Another aspect of gurutattva is that it is essential to get the guru's katAksha to obtain the anugraha of God.And it is through God that the guru's kaTAksha is obtained. Dikshitar brings out this dependency very well in his kritis. In akshayalinga vibho ( shankarabharanam) he praises the Lord as the one who bestows the grace of the guru ie "guru kaTAksha vIkshaNa" and in the kuzhikkarai kriti kAshI vishveshvara(kAmboji) , he says that the darshan of the Lord is made possible by the grace of the guru." deshika kaTAksheNa darshita devatA sArvabhauma maheshvara" 

The same sentiment is echoed the abhayamba vibhakti krit ,AryAm abhayAmbAm (bhairavi) , in the lines " AcArya shishyAnugraha kAraNAshakti pradApAra karuNAM".The Goddess is the ever-compassionate causal force that is the harbinger for the grace of the guru on the disciple.This mutual dependence is also proof of the sakta tradition that the guru is the same as the Adya shakti.


Significance of the term guruguha:

Dikshitar's very mudra - guruguha succintly stresses on this fact.The word guruguha may be interpreted in many ways just as a word in sakta may mean three different things on three different levels on the planes from gross to subtle.The obvious meaning is Dikshitar's guru who is guha or shanmukha.Another esoteric meaning is guru means gross or heavy and guha means hidden and subtle or light.The upanishads extol the parabrahman as "ANor ANIyAn mahatO mahIyAn" , so it is the very parabrahman itself that is meant by the word guruguha.Another shrividya oriented interpretation also stems from this theory.In sakta tradition the universe is an interplay of nishkala shiva and vimarsha shakti - The guru could be taken to mean shiva the body and the energy shakti as guhya shakti and hence their interplay is guruguha.

It is a belief that Dikshitar has  also mentioned the diksha name of his guru.He also echoes the earlier sentiment that it was the supreme that guided him as a guru in Tiruttani due to the grace of his diksha guru who had ordained that he visit Tiruttani and thus bestowed his grace upon him.In the Tiruvarur panchalinga kriti on Anandeshvara in Anandabhairavi  he says ,"jnAna pradAna guruguha rUpa cidAnandanAtha svarUpa prakAshena" .The one who shines in the form of guruguha who gave me the diksha".This thought is also mentioned in the nAttakuranji kriti gajAdIshAdanyam where he hails subrahmanya as gurusvarUpAvatAriNo - the one who manifests in the form of the guru.

Advaita guru tattva:

Looking at his first kriti "shrI nAthAdi guruguho jayati jayati", it gives the advaita guru tattva in a nutshell.The word shrI has several meanings like virtue,excellence and intellect and Lakshmi devi and hence the word is a mark of auspiciousness.Shri natha could again mean Narayana - Lord of Lakshmi as we can see from the advaitic parampara stated by the lines " nArAyaNam, padmabhuvam, vasiShTam shaktim ca tatputra parAsharam ca ".

According to the paingala upanishad of the shukla yajurveda , the following are called parama-hamsas: "Samvartaka, Aruni, Shvetaketu, Durvasa, Rbhu, Nidagha,Jada-Bharata, Dattatreya, Raivataka, and others.Unencumbered as at birth, with no ties or possessions, they set foot resolutely on the path of Brahman ". This advaitic parampara thrived long before the days of Acharya Sankara.Dikshitar refers to these and other jnanis of yore in the kriti sadAshivamupAsmahe (shankarabharana) "nidAgha dattAtreya kapila vAmadeva vyAsa shukAdi vandita" 



In the very word guru , 'gu' represents darkness and 'ru' represents destruction ie the one who destroys the darkness of ajnana.This is touched upon by the lines, "ajnana dvAnta pracanda bhaskaraH".This seems reflective of the words of Adi shankara in the Dakshinamurty stotram when he says , "Alokaye desikamaprameyam anADyavidyA timira prabhAtam".

