History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c92.104

v7.c92.104

Both Hindu and Buddhist Tantras¹⁷³⁰ lay great emphasis on the importance and qualifications of the *guru*. The Bauddha Tantras have the highest praise for the guru. The Jñānasiddhi (13. 9-12) prescribes high qualifications and the Prajñopāyaviniścaya-siddhi (III. 9-16) contains a grand eulogy of the guru, identifying him with Buddha and calling him omniscient and so on. The Advayasiddhi of Lakṣmīṅkarā (about 729 A. D.), who started the astounding doctrine that one should offer worship to one's own body wherein all gods reside, says that in the three worlds there is none higher than the ācārya. In the Nityotsava of Umānanda-nātha, pupil of Bhāsurānanda-nātha (i. e. Bhāskararāya as he was called before he took dīkṣā) the guru Bhāskararāya is praised in the following hyperbolical terms¹⁷³¹ 'to whom no part of the earth was unseen (owing to his yogic sight), there was no king who was not his slave, to whom no śāstra was unknown; why use more words, whose form was the highest Śakti herself.' But the Jñāna-siddhi and Kulārṇava (XIII. 128) warn against gurus who falsely pretend to know the truth and give instruction in dharma from greed for money. The Kulārṇava (*ullāsas* XII and XIII) are devoted to the qualifications and greatness of guru. The Śāradātilaka also sets out the qualifications of the tāntrika guru (II. 142-144) and of the disciple (III. 145-152).¹⁷³² The guru among other matters 'must know the essence of all Āgamas and the principles and meaning of all śāstras, he must be one whose words come out true, who has a quiet mind, who has profoundly studied the Veda and its meaning, who follows the path of Yoga and whose bearing is as beneficent as that of a deity.' Among the many requirements about a disciple,¹⁷³³ one is that he must keep secret the mantra and pūjā imparted by his guru. The disciple places the guru's feet on his head and surrenders his body, wealth and even life to the guru. The necessity of a guru for the acquisition of esoteric philosophy is stressed by the Upaniṣads also. For, example the Kathopaniṣad¹⁷³⁴ says 'this knowledge cannot be obtained by ratiocination, it can be understood well only when expounded by another'; the Chāndogya (IV. 9. 3) says 'Sir, I have heard from men like you that only knowledge that is learnt from a teacher leads to real good'. The Lingapurāṇa¹⁷³⁵ and others say that guru is identical with Śiva and the rewards of devotion to Śiva and to the guru are the same. The Kulārṇava (XI. 46) emphasizes that the order of the succession of gurus, the Āgamas, Āmnāya, mantra and practices—all these when learnt from the lips of a guru become fruitful and not otherwise. The Prapañca-sāra provides 'the disciple should consider in his mind that guru, God and mantra are one and should repeat a hundred times the mantra that he received by the favour of the guru.'