Guru Ashtottara

The 108 Names of Guru

With their meaning
(In Hindi & English)

By

Swami Shantananda Puri

of Vasishtha Guha

The Hindi meanings were published in

Souvenir-2004 on 125th Birth Celebration of
H.H. Swami Purushottamanand Ji Maharaj.
The English meanings were added in June 2012.
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Meanings of 108 NAMES OF THE GURU

1. I Bow to the guru whose entire body is made up of

bliss.
An enlightened guru is one with supreme being whose
attribute is bliss.

2. I bow to the master who will instruct me on the highest

truth, the scriptures and the subsidiary texts.

3. I bow to the great master who had no beginning (birth),

no middle or end (death).

4. I bow to my guru who is the treasure house of

compassion.

5. I bow to the guru who is of the form of the truth, the

ultimate knowledge and bliss.

6. I bow to my guru who never swerves from the right

conduct.

7. I bow to my 'Sadguru' from whom all the paths of yoga

have become manifest. The guru gives to various disciples
various paths of sadhana for reaching the Lord. So he is the
source of all yogas.

8. I bow to the guru who is all consciousness.

9. I bow to the guru who is beyond the five sheaths. The self
in each individual is not easily seen because he is covered by
five Sheaths. As for example, the sheath of matter, the
sheath of the mind, the sheath of the vital force (life
energy), the sheath of intellect and the sheath of relative
bliss. So one has to remove them by sadhana in order to
understand the true nature of the Guru.
10. I bow to the Guru who is as beautiful as crores of gods
of love. (Manmatha/Cupid).

11. I bow to the Guru whose eyes are full of compassion.

12. I bow to the Guru who has no body sense ( not aware of
his own body).

13. I bow to the Master who has no boundary or end

14. I bow to the Master who is unborn ( had no birth in the

real sense)

15. I bow to the Guru who is free from likes and dislikes

16. I bow to the Guru who, though doing actions does not
experience their results

17. I bow to the Guru who is free from the pair of opposites
like hot and cold, joy and sorrow etc.

18. I bow to the Guru who is beyond all mental concepts

19. I bow to the Guru who is bereft of all the three modes
viz - satwa Guna ( the quality of light and harmony ), Rajo
Guna ( the dynamic qualities of aggression involving desires,
anger etc) and Tamo Guna ( procrastination, laziness etc)

20. I bow to the Guru who lives in the cave of my heart

21. I bow to the Guru who is a witness to the knower,

knowledge and the objects to be known

22. I bow to the Guru who is untainted by any of the objects

of the world

23. I bow to the Sadguru who is always awake and alert

24. I bow to the Guru who is to be counted as foremost
among all the people

25. I bow to the Sadguru who cannot be destroyed

26. I bow to the Sadguru who remains indifferent and on

whom no effect of any object takes place

27. I bow to the Guru who gives all spiritual instructions

28. I bow to the Guru who is pure

29. I bow to the Guru who guides us to the real knowledge

30. I bow to the Guru who is revealed by the statements

like, " You are that"

31. I bow to the Guru who is indivisible and has no parts

32. I bow to the Guru who is adept in making us cross the

ocean of Samsara

33. I bow to the Guru who teaches the ultimate reality of the
Oneness of the Atman and the Paramatman

34. I bow to the Guru who is always Holy

35. I bow to the Guru who is ever liberated. All are divine
and ever liberated but most of us are not aware of it. The
person who is enlightened realises that he was never bound
and was ever liberated

36. I bow to the Guru who can be understood only by the

ultimate knowledge he possesses

37. I bow to the Guru who is self effulgent

38. I bow to the Guru who prevents all further birth, old age
and death ; that is who bestows Moksha

39. I bow to the Sadguru who is bereft of all attachments

40. I bow to the Guru whose behavior and conduct causes

amazement

41. I bow to the Guru who is bereft of all enmity or hatred

42. I bow to the Guru whose sexual energy is sublimated

and made to flow upwards

43. I bow to the Guru who is bereft of cause and effect

44. I bow to the Guru who is easy of access to the holy

people

45. I bow to the Guru who is in the form of the self of all

46. I bow to the Guru who is full of peace

47. I bow to the Guru who possesses boundless powers

48. I bow to the Guru on whom the phenomenal world does

not have any effect

49. I bow to the Guru who is the head of the various Gods
like Brahma, Vishnu etc

50. I bow to the Guru who can only be known through the
philosophy (Vedanta) and the Upanishads

51. I bow to the Guru in whom the six waves like thirst and
hunger, joy and sorrow etc do not rise up.

52. I bow to the Guru in whom the six changes like birth,
growth, decline, death etc do not arise
53. I bow to the Guru who is either himself immortal or
makes his devotees Immortal

