The Most Precious Wealth!
By H H Maa Purnananda
“Paapaandhakaaraark Paramparaabhyaam Taapatrayaaheendra Khageshwaraabhyaam; Jaadyaabdhi Sanshoshanavaadavaabhyaam Namo Namah Sree Guru Paadukaabhyaam.” – (Sree Guru Paaduka Stotram – 6)
Mankind succumbs to the miseries of life, yet lifelong yearns constantly for worldly pleasures! What a plight!
The comforting, kind and loving shelter of the Guru’s grace is the most precious wealth in life, for which, one has to be worthy enough to earn it. So what makes one worthy for it? What work is worthwhile and what should be the quality of my mind, which would make me worthy for earning this most precious wealth?
Not many would be striving to work hard enough for earning this wealth. In fact, not many have any idea about it; not many of us would have even known about it, till we, if at all, actually got this wealth! Obviously, man is tremendously involved in worldly activities and is completely preoccupied with the idea that the world, nay, his world is the ultimate! Hence, he remains oblivious of the most precious wealth, the Guru’s grace!
Amazingly, a little bit of weekly or fortnightly so called Satsang, a lit bit of listening to some discourses from here & there, some short and hurried visits to Ashram-s, some fun-trips to Holy-places, a bit of so called Yoga, Aasan or Pranayam, and even finding false peace in some kind of intermittent meditation, etc. etc. etc. give so much of satisfaction, peace, confidence, happiness and above all, pride of being on the spiritual path! Though, all along, such a person probably remains unchanged and worldly from within, he feels good and considers himself to be sufficiently spiritual! Once settled in this idea, he stops striving on the Sacred Path, and sometimes even he begins to get deteriorated, instead of improving and progressing towards being worthy of Guru’s grace.
In the given Stuti, while singing the glory of the Guru, Sree Adi Shankaracharya expresses how the Guru’s grace impacts the life of a worthy disciple or devotee. Holy-Sandals (Charan-Paaduka) of our Guru are symbolic of the stand taken and lived by the Guru as per the Sacred Principles and injunctions laid by the Holy Scriptures. Prostrations to Holy-Sandals therefore signify the complete acceptance and humble surrender by the faithful seeker, to the Sacred Wisdom of the Realized Master.
This unswerving faith of the seeker makes him worthy of the most precious wealth, His Guru’s grace. The Guru’s grace enlightens the disciple’s inner-equipment (Antahkaran) with the Divine effulgence, saving him from even the thought of a sinful act (paap-karm), leave aside attempting any of such sinful acts!
Subsequently, the miseries and dilemma experienced from the impact of the physical world, phenomenal forces and from those pertaining to one’s own mind-intellect (tri-taap), although being the outcome of one’s own sinful thoughts and acts; are driven away by Guru’s grace.
Thereafter, by his Guru’s grace, his ocean-of-ignorance gets completely dried-up by the fire of True Knowledge which dawns upon this fortunate seeker.
Is not the Guru’s grace the most precious wealth earned by the seeker? Work hard we must, as guided by the Guru, to earn this most precious wealth indeed!
On the Auspicious occasion of Sree Guru Purnima, also known as Sree Vyas Purnima, sincere prostrations at the Holy-feet of Sree Guru Parampara, seeking the most precious wealth, Their grace!