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गुरुः (guru)


Today we would be dissecting the word Guru which most of us would already know what it means.
A Guru is described as someone who teaches us by dispelling the darkness of ignorance.
The most common meaning used is this;

गुशब्दस्त्वन्धकारः स्यात्‌ रुशब्दस्तन्निरोधकः।
अन्धकारनिरोधित्वात्‌ गुरुरित्यभिधीयते॥ १६॥
The syllable gu means darkness, the syllable ru, he who dispels them,
Because of the power to dispel darkness, the guru is thus named.

— Advayataraka Upanishad, Verse 16^[

Now, one may ask why does gu mean darkness and why does ru mean to dispel.

Ok, this is where we need to start dissecting the root words.

gu meaning darkness stems from the root word गुह् (guh) which means covering and concealing hence a cave is called गुहा(guhA) because it conceals, covers and its engulfed in darkness.

The word गुहा(guhA) which means cave is a feminine word and I will explain more in detail below.

But just take note that its a feminine word.

Next is the word ru which is taken to indicate dispelling darkness in the Advayataraka Upanishad.
Again, take out your scalpels and cut again piece by piece into the root word.

The word ru stems from the root word रुच्(ruc) which means splendor, illumination.

Let's combine the root words now.

गुह् (guh) + रुच् (ruc) 

गु(gu) + रु(ru)  =  गुरु(guru)

Now since we have arrived at the word, so what does it actually imply?
gu is covering/concealing
ru is splendor/illumination.

So one who is able to illuminate the covering (of darkness) is a   गुरु(guru).
Next is what are the prerequisites to be a   गुरु(guru).
Here is where we have to look at the literal meaning of the word   गुरु(guru).

The literal meaning is Heavy.
So only one who is heavy in knowledge can illuminate the covering (of darkness).

Earlier I had pointed out that the root word गुहा(guhA) which means cave is a feminine word and it indicates concealing and darkness too.

We need to remember that the feminine word माया(mAyA) which means "that which is not" also implies covering/concealing/darkness and is the root cause for all the illusion we experience in existence.
माया(mAyA) also functions like a गुहा(guhA) veiling us from illumination as to keep us in darkness.

Therefore the spiritual definition of the word गुरु(guru) is "One who is weighty in knowledge and illuminates our intellect to dispel the veil of concealment"

So this word गुरु(guru) should not be used indiscriminately.

It has a very specific meaning only reserved for the one who can light up our lives.

The story of अहं (ahaM)

The word अहं (ahaM) in Sanskrit means "I".
It is used as a pronoun for eg when we say अहं बालकः अस्मि।(ahaM bAlakaH asmi)(I am a boy).

Now, we have heard the famous Mahavakya अहं ब्रह्मास्मि |(ahaM brahmAsmi) which means
"I am Brahman".
It is also often mistranslated as "I am God" and you would find many people proclaiming अहं ब्रह्मास्मि |(ahaM brahmAsmi) after attending a few meditation sessions.This leads to the misunderstanding that Hindus proclaim to be God.

What does the अहं (ahaM) actually represent ?
We would need to reflect on the tattva of each sound of the word.

अ (a) represents The Supreme Consciousness
ह (ha) represents The Projected Energy(The Projected Energy originates from The Supreme Consciousness. The Projected Energy brings about manifest myriads of worlds within itself a.k.a Creation)
The Dot in the word अहं    known as Bindu or Anusvara is symbolic for the Undifferentiated/Undivided Supreme Consciousness despite the manifestations brought out by The Projected Energy)

अहं can be summarized as "The Undifferentiated Supreme Consciousness-Projected Energy Principle"

So the अहं(ahaM) in अहं ब्रह्मास्मि |(ahaM brahmAsmi) even though it used as a pronoun but in reality 
 अहं(ahaM) represents the "The Undifferentiated Supreme Consciousness-Projected Energy Principle"

Now comes another interesting fact.
The Dot in the word अहं has another meaning too.
The Dot is called Bindu.
Bindu arises from the word Vindu (विन्दु) which stems from the root word विद् which means "To know"

Therefore अहं ब्रह्मास्मि |(ahaM brahmAsmi) would translate as "The Knower of  The Undifferentiated Supreme Consciousness-Projected Energy Principle is Brahman.

And as the saying goes in the Taittiriya Upanishad "The knower of Brahman attains the Highest"

Summary : अहं ब्रह्मास्मि |(ahaM brahmAsmi) isn't really a state one can proclaim.It's a state of realization.

