Guru Purnima

(Based on the lectures of Swami Paramarthananda)

Guru Purnima is an auspicious day for spiritual seekers who on this day worship the entire Acharya parampara starting from Aadhi Guru, Lord Siva, including their own Guru.  It is celebrated every year on the full-moon day that comes in the month of Ashada (June-July) of Hindu calendar.  In the current year this fell on Tuesday the 30^th of July, 2019. Not only Hindus but Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs also celebrate this day. For Hindus, it is considered the birthday of Veda Vyasa, who holds a pride of place in the lineage of Gurus and in his honour the day itself is called Vyasa Purnima also.  Further it is considered to be the day on which Aadhi Yogi, Lord Siva, taught Yoga to the Sapta Rishis (seven sages) and became Aadhi Guru as well.  For Buddhists, it is the day on which Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon at Saranath after attaining enlightenment under Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya. For Jains it is this day, Lord Mahavira had his first follower, Gautam Swami, and for Sikhs it is a day to honour their Ten Gurus.

The word Guru is derived from two words, gu and ru. The Sanskrit root gu means darkness or ignorance, and ru denotes the remover of that darkness. Therefore, a Guru is one who removes the darkness of sishya’s ignorance.  And a Brahma Vidya Guru is one who has not only realised his essential nature as Brahman but also guides the disciple to discover his true nature as infinite Brahman dispelling the disciple’s mistaken notion that he is a finite Jiva. So the Guru is praised in Guru stotram as follows:

Gururbrahma gurur Vishnu gurur devo Mahesvarah I

Gurureva Param Brahma tasmai Srigurave namaha II 3 II

Salutations to the Guru, who is the Brahma, Vishnu and Siva and the Supreme Brahman as well.

Vyasacharya is one of the most important Gurus in Hindu tradition, as he has given Moksha Upaya to the seekers through his three basic granthas (text books) called Prasthana thrayam. They are the Vedas called Sruthi Prasthanam; Bhagavad Gita called Smrithi Prasthanam and Brahma sutras called Nyaya Prasthanam.  Though he is not the author of Vedas, he collected them all, classified them into four Vedas Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana and arranged for their preservation after him by teaching one Veda each to his four chief disciples – Paila, Vaisampayana,  Jaimini and Sumantu respectively.  It was this dividing and editing that earned him the honorific "Veda Vyasa" (vyas = to edit, to divide), for his original name is Krishna Dwaipayana.  Bhagavad Gita forms part of Mahabharatha, which is written by Vyasacharya.  He is the author of Brahma sutras, also called Vedanta sutras that give logical support, reasoning and reinforcement to the teaching contained in Sruthi and Smruthi, clarifying all doubts and effectively countering all objections. He has also written the 18 Puranas, including the epic Bhagavatha purana and established the system of teaching them through ‘Upakhyanas’ or discourses.  He is considered as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and he is praised in Vishnu Sahasranamam thus:

vyasaya vishnurupaya vyasarupaya vishnave |

namo vai brahmanidhaye vasishtaya namo namah || 4 ||

I bow before Vyasa who is Vishnu, Vishnu who is Vyasa. And again and again bow before Him, who is born, in the family of Vasishta (being the great grandson of Vasishta) and is the treasure of the knowledge of Brahman

The Guru purnima celebrations also start with Vyasa puja, also called Vyasa Purnima puja. The Vyasa Purnima puja is amongst the duties required for a sanyasi. A vividhisha sanyasi, i.e the mumukshu sanyasi, has to perform this puja physically while a Vidwat sanyasi i.e the Jnani sanyasi needs only to perform a mental worship, i.e. Manasa puja.  For a sanyasi Chathurmasya Vratham starts this day. In olden days Chathurmasya Vratham required a sanyasi to stay in the same place for four months commencing from this day. Here he practices nitidhyasanam, does Vedanta vichara and holds satsangh inspiring lay people in and around the place with spiritual knowledge and kindling desire for Moksha. This was done as rainy season started around this day and during this season insects crawl all over the place and moving around one may step on them accidentally and harm them.  So to avoid it and practice Ahimsa as well they don’t move around.   Nowadays the Vratham is observed for two months but Vyasa puja is done besides the sharing of spiritual knowledge with ordinary people in satsangh. 

The distinction between Vividisha sanyasi and Vidwat sanyasi is not observed now.  But the significance and importance of Vyasa Puja and the observance of Guru Purnima day by sanyasis and Grahasthas as well is not lost even today. It still holds significance as an occasion for remembering with gratitude and reverence Vyasacharya and his contribution to the maintenance of Vedic Study and tradition through the preservation of Vedas. So we can say Guru Purnima is Vedic Teachers Day, a day to remember and glorify the teachers of Para Vidya as in modern Teachers Day one remembers and honours the teachers of Apara Vidya.

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