Uttarkand - Sri Ramacharitamanas
The greatness of the Guru – Guru Mahima is taught and emphasized in the Uttarkanda of Tulsi Ramayana – Sri Ramacharitamanas. In the Uttarkanda, the last chapter of Sri Ramacharitamanas, Tulsidas speaks about the Mahima or Importance of the Guru and Bhaktiyoga through the teachings of Kaka Bhusundi. The importance of the Guru and the respect that should be given to him are given to us through the words of Lord Shiva.
The greatness of the Guru – Guru Mahima is taught and emphasized in the Uttarkanda of Tulsi Ramayana – Sri Ramacharitamanas. In the Uttarkanda, the last chapter of Sri Ramacharitamanas, Tulsidas speaks about the Mahima or Importance of the Guru and Bhaktiyoga through the teachings of Kaka Bhusundi. The importance of the Guru and the respect that should be given to him are given to us through the words of Lord Shiva.
Each guru was once a disciple and then became a Guru. The original Guru who had no Guru is Sri Dakshinamurthy – Lord Shiva. The importance and status of a Guru are highlighted by Lord Shiva in the instance given by Kaka Bhusundi. Devotion to God and what it entails cannot be understood by us unless it is taught to us by God who is the very source of Love. It is very difficult to understand God as an abstract philosophy. Only those who have experienced and merged with God know the way and the beauty and purity of God. Only such people can teach us how to walk the path of God. Such persons are called Gurus. A person who has realised God and comes back to the world to teach about God is verily God himself. No one can merge in the Flame and Source of Love without becoming One with It.
Bhusundi narrates his own life story and his journey to extreme Rama Bhakti. When he speaks of his life, we can see reflections of our own lives and experiences in his narration. He was born in Ayodhya and was an arrogant young man. Though he lived in Ayodhya, he did not have love and respect for Sri Rama. He was impolite and rude to servants and devotees of Sri Rama. He was a follower of Lord Shiva. He met a Guru who was a great Shiva devotee and had utmost respect and love for Sri Rama too. The Guru overlooked the arrogance and pride of Bhusundi and accepted him as a disciple and gave him Lord Shiva’s mantra. He also imparted to him teachings, knowledge and wisdom.
The Guru saw the misbehaviour of his disciple towards the servants and devotees of Sri Rama. He would reproach him and explain to him that reward of Shiva Bhakti is bhakti of Sri Rama. But Bhusundi was full of ego and could not accept what his Guru said. He felt he knew better than his Guru. He thought of his Guru as a kind but misguided soul who did not know about the greatness of Lord Shiva. His Guru knew what was going on in his mind and tried his best to correct him. Once when Bhusundi was doing japa in a Shiva temple, his Guru came in. Bhusundi did not get up and prostate to his Guru. He ignored him and continued his japa thinking of himself as a great devotee of Lord Shiva immersed in his worship.
Seeing the disrespectful behaviour of Bhusundi, Lord Shiva was angry and spoke out aloud in the temple: You stupid fool! I've had enough of your arrogance. Now I'm going to curse you, and you'll not escape from this curse! When the Guru heard that, he became very worried, and young Bhusundi also started to tremble in his seat. Lord Shiva continued: As you were too lazy and dull-witted to stand up and offer your Guru due respect when he entered, I'm going to turn you into a fat, lazy python and you can dwell in the hollow of a tree! Hearing the terrible curse, the Guru was overcome with fear and compassion for his ignorant disciple. He prayed to Lord Shiva and sang the stuti or hymn –‘Namami shamishana nirvanaroopam’ for mitigating the curse. The Lord was pleased with the Guru and blessed him with boon of undying devotion. The Guru asked that Bhusundi be forgiven. The Lord blessed that though Bhusundi will undergo many thousands of births in lower forms but he will remember his past and in end achieve undying love of Sri Rama.
The lesson for us to learn from this narration is that the Guru is always compassionate and forgives those who insult him. But God will never forgive those who insult the Guru and such people will undergo millions of lives in lower forms and suffer endlessly. Because of his Guru, Bhusundi achieved deep bhakti of Sri Ram but had to undergo the sufferings of the curse of Lord Shiva. Let us look into ourselves and see the countless number of times our egos proclaimed that we know better than the Guru and judge him and find him wanting. Let us recall the various instances where we have been disrespectful to the Guru because of our ego. Let us repent and not do such things again. Only Guru can intervene and protect us from our own misdeeds and failures due to our ego.
