ManCanBecomeGod06

Sakthi Vikatan- 06 Jan, 2015

Posted Date : 06:00 (23/12/2014)

Author: Kaivalliya Navanītham P.N. Parasuraman.  Images: Nataṉam

Spiritual Instructions knowing the recipient.

Having instructed the disciples on three kinds of Dīkṣa, haven’t we seen his continued announcement, ‘I will teach you the way to remove the misery of rebirth? If followed, your misery of rebirth will come to an end.

One man had a big problem: he needed Rs. 100,000 immediately. No one came forward.  What will be the situation, if someone says, ‘Giving you the needed money, I will remove your hardsho? Likewise, when one is distressed not finding relief from the misery of rebirth, what will be one’s joy, if someone says, ‘I will show the way.’

Hearing the swords of Gurunāthar, the disciple’s joy knew no bounds. It was like the coiffure on fire and the man plunging into the cool waters of a lake. The disciple was that joyous. His body and soul were blissful.

The disciple fell at the feet of Gurunāthar and paid homage, saying, “You said that paying heed to you will dissipate my misery. Though I may not be a heeder, why did you not take me as your spiritual servitor and stop me from my erroneous ways, with compassion? You said there is a way for relief from the misery of rebirth. He implored Gurunāthar to show the way and save him, his servitor.”

We see his hastiness to find a quick relief from the disciples’ words. It also tells only Gurunāthar can show him the way out of misery of rebirth.

Will Gurunāthar stay still, hearing the plea of the disciple?  He instructed him.  Why, could he not have refused instructing him? The answer is rejection is not the option. The Sāstraic caution is that no one should withhold his knowledge or skill from a deserving pupil. That lapse will engender the Guru’s birth as Rākṣasa according to Sastras. What we know, we should put in practice. We should teach it to the next man. The important point here is the deserving and qualified person.

Instructions at IAS level should not be offered to a second-grade student and vice versa. Accordingly, upon inquiry from a capable disciple, Gurunāthar began instructing him.

The disciple has subdued his desires, as discovered by the Guru. For the disciple to attain Ātma-Svarūpam, Gurunāthar began religious instructions to that Jīva.

Only after finding out that the disciple subdued his increasing desires, Guru gave instructions. That is after knowing the disciple was developed and progressive in his pursuit.

Though it is said he instructed him after the disciple was vetted properly, there is a wasp story between vetting and instruction. That is an example.

There was a worm in a mud nest. The wasp stung the worm multiple times. Unable to bear the pain from the stings, the buzzing of the wasp itself made the worm think of the wasp. Over days, the worm morphs into a wasp. Likewise, Gurunāthar makes a disciple mature, gives him Jñāṉa Upadeśam and raises him to his level. The line in the poem says, “The wasp buzzing before the worm inside the mud nest.’

The next line says, “Seeing the Jīva (of the disciple), he instructed.” The buzzing of the wasp and the instructions of Gurunāthar draw a parallel.

The wasp buzzes only before the worm and not before the mud nest. Likewise, Gurunāthar offers instructions before the Jīva (soul of the disciple) and not before his body. Guru of that high a caliber still offers Upadeśam to the deserving disciple.  

It continues.