Guru Shishya Relationship, Shiv And Sati

Yog is your relationship with your Guru. A shishya according to his capacity, establishes a relationship with the Guru, then it is the task of the Guru to make him/her rise above that relationship to a state where there are all relationships and yet no relationship.

Sati, born to Daksha Prajapati, was the incarnation of Adi Shakti herself, and performed great austerities to win the Adi Guru Shiv himself, as her husband. Her penance was rewarded, her decision however was not well-received by her father, King Daksha. The king cut-off all communication with his daughter after marriage since he did not approve of Lord Shiv as his son-in-law.

Once, a grand yagya was being conducted at King Daksha’s palace where all the gods and goddesses save Lord Shiv and Sati were invited. Sati requested Lord Shiv to accompany her for the yagya. Lord Shiv refused since they had not been invited and he advised her also not to go. Sati however insisted that a daughter does not need invitation to go to her father’s home. A Guru never says no, and lets the shishya go through the experience he/she desires. So then Lord Shiv sent her to the yagya with a troop of Shiv ganas. Seeing Sati at the yagya, King Daksha humiliated her by making ill-remarks about Lord Shiv. Sati realized her folly, and unable to take the insult of her Guru, immolated herself in the yagya-agni as a penance.

At Kailash, the ganas informed Lord Shiv of the insults hurled by King Daksha towards him. Hearing them, Lord Shiv started smiling. Confused, the ganas asked him if he would do anything about the insults being made. Lord Shiv replied, ‘Everything in Creation, including what is happening at the yagya is inside me, there is nothing that is not me – darkness is also me, light is also me, sur and asur both are me, so then where does the question of respect or disrespect come from? If someone can disrespect or respect me, then Creation cannot be inside me because I then am a part of Creation, not beyond it.’ But when the ganas informed Lord Shiv how Goddess Sati was humiliated by the King and that she had immolated herself because of the insult, Lord Shiv went to Daksha’s palace and destroyed the yagya.

It might seem contradictory, but Lord Shiv had to come for his shishya…because if the shishya is walking the path of the Guru then he/she is Guru’s 100% responsibility. By insulting the shishya, King Daksha challenged the energy of the Guru. And so Lord Shiv had to intervene to set an example of the shakti of Guru and Guru-Shishya relationship for Creation. Gita says that the adarsh purush in society is followed by one and all, and Lord Shiv is the adarsh purush for all times. If Lord Shiv did not do this at that time, what precedence would have been set for Creation? same goes for shishyas…they should not take any insult to their Guru as Sati also did not.

However, it is important to note here, that shishya is one who walks the path shown by Guru in totality, not thinks but actually walks it, only then his/her responsibility lies with the Guru and then Guru comes for him/her, not otherwise.