gurur brahmā gurur vishnu gurur dźvo mahźshvaraha
gururźva parambrahmā tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
The Guru is none other than Brahma, the Creator. The Guru is none other
than Vishnu, the Preserver. The Guru is none other than the great God
Shiva, the Destroyer. The Guru is verily the supreme Brahman. To the divine Guru I bow.
akhanda mandalākāram vyāptam yźna charācharam |
tat padam darshitam yźna tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
I bow to the divine Guru, who reveals to one the divine Being that
encircles and permeates the moving and the non-moving.
agnāna timirāndasya gnānānjanashalākayā |
chakshurunmīlitam yźna tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
I bow to the divine Guru, who by the application of the collyrium of
knowledge, opens the eyes of one blinded by the disease of ignorance.
sthāvaram jangamam vyāptam yźna krutsnam charācharam |
tatpadam darshitam yźna tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
I bow to the divine Guru, who has made it possible to realise Him by
whom all this world, animate and inanimate, movable and immovable, is pervaded.
chidrūpena parivyāptam trailōkyam sacharācharam |
tatpadam darshitam yźna tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
I bow to the divine Guru, who has made it possible to realise Him who
as consciousness pervades the three worlds, with their movable and immovable objects.
sarvashruti shirōratna samudhbhāsita mūrtayź |
vedantāmbuja suryāya tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
I bow to the divine Guru, whose form is radiant with the jewel of
Vedanta and who is the sun that causes the lotus of Vedanta to blossom.
chaitanyasshāshvatah shāntō vyōmātītōniranjanaha |
bindunādakalātīta tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
I bow to the divine Guru, who is the supreme spirit, eternal and
serene, beyond ether, pure, beyond Bindu, Nāda and Kalā - the subtle
aspects of the mystic syllable `ōm'.
gnānashakti samārūda tatvamālā vibhūshitaha |
bhukti muktipradātā cha tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
I bow to the divine Guru, who is established in knowledge and power,
who is adorned with the garland of knowledge and who grants both prosperity and liberation.
anźka janma samprāpta karmabandha vidāhinź |
atma gnānapradānźna tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
I bow to the divine Guru who imparts to the disciple the fire of self-
knowledge, and burns away his bonds of Karma accumulated through many births.
shōshanam bhavasindhōshcha prāpanam sārasampadaha |
yasya padōdakam samyak tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
I bow to the divine Guru whose grace completely dries up the ocean of
the Samsāra (relative existence) and makes one realize the Supreme wealth.
na gurōradhikam tatvam na gurōradhikam tapaha |
tatvagnānāt param nāsti tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
There is no higher truth than Guru, no higher penance than service to
the Guru, and nothing higher than Realisation. Salutations to that divine Guru !
mannātah srījagannātho madguruh srījagadguruhu |
mamātma sarva bhūtātmā tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
I bow to the true divine Guru. He, my Lord is the Lord of the
Universe. He, my Guru is the Guru of the Universe. He, my Self, is the Self of the Universe.
gururādiranādishcha guruh paramadaivatam |
gurōh parataram nāsti tasmai srī guravź namaha ||
The Guru is the beginning of the Universe, yet he himself is without
a beginning; the Guru is the highest deity; there is none higher than the Guru.
Salutations to that divine Guru !
brahmānandam paramasukhadam kźvalam gnānamūrthim
dvandvātitam gaganasadrusham tatvamasyādilakshyam |
źkam nityam vimalamachalam sarvadhīsākshībhūtam
bhāvātītam trigunarahitam sadgurum tam namāmi ||
I bow to the Guru, who is the embodiment of the bliss of Brahman, the
giver of greatest beatitude, the absolute, the personification of the
highest knowledge; who is beyond the pairs of opposites (like
pleasure and pain) and untouched by evil, like the sky; whom "Thou
art That" and similar scriptual passages have in view; the one
without a second, the eternal, the pure, the immovable, the witness
of all mental modifications, abiding ever beyond thoughts and attributes.
Jagatguru Adi Sankaracharya, who lived in the 8th century A.D. is
indisputably among the greatest philosophers that India, or the
world, has ever produced. He combined in himself the attributes of a
philosopher, a devotee, a mystic, a poet and a religious reformer.
During the brief span of 32 years of life, Sankara established firmly
the Advaita Vedanta philosophy as the essential unifying basis of the
Hindu religion, and brought about religious harmony,
spiritual coherence and moral regeneration of the country. Presented here are two
stanzas from his famous hymn to Dakshināmūrti, the silent Guru of Gurus.
vishvam darpanadrushyamānanagarīthulyam nijāntargatam
pashyannātmani māyayā bahirivodbhootam yathā nidrayā|
yah sākshāt kurutź prabōdhasamayź
tasmai srī gurumūrtayź nama idam srī dakshināmūrthayź ||
I offer my salutations to that beneficent being who is incarnate as
the preceptor (Guru). He, the Atman, appearing as the individual soul
through the power of ignorance, sees (in the waking state)- as one
does in sleep-the Universe, which in reality exists within himself, as
something external, like a city seen reflected in a mirror. But in
his enlightened state he realizes his own self, the one without a second.
yasyaiva sphuranam sadatmakamasatkalpārthakam bhāsatź
sākshāt tatvamasīti vźdavachasā sōbodhayatyāshritān |
yat sākshāt karanādbhavźnna punarāvrittir bhavāmbhōnidhau
tasmai srī gurumūrtayź nama idam srī dakshināmūrtayź ||
I offer my salutations to that beneficent being who is incarnate as
the preceptor (Guru), the light of whose absolute existence shines
forth in the world of appearance, who imparts to the disciple the
holy teaching 'That Thou Art', upon realizing which the soul never
again returns to the ocean of birth and death.