O Devi, the supreme mantra is indeed the word
‘Guru’, and its two letters gu and ru. The
essence of the Smritis and Vedas decree that
the Guru is the personification of the Highest
Reality.
| Mantra raajam | |
| mun - tra raa - jum | |
Note: the 'r' in mantra is the consonant variety, not the vowel, so it's not rolled all that much. Mantra means sacred syllables, words or texts which lead the mind to infinity, to God. Raaja means king. |
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| idam devi | |
| ee - dum day - vee | |
Note: both 'i' sounds are long. Devi refers to Parvati, the Goddess. |
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| gurur | |
| goo - roor | |
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| ityakshara | |
| eet - yuk - shu - ru | |
| Note: the beginning 'i' is long. | |
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| dvayam | |
| dvu - yum | |
| Note: you could practice this 'dva' sounds by thinking of our word divine, and squishing the air out of the 'di' and 'vine' part until it became 'dvine'. Dvayam means two, as in two syllables gu and ru. (eka - one, dvi - two, tri - three, chatur - four, pancha - five, etc.) | |
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| now glue... | |
| Mantra raajam idam devi, gurur ityakshara dvayam | |
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| Smrti veda artha | |
| sm - (a) - r (i) tee vay - daar - tha | |
| Note: the 'r' in smriti is the vowel, so just imagine a subtle 'i' after it to help you roll into the following consonant 't'. Similarly, there's not really an 'a' sound after 'sm', but you can temporarily put one there to help you learn it if you like, then just squish it out as you get faster at pronouncing it. Smritis are a branch of the ancient Indian texts coming from memory. We've seen this root word in verse 8 and 11 already, and will see it many more times to come, so it's a good one to know. Veda of course means the ancient vedic texts from prehisotric times. |
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| vaakyena | |
| vaak - yay - nu | |
| Note: vaak is the Sanskrit root word for speech, which also appears many times in the Guru Gita. Here the meaning is that the essence of the Smritis and Vedas say... | |
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| guruh saakshaat | |
| goo - roo (h) saak - shaat | |
| Note: saakshaat means 'is actually'. Make a mental note of this word when you get to verse 22. When you hear the Brahmins recite 22, they use this word saakshaat instead of the word there 'eva', which means 'is'. It's like an emphasis: really is. | |
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| param padam | |
| pu - rum pu - dum | |
| Note: param means highest. Padam means state, position, footing. | |
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| glue the second half together... | |
| Smrti vedaartha vaakyena, guruh saakshaat param padam | |
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Now repeat the entire verse all together: |
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Mantra raajam idam devi, gurur ityakshara dvayam; Smrti vedaartha vaakyena, guruh saakshaat param padam. |
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| and understand the keywords within the verse: | |
| Mantra raajam idam devi, gurur ityakshara dvayam; Smrti vedaartha vaakyena, guruh saakshaat param padam. | |
| O Devi, the supreme mantra is indeed the word ‘Guru’, and its two letters gu and ru. The essence of the Smritis and Vedas decree that the Guru is the personification of the Highest Reality. | |
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