CHENNAI: That is why lord Krishna imparts wisdom to Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita. “This whole world is bound by actions except to the actions performed such as yagna (sacrifice to god). Therefore, O Kaunteya, sacrifice all your actions onto the supreme god, without being bound by it.” The above spiritual practices imparted by the guru will lead to an implosion of grace. This implosion of grace fills each and every capillary of our body. Our body will be at peace and our mind will be in bliss. It prevents us from enjoying or suffering the fruits of our actions. This is the state of nirvana or vimukti which is nothing but bliss.
At this juncture, lord Shiva cautions us that even when we establish the guru’s form inside us, we should remain focused on worshipping the guru’s lotus feet, because only the lotus feet of the guru is available to the disciples for worship, the guru would have dedicated his body in the service of his guru. Therefore the guru says — “My body is dedicated to my guru and thus belongs to my guru”.
King Janaka of Videha — the great royal sage can be remembered as one great example for being a devoted disciple of his guru Yagnavalkya. Although king Janaka lived in a palace in the capacity of a king, he never had the feeling that he owned any of the materialistic possessions. He dedicated his body, mind, heart and soul to his guru and offered everything at the lotus feet of his guru. Once a sanyasi, a spiritual ascetic who had renounced his responsibilities and privileges of worldly life and dedicated himself to the goal of self realisation, clad in saffron robes arrived as a guest to king Janaka’s kingdom. Seeing king Janaka surrounded by wealth, riches and affluence, he wondered, “How can a king leading such as luxurious life beself realised?” Just as he was wondering, he heard the guards in the palace scream —“The palace has caught fire. The palace has caught fire. The palace has caught fire. Upon hearing this, the sanyasi ran out of the palace to safeguard his loin cloth which he had hung on the ropes for drying.
Safeguarding the same, he returned to king Janaka. He was awestruck to see that king Janaka was totally calm and unruffled by the palace catching fire. In astonishment he asked, “O king! Have you not heard your guards scream about the fire being caught in your beautiful palace? How is that you remain seated unperturbed?” With mental equipoise and calmness, king Janaka answered, “There is nothing that belongs to me. I have offered everything to my guru. The only that belongs to me is the knowledge imparted by my guru. This knowledge is imperishable and cannot be destroyed by any fire!
Today, we are all fortunate to be able to meditate upon the lotus feet of the guru. The lotus feet of the guru as well as the holy sandals of the guru known as guru padukas have been given great prominence and eminence by our scriptures. That is why the guru padukas, encased in silver or gold, figure prominently in pictorial depictions of gods and gurus and in temples.
The beauty of the path of sadhana or spiritual practices is such that it always paves way for us to reach our destination called as our soul faster by removing the narrow-mindedness in us. With sadhana, we are transported from the narrow lanes of our limited mind to the highway path of our guru. Meditation upon the guru’s lotus feet and contemplation upon the teachings imparted by the guru should be practiced by every disciple. Meditation and contemplation go hand in hand. Guru’s words of wisdom are the vedas themselves. Guru vakya is veda vakya. Just one word of the guru is enough to liberate one who constantly contemplates upon it.
Extract from The Force of Nirvana by Shri Shri Nimishananda
