An explanation of the festival is given below:

The day of full moon, Purnima, in the month of Ashadh is traditionally celebrated as Guru Pumima by Hindus'. Also known as Vyas Purnima, the day is celebrated in remembrance and veneration to sage Ved Vyas. He is the Adi (original) Guru of the Hindu Dharma, who classified the Vedas, wrote the eighteen Puranas and the Mahabharat (including the Bhagvad Gita). On this day, the Guru is offered puja (worship) by disciples and celebrated by all of us.

The Sanskrit root "Gu" means darkness or ignorance. "Ru" denotes the remover of that darkness. Therefore one who removes darkness of our ignorance is a Guru. Only one who removes our ultimate darkness, known as Maya, and who inspires and guides us on to the path of God realization is the true Guru. Students also refer to their teachers as guru. The connotation of the word guru in this case is one who imparts temporal knowledge (Apara Vidya) and is thus accordingly offered respect.

A spiritual aspirant, no matter how brilliant, rarely attains this gyana (knowledge) by one's own endeavor. In the Shrimad Bhagwatam Jadbharat says: "0 King Rahugan! One cannot attain knowledge of Atma and Paramatma by performing penance, sacrifices, renunciation, Vedic study or worshipping deities. But when the dust from the feet of a satpurush (God-realized Guru) sprinkles on our heads, then we can surely attain this knowledge."

In essence, one can only attain salvation by serving the Guru. The Katha Upanisad says that traveling this path alone is like walking on a razor's edge. Adi Shankaracharya echoes a similar injunction: "If a person, despite possessing a handsome, disease-free body, fame, a mountain of wealth, and even if s/he has studied the Vedas and all other scriptures, and has composed many scriptures, but has not surrendered at the feet of a Guru, then s/he has achieved nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing."

The Guru plays a vital role in boosting the aspirant, when s/he loses track, becomes despondent or simply runs out of steam. The aspirant is thus better able to obey the Guru if s/he understands the Guru's glory. The Hindu shastras have hailed such a Guru immeasurably.

In the Skanda Purana is the Guru Gita, which contains this famous verse glorifying the Guru:

Gurubrahma Guruvishnu Gururdevo, Maheshwaraha Guruhu sakshaat Parambrahman tasmai Shrigurave namaha

"The guru is Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Shiva), veneration to the Guru who is Parabrahman manifest." At our Baba's ashrams, we chant the entire Guru Gita every morning and night as part of arti.

This is subtly illustrated in another famous verse by Kabir Das, a famous Hindu-Muslim mystic:

Guru Govind donu khade, kisko laagu paay, Balihari Gurudevaki jinhe Govind diyo bataay.

"The Guru and Govind (God), are both in front of me, whose feet shall I touch first? Glory to the Guru since he showed me God."

The Guru illuminates the profound meanings of the vast array of sacred texts. Adi Shankaracharya deters aspirants who endeavor to decipher the meanings of sacred texts without a Guru. Commenting on the Mundaka Upanishad (1-2-13), he says: "Even if one possesses knowledge of the scriptures, s/he should not attempt to delve into their meanings on one's own. S/he should obtain the knowledge of Brahman only through the Guru."

Other Acharyas, such as Ramanuj and Nimbark, have also described the Guru as essential to God-realization.

Sacred texts also guide us to adore and serve the Guru:

(1) Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6/23): Advocates worship the Guru in the same manner as the deity, to attain all there is to attain on the path of God-realization:

(2) Bhagavad-Gita (4/34): The disciple should humbly pose questions to the Guru and please her/him by serving her/him. S/he will then impart the knowledge of God, so ordain the wise sages.

(3) Shrimad Bhagvatam: Bhagwan Rushabhdeva advocates his sons: Obeying the Anuvrufti - unvoiced wishes - of God and Guru is devotion.

Therefore on the day of Guru Purnima, disciples introspect, and resolve to offer puja and reverence to the Guru in mind, action and speech; implicitly obey her/his unvoiced wishes, commands, serving her/him as one would God and lauding her/his glory and love.

Om Shanti Shanti Shantih!!

Anon

Posted at Sri Neem Karoli Baba Ashram & Hanuman Mandir, Taos, NM