54. I bow to the Guru who is the Indweller who is in the

hearts of all

55. I bow to the Guru who is not limited by space, time and
object
e.g. A normal person never existed before his birth, nor will
he exist after the day of his death. Time limits him, as a
guru is self himself who is existing at all times, he is not
bound by time.

56. I bow to the Guru who forgives all and is able to bear all
sufferings and unhappiness

57. I bow to the Guru who remains firm in the heart,

immoveable like the peak of a mountain

58. I bow to the Guru who is capable of bestowing

liberation

59. I bow to the Guru who has no crookedness

60. I bow to the Guru who has transcended time

61. I bow to the Guru who is the only witness to all the
three states, namely - waking, dream, sleeping state

62. I bow to the Guru whose glory is incapable of being

measured

63. I bow to the Guru who is second to none

64. I bow to the Guru who is unmanifest

65. I bow to the Guru who Is hidden in our heart

66. I bow to the Guru who liberates us from the three types
of knots-
For instance the most important knot is that of the supreme
consciousness
And the insentient body (Chid-jada-granthi)

67. I bow to the Guru who is all consciousness

68. I bow to the Guru who is easy of access through the

ultimate knowledge

69. I bow to the Guru who is of the form of supreme bliss

70. I bow to the Guru who is capable of making us cross the

ocean of samsara (phenomenal world)

71. I bow to the Guru who is greater than any object

72. I bow to the Guru who constitutes the meaning of the

mahavakyas (mega statements- like YOU ARE THAT)

73. I bow to the Guru who is far away from the wicked
persons ( i.e they will not be able to approach him)

74. I bow to the Guru who can destroy all our bad habits

75. I bow to the Guru who is shining in all directions

76. I bow to the Guru who has taken the form of Brahma,
Vishnu, Shiva

77. I bow to the Guru who is completely different from the

qualities of the non existing objects of the world

78. I bow to the Guru whose consciousness is not revealed

out side
79. I bow to the Guru who destroys the illusion of this
phenomenal world which looks boundless

80. I bow to the Guru who is bereft of any anger

81. I bow to the Guru whose glory never becomes futile

82. I bow to the Guru who frees us from all fears

83. I bow to the Guru who can grant us all boons

84. I bow to the Guru who is of the form of liberation

85. I bow to the Guru who remains permanently

86. I bow to the Guru who is Verily an ocean of un broken

glory

87. I bow to the Guru who is of the form of an unbroken

and integrated consciousness

88. I bow to the Guru who is beyond the jurisdiction of the

mind and the speech

89. I bow to the Guru who is completely plenary and is fully

satisfied

90. I bow to the Guru who pervades both the inside and the
outside

91. I bow to the Guru who can be obtained through

devotion, faith and meditation

92. I bow to the Guru who is free of ego

93. I bow to the Guru who undergoes no changes

94. I bow to the Guru who has no enmity

95. I bow to the Guru who makes no distinction between

objects worthy of seeing and not worthy of seeing

96. I bow to the Guru who is free from all differentiation

97. I bow to the Guru who is beyond destruction

98. I bow to the Guru who has infinite forms

99. I bow to the Guru who cannot be surpassed in his

greatness by anybody

100. I bow to the Guru who is in the form of

Dakshinamurthi, the first divine master who revealed the
ultimate knowledge.

101. I bow to the Guru who is all wonder

102. I bow to the Guru who cannot be recognised by any

symbols or signs

103. I bow to the Guru who is free from all attachment

104. I bow to the Guru the one who can bestow on us the
bliss of liberation

105. I bow to the Guru who has transcended the scriptures

106. I bow to the Guru who is eternal and has no end

107. I bow to the Guru who is the best among those who
follow the righteous conduct

108. I bow to the Guru who is shining in the form of a

sadguru.
HariOM