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Liberated living through the sadhana of yog; enlivened realisations by the grace of the Guru.

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Gurudakshina a ऋण भङ्गुर – breaking of debt.

Having written so much about the Guru-Shishya Parampara, it was but natural that I arrived at this topic by and by. I have touched upon this topic in my book One Master one disciple – peeling of an onion, but new realisations and gnosis dawn upon any serious practitioner as the neuron in the brain light up during meditation as it did for me. This phrase ऋण भङ्गुर came to me while in meditation and was an ah ha moment as new light shone upon an old subject.

This is a short post on a much maligned and over explained tradition of gurudakshina, an offering expected of a shishya when receiving diksha into a particular sadhana from a teacher. The incident that always comes to my mind when a gurudakshina is mentioned is the example of Ekalavya and Dronacharya. The morality of the incident, the motives behind the demand by Dronacharya, can and have been endlessly debated and is not the purview of this post. I mention this here to lay out the ancient act of repaying the Guru for teachings imparted. An act that continues to exist till today, interpreted in various ways to suit various needs.

As always the topic in my posts are drawn from my own inner churning and meant to provoke thought, they are not meant for debate or arguments. On the spiritual path one has one’s own realisations and they hold true for one and that’s how it should be. Each person responsible or their own actions arising from their realisation.


Gurudakshina in the 21st Century

In today’s context, teachers and gurus, mostly of yoga and spiritual techniques have bent over backwards to explain this tradition of gurudakshina. Many do this to gloss over the excessive and exorbitant fee charged by them. The idea seems to be the higher your fee the more your stature as a guru, for you see you can never repay the guru for the teachings imparted so it doesn’t matter how much you pay, it’s never enough.

Added to the fee may be the material desires of the teacher, to own an expensive car, a house, land, travel and so on passed on to the student in the fee. So the fee charged is not just for the teaching but includes baser needs of the teacher that have to be satisfied. Yog that was meant as a sacred learning to be imparted in an atmosphere of sanctity, sans greed, has today become means of livelihood for many and with that has come the dichotomy of fitting this sacred practice into a mercenary mould.

The plethora of spiritual teachers today have given rise to a plethora of explanations about this topic, some genuine, some mere excuses, many a repetitive litany.

A paradox like no other

After having said all this about the current pattern of charging of fee by teachers of new age spirituality, I will be amiss if I don’t mention a contrary point.

It stands to reason that if the end goal of self-realisation is achieved by the disciple by diligently adhering to the principles laid out by their guru; they can never repay the guru for this service. My own sentiments for my Guru is surely impacted by this understanding. No matter the human qualities of the guru, your progress on the path will determine your obligation to the Guru. This assessment by nature is very personal and self imposed, it cannot be determined by another. Yes, it’s a paradox and involves what is called the vivek buddhi inherent in every learner, it may be dormant but will emerge with sadhana, sometimes of many lives.

Personal Turmoil

As a teacher for over 26 years, first within an organisation and now on an individual capacity I had struggled much with the morality of the asking in this offering. A fixed fee that kept rising steeply over the years, often beyond the reach of ordinary folks. The question that greatly bothered me was, is the practice only for the affluent? What about the sincere seekers with paltry means? I had in my own level always accommodated everyone who was sincerely seeking to learn. From the beginning I had always felt the dakshina was more in the purview of the taught rather than the teacher. It’s the student who decides what the lessons are worth to them, rather than the teacher putting a value on their wisdom, for true wisdom flows for all without bias.

But so greatly ingrained is the topic that it took a while to break free of it and the penultimate realisation came with the two words ऋण भङ्गुर II

ऋण भङ्गुर – a liberation

They were two simple words but they illumined my being with, for me, the understanding of this ancient practice. The realisation that the dakshina liberates both the guru and the shishya from obligation to one another in the grosser level. Once this gross cord is cut all that remains is the cord of love that binds the Guru and the shishya in an eternal dance towards the ultimate liberation, when the guru liberates the shishya even from this fixed orbit to chart their own course free of the gurus influence.

Now when I share the practice with new seekers I allow them to decide the dakshina they want to give. With no attachment to the amount given, I am twice liberated.


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The River is Clean, it’s just the rubbish in it!

The conversations, accusations, debates and discussions on the events surrounding the Mahakumbh echoes from the Indian Parliament to news channels. Water tests are being brandished around, the water is clean, the water has fecal bacteria in it, claims and counter claims. Hours of social media bytes, heated opinions from those who may not even have visited this gathering.

