What is Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Mantra?

What is the Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Mantra?

In Sanskrit, the word ‘Guru’ comprises two root words, ‘Gu’ and ‘Ru’. ‘Gu’ means darkness, and ‘Ru’ means remover. Thus, Guru means the teacher who removes darkness and brings enlightenment.

This auspicious Mantra is chanted on Teacher’s day and Guru Purnima. The Mantra goes: "Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwara; Guru Sakshat Param Brahma, Tasmai Shri Guravay Namah".

Listen To Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Mantra On AstroVed Astrology Podcast

The Meaning of the Mantra:

Guru is Brahma, the Lord of Creation, also called Generator. Guru is Vishnu (Vishnu is the Organizer), and Guru is Maheshwara (Shiva or the destroyer). Guru Sakshat Parabrahma means Guru is Parbrahma, the Supreme God.

Since Guru leads us to a path of light, the Guru is Parabrahma. Tasmai Shree Guruve Namah means ‘we bow to that Guru’. Hence, being a realized soul, Guru embodies Parabrahma or the ultimate Godhead.

Significance of the Mantra:

Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu mantra MP3 honors the Hindu deities Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, who are also seen as teachers. It is also used to honor and seek the support of spiritual gurus. In the yogic tradition, the relationship between the student and the Guru is given great importance. The Mantra acknowledges the value of the Gurus’ teachings in helping establish a connection with divinity. It is actually a Mantra that expresses gratitude for spiritual teachers as well as the guidance they give us for dispelling ignorance and achieving enlightenment and awakening.

This Mantra is also called Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Guru Devo Maheshwara. Maheshwara is Shiva, and thus the name completes the holy trinity. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva stand for the three stages of life as well as the three elements of the Self. The Mantra, in full, acknowledges all these stages before expressing devotion to the Guru, who eliminates darkness and ignorance.

In recognizing that the holy trinity represents elements of the self, the Mantra also invokes spiritual teachings that lie embedded in the self, helping one to connect with one’s inner teacher. In this manner, the Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu mantra is also seen as a Mantra of self-empowerment.

Guru removes darkness, which obscures the light of awareness. Guru is the principle of enlightenment that helps one to realize one’s true Self, the entire Self, the sacred Self. Guru removes ignorance or avidya. Ignorance is somewhat like a case of mistaken identity. For one tends to confuse oneself with one’s personality, and mistakes one’s body/mind container for who one is, thereby ignoring who one really is. This makes one feel separate from the whole.
 
When one recites the Mantra with a sincere heart, one will realize that the power that enlightens us is all-pervading. The Mantra seeks the ability to see the Guru in all names and forms. It also seeks the ability to love, acknowledge, and serve the guru who is not visible and is, in fact, beyond all visible forms. The Guru is one’s own self, the inner light that guides one in all things.
 
One’s own birth is the creative principle. It has within it the potential for one’s enlightenment. This includes parents, the day and place of your birth, as well as all the circumstances that surround one’s birth. Not all people find it possible to see the Guru in their parents. Some even complain about the bodies they were given by their parents and tend to blame them for the problems in their lives.
 
The situation we are undergoing currently is where Guru Vishnu manifests. If we can perceive our present circumstances, including the people we work and live with and our friends, as embodiments of the Guru principle, we are likely to stop seeing them as obstacles to our happiness and realize that they actually play a part in our enlightenment and enable it to happen.
 
Some of the most difficult things to accept in life are the misfortunes, wounds, and ailments that affect us physically and mentally. Such challenges in our lives manifest as Guru Devo Maheshwara. But they bring the greatest opportunities to clear away avidya and embrace everything that happens in our life as a gift from God. For it is a fact that destruction leads to transformation.
 
It may be hard to see the Guru in a teacher who is in front of you, offering the teachings of enlightenment, due to certain preconceived notions about how a Guru should look like. This may prevent us from looking past the teacher’s external form or personality. We can open up to the mystery of cosmic awareness when we acknowledge that the Guru transcends names and forms and is beyond the limited imagination of the thinking mind. 
 
The last line of the Mantra is the most powerful prayer. It asks for the good sense and humility that are needed to recognize the Guru when he/she appears before us. For, we can see the Guru only when we relinquish our pride, vanity, our need for recognition, and our desire to be given credit for all the things that we do.