5.2. The Guru and his Devotees

In his satirical works, Kṣemendra satirizes the wicked religious preachers (guru) also. They are generally followers of Saivism and religious preacher of the bureaucrats. He exposes the works and behaviour of a guru. In Kṣemendra’s satires the guru is none but waste mankind.

In Kṣemendra’s satiric view, a guru is none but an all-devouring, night feeding evil spirit (yakṣa). He satirically salutes the lord guru who is a robber of other’s wealth and wife.^[1] The immoral guru is well known as the guru of his disciples.^[2] Kṣemendra exposes that the guru is devoid of all the good qualities but knows well how to extort money from the officials and lewd people. He remarks satirically that the guru is much heavy in everything but is lacking in the knowledge given by god Śiva.^[3] Kṣemendra is surprised with his nefarious habit and says, ‘with what can the hugeness of his throat be compared?’ The guru is capable of emptying a wine-jug instantly.^[4] He often suffers from indigestion due to heavy meal comprising of meat, fish and wine.^[5] The description generates both humour and hatred for such type of religious preachers. The guru is impure from the heart. He is full of greed, hatred, and arrogance. Kṣemendra remarks satirically that though the title ‘guru’ means profound, he is a cause of levity.^[6]

Kṣemendra exposes that the guru is greedy, proud and such a hypocrite that he deceives those who are desirous of initiations.^[7] For the guru to organize a religious rite means wastage of money, but that is what he does.^[8] He organizes sacrificial ceremonies in the house of the bureaucrat. The hypocrite guru enters the sacrificial ground as much dramatically as possible. Supported by the disciples, the guru comes with his closed eyes as if he is reciting mantras.^[9] He is followed by hundreds of disciples. Among them there is a butcher, a fisherman, a cook, an old harlot and such other people of low category and it indicates his type of companions.^[10] The whore widow sister of the bureaucrat is placed to service in guru’s sacrificial ceremony. The lewd guru and his disciples keep eyes on her. In the ceremony, the guru drinks wine and loses his control, starts dancing with his followers. And when it becomes night the notorious guru unites with the woman present in the ceremony. In the next day, the immoral guru again gets ready to meet another devotee.^[11] He is also in good connection with the harlots. He gives them amulets, powder etc. to remove the fear of evil spirit.^[12] In reality, he pretends to be a guru outwardly, but inwardly he is a debauch. Kṣemendra’s concern for the society is reflected when he raises the question as to whether there is anyone who is not influenced by the guru.^[13]

Different people irrespective of class and caste come to guru. The devotees of the guru are also as vicious as he is. All of them visit the guru with a hope to fulfil their evil motives. The guru is just like a wish fulfilling tree for them. Kṣemendra satirizes all those unscrupulous people of the society.

First of all, Kṣemendra reveals the wicked official (divira) who is a great devotee of the guru. The official loots all the temples, the Brāhmaṇas, towns and the villages, still he is anxious to plunder more and to fulfil his wish comes to the guru.^[14] The official wants to organize a sacrificial ceremony with the help of the guru to get promotion.^[15]

Kṣemendra exposes how a wife of a good family (kūlavadhū) also comes to the capture of a hypocrite guru. She is also a regular visitor of the guru. She goes to guru and purifies herself with his embraces.^[16]

The unscrupulous Brāhmaṇa (bhaṭṭa) is also a devotee of the guru. He visits the house of the guru with a hope of drinking wine. He takes one plate of fish in hand. Both of them drink wine up to the throat. The Brāhmaṇa passes the whole night drinking wine. His face is even licked by the dogs. In the next morning, he again observes purity like other Brāhmaṇas.^[17]

The next devotee is the crooked businessman (vaṇik). He comes to the guru not for seeking salvation but seeking farther prosperity.^[18]

The poet (kavi) is also a devotee of the guru. The poet has an ardent desire to become a poet but lacks in genuine poetic talent. Kṣemendra laments that a man desirous of becoming a poet is totally unknown about the meanings of roots and genders of words. The poet tries every day, every moment to compose a poem in real sense, but in vein. His effort to become a true poet is considered to be ridiculous. The poet comes to the guru with a hope of attaining abilities to compose poems. He seeks mantra from the guru to eulogies Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning.^[19]

The old alchemist (dhātuvādī) is the next devotee of the guru. His body is decaying because of his old age, he is now weak due to different ailments; still the master of alchemy goes to the guru seeking an elixir of youth.^[20]

Another devotee of the guru is the cunning gambler (dyutakara). To deceive others, the wicked gambler shows off to be an ascetic. He covers his naked body with dust, pretends to be on fast and remains calm. Kṣemendra satirizes that though he looks like a god (īśvara) because of his makeover, he frequently suffers from poverty. Therefore, he goes to the guru with some fish, cake etc. in hands with a hope of gaining a mantra to appease the god of fortune Ganapati, so that he can be able to triumph over other gamblers.^[21]

A fool (buddhivihīna) also comes to guru as he is convinced that the guru provides everything. Kṣemendra satirizes his dullness and says that like an animal in the forest he comes to the guru following other disciples.^[22]

