Hymn-Guru Stotram (M. Venkataraman)

Glimpses from Indian spirituality, mythology and way of life.

Guru occupies a very important place in the Hindu way of life. Hindu tradition gives a place of high esteem to a guru. The word cannot be easily translated though roughly it may be said that the word represents a teacher.

In Sanskrit, the word Guru is made up of two root words Gu and Ru. Gu means darkness, and Ru means remover. So, the word guru stands for the teacher who is the remover of darkness and is the harbinger of enlightenment. Since Guru leads to a path of light, Guru is the Para Brahmam, the Almighty God.

This Stotram is the one which offers prostrations at the lotus feet of the Almighty who is the highest Teacher of all beings. The author is not known but some consider that it is composed by Sage Vyasa.

The poet says ‘Salutations to you, oh my Teacher. You are the Lord of the Universe and the teacher of the Universe. You are the Self in me, and the Self in all Beings. You are the one whose form is the entire universe and by whom all the movable and immovable are pervaded. You are both the beginning and the beginningless and you are limitless. You are the Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer of the Universe. You permeate in all objects both sentient and insentient. Through a needle coated with the ointment of knowledge, you indicate the one to be known and thus remove the blindness in me which is created by ignorance. You are the one who by bestowing the knowledge of the self, burns up the bondage created by accumulated actions of innumerable births. You are the one who is rooted in knowledge adorned with the garland of Truth and is the bestower of the joy of liberation.

O Almighty God, you alone are my mother, my father, my kinsman, and my friend. You are the source of all the knowledge and wealth. You are everything to me.

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