यत्सत्येन जगत्सत्यं यत्प्रकाशेन विभाति
यत् यदानन्देन नन्दन्ति तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः
जिनके अस्तित्व से संसार का अस्तित्व है,
जिनके प्रकाश से जगत प्रकाशित होता है,
जिनके आनंद से सब आनंदित होता है,
उन आत्मवेत्ता गुरुदेव को प्रणाम है !'
'Salutations to the Self-realized Gurudev The Existence Absolute Who makes the world exist, The Consciousness Absolute Who illuminates the world, The Bliss Absolute Who makes the world blissful'.
Guru-Purnima infuses the Jiva, who has been wandering for countless lives, with the blessedness of knowledge, Bhakti and Yoga. Through the teachings of the preceptors, God and the scriptures and through the jiva’s own experience and makes him capable of saving himself from the agony he has been suffering in mothers’ wombs and entitles him to attain to the Supreme State.
Guru-Purnima is the day of making one’s mind holy by recalling the memory of God-realized Gurus like MaharshiVed Vyas ji who make one capable of attaining to the Supreme State. This is the day of practising penance and taking pious vows. It is the day when one should undertake some new resolve according to the guidance of the preceptor.
‘These are the shortcomings in my mind; these are the shortcomings in my conduct; these are the shortcomings in my life…’
After such introspection, one should take a resolve to undertake some observance,japa or anushthana which one is capable of so as to weed out the shortcomings and then one should resolve to move ahead in one’s spiritual journey. It is the day when one should take stock of the spiritual endeavours made by him in the past year and the spiritual experiences had thereby and should look to the Guru for tips for making further progress.
After the Vyas Purnima, schools of spirituality open and new lessons are taught.In summer the land becomes parched, the rain comes around Vyas Purnima and the earth is infused with a new life as are the trees. Similarly, Vyas Purnima brings new spiritual awakening, new radiance, new joy and new vigour in the sadhaka’s life and inspires him to move forward to a new life. Inspired by this pious festival, the Jiva can endeavour to realize God.
Maharshi Veda Vyasji commenced writing the world’s first ever spiritual treatise, ‘Brahman-Sutra’ on this day. The Mahabharata was completed on the Guru-Purnima day and Gods blessed this day saying,
“The sadhaka, who worships his Guru on this day, who propitiates his Guru and determines his spiritual path with his Guru’s guidance, will earn the religious merit of doing all virtuous deeds throughout the year.”
Since then man has been celebrating the pious festival of Guru-Purnima with great zeal & enthusiasm. Not only Indians but demigods and the yogis living in the heavens too celebrate Guru-Purnima with great zeal and enthusiasm.This is not the occasion for longish tales, it is the occasion for sitting near the lotus feet of Satguru. It is not the occasion for discourses; it is the occasion for coming back to and reposing in the Transcendent True Self, the Bliss Absolute where all discourses emanate from and roll back to. It is an utsava.
Utsava is made form the syllables ut (near) and sava (yajna or sacrifice). The yajna of realizing by the True Self, the Bliss Absolute, the nearest of the near, is the utsava of Vyas Purnima.Other utsavas we celebrate but the utsava of Vyas Purnima like a mother cajoles us. A mother cajoles her child saying, “Come here my child! You have been playing in the dirt for quiet some time and have thereby become dirty. Now take a bath and clean yourself. I will give you butter and sugarcandy.”
Similarly Vyas Purnima says,
‘O Jiva ! You have been wandering for several lives. Now comeback to your real nature of Pure Consciousness, to Self knowledge, to the Lord, the Giver of life.’
A mother cajoles the child and thereby cleans and nourishes him. Vyas Purnima cajoles us and thereby purifies our mind, imbues it with virtues like humility, modesty etc. and very kindly endows us with the capability to assimilate Satguru’s experience of omnipresence through worshipping Him.Our minds are invaded by violent winds of all kinds. Now we are plagued by doubt and now by fear or other such feeling. If the mind gets restive or gets derailed from the path of sadhana and Bhakti because of bad company, the sadhakas make new resolutions and resume their journey with renewed vigour.
After the Vyas Purnima, the wandering, Self-realized saints stay at one place. There, they study Brahma-Sutra and other scriptures and commence writing new spiritual books.At times people in a society slide down towards degeneration. Demonic nature, dualistic thoughts,casteism and feelings of mine and thine spread through the society. Divorced from the non-dualreality, people are plagued by dualistic feelings which make them unquiet. The result isnarrowmindedness, strife and unrest in the society. But when Self-realized Gurus disseminate their Knowledge in the society, people’s minds are imbued with virtues like oneness, peace, love,magnanimity, forgiveness, rectitude and purity etc. and sadhaka is filled with the prasad of the Supreme Consciousness.