When One is not a number and the Second isn't the runner -up

Today we would learn Cardinal numbers, Ordinal numbers and some philosophy.

In Sanskrit numbers both Cardinal and Ordinal have gender.

I would be using Neuter gender here(Sanskrit has 3 genders..Masculine, Feminine and Neuter)

Let's begin.

Cardinal Numbers:

One is एकम्(ekam)

Two is द्वे(dve)

Three is त्रीणि(trINi)

Ordinal Numbers:

First is प्रथमम् (prathamam)

Second is द्वितीयम् (dvitIyaM)

Third is    तृतीयम्(tRtiyam) 

Now let's take a look at the famous line from Chandogya Upanishad :

एकम् एव अद्वितीयम् ब्रह्म (ekam eva advitIyam brahma) which means Brahman is verily One without a second.

This is where the word एकम् (ekam) is actually slightly lost in translation.

When translated into English the word एकम् (ekam) is always translated as One.

But the usage of एकम् (ekam) here to describe Brahman isn't a number.

Brahman is the absolute unmanifested state where verily only Brahman exists and nothing else.

It a state even beyond comprehension and perception.

A state that is even beyond time hence no locus exists to even start counting 1 2 3.

एकम् (ekam) here means Oneness Absolute and not the number 1.

What about the usage of अद्वितीयम्?(advitIyaM)

What does it mean?

अद्वितीयम् (advitIyaM) ) = अ(a) + द्वितीयम्(dvitIyaM) = Non Dual

The word द्वितीयम्(dvitIyam) here means dual and does not mean second.

So its not about counting 1st, 2nd and 3rd either.

The phrase एकम् एव अद्वितीयम् ब्रह्म (ekam eva advitIyam brahma) does not involve counting as Brahman is beyond any form of calculation

एकम् एव अद्वितीयम् ब्रह्म (ekam eva advitIyam brahma) denotes "Brahman is Non Dual Oneness"

One of the most misunderstood and often mistranslated stanza in the Bhagavad Gita.
Chapter 1 stanza 40.(* sometimes its stanza 41, depending on the Gita)

अधर्माभिभवात्कृष्ण प्रदुष्यन्ति कुलस्त्रिय: |
स्त्रीषु दुष्टासु वार्ष्णेय जायते वर्णसङ्कर: || 40||

adharmābhibhavāt kṛiṣhṇa praduṣhyanti kula-striyaḥ
strīṣhu duṣhṭāsu vārṣhṇeya jāyate varṇa-saṅkaraḥ

This stanza if often translated as :

1)With the preponderance of  Adharma, O Krishna, the women of the family become immoral; and from the immorality of women, O descendent of Vrishni,  unwanted progeny are born.

 or

2)When Adharma is prominent in the family O' Krishna, the women of the family become corrupt and from the degradation of womanhood, O' descendant of Vrishni, comes unwanted progeny.

This is where we make the greatest error and many Guruji's even write harsh commentaries stating that women are easily misled and will commit adultery and immoral acts if not guided well by elders and males.

All these type of commentaries show women in the bad light when we all know that prisons have more males than females!

Ok, so where does this verse get misunderstood.

Here it is :
The word प्रदुष्यन्ति (praduSyanti) which is often always translated as become polluted.
So everyone assumes that the women misbehaved and committed adultery.

Let's dissect this word, it is made up of
प्र(pra)  +  दुष्यन्ति(duSyanti)
In Sanskrit when a verb is preceded by the prefix प्र(pra) it denotes the action done with extra intensity.
 दुष्यन्ति(duSyanti) means to become defiled.
With the प्र(pra) added as a prefix, the word  प्रदुष्यन्ति (praduSyanti) translated as "becoming defiled with intensity/force"
So this denotes a situation where a women is sexually assaulted and not that she commits adultery on her own.

In the past when countries faced war and invasion, the males would get killed in war and the females would be taken captive and often sexually assaulted and because of this they would give birth to unwanted progeny and totally destroy the family lineage(Genocide)

So in this stanza Arjuna was merely fearing war and if all the males die who will protect the females from invading forces?
And we do see in the Mahabharat that after the demise of Lord Krishna, the Pandava kingdom is invaded  and many women are taken captive by invading forces.

So that's all there is to this stanza in the Bhagavad Geeta, it was in no way degrading women.
The Hindu culture holds women in high esteem and it's sad that so many Guruji's do not want to interpret this verse correctly.