“Shatashloki” of Shrimad Shankaracharya – I (Shloka -1)
The Glories of a Sadguru

“Shatashloki” means a collection of one hundred shlokas. However, Shrimad Shankaracharya added one more shloka at the end to salute the Lord and made it a bouquet of one hundred and one shlokas. The first two shlokas describe the glories of “Sadguru” and his/her disciples. The remaining ninety-eight shlokas bring out the essence of Vedanta in beautiful Sanskrit poetry using the meter of “Stragdhara.” Thus, “Shatashloki” shows Shrimad Shankaracharya’s direct knowledge of the Ultimate Reality, his knowledge of the Vedas, Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita, his excellent command of the Sanskrit language, and his poetic genius.

All one hundred and one shlokas of the “Shatashloki” have been written in the Sanskrit poetic meter “Stragdhara.”  Each line consists of 21 letters which are divided in 7-7-7 letters while singing in the traditional way.  The other rules of the letters are very complicated. One can see the genius of Shrimad Shankaracharya by observing how he could express the deeper ideas of Vedanta in such an appealing and lucid way through this complicated meter.  In this collection, one finds various examples explaining Vedantic philosophy in a very effective way. Such examples are difficult to find in other books.

“Shatashloki” is a must read book for a student of Vedanta who wants to realize the Ultimate Reality. Many ideas of Vedanta become clearer by learning the various examples described in the book. One also gets practical hints and a clear picture of a person who realized the Ultimate Reality, called Brahman.

I personally enjoyed reading “Shatashloki” and studying with many devotees in our Monday classes. The main purpose of this translation is to bring out the central messages of the shlokas of the “Shatashloki” in English rather than trying to give a word-to-word translation. I hope that this translation and a few comments made after each shloka will be spiritually helpful to the reader.

Shloka – 1:

Translation:

Shloka – 1.  In the whole world, one cannot find an analogy to describe the positive impact of a Sadguru on the life of his/her disciple. Even an analogy between a “Parasmani” (Philosopher’s stone) and the Sadguru falls short. A “Parasmani” makes a piece of iron into gold by its touch, but it cannot make it into a “Parasmani.” On the other hand, when a disciple accepts a Sadguru as his/her guide and follows his/her guidance sincerely, then the Sadguru makes the disciple just like him/her. That is why there is no good analogy to describe the Sadguru. The Sadguru is simply great and is beyond the description.

Comments:

Guru means one who removes ignorance. But, now the word Guru has been used freely for a teacher or an expert in a field.

Bhagavad Gita (17.23) says that “Om,” “Tat,” and “Sat” are three epithets of the Ultimate Reality (Brahman). Whenever there is anything which is noble, or good, or respectful, it has been described in Sanskrit by a word which starts with “Sat.” Here are a few examples:  Sat-bhava (Sadbhava – good motive), Sat-jana (Sajjana – a good or a noble person), Sat-marga (Sanmarga- a good or right path), Sat-sang (good company), Sat-Guru (Sadguru – a noble Guru).

Actually, a Sadguru is one who guides his/her disciple to the spiritual path and leads him/her to God-realization. The meaning of God-realization is to realize one’s true divine identity as “Atman,” which is the same as realizing the Ultimate Reality, called Brahman.

It is true that if one sincerely wishes to realize God, has an intense desire, and makes efforts to realize God, then God, from within, guides the person to the right path. If he/she needs help, then God provides all the guidance needed through a Sadguru.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam, it is described that a wise man named Avadhuta had twenty-four teachers. He learned from nature and from people. A foolish person has nothing to learn even from a wise person, but a wise person learns even from a foolish person. Swami Adiswarananda used to say that we need experts and their guidance in all the fields of life, but still many people think that they do not need any guide on the spiritual path.

Some people think, ‘Let me wait until I find a Sadguru. I will do all spiritual practices after I find a Sadguru.’ But this does not work. The fact is that until we do spiritual practices, we cannot recognize a Sadguru. Many people saw Sri Ramakrishna and lived around him, but they did not understand his greatness. Many even thought that he was a crazy person.

I used to tell the students in my math classes: “If you have tried to do your homework and struggle to solve a problem at home, then the next day in the class you will be able to understand the hints I give you and you will be able to solve the problem by yourselves.” Similarly, when we do spiritual practices and do not see how to make further progress, then we recognize and understand the importance of a Sadguru’s hints. Otherwise, the teachings of a Sadguru go over our heads.

Thus, we have to start our spiritual practices based upon whatever we know. Even a sincere prayer to God is enough to start with. All the help comes when we really need it. We have to make ourselves worthy to receive guidance from a Sadguru.

In the series of lectures on Bhakti Yoga, Swami Vivekananda gave two lectures: (1) The Need of a Guru and (2) Qualifications of the Aspirant and the Teacher. Swami Vivekananda said that a disciple should have a pure mind, a real thirst for knowledge, and perseverance.

Sri Ramakrishna said that even if a sincere devotee is unintentionally going down the wrong path, God will send a guide to put him back on the right path. For example, if a traveler sat in the wrong bus, then someone would tell him/her, ‘My dear fellow, this is the wrong bus, and that one is the right bus for you.’   One who does nothing does not need any guidance.

Three kinds of Teachers

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna describes three kinds of Gurus or teachers; inferior, mediocre, and superior. The inferior teacher gives spiritual instructions and then leaves the disciples alone. The mediocre teacher, after giving spiritual instructions, explains the importance of spiritual progress and uses many tactics to convince the disciple to follow the instructions and do spiritual practices. The superior teacher also gives instructions and explains their importance, but when he/she finds out that the disciple is not following any instruction, he/she uses loving force to make the disciple do some practices. It is like a mother who, finding that her sick child is not taking any medicine, uses force to make the child take the medicine.

However, there are also three kinds of disciples: superior, mediocre, and inferior. The superior disciple immediately follows his/her Sadguru’s instruction whenever received. He/she does not have to be reminded of these instructions. For the superior disciple, the inferior Sadguru will suffice. Similarly, for the mediocre disciple who needs explanations, reminders, and goading, the mediocre Sadguru will be helpful. For the inferior disciple who ignores explanation, reminders, and goading, the superior Sadguru, who uses loving force to help the disciple, will be best.

Shrimad Shankaracharya says in the Viveka Chudamani that by God’s grace only one gets three things: a human birth, an intense desire to realize God, and the guidance of a Sadguru.

In Shatashloki, Shrimad Shankaracharya says that the positive impact of a Sadguru in the life of a disciple is “Aloukik”: divine, superb, out of this world, and indescribable by anything in the world.

Really, when by the guidance of a Sadguru, a disciple finds that

(1) his/her life has been completely transformed for good,

(2) he/she has found that a human life is meaningful,

(3) his/her delusion and ignorance have vanished and now everything looks clear and meaningful in the light of the knowledge of the Atman,

(4) he/she realizes that his/her true identity is divine,

(5) he/she feels inner peace and bliss which does not depend on any person or object of the world,

(6) he/she finds the inner strength to go through favorable and unfavorable life situations with a calm mind,

(7) he/she finds fulfillment in life, and

(8) he/she finds that each being is potentially divine and is not different than him/her,

then that disciple realizes that the impact of his/her Sadguru cannot be described by anything in the world.

(Thanks to Sonali Tatapudy for editing this post.)