I woke up today with a profound, unexplainable sense of connection to my late parents. Yielding to modern habit, I opened WhatsApp, only to be met with an extraordinary sight. My screen was filled with messages from students, colleagues, and friends, including several from across the world I hadn’t heard from in years. Reading how positively I impacted their lives and careers during my association with them all through my professional journey left me incredibly humbled and grateful.
Every message ended with a sentence, “Happy Guru Purnima Day, Sir,” followed by an emoji of namaskar. Overwhelmed with emotion, I wondered why I was receiving so many messages today on 29 July, which is still a month ahead of Teacher’s Day that is celebrated on 5 September every year when I used to get such messages.
Not being a teacher in the strict sense, I used to wonder why I received messages every Teachers’ Day. This Wednesday brought clarity, as I finally understood the difference between a teacher and a guru. It became obvious to me that a teacher usually works in a formal setting like school, college, university or a training class, whereas gurus need not be formal classroom teachers. A guru is someone who plays a deeper mentor role in the learning as well as character-building process while guiding his disciples or students. He can also be a person whose conduct inspires transformation in people’s lives. While growing up, we all have come across teachers who became our gurus by combining the twin roles of teaching and mentoring.
Gu-ru means “dispeller of darkness” in Sanskrit, and Purnima means full moon. Amongst the 12 full moons in a year, Guru Purnima falls on the first full moon day after the summer solstice on 21 June in the Ashadha month of the Hindu calendar. This roughly corresponds to a time period between July and August of the Gregorian calendar, every year.
Numerous legends and traditions trace the roots of Guru Purnima back to thousands of years. According to yogic tradition, the day is celebrated on the occasion when Lord Shiva became the first Guru when he started teaching yoga to the Saptarishis. Hindus dedicate Guru Purnima to Maharshi Veda Vyasa, the sage who is believed to have composed the sacred Hindu text, the Vedas, and wrote 18 Puranas, the Mahabharata, and the Srimad Bhagavatam, all of which form the very foundation of the Hindu religion.
In Buddhist tradition, it is the day when Gautam Buddha gave his first sermon to his five disciples at Sarnath, in Uttar Pradesh, after attaining enlightenment. They also call this day as Dhamma Chakra Day and the sermon as Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. According to the sacred Buddhist text Saṁyutta Nikāya (SN 56.11) it means, “Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion”. In Jainism, Guru Purnima marks the special day when Lord Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara (spiritual teacher), accepted his very first disciple, Gautam Swami.
Today, in Bharat, we celebrate this day by showing respect and reverence to our teachers and gurus. As the weight of this Wednesday hit me, I was able to connect to the profound, unexplainable sense of connection to my late parents that I felt today; it was their WhatsApp message to me. I realized it was my soul’s way of remembering them, my first gurus. While my mother was a traditionally devout follower of Sanatana Dharma and never let a special occasion pass by unnoticed, my father took a more philosophical, spiritual approach to life as an Arya Samaji. Had they been alive today, I would have received the blessings from them in person.
So, the first thing I did after reading all the messages was to bow my head in gratitude to my parents. As my very first gurus, they had taught me to walk and talk, guiding my steps through both joyful and challenging times. I silently wished them a happy Guru Purnima. Not to sound weird, but today, after a long time, I spent time with them silently, thanking them profusely for teaching me to lead an upright life.
In our professions too, we have seen leaders who rose because of great mentorship and learning provided by their gurus who were inspirational and knowledgeable. We are all aware of concepts like succession planning in an organisational setup that has now become a trending concept in the corporate world. These concepts find their roots in the Bhagavad Gita, where Lord Krishna teaches Arjun on great thoughts, which have popularly found its place in spiritual teachings. So, rooted in antiquity, the “Guru-shishya” relationship represents a sacred form of mentorship. It is a profoundly revered bond shared between a guide and his disciple.
To be a mentor is not easy. You need to be experienced, knowledgeable, spontaneous, and a leader who can teach. If you have found a mentor or a guru in your lifetime, you must consider yourself very privileged. It is from them that a stream of pure wisdom and vision. We must learn to never take them for granted and must aspire to become one for others as well.
Life is beautiful and amazing. So is our culture where gurus play a very important role in our lives. From the beginning of life to the very end, there is someone who guides us at every point in our lives. So, take a moment out of your busy lives today and pay respects to the ones who have given you guidance, knowledge, and shown the path of righteousness. Call or text them to say how lucky you are to have them in your lives. Thank them for their guidance and promise to always make them proud. After all, a teacher’s greatest joy is the love and respect of their students and disciples.
Thank you, everyone, who wished me today, a Wednesday I will cherish for a long time. Also, wishing all my teachers and gurus a happy, enlightening Guru Purnima!