And then oblivious to this and despite it the silent influx of millions of simple folks from the villages and towns of India making their way to Prayagraj. They come by train, busses, trucks, tractor trollies, in shared tempo travellers and jeeps, they bike and walk, they come alone or with their families often the elderly with a single focus to take the dip at the prayag and take the blessings of the sadhus. An event that has come after 144 years and none of us alive will see the next one in this life.

My own sojourn at Prayagraj.

I had personally been at the Ardh Kumbh at this very same Prayagraj in 2019. Invited by an akhara to share the practice of Hamsa Yoga. I was reluctant, not wanting to enter the domains of mandaleshwars and mahamandaleshwars and pithadheeswars. But when I asked my Guru he said, “Of course you must go. How many people get an opportunity such as this?” So go I did. I was pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome and even more so when they offered me prime location to hold my sessions right in front of the Pithadheeshwars tent. I was there for three days. They offered me a personal tent and invited me to stay for the next few months, as the crowds were slowly increasing and expected to swell in the coming days. But I realised that this was not my area of comfort. I am more used to having personal and up close connection with the people I share my Guru’s practice with.



I took a dip at the prayag, the experience is indescribable. One is not prepared for the swift underpull of the Saraswati. Externally the Ganga and the Yamuna flow very passively here but the moment you let yourself down from the side of the platform your feet literally go side ways. The boatman kept advising me to hold on tight. “Pakad ke rakhiye,” he kept repeating. Once again the exhilaration of the immersion is only felt by those who take it with full openness. Not as an Instagrammable moment. After that I took a dip in the Ganga and the Yamuna alternatively everyday I was there, once at midnight under a full moon. I returned with a sense of some shift having occurred in my being.



Immersion at Kashi

Throwback to Kashi in 2011, I would take a boat every morning and find a relatively less populated ghat to get off the boat and meditate immersed in the river. One such ghat was Gai Ghat or Nandi Ghat closely associated with my Guru in this life and the other was Chausathi Ghat connected with my past Guru.

I would sit immersed in Ma Ganga in the early morning hours. The meditation was a dissolving in the loving energy of the sacred river and often as I sat thus, I would see huge mound of rubbish floating down the river in front of me with a few water birds perched on them and bobbing along. Not once did I feel the water was unclean. And this is what all the detractors and supporters forget that for the yogi devotee the river is always sacred, no matter what floats on it.

I remember this put very succinctly in the book Seven Sacred Rivers by Bill Aitken. He writes, and I’m just recalling the memory of my reading, that during one of his early visits to India he accompanied his friend in Allahabad to the prayag in the foggy morning hour of 5am. His shock was apparent when his friend a native from the city had pulled off his kurta, ran and plunged into the river. Bill saw cans and bottles and other stuff floating on it. As he hesitated, his friend looked at him and said, ” It’s ok Bill. The river is clean, it’s only the rubbish in it.” According to Bill, at this curious explanation he had taken off his clothes and plunged into the river in a daring act. He goes on to say that how he believes that because of this one leap of faith he felt while many of his western friends succumbed to cholera and other water borne disease, some lost their lives and others had to go back, Bill remained in India for 30 years more following his passion of motorcycling his way following the source to the mouth of seven sacred rivers of this land.

What they don’t Get

And this is what the detractors do not get. That besides the physical river there is a sacred Pran that connects the millions who come take the dip. No matter someone dies, no matter someone is sick, the sacredness of the river is sacrosanct. No matter the cost to their health, the hardships they may face, this is an event of their lifetime. So what should we do? Should we not question the authorities? Should we not demand better facilities? Cleaner rivers? Of course we must but we must also keep in mind that this immersion is far beyond that. The time decided by an ancient knowledge of astronomy, the perfect alignment of stars, rooted in the civilisation of this land, driven by a force of devotion, dovetails into a gathering of gigantic proportions, this is unstoppable.

The Prayag within

Of course for the advanced yogi practitioner the prayag is elsewhere. Carried within their own body the yogi takes a dip at will in the agnya chakra in the true prayag of the Ida, Pingala and the Sushumna. While the external razzmatazz continues the yogi stays still in the prayag within.

I use the word yogi as gender neutral like actor, so please don’t get your pants in a twist. Also I couldn’t increase the size of the photos so please bear with that.