GURU – DISCIPLE RELATIONSHIP
The Bhagavad Gita is the most insightful and inspiring example of guru-disciple relationship. In fact, the scripture itself is the result of this very relationship. Arjuna is the spiritual seeker…the good man who, as yet, is not steady in his wisdom, alluded by the restless mind that attributes and divides life into pleasant and unpleasant.
Sri Krishna is regarded as the supreme manifestation of the Creator Himself (just as Rama, he is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and represents the very highest aspect of ourselves so the part we long to identify with.
According to Mahabharata Krishna and Arjuna have been the great friends all their lives. Approaching the battle on the field of Khurushetra, Arjuna the warrior asks Krishna to become his charioteer and place his chariot in the middle of the battlefield so he could see his enemies closely.
Symbolically already here Krishna becomes Arjuna’s guide (Guru) but it is only later that the true surrendering of the disciple Arjuna, which will prompt (inspire) the exhilarating stream of wisdom know as Bhagavad Gita, takes place.
At first, at the very beginning of the scripture, Arjuna still holds onto his reasoning, logic and intellect – the toy-dolls of the ego that try to measure things and come to the appropriate solution.
After Krishna, on Arjuna’s request, places his chariot in between two armies, Arjuna who a moment ago was ready and resolute to fight suddenly becomes overwhelmed with fear, doubt & confusion. This is where Arjuna’s restless mind becomes noticeable. At one moment he is ready to embark into the inner battle but soon when given a chance trembles & finds millions of logical excuses (that could be easily acepted by un-alert mind) why not to do so.
At this point, the disciple’s ego is still too proud to show his weakness. He expresses his thoughts to Krishna but without asking for advice. Krishna listens and smiles. He keeps quite observing his disciples confusion. But what can a Guru do before the disciple is ready, before the disciple asks for the help.
In his commentary Swami Venkatesananda writes, and this is message that we should meditate upon:
“The Guru waits not only for the disciple to ask, but to get into the proper attitude of receptivity, surrendering him self as he comes to the end of his own intellectual resources, abandoning the solutions to the problems, discarding his knowledge, or better to say ignorance.”
“If spiritual knowledge is treated as a commodity, the seller (Guru) goes on his knees pleading with the prospective buyer (disciple) which makes the latter feel he is superior. He might condescend to buy, but remodels it to suit his taste, affixes his own label to it and re markets it.”
This is why Krishna waits. And the twist happens in verse 7 of the second chapter. Arjuna turns to Krishna and says:
“My heart is overpowered by the taint of pity, My mind is confused as to duty. I ask thee, tell me decisively what is good for me. I am thy disciple. Instruct me who has taken refuge in thee.”
Arjuna drops his ego's proudness, honestly reveals his weakness admitting he is unable to distinguish right from wrong and what is even more important recognizes that Krishna knows this answer. He asks for help and advice. He knocks on to the door of wisdom and enters the universe of spiritual truths and guides.
We should note here that it is not Krishna who says I am your Guru, but Arjuna who says, “I am your disciple.”
Lord Krishna who, as we’ve heard has been patient, silent and receptive now recognizes that the disciple is ready for the teachings and enlightenment. Now, as the clouds of ignorance have been removed, the rays of sun reach the disciple.
This is where the Gita truly starts, as Lord Krishna readily takes his disciple on the road of the highest revelation, instructing Arjuna on how to reach the highest goal of the spiritual development.
From this point on, it is Krishna who speaks. The disciple Arjuna remains mainly quite through the next 16 chapters asking only a few more, additional questions absorbing his guru’s rays of wisdom, keeping silent and focused.
The verse that we have heard, changes the direction of the whole journey through the Gita.
The beautiful and uplifting Guru-Disciple relationship presented to us by the Gita serves as a revelation of the importance of the master who can help us curb the restless tendency of the mind, overcome our own spiritual weakness and support as in making the right decision.
The Bhagavad Gita is the greatest of all moments in the history of the world, the moment when the yoga was revealed. Arjuna was the chosen channel. But the Gita belongs to all!
Krishna's words to Arjuna are the words of every Realised spiritual master to his disciples and sum up the thrilling and immortal promise each guru makes.
In Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, who is the incarnation of God Vishnu, the preserver, reassures us that we will be taken care of at all times. When the spiritual truths become shaken and values changed he will come to set the world on the right path. In Chapter 4 this is clearly stated when Krishna says that ‘God takes incarnation to establish righteousness in the world’.
He reveals that he has lived through many births, always teaching Yoga for the protection of the pious and the destruction of the impious and stresses the importance of accepting a guru.
“In each age the guru comes to make man aware of his divinity, to free man from his bondage and to lift him to a higher plane of being. The disciples effort in transcending and purifying his own nature is not confined to a passive and stoic endurance of challenges encountered with his guru, but extends actively into every area of his life - meditation, service, every aspect of his existence is his sadhana. He comes to welcome difficulties as a reflection of his own attachments and expectations, and learns not to cling, to let go of these parts of himself. He begins to realise that his life is really an extended workshop on God-Realisation, and that every hardship or problem simply presents him with another opportunity to achieve progress through surrender and desirelessness. His life becomes a meditation in action, increasingly centred in the consciousness that is growing within him.”
This is the karma yoga of the Bhagavad Gita.
