M R Lalu
Guru Purnima is a reminder. It comes every year reviving our understanding of the cherished values of the Guru-Shishya tradition. Remove this ideal transition of knowledge from one generation to the next, India as a nation would cease to exist. In its entirety, India can be defined as a landscape that idealized this great tradition that existed and passed on to generations from the ages of sages. In principle and practice India’s spiritual inheritance survived through this tradition. And whenever there had been a decline of values in the Indian society, there appeared a person to light a million lamps of spiritual effulgence. The first lamp goes on shining for centuries with undiminished light. This, with the brightness of supreme spiritual exuberance is the Guru and the lamp that is lighted from it is the disciple. This remained a profound way for transmitting the great knowledge that India possessed for centuries.
Many enlightened masters came and illuminated the minds of people on various subjects. Guru, according to our scriptures, is someone who removes the darkness in us. This needs to be understood with clarity. ‘GU’ means darkness and ‘RU’ means who removes it. Darkness is mostly internal and by removing it the disciple is all set to fine-tune his essential self with the supreme and thus relieved from all perennial contradictions of life. So we are supposed to pay our obeisance to the Guru on the day of Guru Purnima. In the West, this idea of Guru was never prominent to the extent it existed in India. West admired spiritual luminaries as teachers who gave intellectual knowledge. India treated Gurus with reverence and admired them for the spiritual current they were able to set in motion. The tradition existed as the Gurus transmitted their power to their immediate disciples and the disciples carried the light of knowledge further. From the days of the Vedic wisdom to those we admire today as Gurus all have admittedly continued this process. We will see such links and lineages of Gurus exist in scriptures as well.
The greatest aspect of the Guru-Shishya tradition is that even the incarnations of God had to be a part of this lineage. Lord Rama and Lord Krishna are known to have gained their knowledge under great masters who were eminent Gurus of those days. The political system that existed then had provided profound examples of rulers being servile to the spiritual power and knowledge of their Gurus, who in turn advised the Kings when the country was flooded with adversities. An ideal desire in every aspirant of knowledge was that a Guru must teach him and lead him to light, lead from death to deathlessness and lead him from untruth to truth. The ancient Gurukula system provided platforms to this aspiration for gaining knowledge to flourish in the inner depth of a person and help him receive it from an accomplished Guru.
Experiential learning was the path that the intellectual luminary in the Guru would put the disciple through. This was an excellent aspect of preserving knowledge and keeping the education system intact. Down the line, the period of external invasion that lasted for centuries could dismantle this firm establishment of spiritual lineage. But to revive it did happen occasionally. How deep and practical was the practice of Guru-Shishya tradition can be understood from Swami Vivekananda’s words. Once, a Christian friend of Vivekananda asked him if he believed in Christ. Since Vivekananda admired Jesus the Christ, his friend told him to get baptized. But Vivekananda made him sense the reality as to what true baptism was. He said mere sprinkling of water on a person would not bring any spiritual transformation in him. That would happen only when a living illumined soul passes his power to transform a person’s life. Vivekananda’s quest for finding a Guru ended in Ramakrishna.
Guru Purnima is again an occasion to remember Bhagwan Ved Vyas. He is known to have rearranged the Vedic knowledge in an admiring way and the one who penned down one of the greatest epics, the Mahabharata. He is known for the incredible essence of the Vedic wisdom that he codified and ever since got promulgated through various generations. Lord Shiva is known as the Adi Guru, the one from whom the knowledge system began to make its first flow. Interestingly, there are instances in which he is known to have shown his respect to the Guru Tattva, the essential aspect of a Guru centric learning. Why did we value this tradition of passing knowledge as the best? The impact of having a Guru in a person’s life is known to bring tremendous transformation. This, according to the scriptures and testimonies of great masters, is proof for the master delving into the depth of the supreme reality while helping the disciple to take strides experiencing sparks of realization bit by bit. This intervention of the Guru ultimately takes the disciple to experience the abundance of knowledge dawn in him. Gradually, the darkness diminishes and various talents of spiritual rejuvenation manifest in the disciple.
Even today, India is known for the global presence of its enlightened masters, who, with great involvement continue to disseminate the knowledge of yoga, meditation and India’s traditional spiritual wisdom for the universal good. They cover a variety of aspects of life on a global level and cover subjects such as spirituality, environmental conservation, education and many other aspects for the betterment of humanity. India’s emergence as a global power has also been a contributory factor. ‘Mother India’, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is still truly potential to once again establish her past glory. He wanted India to become the ‘Vishwa Guru’. His government has consistently been putting its efforts to see this dream materialize. And in actuality, it is a matter of time; that India, with its ethical imperatives of Dharma (righteousness), has been exemplifying its ancient values across the world. “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (world is one family) was an inspiring theme that India echoed as its march towards accomplishing its global vision of becoming a Vishwa Guru, a global teacher.
