- THE CHAPTER ON THE DUTIES OF
AN ĀCĀRYA. page625
विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः (सं॰प॰)
अधिजिगमिषुराद्यं धाम दिव्यं त्रिधाम्नः
श्रुतविविधपरीक्षाशोधिते क्वापि पात्रे ।
अनघगुणदशायामाहितस्नेहमार्यः
प्रदिशति निरपायं संप्रदायप्रदीपम् ॥ ६९ ॥
मूलम् (सं॰प॰)
अधिजिगमिषुराद्यं धाम दिव्यं त्रिधाम्नः
श्रुतविविधपरीक्षाशोधिते क्वापि पात्रे ।
अनघगुणदशायामाहितस्नेहमार्यः
प्रदिशति निरपायं संप्रदायप्रदीपम् ॥ ६९ ॥
The noble ācārya, who longs to attain the primaeval and heavenly abode of Viṣṇu, lights up the imperishable lamp of spiritual tradition (sampradāya) in some deserving disciple who has been tested in various and well-known ways and found fit (to receive the light). (He lights up this lamp) with true affection (sneha) when the disciple is in a state of mind (daśā) free from unworthy qualities (guṇa) like a well-tested and weil-burnished vessel with oil (sneha) poured into it and with a wick (daśā) made of pure threads (guṇa)1 .
TO WHOM SHOULD) THE ĀCĀRYA IMPART
SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE :– page625
It has been said :– “Thou art the Father of this world consisting of things that move about and things that do not move. Thou art also its guru; therefore, Thou art the greatest of those who deserve to be worshipped.” and again. " We request permission of all (those who are assembled here) to show our reverence to Śrī Kṛṣṇa wlo deserves, in virtue of the perfection of all his (good) qualities, the foremost tokens of reverence, and who is (at the same time) the ācārya, the father, the guru and one fit to be honoured." As stated in these ślokas, the Lord of all is the Supremeācārya. From Him has come down to us the spiritual
tradition of noble acaryas. The (true) acarya collects together the meanings of the three great secrets (mantras) whose delightful flavour cannot, like the milk of the lioness, be appreciated by strangers. He makes a brief summary of them and then meditates on them. (Ilow and to whom, after doing so, he should teach these truths as described in the following ślokas :). “He who guards this meaning from those who are unworthy and imparts it to those who are worthy he is fit to be honoured by me.” " This (the Bhagavad Gitā) is not to be taught to those who have not performed tapas. It should never be taught to the man who has no devotion or bhakti and who does not show eagerness to learn it. It should never be imparted to the man who hates me. He who teaches this greatest of secrets to my devotees will show parābhakti or deep devotion to me and will attain me. There is no doubt of this." “This great śāstra should not be taught to men who are not constantly repeating the Vedas. This śāstra will impart wisdom to the man who is eager to learn it and bows devoutly to the guru for attaining wisdom. This should not be imparted to the man who is ever in the habit of telling lies; (it should not be imparted) to deceitful men, to eunuchs, to men that are mentally perverse, to those who are so conceited as to think that they are learned) when they tre not truly so, and to those who cause affliction to others. I will tell you of the man who deserves to be taught (this śāstra). Listen. It should be taught to the man who has faith, who is virtuous, who never indulges in vilifying others, who can understand sound reasoning and who is capable of grasping what is taught. (It should be taught) to the man who performs the rites and duties (ordained for him) and who endures the inconveniences and discomforts arising from their performance, to the man who is intent on doing what is good to the world and who desires to live in solitude. (It should be taught) to the man who delights in the injunctions of the śāstras, who dreads vain argumentation and who has learnt much from acaryas.. It should be
taught to the man who is grateful for the help rendered to him, who considers patience and compassion as desirable virtues and who looks upon all eternal souls as resembling himself. Wise men declare that this śāstra should not be taught to those who have not these virtues. When the śāstra is imparted to the unworthy, it will not bring good to the teacher for that very reason. Even if this earth is filled with gems and offered (to one), one should not, O king, impart this śāstra to the man who has not subjected himself to discipline. This noble śāstra may certainly be taught to the man who has subdued his senses. You need not be, in the least, afraid, O Karala. You have been taught this śāstra treating of the Supreme Brahman. You have been taught the Supreme Brahman that has no beginning, no middle and