Part-1

Gururbrahmā Gururviṣṇuḥ Gururdevo Maheśvaraḥ |
Guru ssākṣāt paraBrahma tasmai  śrī Gurave namaḥ ||

This verse clearly says that Shri Dattatreya, who is the form of the Divine Trinity, is the only Guru. "Gu" means darkness and "Ru" means the light, that drives away the darkness. It means darkness like ignorance is dispelled by the light like knowledge. The Shruti also says "Satyaṃ Jñānam Anantaṃ Brahma" (true infinite knowledge is Brahman) and "Prajñānaṃ Brahma" (Brahman is the excellent and best knowledge). Here, scholars are considering the word “knowledge’ in the sense of ‘awareness,’ but this meaning is incorrect. The reason being, no one in the world calls awareness as ‘knowledge.’ A living being with awareness is not called a ‘scholar’ (Jñānī). The word ‘knowledge’ is used in the sense of an object. A person who has awareness but lacks knowledge is called ignorant. Therefore, awareness is different and knowledge is different. Knowledge co-exists with the living being having awareness and does not exist in items of non-awareness. Wherever there is knowledge, there must be awareness. But wherever there is awareness, there need not be knowledge. Where there is sun, there is light. But it is not necessary that wherever there is light, there is sun like in the case of an electrical light. At night, there is light from lamps, but there is no sun.

Here, knowledge means that which is available in the Shastras, such as logical knowledge (Tarka Jñāna), philosophical knowledge (Vedānta Jñāna), grammatical knowledge (Vyākaraṇa Jñāna), etc. Knowledge of the world is called worldly knowledge (Loka Jñāna). The knowledge of Brahman is the divine knowledge (Brahma Jñāna). The knowledge of Brahman is the greatest of all kinds of knowledge told. Hence, the Shruti says, "Sarvaṃ vijñātaṃ bhavati", which means that when Brahman is known, everything is known. Therefore, divine knowledge, i.e., philosophical knowledge (Vedānta Jñāna), is the greatest among all kinds of knowledge. That is why it is called excellent and best knowledge" (Prajñānam), which is true, infinite knowledge. So, when we say ‘Prajñānam’ that means we are referring to ‘Prajñāni.’ Grammatically, the one who possesses Prajñānam, is called Prajñāni. So, he can be metaphorically called ‘Prajñānam.’ Therefore, the Jñāni who has knowledge, can be called as ‘knowledge.’ Hence, the meaning of the aforesaid Shrutis is Brahman, Who is the possessor of true, infinite, excellent knowledge. Therefore, the condensed meaning of the Shruti references is that the form of Guru possessing excellent spiritual knowledge is none other than the Parabrahman.

Lord Krishna became the Jagadguru by preaching this sacred spiritual knowledge through the Gita. That is why it is said, ‘Kṛṣṇaṃ vande jagadgurum.’ The Bhagavad Gita is the essence of the Upanishads. So, concepts in both the Upanishads and the Brahma Sūtras are inherently merged in the Bhagavad Gita. Vyasa, who wrote these Brahma Sutras, is also a Jagadguru. He was born on Ashadha Purnima and we call that day as ‘Gurupūrṇimā.’ But Vyasa showed the correlation of the Upanishads whereas Krishna squeezed the essence of the Upanishads and blessed it to the humanity. If Sage Vyasa is an Amsha (part) of Lord Vishnu, God Krishna is the incarnation of Lord Datta, Who is the basis of the Divine Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva). That is why, Vyasa is called the ‘Guru,’ whereas Krishna is called as the ‘Jagadguru.’ Krishna is Lord Datta. Lord Datta is Krishna. Therefore, God Krishna is not mentioned in the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. All ten incarnations are taken by Lord Vishnu only, one of the forms in the Divine Trinity. So, Krishna is not only the incarnation of the Divine Trinity but also of the ultimate Lord Datta. Lord Datta is the Guru of Gurus. That is why He is praised as –  ‘Gurorgurutarāya namaḥ.’ The Bhagavatam says that God Krishna is the most complete incarnation of Lord Datta. Such Krishna became Partha’s relative, friend, charioteer and eventually became a Guru by teaching him the Gita. Falling on Krishna's feet, Arjuna said – ‘Śiṣyaste'haṃ śādhi māṃ tvaṃ prapannam’ means, ‘O Krishna! I am Your disciple. Please instruct further course of action, I have taken refuge in You .

When Partha described himself as a disciple and asked with complete surrender, Swami preached him the Gita in the form of a Guru. What does this mean? Those who have keen interest, have taken refuge in the Guru and have thirst for knowledge, the nectar of knowledge should be imparted. That is why Krishna did not preach the Gita to anyone other than Arjuna. Once you become eligible to receive spiritual knowledge does not mean you are permanently eligible. Once it so happened that, one day, after the war was over, Arjuna asked Krishna to preach the Gita again having enjoyed a nice feast, while chewing the paan. Then Krishna said, ‘O Arjuna! When I preached the Gita, the situation on that day was different. Today's situation is totally different. That is why I can't preach the Gita again, now.’ What does this story convey to us? The Krishna, belonging to the times of the Gita and the Krishna of current times are one and the same. But Arjuna, the one who begged with knowledge thirst for the quest of knowledge during the war and the Arjuna, now who simply asked to repeat that knowledge as a pastime, is totally different. Therefore, knowledge cannot be imparted without keen interest. But, today, the attention of individual souls who listen to spiritual knowledge is extremely ridiculous.