The guru deceives all; but the devotee of the guru (gurubhakta) is the master of all thieves. The devotee of the guru approaches to the sacrificial hall but his main purpose is to eat and drink. He falls at the guru’s feet and begs him to save him from doing sinful activities. But in the words of Kṣemendra, the cunning devotee has no reverence for the guru, he is out and out a great hypocrite whose main concern is eating and drinking.^[23]

Another devotee of the guru, the lutanist (vaiṇik) arrives at the sacrificial ceremony with a lute on his arm. He plays the lute very proudly comparing himself with Nārada and Tumburu^[24], but his playing annoys the audience. Kṣemendra ridicules the lutanist who hopelessly lacks in the proper knowledge of notes of the lute.^[25]

The fool scholar (paṇḍita) is also another devotee of the guru. He comes to the guru with the intention to impress all. He considers himself paṇḍita but according to Kṣemendra, he has no knowledge about what is gender and what is compound. The fool paṇḍita gives many excuses if someone asks questions to him.^[26]

Besides these hypocrite devotees, there is the physician (vaidya) who goes to the guru, the reason is that he, does not properly know how to diagnose.^[27]

The wicked writer (lekhaka) is another devotee of the guru. Kṣemendra ridicules the writer mentioning him a personification of Kali age, who promises to give anything in the morning.^[28] The man with matted hair (jatādhara) comes to the guru, who pretends to be an ascetic but serves as footstool of the prostitute.^[29] The lewd widow (raṇḍā) is also another devotee of the guru. The widow thinks the guru to be her rescuer, she hands over herself to the guru with a hope of salvation of her deceased husband.^[30]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

namaste gurunāthāya dhanadārāpahāriṇe/
kṣobhiṇe sarvabhakṣāya yakṣāyeva kṣpāśine// ibid.,II.103

[2]:

guṇarahito rūtakārī śiṣyavadhūnāṃ sadā gururgaditaḥ// Deśopadeśa ,VIII.3

[3]:

veśyākāminiyogivañcanaguruḥ sadvṛttaśūnyo guru-ścitraṃ sarvaguruḥ śivoditamahāśikṣāsu nityaṃ laghuḥ// Narmamālā ,II.112

[4]:

kṣaṇāt pibati yo maddyaghataṃ ghataghaṭāravaiḥ/
tasya kaṇṭhapraṇālasya sthaulyaṃ kenopamīyatāṃ// ibid.,II.107

[5]:

ibid., II.110

[6]:

rāgadveṣasamākulamugramahāmohalobhadambhabhayaṃ/
gurumapi lāghavahetuṃ bhavamiva bahuvibhramaṃ vande// Deśopadeśa ,VIII.2

[7]:

ānināya guruṃ garvadambhalobhaniketanaṃ/
māyākuhakalaulyānāṃ dīkṣāsamayamaṇḍalaṃ// Narmamālā , II.102

[8]:

dīnārakṣayakaraṇād dīkṣetyuktā kṛtā tena// Deśopadeśa ,VIII.3

[9]:

athātmārāmatādambhamīlitāghūrṇitekṣaṇaḥ/
gururgṛhītaḥ śiṣyābhyāṃ savyadakṣiṇahastayoḥ// Narmamālā ,III.11

[10]:

ibid., III.13-15

[11]:

ibid., III.85

[12]:

raktacchāyā pāṇḍumukhī prasavaiḥ kṛśatāṃ gatā/
sā gurūn sūtrakaṃ rakṣāṃ yācate bhūtaśaṅkayā// Deśopadeśa ,III.38

[13]:

api nāma sa jāyet pavitracaritaḥ kṣitau/
aśaucanidhayo yena guravo nopasevitāḥ// Narmamālā ,II.113

[14]:

luṇṭhitasakalasuradvijapuranagaragrāmaghoṣasarvasvaḥ/
punarapi haraṇākāṅkṣī vrajati gurūṃ dīkṣito diviraḥ// Deśopadeśa ,VIII.5

[15]:

kalamaśikhāhatajanatādīnatarākrandalabdhavibhavasya/
divirasyonnatihetoryāgavidhāne matirbhavati// ibid.,VIII.6

[16]:

paśusaṃsparśād vimukhī sakayavihīnasya gehinī bhartuḥ/
āyāti sadā kṛtvā gurusuratapavitramātmānaṃ// ibid.,VIII.9

[17]:

ibid.,VIII.11-13

[18]:

nik ṣepak ṣaya kārī nihnavadakṣaḥ kalākṣapāyakṣaḥ/
vaṇigarthodayakāṅkṣī gurugṛhamāpto na kokṣārthī// ibid.,VIII.14

[19]:

ibid., VIII.17-19

[20]:

ibid., VIII.20-22

[21]:

ibid., VIII.23-25

[22]:

ibib., VIII.26

[23]:

ibid., VIII.27-29

[24]:

tumburu-a Gandharva. Apte, V.S, The Student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, P.236

[25]:

Deśopadeśa , VIII.30-32

[26]:

ibid., VIII.39-42

[27]:

ibid., VIII.33-35

[28]:

ibid.,VIII.43-45

[29]:

ibid.,VIII.46-48

[30]:

ibid.,VIII.49-51