DEVOTION TO GURU
Therefore worship him, worship his feet, cherish the sandals which house his feet, the paduka. Just as the essence of Speech is there below in the basic centre, muladhara, just as the lowest in the rung – the sudras and the like – are the effective instrumentations, similarly in the Ocean of Kula all knowledge is founded on the paduka. Remember and cherish this paduka which yields infinitely more merit than any number of observances, gifts, sacrifices, pilgrimages, mantra-japa and rituals of worship. It is that which, remembered, protects in times of distress and danger and calamity. Study, remembrance, knowledge, donations and sacrifices and worship are truly done by him who ever remembers on the tip of his tongue the
Mantra of this paduka. Look towards the direction in which the lotus feet of the Guru lie and bow to it every day with devotion. There is no mantra higher than that of the paduka, no god higher than the Guru, no initiation than that of the Sakta and no merit higher than the Kula worship. At the root of dhyana is the form of
the Guru; at the root of puja is the feet of the Guru; at the root of the mantra is the word of the Guru and at the root of all liberation is the grace of the Guru. In this world all holy actions are rooted in the Guru; therefore is the Guru to be constantly served with devotion for fulfilment. All fear of distress, grief, avarice delusion, bewilderment, exists only as long as one does not take refuge in the Guru All wanderings in samsara fraught with grief and impurity last as long as one has no devotion to a holy Guru. The beautiful mantra of the paduka whose root is in the grace of the Guru, loaded with the fruit of all fulfilment purifies and leads to the supreme Truth. As the boon-giving Guru gives the mantra in contentment and beatitude, try to please him with devotion, wealth, your very life. Indeed, it is only when the high Guru gives himself to the disciple that he becomes liberated, free from birth. The disciple should wait upon him till he gets pleased, for once he is pleased, all the sins drop away. These lovers of the devoted get for their dependents what they may not even hope for. When the Guru is pleased, even Gods like Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesha, sages and yogins, bestow their grace. Directed by the compassionate Guru who is pleased with devotion, the disciple attains liberation from karma and becomes eligible to both freedom and fulfilment.Hence shall the disciple do what is pleasing to the Guru, by his mind, speech, body and action. When the Guru so pleased says, ‘You are freed,’ indeed, one attains to liberation. From his transcendent station, the Lord in the form of the Guru frees one from the bonds of the past. Devotion to the Guru is the one main truth; without that all learning, all austerity, family status, observances are useless; they are only decorations pleasing to the worldly eye. Whatever one’s station is in life, if he be devoted,
he is dear to the Lord and as adorable as the Lord Himself. The fire of devotion to the Guru burns awayall taint of bad thought. With devotion even a cooker of kine is laudable and a learned man without it is an atheist. He who has complete devotion, steady and constant in the Guru, what has he to worry about dharma, artha etc.? Moksha is in the hollow of his palm. For him who devotedly remembers, “My Guru is Shiva Himself who grants liberation and enjoyment”, fulfilment is not far off All objects fructify in him who has supreme devotion to the Lord and as to the Lord so to the Guru. As to Narayana, to Mahadeva, to one’s own mother and father, so
is devotion to be had to one’s own Guru. Look upon the Guru and his wife as your parents, as the very Narayana and Lakshmi, as Brahma and Saraswati, as Shiva and Girija. Not by sacrifice, gifts, askesis, pilgrimage are all siddhis obtained in the manner they are by devotion to the Guru.
