of the teacher.

As the bhajan says: “guru-kṛpāñjana payo nmera bhāi…”, the guru applies a divine ointment (மை) to our eyes, giving us a new way of seeing. This new vision, metaphorically speaking, is called pramāṇika buddhi à the ability to see through a newly acquired means of knowledge, namely brahmavidyā-śāstram.

Said differently, Vedānta-pramāṇa means that Vedānta is a valid and non-contradictable means of knowledge, just as the eye is a pratyakṣa-pramāṇa, Vedānta is a śabda-pramāṇa.

This pramāṇika buddhi, is also referred to as śraddhā or āstikya-buddhi, as elaborated by Mahāperiyavā in several of His anugraha-bhāṣaṇams.

Śrī Bhagavatpāda Śamkara, in His Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, defines śraddhā as follows:

śāstrasya guruvākyasya satya-buddhy-avadhāraṇam
sā śraddhā kathitā sadbhiḥ yayā vastu upalabhyate || 25 ||

Śraddhā is said by the wise to be the unwavering conviction in the truth of the scriptures and the teacher’s words,  a conviction through which the Reality is realized.

As Gītācārya says:

śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṁ
tatparaḥ saṁyatendriyaḥ
jñānaṁ labdhvā parāṁ śāntiṁ
acireṇādhigacchati (4.39)

The one endowed with śraddhā, who is devoted to the pursuit of jnānam (i.e. brahmavidyā) and has mastery over the senses, attains it. Having attained jnānam such a person quickly reaches supreme peace.

 

Thus śraddhā is not mere blind belief (even the word “faith” falls short), but a refined, reasoned conviction in the śāstra and guru as non contradictable means of Self-knowledge. It is essential for the intuitive grasp of Brahman.

 

Further in Gita 4.34

tat viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā |
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninaḥ tattva-darśinaḥ ||

Know that (Truth) by approaching Guru with humility, sincere inquiry, and spirit of service.
Those realized Ones will impart that knowledge to you.

 

Again, we see the importance of the Guru emphasized. Right at the beginning of the Bhagavad Gītā, Arjuna, overwhelmed by sorrow and confusion, declares:

śiṣyaḥ te ’ham śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam (Gītā 2.7)
“I am your disciple. Instruct me , I have surrendered to You.”

It is only after this moment of surrender that Śrī Kṛṣṇa reveals Himself as Gītācārya, the teacher of the Gītā.

The Gītā, like the Mahābhārata, and the Itihāsas and Purāṇas in general, reflects the light of the Śruti , the eternal source of all āgama and siddhānta. So why not turn to Śruti itself ?

In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.14.2),

ācāryavān puruṣo vedaḥ
“Only the one who has a teacher truly knows.”

And in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (1.2.12), the same truth is expanded:

parīkṣya lokān karma-citān brāhmaṇaḥ
nirvedaṁ āyāt; na asti akṛtaḥ kṛtena |
tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet
samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham ||

Having examined the worlds attained through action, the wise seeker (brāhmaṇaḥ) becomes dispassionate (nirvedaḥ), realizing:- “That which is uncreated (akṛtaḥ) cannot be attained by what is created (kṛtena).”

To know That (tad-vijñānārtham), the seeker must approach the Guru (gurum eva abhigacchet) alone, with fuel in hand (samit-pāṇiḥ) , a symbol of humility, surrender, and readiness to serve and learn.

Such a teacher is both a śrotriya, and brahma-niṣṭha.

 

Here, the lakṣaṇa (defining marks) of the Guru is given as: śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham

 

This essential twofold qualification is echoed in greater detail by Śrī Ādi Śamkarācārya in Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, verse 33:

Śrotriyo avṛjino akāmahato yo brahma-vittamaḥ
brahmaṇy-uparataḥ śānto nirindhana iva analaḥ
ahetuka-dayā-sindhur bandhur ānamatāṁ satām || 33 ||

• śrotriyaḥ – One who is well-versed in the Brahmavidyā-śāstra, its prakriyā (methodology unfolded in Śruti itself), and in śruti-mata-tarka , reasoning in alignment with the Śruti. That is, a Guru rooted in the sampradāya, the traditional lineage of teaching, who knows not only what to teach, but how to teach it in a way that leads the disciple to Self-knowledge.
• avṛjinaḥ – free from moral lapses or hidden selfishness.
• akāma-hataḥ – Not overpowered by personal desires
• yaḥ brahma-vit-tamaḥ – The highest among knowers of Brahman; not just a scholar, but a realized jñānī.
• brahmaṇi uparataḥ – One who is fully withdrawn and abides in Brahman (as one’s Self)
• śāntaḥ – Peaceful and inwardly calm, unaffected by dualities.
• nirindhana iva analaḥ – Like a fire without fuel, the fire of jñāna has consumed all vāsanās and egoic impulses.
• ahetuka-dayā-sindhuḥ – An ocean of compassion, flowing without any motive, not even for fame or gratitude.
• bandhuḥ ānatānāṁ satām – The true friend and refuge of the humble and noble seekers (removing duḥkha in its entirety)

 

To conclude this brief mananam, let us go back to Chandogya 6.14.2’s bhasyam of our Bhagavan Bhasyakara – Sri Sisya hrt tāpa hāraka – Sri Adi Śaṃkara’s words….

While commenting on the mantra “ācāryavān puruṣo vedaḥ” Ch. 6.14.2. Acarya says :  -

"ācāryavān puruṣo veda iti tasyāsyaivam ācāryavato muktāvidyābhinahanasya tāvāneva kālaḥ ciraṃ kṣepaḥ sadātmasvarūpa-sampatteḥ iti vākyaśeṣaḥ" —

‘A man with a teacher knows’ , this means: For one (asya) who indeed has a teacher (ācāryavān), and whose bondage caused by ignorance (avidya) has been destroyed (abhinahana), the time (tāvān eva kālaḥ) , the delay (ciraṃ kṣepaḥ) , is only so much as is needed for the attainment (sampattiḥ) of one's own true nature (sva-svarūpa), which is ever the Self (sad-ātma). This is the implied continuation (vākyaśeṣaḥ) of the Upaniṣadic statement

Here Swāmi emphasizes that Self-realization is immediate once the essential conditions are met, namely:

• Having a qualified Guru (ācāryavān)
• Removal of ignorance (avidyā-nivṛttiḥ)

 

Now as beginner a question may trouble us, What if we are slow to grasp all this? Don’t worry in that regard our āchārya says in Vivekachūḍāmaṇi: -

mandamadhyamarūpāpi vairāgyeṇa śamādinā .

prasādena guroḥ seyaṃ pravṛddhā sūyate phalam .. 28..

 

manda-madhyama-rūpā api – Even if (the mumukṣu) is slow in grasping the truth

 vairāgyeṇa śamādinā – through  vairāgya and disciplines like śama, dama, etc.,

prasādena guroḥ – with the grace of the Guru,

sā iyam pravṛddhā – that (qualification) becomes fully developed,

sūyate phalam – and bears fruit (i.e., leads to Self-realization).

 

Jaya Jaya Śaṃkara

Hara Hara Śaṃkara