Sunday, 25-Jul-2010

Gurupurnima

"Dhyaana moolam Gurur Moortihi,Pooja moolam Guroh Padam

Mantra moolam Gurur Vaakyam,Moksha Moolam Guru Kripa".

Guru's form isthe best to meditate upon,Guru's feet are the best worship;

Guru's word is the bestmantra,Guru's Grace is the way to Liberation"

Guru Purnima is one of the most auspicious festivals celebrated throughout the length and breadth of India. It is celebrated on the occasion of the Full Moon in the month of Ashadh according to the Hindu lunar almanac, usually falling in July each year.Guru Purnima is also known as Vyas Purnima, in honour of the learned Sage Vyas, who organised the structure of the Vedas, the fountainhead of all ancient learning..

The Story of Rishi Vyas

Rishi Vyas was the grandson of the great sage Vashishtha, and the grandfather of the protagonists of the Mahabharat war, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Sanjay, a trusted courtier of King Dhritarashtra, born in a humble weaver family, became a conscience keeper of sorts to the blind and aged king. Vyas gifted Sanjay with divine vision, so that he could witness and describe the great war in the battlefield of Kurukshetra to Dhritarashtra, while sitting in the latter’s palace in Hastinapur. Sanjay is thus the only witness, besides Arjun, to the divine oratory of Krishna and the rare display of His Divine form in the midst of the battle of Mahabharat, as reported by him in the Bhagvadgita.

The full name of the rishi is Krishna Dvaipayana Badarayan Vyas. He was calledKrishna because he was dark complexioned; Dvaipayana, because he was born on an island (dveep) in the River Yamuna; and Badarayan because his hermitage was in the Badri forest region of the Himalayas, on the banks of the River Saraswati. He is one of the immortal rishis. Vyas was born out-of-wedlock to the sage Parashar, and Satyavati .The supreme godhead Brahma brought forth the Vedas from his head and transmitted them to the Sage Narada, who in turn passed them on to Vyas for editing and teaching. He thus came to be known as Rishi Veda Vyas. He also authored many philosophical works, in addition to the major historical rendering (itihas) of Mahabharat. Entrusted with this onerous task, the Sage is said to have invoked Shri Ganesh, the deity of learning and arts, who agreed to assist in writing the great manuscript, on the condition that Vyas did not pause in his dictation! Vyas in turn instructed the deity not to pause in his effort in case he did not understand something, but to simply proceed with the writing. Thuswere composed the original 6,00,000 verses of the great epic poem

Vyas purnima

Guru purnima is also known by the name Vyas purnima.The event of Vyas Purnima marks the formal beginning (or resumption after holidays) of studies each year for the students of Sanskrit and scriptures in traditional pathshalas, initiated with the worship of the Rishi Vyas as the archetypal teacher and scholar. .

There is an interesting legend about how this day came to be earmarked for honouring the guru. Vyas divided the vedas into four distinct compilations of inspired sacred verses. Until then, they were an immense mass of verses in an unstructured form of shrutis, verses that were received and maintained in the sound form rather than in script. Upon completion of his work of organising and editing the Vedas, the Gods in heaven sang praises of the Sage, showering him with flower petals. This happened to be the Full Moon day in Ashadh, commemorated as Vyas Purnima.

It is said that even after the satisfactory completion of all his great works of learning, also including the eighteen Purans or scriptures, the visionary sage (drashta) was left feeling uneasy and dissatisfied, with his unhappiness increasing on every passing day until finally, the Sage of sages Narada appeared before him. There is an axiom that ‘when the disciple is ready, the guru appears’. This axiom is also at the root of the term ‘Datta’ for the guru, since ‘datta’ means one who arrives or appears. Narada instructed Vyas to sing praises of Hari (Vishnu). He asked Vyas to spread bhakti, or devotion, through teaching his students to sing simple lyrics extolling the glory of God. When Rishi Vyas followed this counsel, his heart burst with the surging love of Hari, and he attained immediate God realisation. At last his distress was relieved, being replaced with genuine bliss and contentment. The day his guru Narada appeared before him was also the occasion of Full Moon in Ashadh!

Understanding the importance of the guru

The scriptures mention Kali (pronounced as in sully) as the demon terrorising human beings on earth in the present Great Age named after him (Kaliyug), in the recurring cycle of life on earth. He is depicted as an uncouth creature holding his tongue in the right hand and his penis in the left, grimacing and engaged in vulgar antics as the bringer of divisiveness, strife and suffering. When he comes to pay his respects to Shiva before setting off for the earth, Shiva asks him the reason for his strange behaviour. Kali replies that Brahma, while sending him off on his new mission, has reminded him that everything will turn out fine so long as he keeps a firm hold on his tongue and his penis! Shiva, after a hearty laugh, warns him not to harm the devout and pious folk, especially those who are devoted to the Sathguru!

When we come into this world we are blessed with our first gurus,Mother and Father.They are the most influencing persons in our life are are responsible for moulding our character.Then come our school teachers.They convert our mind which is a clod of mud into an earthen pot having tremendous capacity.Further come our college teachers an allother people influencing our life.What we are today we owe it to all these people and we should be always grateful to them for enlightning us and making us stronger and wiser in life.

Mother gives the first birth to a child. We come into the world through the mother. But second birth is through the teacher. Teacher delivers you the knowledge and skill. Today is the teacher's, the master's day. This is the second birth. Knowledge brings the second birth.Whether you want it or not everybody is Guru to somebody. We either teach others what they should do or should not do. If we do good, we are teaching what they should do. If we do something wrong, we are teaching what they should not do by showing see how I'm suffering, so you should not do this. Everyone is an educator.We all play the role of teacher, a guide, a guru ... but when the spiritual knowledge is so total, that one is called Sathguru.

So always respect the teachers,the 'Gurus' who helped moulding our lives.One day everyone of us will become a guru and hece have a great responsibility on our hands.a resposibily of honing the students of tomorow so we can all have a brighter future for you,me an for all my fellow earthlings