Guru Brahma

This is the Guru Mantra or Guru Maha Mantra. The true meaning of Guru is “one who dispels darkness of ignorance”. “Gu” means “darkness of ignorance” and “Ru” means “one who removes”. This Shloka refers to the Guru as none other than Brahma – The creator, Vishnu – The sustainer and Shiva – The destroyer, since the Guru creates, sustains knowledge and destroys ignorance. By doing so he liberates the disciple from the ocean of samsara, from the trap of Maya, thereby attaining Moksha. For this, we bow down with utter humility and total gratitude to the Guru.

Another meaning of the word Guru is “one who is beyond attributes and forms”. Gu stands for Gunaatheetha – one who transcends the three Gunas (Satva, Rajas and Thamas); Ru stands for Rupavarjitha – one who is formless. The One who is beyond all attributes and forms is none other than the Supreme Self (the Brahman) who is resident within each of us.

Word by Word meaning of Guru Brahma Shloka

Guru: Dispeller of Darkness; Gu=Darkness, Ru=Remover
Brahma: Creator; of Self-Knowlege, making us realize the Godliness in us.
Vishnu: Preserver; Preserving such Self-Knowledge.
Deva: God.
Maheshwara: Destroyer; Of Ignorance.
Saakshaat: Self/Himself.
ParaBrahma: The Supreme Power, Lord; Consciousness, Self.
Tasmai: To him/To such.
Sri: Holy, splendorous.
Namaha: Salutations.

As Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi famously said: The Guru is the Self. The Guru is both ‘external’ and ‘internal’. From the ‘exterior’ he gives a push to the mind to turn inward; from the ‘interior’ He pulls the mind towards the Self and helps in the quieting of the mind. That is Guru’s grace. There is no difference between God, Guru and the Self. And when asked as to how does one find a Guru, he said the following: God, who is immanent, in His grace takes pity on the loving devotee and manifests Himself as the Guru according to the devotee’s development. The devotee thinks that He is an individual and expects a relationship as between two physical bodies. But the Guru, who is God or the Self incarnate, works from within, helps the person to see the error of his ways and guides him in the right path until he realizes the Self within. Therefore, all that the disciple has to do is this: He has only to act up to the words of the Guru and work within. The Guru is both ‘within’ and ‘without’, so He creates conditions to drive you inward and at the same time prepares the ‘interior’ to drag you to the Centre. Thus, He gives a push from ‘without’ and exerts a pull from ‘within’, so that you may be fixed at the Centre.

Another Shlokam that glorifies the Guru as none other than Iswara or the Self, is Ishwaro Guru Atmeti

Excerpt from the book ‘Prayer Guide’ by Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Only the truth element is taken into account because the Guru teaches that you are Brahman, you are limitless. When he teaches that you are limitless, he does not mean,“I am limited; you are limitless.” In fact, you are limitless, and he is limitless. The limitless is Brahma, the limitless is Visnu, the limitless is Rudra, or Siva, and the limitless is you. Everything is this limitless Brahman. So, when we praise the Guru, the human element is just completely absorbed in the total. You either relegate the human element to the background, or you absorb it into the total. It is the total that is worshipped. In that way, the Guru, the person with a human body who teaches, becomes a kind of an altar of worship, but what is being invoked is the Lord. When you worship the form of Sri Daksinamurti in the temple, it is not the form you are worshipping, but the Lord. You invoke and worship the Lord in a particular form. Similarly, when you praise the person who teaches you and for whom you have sraddha, it is not the individual person you praise, but the teaching itself, for what he teaches is not separate from him. Praise of the Guru is praise for the truth of the teaching.