THE GURUS ' EXTENSIVE POWERS 125
Puranas and the sixty-four Kalais l. This is the character of a true guru; these are the qualities which he ought to possess, that he may be in a position to show others the path of virtue, and help them out of the slough of vice.'
This is what the Hindu gurus ought to be, but are not.
What follows is a description of them as they really are.
The word guru, properly speaking, means master ' ' or
' guide,' and this is why parents are sometimes called the maha-gurus or grand masters of their families, and kings are called the gurus of their kingdoms, and masters the
gurus of their servants.
The word is also used to designate persons of distinguished rank who are raised to a high position and invested with
a character for sanctity, which confers both spiritual and temporal power upon them. The latter, which is exercised over the whole caste, consists in regulating its affairs, in keeping a strict watch to see that all its customs, both those for use in private as well as in public, are accurately observed, in punishing those who disregard them and expelling from caste those who have deserved this indignity, in reinstating the penitent, and several other no less
important prerogatives. Besides this temporal authority, which no one disputes, they also exercise very extensive spiritual power. The sashtanga or prostration of the six
members 2 when made before them and followed by their asirvadam, or blessing, will obtain the remission of all sins. The very sight even of gurus will produce the same effect. Any prasadam or gift from them, though usually some perfectly valueless object, such as a pinch of the ashes of cow-dung with which they besmear their foreheads, the fruits or flowers that have been offered to idols, the remains of their food, the water with which they have rinsed out their mouths or washed their face or feet, and
which is highly prized and very often drunk by those who
receive it; in short, any gift whatever from their sacred hands has the merit of cleansing both soul and body from all impurities.
1
These include all kinds of worldly wisdom. Dubois.
2
It has already been pointed out in a note to a former chapter that sashtanga does not mean the prostration of six members but of eight members. Ed.