Awakening

Author(s): Padmasagarsuri
Publisher: Arunoday Foundation

Page 97

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3750:- fafceTATA
ज्ञानाञ्जन शलाकया । चक्षुरुन्मीलितं येन
__तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥ Ajnana thimirandhanam Jnananjana salakaya Chakshurunmilitam yena Thasmai Sri Guravenamah
We worship him as our teacher who opens with the collyrium-stick of knowledge the mental eyes of one who is mentally blind or ignorant.
The teacher must possess knowledge. Moreover, his actions and conduct also should be noble. He must act in accordance with his precepts; otherwise, he is not a true teacher according to the exponents of Shasthras. He may feel happy and elated thinking that he is a teacher because he can deliver pompous discourses, but if he does not act according to his precepts, he cannot occupy the high place of a teacher.
There are some who merely deliver discourses on the themes of bondage and deliverance but they do not act according to their precepts. They feel elated by their ability to deliver speeches and they imagine that they are Dharmathmas and teachers. The implication is that they are not true teachers.