Part-2

In the temple, while the scholar is explaining the Bhashya and teaching spiritual knowledge, not even ten people sit there. Even one of the four people who are present will be making wicks for pooja. Another is half asleep. The other two are chatting about whether one of their daughters has come for delivery from in-law’s house. The preferred time of listening to the spiritual knowledge (Brahmajnana) is only after the completion of all the household activities, followed by a brief sleep after food. Only then, people spare some time for Brahmajnana in the leisure time in the evening. Even such kind of sparing time for spirituality is also conditional to no movie is being screened on the TV that day evening. If a movie is screened on the TV, not only the audience but the teacher Shastry Ji also will not come! Are they worthy to expect the experience of Brahman with such an interest? . With such a conditional devotion, people expect to enjoy the eternal abode of Brahmaloka immediately after leaving the body. This is like a fellow who has one paisa in his hand, trying to bargain to buy a fourteen-story building.

King Janaka was listening as Yajnavalkya was preaching the spiritual knowledge. The soldiers came running and said that the city of Mithila, his kingdom, was burning in flames. To that, Janaka replied, let Mithila be burnt. Even this body will one day be burned in the fire. Even the mountains, standing still in this creation, will finally be burned in the fire of dissolution (Pralaya). Saying this, Janaka did not rise from his seat, thinking that he would not get such an excellent nectar of spiritual knowledge from anywhere else. After some time, the Satsanga was completed. Again, the soldiers came running. They said, “Your majesty! It is not only that the city of Mithila was re-created from the ashes along with all the people, now it is shining with beauty doubled like the gold is mellowed and refined in the fire. . So, King Janaka’s interest in the spiritual knowledge is unparallel.

The stupidest of stupid individual souls do not understand that Parabrahman is the basis of both worldly life on earth (Iha) and the life after death (Para). Parabrahman is the creator of this whole world. Every atom in all these worlds moves under His will. The soul may use its intellectual power day and night for years to solve some problems, but an iota is not solved, whereas, if God wishes, such problems are solved instantly. Inseated of focusing on the God, though you have achieved some success by focusing on worldly issues, such success becomes momentary only. But if the mind is fixed on the the God, you can achieve eternal victory in both life on earth and life after death. When the roots are watered, the whole tree will be green and colorful. There is no point in wetting the branches and leaves without watering the roots. Watering them will bring some coolness for a moment, but the whole tree dries since the roots did not get water. The worldly person who fixes his mind on worldly things is a fool like that worldly man watering the branches and leaves. Only fools criticize the one as an orthodox who is watering the roots rather than watering the branches or leaves .

Actually, the roots of that tree are hidden in the ground. The water poured into the ground around the tree, reaches the roots and further reaches the tree through the suction force, though the root is not visible. That is why, the one seen as watering the roots is considered to be of low intelligence by the foolish. Similarly, the branches like world (Iha) and leaves (Para) like spirituality of this creation tree, are rooted in the Parabrahman, Who is not visible to our eyes, being the basis. That Parabrahman is hidden in the Sadguru, who has descended as human incarnation. The Gopikas gave up agriculture, rearing of cows and were constantly in the association of Krishna. Because of God’s association, their worldly activities did not get spoil but flourished a lot. It was interesting to see that the cows were not getting any diseases (though maintained badly) and further, they used to give double the milk. The harvest used to be getting tenfold yield. Supporting this devotion, Swami pledged in the Gita – "Eṣāṃ satatayuktānāṃ yogakṣemaṃ vahāmyaham." “Satata yukta” means the devotees who do not leave Swami, even for a moment. So, Swami Himself takes care of their spiritual (Yoga) and worldly (Kshema) needs. ‘Yoga’ means protection in the upper worlds. ‘Kshema’ means solving the worldly problems here. All this matter is related to Narayana, who came in human form as Shri Krishna. Human incarnations like Krishna are called the 'Preaching Gurus' (Bodhaka Gurus). Such a human incarnation of Narayana has to be identified with the characteristics of Narayana only.

What is the meaning of the word ‘Narayana’ here? "Nāraṃ jñānam ayanaṃ yasya saḥ Nārāyaṇaḥ" – means the one who is the basis of knowledge. Therefore, Narayana should be recognized by excellent characteristics of knowledge only. Narayana flourishes with all divine qualities (Kalyāṇa guṇas). The first divine quality mentioned in the Vedas is knowledge. That is referred in the Veda as "Satyaṃ Jñānam Anantaṃ Brahma." The second divine quality mentioned in the Vedas is ‘love’ which is referred in the Shruti as "Raso vai saḥ". And the third divine quality mentioned in the Vedas is "Ānanda," which is referred as "Ānando Brahmeti vyayānāt".