GURU PURNIMA

Today is Guru Purnima dedicated to the Guru or Acharya who guides the aspirant to realize himself! Guru is one who dispels the Avidya or Ignorance of his disciple. You cannot call yourself a  guru if you merely teach the student the Vedas, Vedangas, shastras and scriptures! He has to practice whatever he teaches his student! The word Acharya means one who acts according to his teachings! No one else is entitled to call himself an Acharya if he does not practice the precepts that he hands over to his chelas! Our ancient sages and seers have a hallowed history behind them!They lived a simple unostentatious life instructing their students in ‘Brahma Vidya’ and showed them the right path to salvation or Mukti! IIlustrious saints and gurus like Vasishta, Vamadeva, Viswamitra, Bhrigu, Agasthya, Jamadagni and various others led selfless lives imparting the most important thing viz Self Realization! It is extremely difficult to come across such ideal gurus in modern days! The Guru is not merely a teacher par excellence but the embodiment of God himself! The oft quoted sloka on Guru, “ Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu Gurur Devo Maheswaraha Gurus sakshath Parabrahma tasmai sri gurave namaha” illustrates the significance of Guru! He is all in all. He is also that Absolute Brahman! The grace of of the Guru is greater than the grace of God! One need not worship any God or Goddess if he is totally dedicated to his Guru!

Today is the full moon day of the month of Ashada according to the lunar calendar! It is called Vyasa Purnima! It is said that sage Vyasa codified the Vedas on this day and hence its significance! “ Vyasaya Vishnu rupaya Vyasa rupaya Vishnave”  Sage Vyasa is the incarnation of Vishnu even as Vishnu is the form of sage Vyasa! He is described as Brahma without four heads, Vishnu without four hands and Siva without the Third eye! Without Sage Vyasa we would not have had the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata purana and of course the Bhagavadgita which is a part of the great epic Mahabharata! Entire generation of ours is eternally indebted to Sage Vyasa for the yeomen service he has done to humanity through his works! We should remember him today and offer our pranams wholeheartedly and express our gratitude

Guru’s Anugraha or grace is a rare and precious thing in the life of the sishya. If the Guru is pleased he can do anything for him! King Trisanku was a favorite student of sage Viswamitra. The sage liked him and one day the king had an impossible and strange desire! He wanted to reach heaven with his mortal body! He approached his preceptor Viswamitra and expressed his desire. The sage was shocked at this request but wanted to help his student!  By his super power of tapas, he ejected him into the sky to reach heaven! But the Devas did not allow him into Swargaloka as none could enter with his mortal body! King Trisanku was pushed down and he prayed to his master Viswamitra. Angry with the Devas, sage Viswamitra created a different

Swargaloka similar to the original and established King Trisanku there permanently! Thus king Trisanku dangled between earth and heaven! This is popularly called “Trisanku Swarga” a state neither on earth or in heaven! Can we at any time expect such great and capable gurus at present?

Another example of the grace of guru is the story of Ekalavya of low caste who wanted to be the disciple of Dronacharya! But the Acharya refused to take him in as his pupil. Nevertheless, Ekalavya, made a figure of his master and practised archery! To the surprise of Dronacharya, Ekalavya mastered all the astras including the rare Divine ones! He even outclassed the Pandava warrior Arjuna and Ashwathama, Drona’s son! When Drona knew this, he grew jealous and demanded the thumb of Ekalavya as guru dakshina! Poor Ekalavya immediately cut off his thumb and presented it to his ‘manasika guru’ Drona! Drona did not want  anyone to excel his dearest disciple Arjuna! While guru’s Anugraha can work wonders, his 'Agraha’-- anger is detrimental and disastrous to the disciple! A classical example is the fate of Karna the bosom friend of the evil genius Duryodhana! He lied to his guru Parasurama that he was a Brahmin and started his training in archery. Indra, king of Gods, in the form of huge beetle drilled the lap of Karna on which Parasurama was reclining! Blood began flowing but Karna endured the pain! Waking up, Parasurama doubted his parentage and Karna had to speak the truth! Furious at the fraud practised by Karna, Parasurama cursed that what all knowledge he has gained shall fail him at his critical hour! That was how Karna came to grief at the end of Mahabharatha war!

The greatest Guru during the Dwapara Yuga is none other than Lord Krishna who as  “*Parthasarathi” disabused the mind of vacillating Arjuna and egged him on to fight thei Kauravas! “Krisnam vande jagadgurum.” Profound principles of the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Sastras, Bhakti yoga, Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga and several others were taught to Arjuna by the Lord! Total surrender to the Lord and acceptance of His Will was advocated by the Lord! Man, after all is a toy in the hands of  God! Bhagavadgita, thus is called the “ Bible of the Universe” by Swami Vivekananda! The most important Guru we generally forget is, Lord Siva Himself, as Sri Dakshinamurthi, facing South under the Banyan tree surrounded by the great saints Sanaka, Sanandana Sanat Kumara, and Sanath sujatha! His silence was eloquent and dispelled all the doubts in their mind! “ Chitram vatatarormule vruddha shishyas Gurur yuva gurosthu mauna vyakhyanam sishyasthu cchinna samsayah” The Guru is young while the disciples are very old!  The eloquence of His Silence dispelled all their doubts! We require preceptors of such nature who can revolutionize society and put it in the right track! Guru's like Sri Rama Krishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Shiridi Sai Baba and Sri Satya Sai Baba have contributed much to the wellbeing of society through their teachings and pure Love for all beings in the world! Sri Gurubhyo namaha!