I say ‘Jai Guru Dev’ quite often. One often hears this phrase at the Art of Living gatherings. It is used in place of ‘Hello’, ‘Bye’, ‘Good luck’ and so on. The meaning of this phrase is very beautiful and I thought I’d share it here.
‘Jai’ is a Sanskrit word that stands for victory. ‘Guru’ means one who is wise, experienced, learned. ‘Dev’ is one who is playful, mischevious, even impish. Therefore, ‘Jai Guru Dev’ literally means ‘Victory to that in you which is wise and yet playful, learned and yet mischevious’. Often wise people are serious, almost stodgy and stiff. Similarly the one who is playful and mischevious is bereft of wisdom and sense. It is the Universal Self or the Big Mind that is the most beautiful combination of these apparently contrasting qualities and ‘Jai Guru Dev’ simply pays tribute to that Mind which resides in each one of us.
Anyone who meets Gurudev can see how beautifully these qualities thrive in Him. He is wise beyond explanation, a self-realized soul that He is. Yet one cannot fail to be charmed by His simplicity, sense of fun and mischief, wit and humour.
Anonymous says:
🙂 Did you have a good thanksgiving ??
Raaga
December 1, 2006 — 3:41 am
Lakshmi says:
Was lovely! I was on an Art of Living Part II course through the weekend. Fabulous weather, great food, yoga, meditation and a wonderful teacher…:) How was your weekend?
December 1, 2006 — 6:23 pm
parag says:
‘Dev’ is one who is playful, mischevious, even impish
Wonder where you found this meaning. I think Dev means “God”, or at least it does in Marathi. There are many examples of same word with different meanings in different Indian languages. This must be one of them.
December 1, 2006 — 4:27 am
quizling says:
I’m most familiar with /dev/null. 😉
December 1, 2006 — 5:32 am
parag says:
If you think about it, /dev/null is a good definition for God.
All religions believe that God is everywhere. Also, if you believe in the Big Bang and theory of expanding and contracting universe, there is a very fine line between everywhere and nowhere.
That is my deep thought for the day. I can rest my brain now. 🙂
December 1, 2006 — 5:41 pm
hariputtar says:
I did courses with AoL in 1999. I have been scouring the internet (and whatever sanskrit books i have – including some prayer books like, durga saptashati) for this meaning of the word … still havent found what i am looking for …
December 1, 2006 — 4:04 pm
parag says:
I have no doubt that in Sanskrit, ‘dev’ means God. For example: Matru devo bhav| Pitru devo bhav| Acharya (Guru) devo bhav|
Also, if you look around in European languages, the word for God is:
dios in spanish
dieu in french
dio in italian
deus in portuguese
I guess all these words have the same root and meaning as ‘dev’. I wonder if somebody just redefined the word to call themselves playful, mischevious, even impish.
December 1, 2006 — 5:37 pm
Lakshmi says:
Like the word ‘Hari’ is a name for Lord Vishnu AND another word for ‘Kapi’ or monkey, I believe that the word ‘Dev’ has multiple meanings.
December 1, 2006 — 6:27 pm
hariputtar says:
Another source may be: Sri Sri is from Maharshi Mahesh Yogi’s lineage. Maharshi’s Guru was popularly called “Guru Dev” – salutations to him were often … “Jai Guru dev” (and as such features in one of Beatles’ tracks).
It is interesting, that like Sri Sri, the Maharshi is also was a student of sciences (physics/maths).
some interesting links:
http://www.srigurudev.net/srigurudev/
http://www.paulmason.info/gurudev/gurudev.htm
http://www.dci.dk/?artikel=293
December 1, 2006 — 4:25 pm
ragh_dr says:
I thought that GuruDevaha is a form of exalting Guru to the position of Deva (Karmadharaya samasa, I guess..not sure). Anyway, as you said, words are really flexible in Sanskrit.
Even I have seen many people using this. Very nice, indeed. Isn’t it great to greet with the name of Guru? Guru is such an important part of our culture that they said Guru saakshaath parabrahma!
December 1, 2006 — 8:25 am
Lakshmi says:
Right indeed.
December 1, 2006 — 6:24 pm
Lakshmi says:
One of the things I have heard Guruji say is, ‘Guru, God and the Self are the same’ – alluding to your thought about exalting Guru to the position of God.
December 1, 2006 — 6:25 pm