Concept of Divinity in Jainism

Author(s): P Ajay Kothari
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 54

cal importance that is assigned to the 'GURU' or teacher. The guru in the Hindu'tradition is to be venerated, even more than one's parents, who give physical life. It is the guru who brings about the crucial spiritual rebirth whereby alone can man fulfil his cosmic destiny. This notion, which appears to many to be some what exaggerated, will become clearer when it is understood that the human guru is but a symbol of the divine power that already resides within. The word 'GURU' itself means dispeller of darkness. And by bringing the light of spiritual wisdom into the material darkness of normal human consciousness, the guru indeed performs a unique function. Hinduism believes that spiritual attainment is not possible without a guru.
This is very clear by Vivekananda's personal experience. Once Ramakrishna Paramahamsa touched his pupil Narendra's (Swami Vivekananda) head. After some time Narendra described the effect of the touch; “That magic touch of the master immediately brought a change over my mind. I was stupefied to find that really there was nothing in the universe but God!... I returned home, but there, too everything I saw appeared to be Brahman, I sat down to take my meal, but found everything --- the food, the plate, the person who served and even myself was nothing but that."'145 Divinity in guru can be seen from the following stanza which is very much in the heart of an obedient Hindu shishya (pupil):
“Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu Gururdevo Maheshvarah Gururshakshat param Brahma tasmai Shri Gurave namah.”
To Surn up, the Hindu's belief in one God, the Supreme reality beyond the measure of name and form and unrealisable by the sensory organs, has been persistent in India from time immemorial. But his deep and innate desire for happiness and the outward expressions of his profound devotion for his God has led him to endow the object of his meditation and worship with various names and forms. These are really the external
2
THE CONCEPT OF DIVINITY IN JAINISM