गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः।
गुरुर्साक्षात्परब्रह्म तस्मै श्री गुरवेनमः॥
I bow to the Lotus feet of the Holy Guru with reverence as
Guru is Brahma, Guru is Vishnu and Guru is Maheshwara|
Guru is the personification of the Supreme Soul ||
The Pournima 15th day of the Lunar Calendar in the month of Aashada is celebrated as ”Guru Pournima”. Guru Pournima is also known as ”Vyasa Pournima” as the birth anniversary of the Rishi Veda Vyasa. Veda Vyasa was born to the Rishi Parashara and Satyavati (Mastyagandhi), they named him ”Krishna”, he was born on an island so named ”Krishna Dwaipayana”. Veda Vyas born in ‘Sadhyogarbh’ (means, born as a grownup teenage guy) by taking permission from his mother he went for ‘Tapas’ at Badrinath, so he also named as ‘Baadarayana’.
Sri Veda Vyas Rishi divided Vedas into four parts as, Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Adarvana Veda. He symbolizes the Guru-Shishya tradition and referred to as one of the greatest gurus. He composed Brahma Sutras, the greatest epic Mahabharata and also Srimat Bhagavatam.
Sri Dattatreya Swami is a very ancient incarnation, highly treated with honor and respect for ages. Sri Dattatreya Swami is revered as the Adi-Guru, Sri Dattatreya Swami was the original manifestation in “Datta Sampradaya” and Guru tradition, one of His incarnations Sri Shirdi Sai Baba recognized and emphasized the life of Guru, he performs his duties as SadGuru and gave importance to the adoption of Guru in one’s spiritual sadhana. Here we must remember JagadGuru Sri Adi Shankaracharya of the 7th Century, who consolidated and spread the Advaita Vedanta. He traveled across India to propagate Sanatana Dharma.
Meaning of GURU:
The word ‘Guru’ is originated from Sanskrit and its meaning is ‘GU‘ signifies one’s ignorance and ‘RU’ means one who removes the ignorance. Guru is the manifestation of God himself. The average seeker’s life is barren as it is lived on the material world until he finds his Guru, Guru is to awaken the seeker and also showers his grace and protection on the spiritual path, nurture the development of his disciple, realizing his true identity, and merge with the Universal soul is the disciple’s job. The Guru expects obedience, the effort for the final goal, and total surrender from his disciple.
The Guru and the God are the same because God chose Guru as His medium. The Guru embodies the characteristics and qualities (Sagun and Nirgun forms) of the Supreme Soul. In reality, Guru may not be a person, Guru is always present in this Nature which pervades everything, in all forms and constantly guides the entire Universe. Guru is within you, but, because you never know him, to see him you need a reflection, then you need a Guru to make you realize the truth.