no end, that is free from sorrow and that is most holy.” “If a fit disciple cannot be found, the man who is fit to teach this vidyā may (even) die with his vidyā or learning. It should, on no account, even at the time of great adversity, be sown in a desert”. “Ignorant’ men who consider themselves learned and hypocrites who pretend to observe dharma while they are really doing adharma - these men under the disguise of the virtuous harass (good) men who practise dharma. He who has skill in performing well such actions as would lead to mokṣa but who, elsewhere, follows the ways of the world – he is looked down upon as a guru of a low type. Many are the men who are foolish; the man with a clear intelligence may occasionally be found somewhere and only one among many. He is a man with all virtuous mind who will never allow his intelligence to be clouded by men that are silly. Trust should never be placed in any man; this is a matter for careful consideration, especially, in Kali yuga. Great sinners confound the intellects of the weak-minded with perverse reasons spouted forth like a downpour of rain. One should guard dharma from the unfit and perform dharma. Never teach any. thing to one who does not beg for it. Even when asked, secret meanings or the mysteries of religion and the true doctrine should not be revealed (lightly). To him who has sought one, with true devotion, who has constant faith in the śāstras, who is pure and is prepared to learn in accordance with the rules – to him one should teach everything. The man who teaches the śāstras to the unworthy for winning the respect of others, for wealth, for being honoured by others and for getting rid of the suffering (caused by poverty ) - that man strays from the right path. (You) may sow the seed in a desert, give (your) daughter in marriage to a eunuch and give a garland of flowers to a monkey; but (you) should never impart (instruction) in the śāstra to one who is unworthy”. “This great mantra should not be taught to an atheist, to one who is insincere, or who is not devout, to one who delights in harassing others and to a miser. This mantra is not fit to be taught to such as these. It should be taught by the ācārya to the man who is sincere, to one who has devotion to his guru, to the man who has devotion to Viṣṇu and who is intent on doing good to all beings. These two things should be borne well in mind.” “Thus have I uttered words which are like a garland to the Lord and words that would delight His servants, for the sake of the enjoyment of the Lord which is sweet as ambrosia”. “Here have I taught deep truths in the form of verses each of which begins with the last word of the previous verse (antādi). Considering their great value, receive them without casting them among the unworthy”. As stated in such treatises as the above, viz., Sātvata, Bhagavad Gitā, the discourse between Vasiṣṭa and Karala, Śāṇḍilya Smṛti and Satyaki tantra, the ancient ācāryas would teach only to those who had such qualities as goodness and faith and who would therefore be approved of by the Saviour. (They would teach these truths) only to those who were of the nature of the gods (Devas) as described in the following ślokas :- “These are the qualities, O, Bharata, which enrich man with a nature similar to that of the gods :- fearlessness, a mind free from the taint of rajas and tamas, meditation on the essential nature of the self, charitableness, subjugation of the senses, the performance of yajnas or sacrifice, the study of ones Veda, austerities like fasting, being the same in thought, word and deed, refraining from doing evil to others, speaking that truth which will be wholesome to other beings, freedom from anger, giving up what is productive of evil to oneself, control of the mind, refraining from tale-bearing, compassion to all creatures, freedom from desires, accessibility to the good, shamefulness at the thought of doing what is wicked, serenity of mind even when the objects of sense pleasure are very near, never yielding to the vicious, forbearance even when injured by others, mental courage in continuing to do one’s duties even in times of great adversity, the purity (of body and mind) that is necessary for the performance of such rites as are enjoined in the śāstra, freedom from treachery and freedom from.conceit.” So also, it has been said; “Creation is of two kinds – the god-like and āsuric. The god like are, by nature, always full of devotion to Viṣṇu. The āsuric are the very opposite of this.” Those men with a nature like that of the gods would be tested by (our)ācāryas for