PART TWO
Guru Stuti
Introduction by Sri Bhagavan
When Shankaracharya was going about the country
debating with the exponents of the various schools of thought
and overcoming them, he once came to the town of
Mahishmati in the north, where Mandana Mishra, the exponent
of
Vedic rituals lived. He overcame him in debate but his wife
refused to concede victory until she was also defeated. So,
Shankaracharya argued with her and defeated her in all
subjects except erotica. He then asked for a respite of one
month and after shedding his body in a cave under the custody
of his disciples, entered into the dead body of king Amaruka
and sported among the hundred queens in the guise of their
husband. When the disciples found that the period specified
by their Guru had already expired they grew anxious. So some
of them went to him in the disguise of minstrels and sang the
following hymn (to remind him).
Text
1.
That is the Truth which the wise realize as the Self,
the residuum left over on withdrawing from external objects,
with or without form (ether, air, fire, water and earth), by a
careful application of the scriptural text `Not this, not this'.
That thou art!
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2.
That is the Truth which, after generating the
fundamentals (ether, air, fire, water and earth), and entering
the world, lies hidden beneath the five sheaths, and which has
been threshed out by the wise with the pestle of discernment,
just as the grain is recovered by threshing and winnowing the
chaff. That thou art!
3.
Just as wild horses are broken-in by whipping and
stabling them, so also the unruly senses, straying among
objects, are lashed by the whip of discrimination, showing
that objects are unreal, and are tethered by the rope of
pure intellect to the Self by the wise. Such is the Truth. That
thou art!
4.
The Truth has been ascertained by the wise to be the
substratum which is different from the waking, dream, and
deep sleep states, its own expanded modes, which indeed are
held together by it like the flowers strung together on a garland.
That thou art!
5.
That is the Truth which the scriptures show to be the
primal cause of all, elucidating the point clearly by such texts
as `Purusha is all this', `like gold in ornaments of gold', etc.
That thou art!
6.
The Truth has been forcefully proclaimed by the
scriptures in such texts as `He who is in the sun, is in man.'
`He who shines in the sun, shines in the right eye,' etc., That
thou art!
7.
What pure brahmins seek so eagerly by repetition of
the Vedas, by religious gifts, by earnest application of their
hard-earned knowledge and by renunciation, is the Truth. That
thou art!
8.
That is the Truth which the valiant have got by seeking,
with controlled mind, with abstinence, penance, etc., and
by diving into the Self by the self. Realizing it, they are
considered to be heroes with their highest purpose
accomplished. That is the transcendental Satchidananda [?]
(Being-Consciousness-Bliss) after gaining which there is
nothing more to worry about since perfect peace reigns. That
thou art!
On hearing these (verses) the Acharya bade them (his
disciples) go away and promptly came out of the body of the
King and re-entered his own. He then went to the lady (wife
of Mandana Misra) and, after defeating her, made the two of
them (she and her husband) his followers. Thereafter he went
on his way enlightening the whole world.
