Stanza-023

गुरुर्गुरुतमो धाम सत्यः सत्यपराक्रमः।
निमिषोऽनिमिषः स्वग्नी वाचस्पतिरुदारधीः॥

ഗുരുര്ഗുരുതമോ ധാമ സത്യഃ സത്യപരാക്രമഃ
നിമിഷോ അനിമിഷഃ സ്വഗ്നീ വാചസ്പതിരുദാരധീഃ

குருர்குருதமோ தாம சத்ய சத்யபராக்ரம
நிமிஷோ அனிமிஷ ஸ்வக்நீ வாசஸ்பதிருதாரதீ

ಗುರುರ್ಗುರುತಮೋ ಧಾಮ ಸತ್ಯಃ ಸತ್ಯಪರಾಕ್ರಮಃ
ನಿಮಿಷೋ ಅನಿಮಿಷಃ ಸ್ವಗ್ನೀ ವಾಚಸ್ಪತಿರುದಾರಧೀಃ

గురుర్గురుతమో ధామ సత్యః సత్యపరాక్రమః
నిమిషో అనిమిషః స్వగ్నీ వాచస్పతిరుదారదీః

gurur-gurutamo dhaama satyas-satya-paraakramah
nimisho-a-nimishah sragvee vaachaspatir-udaara-dheeh.


209. Guruh - The teacher, who initiates seekers into the secrets of the sacred scriptures is called the Guru. Since the Lord, the infinite alone, is the very author and knower of the Vedas, He is the Teacher in all spiritual study. Aatman being the Light, that illumines the knowledge in the teacher, his very capacity to speak and the very ability in the student to hear, understand and apprehend this great Truth, He alone is the Teacher wherever there is any transference of knowledge.
210. Gurutamah - The Greatest Teacher; One who had inspired with knowledge and initiated the very Creator Brahmaaji into the knowledge of the four Vedas. The creative mind of the very first Spiritual Master must have received this experience of the Transcendental, initiated by none other than the Supreme Itself. Later on, the Man of Realization might come to help other seekers, and to that extent the following generations of disciples, can, no doubt, psychologically believe that the teacher guided them to Truth. But, in fact for all times to come, the final experience of the theme of the Vedas is arrived at only through the final revelation, which has nothing to do with the teacher or the text. Svetaasvatara Upanishad (6-18) says, “He who first Created the Creator (Brahmaa) and imparted him the Vedas.” The Guru and the scripture, devotion to God, meditation, moral conduct and the religious discipline are all necessary, in as much as, they prepare the bosom of the seeker for the dawn of realization. But the final unveiling is done by the Infinite alone, and hence, Vishnu, the Self, is the best among the Gurus. Heaviness is called by the same term (Gurutvam), and in this sense the Lord is Indicated here as “that which is heavier than the heaviest.
211. Dhaama - The Goal; the Sacred destination of a pilgrimage. The Supreme is the Param-dhaama, the ‘Supreme Destination’, having reached which, there is nothing more to reach beyond. This Absolute State of Perfection is called the “Peak” (Dhaama). The Sanskrit term Dhaama also means “Effulgence” (Tejas); the Pure Consciousness as the illuminator of all experiences is considered and glorified as the Light of all Lights etc.
212. Satyah - One who is Himself the Truth. The difference from the general connotation, we have for the term “That which remains without a change in the past, present and future” is called Sat yam. “Truth, Knowledge, Infinite is Brahman”, thunder the scriptures. Brihad Upanishad (4-1-20) says, “The Praanas are the truth, and He is the Truth of them.”
213. Satyaparaakramah - Dynamic Truth. Passive truthfulness is the harbour of the fools, the dark den of the cowards; although it is any day better than suicidal un- truth and criminal dishonesty. The Lord, the Infinite is not only Himself the Truth but He is Dynamic in insisting that “Truth shall prevail, not untruth”. Not only gravity is a law of nature, itself ever truthful, but it insists that none shall escape its influence or disobey sway. So too, the Infinite Law of Harmony and Love is an Inevitable Truth persisting with insistence in life. The Lord is therefore indicated by the term “ Satyaparaakramah”.
214. Nimishah - The condition of “the eyelids closed” is called Nimishah; the unwinking is called Animishah. When the eyes are open, the mind is extrovert; the condition of mental introvertedness is expressed in an unconscious closing of the eyes. When a man is deeply thinking, remembering, contemplating, we find him naturally closing his eyes. In a state of intense contemplation, when the intellect is turned away from the objects-of-experiences, the bosom experiences the One Divine “Subject” both within and without. The Lord is described here as “with eyes closed”, only to indicate that He is ever rooted in Himself; from Him viewed, there exists nothing other than Himself to constitute the world- of-objects.
215. Animishah - One who remains unwinking. Whenever we wink both the eyelids close together and what we are seeing is at least technically veiled from the seer in the eye. The Supreme is indicated here by the term “unwinking”, in the sense that, the consciousness is Ever-Knowing. In Sankara’s words, in Chandogya Bhaashya, “there is no cession of knowing in the knower”.
216. Sragvee - A garland is called Srak and, therefore, the term means One who is constantly wearing a garland of undecaying flowers. The famous garland of Vishnu is called Vaijayantee.
217. Vaachaspatir- Udaaradheeh -Vaachaspati is a term given to One who is eloquent in cham” pioning the Supreme law of life; and Dheeh means the power of intelligence; and Udaaradheeh one who has a “Large- hearted intelligence”, One who is not puritanical in his view points. God is not only the Declarer of the Law but He has a large-hearted tolerance to appreciate the weakness of the devotee’s heart, suffering under the delusion of Maayaa, and hence, has a great sympathy for the weakness in us This is expressed in God’s Infinite kindness towards sinners in general. The laws of spiritual living can be disobeyed for a long time without any tyrannical onslaught, unlike the law of physical nature, which is blind and uncompromising. Fire knows no mercy. But Narayana, the Great Vishnu, is kind and considerate the while He expresses the Truth of Life eloquently at all times around us. In His Large-heartedness, He has enough paternal kindness to overlook our trespasses.