"Who is your GURU?"
Today is 5th September, Teacher's day. Here's wishing all of you a very Happy Teacher's Day!!
Today, Let me tell you the story of how Narada muni got himself a Guru?
GURU is the Sanskrit word for teacher.
In Indian mythology, the Hindu religion describes Narada muni as a Sage- god. He was the only one who could travel across the three worlds of heaven, earth and the underworld! Hence he played the role of the first journalist and carried messages across the three worlds.
Well, the story goes that once when the sage Narada muni was attending an Assembly at Svarga loka (i e heaven). All the (god) and ( godesses) were present.
A sacred fire was lit, and a great puja was being conducted. However, Narada was given a place to sit, below everyone else. He was very disheartened by this treatment that was mete out to him. He questioned the gods, "Pray tell me, why am I given such a lowly place to sit?
He was told, " Son, it is because you have never taken a Guru and neither do you have a Guru Mantra."
A 'Guru Mantra' is a chant that a guru gives to his student, who chants it for his spiritual growth.
Narada considered this, and realized the truth of the statement. He stood up and declared, "Tomorrow at dawn, the very first person I see, I will take as my Guru."
On the next day at dawn , he saw an old fisherman with a net on the shoulder, both walking and weaving his net. Narada ran to the fisherman and threw himself at his feet. "You are my guru!". " Please accept me as your disciple"
The old man was taken aback. He said, "I am not worthy of being a guru. I have never taken a guru myself! I have no guru mantra to give you either"
Nevertheless, Narada persisted and said, "Say whatever words are on your mind right now,"
The fisherman said, "Hari Bol. Hari Bol" Hari is another name for Lord Krishna. So, the fisherman had asked Narada to chant the name of Lord Krishna.
Narada was overjoyed and rushed back to the assembly of gods. The assembly demanded to meet His Guru. So, Narada returned to the fisherman and requested the old man to accompany him to the assembly. But the old man said, "I am old and lame. I cannot walk such a long distance. Hence, Narada carried him back on his back. He presented his guru to the assembly. Then, he prostrated on the floor in front of his guru, out of respect. At that moment the old man transformed into none other than Lord Shiva, before the entire assembly.
And so we understand, that the Guru of Narada is Lord Shiva Himself. The story goes to show how a Guru can manifest to us in unexpected ways and in unrecognizable forms.
So, who is your teacher?
It's a simple enough question! And there is no one right answer to this question. Different people would give a different answers. My Mom, my guru, my husband, my children, LIFE.
Yes, Life through its myriad faces and forms is teaching you something daily, if you only but pay attention and if you only have an open mind. I grew up firmly believing that if I had a question and sincerely put it out there, the Universe provided the answers. The only condition was that I needed to keep an open mind. The answer would come..... however I should not dwell on how it would reveal itself to me.
Have you ever noticed how a message pops up as a forward on whatsapp, just when you need to hear the words?
Imagine that you are getting bored in a long queue, waiting your turn Suddenly, you hear someone's voice narrating a story or incident. This story miraculously carries within it a wisdom to address the doubts that plagued you.
Take another scenario. You have stopped at a busy traffic light and your eyes fall on a particular bill board. The message contained therein, is just what you needed to see!
At another time, you are walking around aimlessly, in a book store, with no particular title in mind. You pull out a book and open a random page. The words that jump out at you are just the answer to the question which has plagued you for a few days now.
Recently it happened to me through a random conversation that fell on my ears. I shop for vegetables from a seller who brings his wares on a handcart. I don't know his name, but well let's just call him "Guru".
Once as Guru stood weighing out the veggies and filling our bags, a man was passing by. As he crossed over the length on the cart, he muttered, "Kyu re kaddu?" (kaddu means Pumpkin in Hindi language), and continued onwards. Another merchant doing business just next to Guru tried to rub it in further, as he laughed and said, "This guy, he teases you every single day. Why do you take his nonsense?
Our man Guru said" Yeah, but didn't teasing me make that man happy? Well! that's all I want. I want every person in the whole world to be very happy!!" He said this with a genuinely big smile beaming across his face.
How magnanimous was that! How very profound! My ears had let my open mind perceive a beautiful, beautiful point of view. These were the most profound words from the most innocuous and unexpected source of wisdom. It made me think, how at only the thought level, we can be very benevolent human beings.
I leave you to ponder upon this thought, " Who then, is YOUR guru?"
