Lord Shiva Imparts Key Lessons to Guru Adi Shankaracharya on Casteism.

Yesterday we all celebrated Happy Teachers/ Gurus Day. My social media platforms were flooded with these messages. Though of sharing the importance of having a Guru in one's life

Gurus and Gods can come under any form of disguise and would impart key lessons of life.

Let’s first understand the meaning of Guru.

 Guru is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher.

Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Guru Devo Maheshwaraha.

Guru Saakshaat ParaBrahma Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha”

“Guru is the Creator ( Brahma ), Guru is the Preserver ( Vishnu ), Guru is the Destroyer ( Maheshwar

The word ‘Guru’ is derived from two words – ‘Gu’ meaning Darkness and ‘Ru’ meaning standing for the removal of darkness.

Guru is believed to be the one who dispels the darkness and takes us towards the light.

 A Guru acts like a sculptor who cast out impurities and polishes us to shine.

Today in my blog sharing one more inspiring story on Indian caste’s titled

Sri Adi Sankaracharya and the Chandala.

Jagadguru Shree Adi Shankaracharya was in Badrinath and Kedarnath areas, doing his spiritual resurrection work...

One day early in the morning – it was still dark because traditionally saints take a bath before sunrise, he took a bath. And as he was coming up the steps, a man touched him on purpose, not accidentally, and told him, “Please forgive me. I am a sudra, I am untouchable. I am sorry, but you will have to take another bath to clean yourself.”

Shankaracharya was quite angry. He said, “It was not accidental, the way you did that; you did it on purpose. You could be punished in hell.”

The man mocked, “When all is illusory, it seems only hell remains real.” That took Shankaracharya aback!

The man said, “Before you go for your bath, you have to answer my few questions. If you don’t answer me, each time you come up after your bath, I will touch you.”

It was lonely and nobody else was there, so Shankaracharya said,

 “ Okay, you seem to be a very strange person. What are your questions? ”

He said, “My first question is:

Is my body illusory?

 Is your body illusory?

 And if two illusions touch each other, what is the problem? Why are you going to take another bath? You are not practicing what you are preaching.

How, in an illusory world, can there be a distinction between the untouchable and the brahmin? – the pure and the impure? when both are illusory when both are made of the same stuff as dreams are made of? What is this fuss all about ?”

Shankaracharya, who had been conquering great philosophers, could not answer this simple man because any answer was going to be against his philosophy. If he says they are illusory, then there is no point in being angry about it. If he says they are real, then at least he accepts the reality of bodies…but then there is a problem. If human bodies are real, then animal bodies, the bodies of the trees, the bodies of the planets, the stars…then everything is real.

And the man said, “I know you cannot answer this – it will finish your whole philosophy no end... I’ll ask you another question.

I am a sudra, untouchable, impure, but where is my impurity, in my body or my soul? I have heard you declaring that the soul is absolutely and forever pure, and there is no way to make it impure; so how can there be a distinction between souls? Both are pure, absolutely pure, and there are no degrees of impurity, that somebody is purer and somebody is less pure. So perhaps it is my soul that has made you impure and you have to take another bath?”

That was even more difficult. But he had never been in such trouble, actual, practical, in a way scientific. Rather than arguing about words, the sudra had created a situation in which the great Adi Shankaracharya accepted his defeat.

And the sudra said, “Then don’t go take another bath. Anyway, there is no river, no me, no you; all is a dream.

Just go to the temple, that too is a dream – and pray to God. He too is a dream, because he is a projection of a mind which is illusory, and an illusory mind cannot project anything real.

Chandala’s words stunned Shankaracharya. He realized that differentiation between one person and another comes from the size and shape of the body or the state of mind.

The Atman, however, is beyond all these things. He hailed the Chandala for showing him this practical side of the philosophy that he had been preaching for a long.

 Shankaracharya was moved to poetry. He began to compose and recite a new poem on the spot- the ‘Manisha Panchaka’. There is a telling refrain at the end of each verse of this poem: “One who looks at the creation from a non-dualistic viewpoint is my true teacher, be he a Brahmin or a Chandala.”

At that moment, Adi Shankaracharya saw the immense cosmic reality of the universal eternal being, and the Sudra revealed his true form. Lord Shiva had come to uplift Adi Shankara into his highest attainment...

It is said after this, Shankara wrote all the bramhasutra bhashyas and other intricate spiritual works. 🙏🙏🙏

Let us all begin to accept and appreciate a classless and casteless society in line with the teachings of the Upanishads celebrating the oneness in creation.

 All human beings belong to one soul. Let's treat everyone equally and respect them

By Devotee Jawahar B Lalla