Dikshitar must have been familiar with the precepts of Shankara for he uses a few lines in the inimitable style of the Acharya.In the very first kriti shrI nAthAdi guruguho jayati , Dikshitar says "nAnA prapanca vicitra karo and "mAyAkArya kalanA hInO" which is close to what Shankara says "mAyAkalpita deshakAla kalanA vaicitrya citrIkR^itam".Again in the mangalakaishiki kriti Shri bhargavi he says , shri bhargavi bhadram me dishatu which is reminiscent of the lines of the kanakadhara stavam "bhadrANi me dishatu bhArgava nandanAyai".Another verse reminiscent of the verse in saundarya lahari is from the kriti gauri girirAja kumAri ,"sudhAsindhumadhye cintAmaNyAkAre shivAkAramance parashiva paryahnka vihAre".The equivalent verse in the Anandalahari is , "sudhAsindhormadhye suraviTapivATIparivaR^iTre shivAkAre mance paramashiva paryankanilayAM  "

As Shankara says in his hymn to the vinadhara Dakshinamurthy,"upAsate kecana yoginas tvAm" meaning ,"Only a few among the Yogins worships Thee of smiling countenance and waving tresses,holding the lute in a hand .." Incidentally Dikshitar was one of these few and rare yogis for he  has composed a kriti on this selfsame form the vinadhara dakshinamurthy in phenadyuti.This form of Dakshinamurthy was in Dikshitar's mind even when he composed on a different form of the deity.In the kriti kailAsanAthena he says , "sanakAdi samshaya haraNa".

The guru tattva according to sakta tradition:

Dikshitar's first kriti also contains  references to the tantrika guru tattva.Iswara explains the meaning of the word 'shri nAtha" as "shrI mokshajnAna dAtR^itvAt nAdabrahmAtbodhanAt | sthagitAGYAnacihvatvAt shrInAthaH katithaH priye ||" meaning "Because He gives the knowledge that liberates and teaches  the oneness of nadabrahman with the atman and breaks the ignorance which covers it , He is known as ShrI nAtha.Hence we can understand why Dikshitar uses the word shrinAtha in preference to several other words.This word has a unique relation to a  nadopasaka like Dikshitar.The shrividya upasakas as per sampradaya begin with an invocatory verse , praising the gurumandala and this begins with the words " shrI nAthAdi gurutrayam".The guru is also considered to be one with the Adya shakti and hence a harbinger of auspiciousness which Dikshitar specifically refers to as "mangalam karotu".In the kriti he also refers to the "ogha trayas" in the lines , "divyaughAdi sakala deha daro" and also in other kritis like the surati kriti on angaraka where he says "divyaughAdi guruguha kaTAkshAnugraha pAtram" .The ogha trayas are the three groups of gurus, "divya, siddha and manava with each group having three gurus.The jiva through delusion imagines himself to be limited.To understand the true nature he needs the three gurus.Then nine gurus represent and control the nine apertures in the human body.

The thirty six tatvas in shrividya  condense the evolution from the subtle to the gross.The first tatva is shiva and the last the prithvi tatva.The tantra texts say that the guru tatva pervades all these 36 tatvas and also transcends it and hence is tatva atIta.He is the Adi nAtha that Dikshitar refers as shrInAtha, and Adi guruguha vareNa and as nAdAnta vihAReNa navAnAthena Adyena.

He also indicates the wide guruparampara of Shrividya and lists the 12 upasakas in the 3 schools of worship - kAdi, hAdi and sAdi in the lines "kamAdi dvAdashAbhirupAsita kAdi hAdi sAdi mantra rUpiNyA ".He also mentions durvasa as one of the exponents of the system that he himself followed.Durvasa was an exponent of the kAdi matha and it was he who codified the worship of kamalamba of Tiruvarur.The fact that Dikshitar belonged to this school can be ascertained from the lines where he says " mAtmaka kAdi mathAnuShTAno" in the very first kriti.Another aspect of this school is the worship of the shrichakra from the bhUpura to the bindu whereas the hAdi exponents worship the chakra from the bindu to the bhUpura.The very setting of the kamalamba navavarana kriti indicates that Dikshitar was an exponent of this school.He also says with a slight pride that this school has a hoary tradition.In the kriti kamalAmbikAyai he says "prabala guruguha sampradAyAntaHkaraNAyai" The one who has the hallowed tradition of guruguha in her mind".

To be continued                                                                                              Vidya Jayaraman