Sri Guru Gita – 11 March 2014 – Episode 81

Jaya Guru Datta. English summary:

Jaya Guru Datta.

We discussed that King Janaka who found out about the greatness of Sage Ashtavakra came down to honor and worship the sage. The sage then told the king about the insult meted out to his father and asked the king to summon all the scholars. The sage vowed that he would jump in to the ocean if he failed to answer the questions posed by the scholars. He said, “This was the place my father was insulted, so please invite all the scholars here. I will have a debate with them right here. If I lose, I will jump in to the ocean”. The king didn’t say a word. He immediately called for a conference. All the egoistic scholars lost miserably to Sage Ashtavakra. Ashtavakra defeated all the scholars who had insulted his father. He won the debate on scriptures. The scholars lost miserably.

Subsequently, king Janaka accepted sage Ashtavakra as Guru and surrendered himself along with his body, mind and wealth. He received knowledge and blessings from the sage. Regardless of how highly educated one is, he should not be arrogant about his knowledge when he meets a Sadguru. Lord Shiva is teaching us through this sloka that one should be humble, should serve the Guru and earn the blessings of the Guru.
To help seekers improve their dedication to the Guru, they are once again talking about the greatness of the Guru Principle.

Sloka:
Gurureva jagatsarvam brahma visnu sivatmakam |
Guroh parataram nasti tasmat sampujayedgurum ||

The entire universe and the Trinity of Godhead – Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva – are the image of the Guru. There is nothing other than Guru. There is nothing more important. So, Guru should be worshiped well.
Arjuna worshiped Dronacharya with this same feeling. He became a beloved disciple and the best disciple of Guru Dronacharya. Through the story of this Guru and disciple, let us learn about the greatness of the Guru. Because Arjuna was of noble character, he received initiation to Bhagavad Gita directly. Arjuna was so blessed that God Himself came as Guru and initiated him to the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna was very dear to Dronacharya. Arjuna earned a special place in Dronacharya’s heart. Dronacharya, who noticed the great focus that Arjuna had, removed the veil of illusion that Arjuna was faced with in several instances. In many stories in the Bhagavatam and Mahabharata, Lord Krishna stood by Arjuna, removed his ignorance and imparted wisdom. Similarly, the Guru (Dronacharya) also lifted the veil of ignorance several times.

Jaya Guru Datta.