The verse explains the qualities that are necessary in a teacher, who alone can instruct us on the “Path-of-Knowledge” and guide us to the great consummation in all life. It also explains the mental attitude and the intellectual approach which a successful student must adopt, so that his contact with the Guru may be fruitful.

PROSTRATING YOURSELF — All that is meant here is that the student must have an intellectual attitude of surrender and meekness, respect and obedience, when he approaches the teacher who has to instruct him upon the secret-of-life. Regarding the world within and the methods of its control, ordinarily, the students are completely ignorant, and therefore, they must approach the teacher with a readiness to understand, grasp and follow his instructions.

Just as water flows always from a higher to a lower level, so too, ‘knowledge’ can flow only to a lower level. It is, therefore, necessary that the student must have a “spirit of prostration” in him so that he may be able to get himself surcharged with the ‘Knowledge’ that flows from the teacher. Thus the prostration, as used here, essentially defines more, the required mental and intellectual attitude of the student, than his physical readiness to fall-flat on the ground at the feet of his Master.

BY QUESTIONS — By raising doubts to the teacher we are opening up the cistern of ‘Knowledge’ locked up in the Master’s bosom. A perfect Guru immediately detects from the questions, the false line of thinking in the student, and while removing the very doubt, he imperceptibly orders and reorganises the right-way of thinking in the inner thought-life of the student. When this intellectual wrestling has been practised for a long time, the fragrance of perfection in the teacher, as it were, gets transferred to the student’s life!

Therefore, it has been an immortal tradition among the Hindus to have open discussions between the teacher and the taught, called Satsanga. This privilege is not available in all religions of the world. In fact, Vedanta alone thus dares to proclaim a perfect freedom for the intellect. It never trades upon the blind faith of the seekers. In all other religions, faith is a great power and force, and therefore, many of the intellectual imperfections in their Scriptures cannot be completely answered; and the priests therein must necessarily check the full freedom of the seekers to question their sacred texts.

BY SERVICE — The offering of flowers and sweetmeats is not what constitutes seva. These have been understood as the service of the teacher only as a by-product of institutionalism and Ashrama organisation. A true service of the teacher lies in the attempt of the student to attune himself to the principles of life advocated and advised to him by the Master. To live the life indicated by the Rishis is the greatest seva that an imperfect mortal can offer to the Man-of-Perfection.

The two main qualifications essential for a fully useful teacher on the spiritual path are: (a) a perfect knowledge of scriptural literature and (b) a complete subjective experience of the Infinite Reality. These two factors are indicated here. Each, without the other, is totally useless in guiding a seeker. Mere knowledge of the Scriptures can make only a learned Pandita and not a Perfect-Master. A man of intimate experience of Truth will, in himself, become completely silent, because he will find it impossible to explain and express his own transcendental experience to other seekers.

BY THIS THE LORD MEANS TO SAY THAT, THAT ‘KNOWLEDGE’ ALONE, WHICH IS IMPARTED BY THOSE WHO HAVE REALISED THE TRUTH — THAT ‘KNOWLEDGE’ ALONE AND NO OTHER ‘KNOWLEDGE’ — CAN PROVE EFFECTIVE. THEN THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT HOLDS GOOD:

Viddhi, know; tat, that, the process by which It is acquired; by approaching teachers pranipatena, through prostration, by lying fully streched on the ground with face downward, with prolonged salutation; pariprasnena, through inquiry, as to how bondage and Liberation come, and what are Knowledge and ignorance; and sevaya, through the service of the guru. (Know it) through these and other (disciplines) [Other disciplines such as control of the mind, body, etc. Sankaracarya’s own words in the Commentary are evamadina, after which Ast. puts a full stop, and agreeing with this, A.G. says that the word viddhi (know) is to be connected with evamadina. Hence this translation. Alternatively, those words have to be taken with prasrayena. Then the meaning will be, ‘Being pleased with such and other forms of humility…’-Tr.]. Being pleased with humility, jnaninah, the wise ones, the teachers; tattva-darsinah, who have realized the Truth; upadeksyanti, will impart, will tell; te, you; jnanam, the Knowledge as described above. Although people may be wise, some of them are apt to know Truth just as it is, while others may not be so. Hence the qualification, ‘who have realized the Truth’. The considered view of the Lord is that Knowledge imparted by those who have full enlightenment becomes effective, not any other. That being so, the next verse also becomes appropriate: