Guru Poornima - Vandeham Sadguru Charanam

What is the meaning of Guru?

In Sanskrit, the syllable ‘Gu’ means “ignorance” and ‘ru’ means “ to destroy”. Hence, the word “ Guru” means “ One who destroys the ignorance of his disciples and brings them into the light of knowledge”.The true Guru, or Spirtual Master, is a perfected Saint who has attained God, and who descends in this world to help other souls attain Divine love for God.

The relationship between the Guru and the disciple is very sacred. The Guru molds and sculpts the disciple into a fine human being with heroic and virtuous qualities.He bestows Divine knowledge to the disciple, for which the disciple always remains indebted to him.The Guru occupies a very important position in one’s life and worshipped as the representative of God Himself!

Difference between Guru and teacher:

It is very much necessary to understand the basic difference between Guru and teacher.

There is a fundamental difference between a teacher and a Guru. Teacher is the one who teaches us about the objects and processes of the external world, while Guru teaches us the techniques of exploring the reality of our inner being – inner self, by which our life transforms.  Progress in life is possible by learning from a good teacher, but real and ultimate peace and happiness comes only by learning from an enlightened Guru. Somebody has put it very well that:

When the teacher finishes with you, you graduate.

When a Guru finishes with you, youcelebrate.

When the course is over, you are thankful to the teacher.

When the discourse is over, you are grateful to the Guru.

What is Guru Poornima?

Krishna Dwaipayan Vyas was the son of Sage parashar. He did tremendous service to humankind by compiling all the edic mantras that were being passed on by word of mouth until then, and putting them in writtenform. He also divided them into four parts, and taught them to his four chief disciples. Hence, he became Ved Vyas.He also revealed many important sciptures, such as the Mahabharat, the eighteen Purans and Brahma Sutra.He is one of the twenty-four descensions of God mentioned in the Shreemad Bhagavatam. He is said to be the first Guru in the present kaliyug, and thus, the day he was born is celebrated as Gugu Poornima, the day of the Guru.

Our beloved Guru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj:

Fifth original Jagadguru, Shree Kriapluji Maharaj has shown us the quickest path to attain God, which is Bhakti. From the unfathomable ocean of scriptures, he has picked the Divine pearls and given to us its very essence; this is the greatest gift to the humankind. For that the whole humankind will be indebted to him. 

Through enlightening discourses and chanting of the holy name, Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj (lovingly called Shri Maharaj Ji by His devotees) has made unceasing efforts to reveal the true philosophy from the Vedic scriptures to mankind,so that they can attain their true goal of God Realisation.

Celebration of Guru Poornima:

India is a country full of spiritual aspirants and preceptors , and this day holds special importance for all of them. Spiritual seekers wake up early in the morning, before the sunrise, and after a bath the dya by paying obeisance to their Gur. They wash his feet with water and place flowers at his Lotus-feet. This special ritual is done with the intention of surrendering and offering one’s mind to the Guru and to seek his seva, or service. The whole day is spent in special prayes sung in glory of the Guru.

Guru charanam, sadguru charanam,

vandeham sadguru charanam.

My Sadguru (Spiritual Master) is my only refuge.

I bow again and again to his lotus feet.

Radha Krishna prem bharanam,

vandeham sadguru charanam.

I bow to the lotus feet of the Sadguru,

through whose grace one’s heart is filled

with the divine love of Shree Radha Krishna.

Let’s offer our devotion to Shree Maharaj ji by doing His aarati.

A Divine Thread of Love

Once mother Yashoda decided to prepare butter for her little Krishna. As such being Nandrani, she had many maids to do this job but that day, she wanted to make it herself  for her little Krishna! So, Yashodaji  sent all her Gopis out and sat down churning curd. 

Krishna was enjoying a sound sleep at that time. Suddenly he woke up and insisted for milk.

Mother Yashoda, leaving her job of churning curd began to attend her lovely son with milk. When she rushed to him, she had left some cow milk on the fireplace for boiling. All of a sudden, the cow milk boiled and began to spill out of the vessel. Seeing this,  mother Yashoda ran towards the fireplace abandoning Krishna for a while.

Krishna was still hungry and wanted milk for some time more. He thought “Okay, so maiya prefers milk more than me!?!” He got furious and hit on the pot of curd with a stick. As a result, the pot got broken and the entire butter was spilt on the ground. Still not satisfied, Krishna got to the room where butter was stored. Getting onto a big mortar, he brought down a pot full of butter and began to distribute among his sakhas and some monkeys that were frisking about there.

When Yashodaji came back after removing the boiling milk from over the fire, she found her churning pot broken. She understood that this type of mischief can only be done by her naughty Krishna! She started looking for Krishna but she couldn’t find him anywhere. When she discovered Krishna's footprints, followed them with a stick in her hand. Reaching the room, she found her son feeding his mates and monkeys with butter.

Seeing his mother with a stick in her hand, Krishna got down from the mortar and rushed outside, mother followed him. Yashodaji had decided that whatever happened, she would catch Krishna any how.

But Yashodaji was aged and after running for a while after Him, she got tired. Little Krishna noticed that mother was sweating and breathing high. So he decreased his running speed and the mother caught him easily. She couldn’t understand that Krishna had deliberately got himself caught!

Now seeing mother with a stick in her hand, Krishna got frightened. He started weeping, tears started coming out from his eyes. She could not see her Krishna with tears! She threw the stick.

After sometime, she thought if she always let his mischieves go, that would spoil him ever more. So she desided to bind him with the mortar.

She caught Krishna by the hand and said, "Kanha, you have become extremely naughty now. I must punish you today."  Saying so, Yashodaji  brought Krishna near the mortar on which he was standing some time before. She started tying him to the mortar but the rope fell short.

Now Yashodaji  tried a longer rope but it fell short too. She tried several ropes, each longer than the previous one, but all of them failed to do the job. At last Yashodaji  joined all the ropes through knots in order to tie her son to the mortar. Strangely enough, such a long rope fell short too. Not knowing what to do, Yashoda sat down weeping and said, "Krishna! Why should you bother me to this extent? I won't speak to you at all." Finding his Maiya helpless and troubled at heart, Krishna began to smile and tied himself to the mortar with his own hands. Feeling satisfied, Yashodaji  set about doing some household job. Krishna sat down on his knees and caused the mortar to tumble down so that it could roll when drawn.

It is also said that when all the ropes of Vraj fell short to tie Krishna, Radhaji had given her silk ribbon and Krishna got bound by that small ribbon...!!

Krishna can be bound only by unalloyed devotion and love!!