Derive Guru Purnima?
The word ‘Guru’ is derived from two words – Gu
and ru. The Sanskrit word Gu means darkness or ignorance and Ru means
dispeller. It’s only the Guru who is the dispeller of the darkness / ignorance,
who can remove one from this continuous cycle of Life.
The below shloka explains this beautifully –
ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur
unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai
śrī-gurave namaḥ
("Ajnana-timirandhasya" |"Jnananjana salakaya" |"caksur
unmilitam yena" |"tasmai sri-gurave namah" |)
This
literally translates to – ‘I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my
spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my
respectful obeisance’s unto him”
This day is
celebrated on the full moon day (Purnima) in the Hindu month of Ashadha
(June-July) of the Shaka Samvat as it is known in the Hindu calendar. This day
is celebrated widely in the Indian and Nepalese traditions. This day is
celebrated as a day to pay homage and gratitude to your masters. This is also
the day when Shiva – Adiyogi first expounded the wisdom of Life to the
Saptarishis in the upper regions of Himalayas and thus became the First Guru on
this day – Adi Guru. The story goes that over 15000 years ago, a yogi had
appeared in the Himalayan region. His presence was extraordinary and people
started gathering around him. But he exhibited no signs of life, except for a
few times when tears rolled down his face in ecstasy. With time, people started
leaving the place but only 7 remained. Finally, one day when he opened his eyes
he gave just a preparatory step to them and closed his eyes again. 84 years
passed that the 7 men were working on the preparation and the yogi still
remained in his sadhana. Finally he
opened his eyes one day (this day marked the dakshinayana). He saw these 7 men
waiting in absolute cheer. They had become shining and wonderful receptacles.
The yogi could not ignore them anymore. On the very next day on full moon,
Adiyogi initiated a discourse with the 7 men and for the first time opened up
the possibility for a human being to evolve consciously! Thus came the 7
different aspects of yoga that flourished the basic forms of yoga.
This day is
marked as a day of the Guru-Shishya principle where the disciples perform the
traditional Guru Puja to express gratitude and reverence to not only the
present Gurus but also all the ancestors and past scholars. Not only the
spiritual teachers, this day is also celebrated by paying respect to the
academic teachers by students.
It is
believed that this day, Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon at Saarnaath, UP
on this day. He travelled from Bodhgaya after enlightenment to Saarnaath to
spread the knowledge to his disciples and spread the seeds of Dharma. This day is also celebrated as Vyasa Poornima
in the honor of the great sage Vyasa who is seen as one of the greatest Gurus
in ancient Hindu traditions to bring the knowledge to the planet!
As Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says, - ‘This is
the day of the devotee, where the devotee can reflect upon his Life and the
growth that the knowledge has brought to him. This in itself is like expressing
gratefulness to the Guru” 