I bow to my Guru who rescued those who were
sinking in the mire of samsara, the ocean of
hell, and were striving for liberation by seeking
to climb the tree of life.
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Samsaara vrksham aarudhaah |
| sum – saa – ru vr(i) – k + shum aa – roo – daa (h) | |
Note: Samsaara is the mire of worldly existence; vrksha means tree - you may be familiar with the word from hatha yoga classes. Here is an illustration of vrkshasana - standing like a tree pose; aarudhaa means to climb.  |
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| patanto nara | |
| pu – tun – to nu – ru | |
Note: the 'n' is the variety made when the tongue touches the middle of the roof of the mouth. patanto means falling or sinking |
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| kaarnave | |
| kaar – nu – vay | |
| Note: aarnave means ocean | |
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| Now combine the first part together... | |
| Samsaara vrksham aarudhaah, patanto narakaarnave |
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| Yena chaivo | |
| yay – nu chai – vo | |
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| ddhrtaah sarve | |
| d – dhr (i) taa sur – vay | |
| Note: you can think of saying the English word 'drip' to help you with this pronunciation. Say drip, then add more air after the 'd'. Then change the final 'p' to 't' and you have it. Sarve is a word we see frequently in the Guru Gita, and means all, or in this verse everyone seeking liberation. Ddhrtaah means saved, rescued or pulled out of the ocean. |
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| tasmai shri gurave namaha. | |
| tus - mai shree goo - ru - vay nu - mu - (hu) | |
| Note: the final 'hu' is a light echo/bounce. See the : visarga symbol at the end of the last line of the Devanagari above? This is our first introduction to this phrase, which will appear in 19 verses in the Guru Gita. It means "I bow the the Guru", or "to that Guru I bow". Tasmia means 'to that'. Nama means to bow, to salute, to honor, to pranam. |
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| Now combine the second part all together... | |
| Yena chaivo ddhrtaah sarve, tasmai shri gurave namaha. |
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| Now repeat the entire verse all together: | |
| Samsaara vrksham aarudhaah, patanto narakaarnave; Yena chaivo ddhrtaah sarve, tasmai shri gurave namaha. |
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| and with the keywords: | |
| Samsaara vrksham aarudhaah, patanto narakaarnave; Yena chaivo ddhrtaah sarve, tasmai shri gurave namaha. |
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| I bow to my Guru who rescued those who were sinking in the mire of samsara, the ocean of hell, and were striving for liberation by seeking to climb the tree of life. |
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