gurur brahmâ gurur vishnu gurur dêvo mahêshvaraha

gururêva parambrahmâ tasmai srî guravê 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 mandalâkâram vyâptam yêna charâcharam |

tat padam darshitam yêna tasmai srî guravê namaha || 

I bow to the divine Guru, who reveals to one the divine Being that 

encircles and permeates the moving and the non-moving. 

agnâna timirândasya gnânânjanashalâkayâ |

chakshurunmîlitam yêna tasmai srî guravê 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. 

sthâvaram jangamam vyâptam yêna krutsnam charâcharam |

tatpadam darshitam yêna tasmai srî guravê 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. 

chidrûpena parivyâptam trailôkyam sacharâcharam |

tatpadam darshitam yêna tasmai srî guravê 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 shirôratna samudhbhâsita mûrtayê |

vedantâmbuja suryâya tasmai srî guravê 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. 

chaitanyasshâshvatah shântô vyômâtîtôniranjanaha |

bindunâdakalâtîta tasmai srî guravê namaha || 

I bow to the divine Guru, who is the supreme spirit, eternal and 

serene, beyond ether, pure, beyond Bindu, Nâda and Kalâ - the subtle 

aspects of the mystic syllable `ôm'. 

gnânashakti samârûda tatvamâlâ vibhûshitaha |

bhukti muktipradâtâ cha tasmai srî guravê 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. 

anêka janma samprâpta karmabandha vidâhinê |

atma gnânapradânêna tasmai srî guravê 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. 

shôshanam bhavasindhôshcha prâpanam sârasampadaha |

yasya padôdakam samyak tasmai srî guravê namaha || 

I bow to the divine Guru whose grace completely dries up the ocean of 

the Samsâra (relative existence) and makes one realize the Supreme wealth. 

na gurôradhikam tatvam na gurôradhikam tapaha |

tatvagnânât param nâsti tasmai srî guravê 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 ! 

mannâtah srîjagannâtho madguruh srîjagadguruhu | 

mamâtma sarva bhûtâtmâ tasmai srî guravê 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. 

gururâdiranâdishcha guruh paramadaivatam |

gurôh parataram nâsti tasmai srî guravê 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 ! 

brahmânandam paramasukhadam kêvalam gnânamûrthim

dvandvâtitam gaganasadrusham tatvamasyâdilakshyam |

êkam nityam vimalamachalam sarvadhîsâkshîbhûtam

bhâvâtîtam trigunarahitam sadgurum tam namâmi || 

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. 

Adi Sankara on Guru

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 Dakshinâmûrti, the silent Guru of Gurus. 

vishvam darpanadrushyamânanagarîthulyam nijântargatam

pashyannâtmani mâyayâ bahirivodbhootam yathâ nidrayâ|

yah sâkshât kurutê prabôdhasamayê

swâtmânamêvâdvayam

tasmai srî gurumûrtayê nama idam srî dakshinâmûrthayê || 

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 sadatmakamasatkalpârthakam bhâsatê

sâkshât tatvamasîti vêdavachasâ sôbodhayatyâshritân |

yat sâkshât karanâdbhavênna punarâvrittir bhavâmbhônidhau

tasmai srî gurumûrtayê nama idam srî dakshinâmûrtayê || 

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.