ascertaining their real character as stated in the following ślokas: “The disciple” shonld be tested in varions ways for a period of one year, or half of it, or (at least) three months and he should be tanght with compassion and withont any thought of gain and the like", and “If a man has come by chance from a distant land with a mind full of the love of the Lord, he should be taught what he desires withont any prolonged tests”. (Having ascertained his fitness), the ācārya would reveal (spiritual truths) in such a manner that six ears could not hear them (i.e. that it could be heard only by the śiṣya’s two ears and the guru’s two ears and no other) and only to a disciple who had no desires and was content with what he had in regard to other things and who was keenly desirous only of learning the śastras.ācāryas of olden days would guard these secrets from asuric natures which are different and which have, as their possessions, such attributes as the following:– Performing dharma for the sake of praise, delight in the enjoyment of sense-pleasures which make one indifferent to the knowledge of what is good and what is evil, irrational arrogance, anger, harshness of speech and folly". They would keep the śastra hidden like a wealthy man who would (guard) a cherished treasure and see to its proper use:
THE NATURE OF THE TEACHING : page630
They would teach their śiṣyas such truths as the following:
(1) Tattva. “There is a self or ātmā which is eternal and different from the body and the senses. Besides these two viz., the sentient beings and non-sentient things, there is a Supreme Self who dwells within all of them as their ruler and who is the śeṣī (for whom they exist). Other than this Supreme Self there is no one, either oneself or others, that can protect the self". (2) Hita : They will also teach the means (hita) by which the end can be trained, in the following words to be uttered by the śiṣya “From beginningless time, I have been in saṁsāra subject to the cycle of births and deaths. In order that I may not have such sufferings as dwelling within the embryo, I pray that Thou shouldst grant me Thy holy feet and save me.” (With these words) and with the utterance of Dvaya , preceded by obeisance to the succession of gurus, taught graciously by the ācāryas, the , should be taught to seek the feet of Nārāyaṇa and Śrī and surrender his self and whatever is his, as also the burdens or responsibilities connected with them, when the good acarya has thus introduced the śiṣya to the Lord, the śiṣya should be made to feel assured that the Lord would never, thereafter, forsake him so that he may live the rest of his life here in the spirit of good will to every one and free from all offence and his later life may become the prelude to mokṣa. Thus he would teach the śiṣya what he should do after the surrender of responsibility (bharanyāsa) in as brief á manner as would suit the aptitude of the śiṣya.
विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः (सं॰प॰)
प्रत्येयस्तु (प्रत्यग्वस्तु) विलक्षणः प्रकृतितस्त्रातापतिस्तत्पर
स्तस्मिन्नात्मभरार्पणं हिततमं तच्छेषवृत्तिः फलम् ।
इत्थं तत्त्वहिते पुमर्थ इति नस्त्रेधा विभक्तं धनं
दायत्वेन दयाधनास्स्वयमदुर्दत्तात्मनां देशिकाः ॥
मूलम् (सं॰प॰)
प्रत्येयस्तु (प्रत्यग्वस्तु) विलक्षणः प्रकृतितस्त्रातापतिस्तत्पर
स्तस्मिन्नात्मभरार्पणं हिततमं तच्छेषवृत्तिः फलम् ।
इत्थं तत्त्वहिते पुमर्थ इति नस्त्रेधा विभक्तं धनं
दायत्वेन दयाधनास्स्वयमदुर्दत्तात्मनां देशिकाः ॥
“The soul or self is different from prakṛti or matter ; greater than the self is the Saviour who is the Ruler (over all); the supreme good of man consists in the surrender of the responsibility of the self to Him; the end (attained thereby) is existence solely for the fulfilment of His purposeś. In these words our spiritual teachers whose sole wealth was their compassion gave us, of their own accord, as a heritage, the (spiritual) wealth divided into three classes (viz, tativa, hita, puruṣārtha), when we had surrendered ourselves to them.
All these words of mine on the three secrets (mantras) found in the earlier and later chapters) are in accordance with the spiritual tradition of Vedānta Udayana, otherwise called, Madappalli āchān, (the preceptor in charge of the kitchen), (who propagated the truths of Vedānta like Udayana commenting on Tarkaśāstra). Kidambi Appullar made me learn these words like a parrot, just as he had learnt them from his own ācharya (his father). (Therefore ) these words are those that illumined his mind owing to the compassion of the Lord and that were guarded by him without forgetfulness and taught to me without any error.
विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः (त॰प॰)
पाट्टुक्कुरिय पऴैयवर् मूवरैप् पण्डॊरुगाल्
माट्टुक्करुडरु मायन् मलिन्दु वरुन्दुदलाल्
नाट्टुक्किरुळ् सॆग नान्मऱैयन्दि नडैविळङ्ग
वीट्टुक्किडैगऴिक्के वॆळिगाट्टुमिम् मॆय्विळक्के. (46 )
मूलम् (त॰प॰)
पाट्टुक्कुरिय पऴैयवर् मूवरैप् पण्डॊरुगाल्
माट्टुक्करुडरु मायन् मलिन्दु वरुन्दुदलाल्
नाट्टुक्किरुळ् सॆग नान्मऱैयन्दि नडैविळङ्ग
वीट्टुक्किडैगऴिक्के वॆळिगाट्टुमिम् मॆय्विळक्के. (46 )
Those lamps (of spiritual wisdom) which lighted the threshold of a certain house (in Tirukkovalur), when, of old, the cow.herd (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) who vouchsafed His grace (even) to cattle, came of His own accord and squeezed Himself among those three ancient singers (the first three ālvārs)2 -Those lamps lighted there (i,e. their songs) dispelled the darkness of the land and revealed the path indicated in the Upaniṣads which form the concluding part of the four Vedas.
विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः (त॰प॰)
मरुळऱ्ऱ तेसिगर् वानुगप्पालिन्द वैयमॆल्लाम्
इरुळऱ् ऱिऱैयवनिणैयडि पूण्डिड वॆण्णुदलाल्
तॆरुळुऱ्ऱ सॆन्दॊऴिऱ्चॆल्वम् पॆरुगिच् चिऱन्दवर्बाल्
अरुळुऱ्ऱ सिन्दैयिना लऴिया विळक्केऱ्ऱिनरे. ( 47 )
मूलम् (त॰प॰)
मरुळऱ्ऱ तेसिगर् वानुगप्पालिन्द वैयमॆल्लाम्
इरुळऱ् ऱिऱैयवनिणैयडि पूण्डिड वॆण्णुदलाल्
तॆरुळुऱ्ऱ सॆन्दॊऴिऱ्चॆल्वम् पॆरुगिच् चिऱन्दवर्बाल्
अरुळुऱ्ऱ सिन्दैयिना लऴिया विळक्केऱ्ऱिनरे. ( 47 )
Our great ācāryas, who were absolutely free from ignorance and error, lighted this undying lamp out of compassionate grace, in the minds of worthy disciples who had grown rich in the true wealth of the performance of ordained rites in a manner which would accord with their knowledge. (They did so) because they desired that the whole world (of men) should become free from ignorance and adorn their heads with the Lord’s feet owing to their longing for Paramapada,
विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः (सं॰प॰)
निरवधिदयादिव्योदन्वत्तरङ्गनिरङ्कुशै-
र्नियमयति यश्शिष्यान् शिक्षाक्रमैर्गुणसंक्रमैः ।
अचरमगुरोराज्ञापारंपरी परवानसौ
न परमिह तांस्तल्लक्षेण स्वमप्यभिरक्षति ॥ ७० ॥
मूलम् (सं॰प॰)
निरवधिदयादिव्योदन्वत्तरङ्गनिरङ्कुशै-
र्नियमयति यश्शिष्यान् शिक्षाक्रमैर्गुणसंक्रमैः ।
अचरमगुरोराज्ञापारंपरी परवानसौ
न परमिह तांस्तल्लक्षेण स्वमप्यभिरक्षति ॥ ७० ॥
The ācārya who obeys the successive commands of (the Lord who is) the first ācārya regulates (the minds and actions of) his śiṣyas by methods of instruction which create3 in them noble qualities similar to those in himself and which are like irresistible waves of the celestial sea of his boundless compassion. By doing so, he saves not only the disciple but himself also under the guise of saving him.
इति श्रीकवितार्किकसिंहस्य सर्वतन्त्रस्वतन्त्रस्य
श्रीमद्वेङ्कटनाथस्य वेदान्ताचार्यस्य कृतिषु
श्रीमद्रहस्यत्रयसारे आचार्यकृत्याधिकारस्त्रिंशः
श्रीमते निगमान्तमहादेशिकाय नमः ॥