Guru’s Teachings – The Destroyer of Grief

Instead of being crowned as expected, Lord Rama was sent into exile, Bharata went to Ayodhya, and seeing Kaushalya crying and greatly distressed, he took hold of her feet and said,

“Mother! Listen to what I say. Whatever was done by Kaikeyi at the time of the installation of Rama or whatever else took place, if I knew of it and instigated her, let the sin of killing Vasishtha and Arundhati with a sword attach to me.” Having taken this oath Bharata wept. Kauasalya having embraced him said, “Son, I know it, do not grieve.”

During this interval, and hearing of the arrival of Bharata, Vasishtha together with the other ministers went to the king’s palace. There, seeing Bharata weeping, he consoled him with his divine counsel:

“The old king Dasharatha, who was wise and of unfailing courage having enjoyed all the felicities of mortals and performed Ashwamedha and other sacrifices with large gifts, and who also got Hari as his son in the person of Rama, has gone to heaven and shares the seat of the king of the gods. Unworthy to be grieved at and deserving to attain emancipation thou art uselessly grieving over for him. The Atma is eternal, unchangeable, pure and free from birth and death.

“The body is non-intelligent, liable to death, impure and destructible. Thus thinking on the difference between self and non-self, there is no occasion at all for sorrow. Pita va tanyo vapi yadi mirityuvasham gatah. If a father or a son has come under the way of death, then it is the foolish who grieve for either by heating the body. In this world which is devoid of substance, separation from a desired object is, for the wise, a source of non-attachment and the giver of peace and happiness.

“When everyone who is born in this world is bound for death, then death is unavoidable for all embodied creatures.

Swakarmavashatah sarvazantunam prabhvaapyayoo

Appearance and disappearance of embodies creatures is due to their past Karma, knowing this, why should even he who is not wise grieve over departed relations? Brahmaandakotyo nashtah shristyo bahusho gatah – Millions of Brahmandas have disappeared, many a cycle of creation has gone, oceans have dried up, what reliance can be placed on a momentary existence?
Maranam prakriti saririnam vikratirjivitmuchyate bidheh

“As a bubble is formed in the water, its mergence with the water is natural. If it persists for some time, it is a modification of the water. So existence of the bubble is a modification of water and its dissolution is the nature of the water. Similarly life is a modification, and the death is natural. So there is no reason to grieve over death. Consider three entities in this case - the individual soul which is the witness of the world; God, who is the witness of millions of individual souls; and the self-illumined Supreme Brahman that illuminates God – where God, the individual soul and the world are one.

“It is intelligence itself, the very embodiment of bliss, the witness of the Buddhi (Intellect) and free from dissolution. The Mahavakya is imparted to modify the internal organ in the form of that Supreme Atman; and that modification too gets dissolved as it dispels nescience. One without a second, the Supreme Atman is ever homogenous – knowing it to be thus, with firm faith, do thou leave off sorrow and perform the last rites of your father.”

Thus aroused by his preceptor, Bharata gave up all sorrow, the product of nescience and did all that was ordained.

The Guru creates the modification of mind in the form of Knowledge, substantiates it with examples and reasoning and finally after destroying ignorance, sublimates even the mind modified in the form of knowledge as well. Then one comes to one’s natural state free from misery and sorrow.

Therefore the scriptures say:
Gururbrahma Gururvishnu Gururdevo Maheshawarah
Gurursakshatparambrahma tasme shrigurve namah

‘Guru is Brahma. Guru is Vishnu. Guru is Shiva. Guru is the Supreme Brahman Itself. Prostrations to that Guru.’