For few days we will not be able to read those few lines as she has gone for her Sadgurus darshan to Shirdi. Blessed are the devotees who get to be in Shirdi but blessed are we all too as every Sai devotee prays for all others. Wishing Payalji all the happiness, I wish to post a small write up about Gurupournima which got published in Saileelas magazine.
Special Gurupournima Number
(July 1985)
Editorial
On the second of this month Gurupournima will be celebrated all over India by various people from various walks of life. Guru has got a unique place in the mind of all Indians. The Hindu religion recognizes the debt of everyone on the society and therefore certain days are fixed every year when such debt could be repaid by acknowledging the guidance given by a person to the society. The festival of Gurupournima is thus meant for acknowledging the favour done by the Guru on the society at large and it is celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Ashadha every year.
ANCIENT TRADITION
This day is also known as the Vyaspournima. Vyas, who is also known as Veda-Vyas, is supposed to be the first Guru. He is said to have classified the Vedic Hymns and rearranged them in four parts known as the four Vedas. He also assigned these four Vedas to his four disciples so that they became closely attached to them and also tried to maintain them in the original form, keeping them away from all sorts of external influences. Because of this division, the followers of all these Vedas learnt all their hymns by heart and passed them on to the future generation in the same form in which they learnt them. It is because of this love for their legacy that we have got today the Vedic hymns in their original form, as they were composed before thousands of years.
Shri Vyasmuni is also supposed to have composed the eighteen Puranas, the Bharat and the Bhagawat. Because of this vast literary legacy left to us by Vyasmuni, the Gurupournima is also called the Vyas-Pournima and all Gurus from Vyas onwards are thanked on this day with great reverence and gratitude.
In the ancient Indian Society a child was taught to show reverence to all elders who helped him to shape his life. ‘Pithru devo bhava’ ‘Mathru devo bhava’ ‘Aacharya devo bhava’ ‘Athithi devo bhava’ (Be one to whom the father, the mother, the preceptor and the guest, are like God) were some of the orders given to a child, which show the high regard that the society, by and large, had for the father, mother, preceptor and the guest. We are concerned here mainly with the high regards that the ancient Aryan Society had for the Guru and the way in which it was expressed from time to time.
The Rishies of ancient days were highly educated persons and their ashrams were like a residential University where all the students had to stay together with the Guru all the while upto the time when they were declared to be ‘Snathak’ (Graduates) and were allowed by the Guru to go to their houses and start their ‘Gruhasthashram’ (married life). The kings had very high regard for these Gurus and they sent their princes to these Gurus for training. It is also noteworthy that these princes had to stay with other students and even help the Guru’s family in their domestic work. Lord Shrikrishna is said to have stayed in the Ashram of his Guru, Sandipani and helped the wife of the Guru in domestic work by even procuring firewood from the jungle. Similarly Shreerama also had to stay with his Gurus Vasishtha and Vishwamitra for acquiring proficiency in archery and other warfare. Dronacharya was the Guru of the Pandavas and the Kauravas and he trained them in archery. The story of Eklava, who was refused to be accepted as a student by Dronachrya because of his low caste is very pertinent in this matter of reverence to the Guru. Simply by his concentration, Eklava could acquire proficiency in archery, which excelled even the proficiency of Arjuna, who was taught archery directly by Guru Dronacharya.
Apart from these examples of students from the royal family, we are told about some examples of students from the common fold. Dhaumya Rishi had told his student to go and guard the field. He had told his student to stop the field from flooding. After seeing that he was not able to prevent the flow of water into the field, we are told that the student himself lay in the bund wall of the field in roder to arrest the flood water. The order of the Guru was thus held in high esteem and it was followed to its last letter. In the historic times also we see that the Guru had not lost his importance. Among the Sikhs we find that their religious leaders are known as Guru and they have shown great forbearance and qualities of leadership. They withstood all the persecution at the hands of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and led their followers to progress. This is the reason why we find that the Sikhs as a community hold a unique position in the present day India. Another famous example of a disciple who was shaped by his Gurus, Dadaji Konddeo and Ramdas, is that of Chhatrapati Shiwaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha kingdom. Dadaji Konddeo guided Chhatrapati Shiwaji Maharaj in political matters while Samarth Ramdas was guiding the Chhatrapati in Spiritual as well as political matters. Many such cases of Gurus and disciples could be traced from historical records; but that is not necessary. We can judge the general trend of the disciples from the few examples which have been quoted above.
MODERN AGE
Life has become very complex in the modern age. It has got many facets. It is therefore necessary to acquire special knowledge in various branches, Economics, history, literature, accountancy, engineering, medicine, journalism, politics and science are some of the subjects in which people have to acquire deep knowledge, which does not become possible without the guidance of a Guru. Many prominent persons, who have risen to high positions are often times acknowledging the debt of their Gurus for the guidance given by them in their study. In the Universities, research scholars have to necessarily work under a guide (Guru). Many research scholars working in the medical and scientific field are very often expressing gratitude for their Gurus. It will thus be seen that the “Guru Shishya Parampara” (Teacher-Student tradition) has not been broken fully in the modern age, though it may not exist in the form in which it flourished in the days of the Aryan Rishies.
After India acquired independence, it was noticed by the common man that a political leader acquires immence power. So Politics has at present pervaded the entire public life in India. In this field too the tradition of the teacher - student relation exists and it is acknowledged publicly by many great leaders. Mahatma Gandhi for example always used to say that Shri Gopal Krishna Gokhale was his political Guru. Acharya Vinobaji Bhave was known to be the disciple of Mahatma Gnadhi. When Lokamanya Tilak was at the head of the Indian Politics, he had many followers, who later on started calling themselves as the disciples of Shri Lokamanya Tilak in the political field. With a view to getting some prominence by making use of the name of some person, holding a high position, is a common practice. Hence in recent years we see Royists calling themselves as disciples of Comrade M.N.Roy, When Shri Yashwantrao Chavan was the Chief Minister of the Maharashtra State and later on a Minister in the Central cabinet, many persons used his name by calling him their Political Guru. Similar examples of exploiting the names of other political leaders can be cited as they are very common. However all this discussion leads us to know that the teacher - student tradition still exists in some form or the other and it will continue for ever.
Due to the frustration in modern life, many people have started taking recourse to spiritualism. Hence spiritual Gurus also have risen in modern age like mushrooms, which grow very suddenly. Because of the pomp and show and the miracles that these Gurus are showing, the common man is baffled and he often times does not know what to do. Many of these modern so called spiritual Gurus have their agents appointed for making their propaganda and spreading their greatness to which the common man falls a prey and these Gurus swindle the disciples in many ways. It has therefore become very difficult for the common man to find out a real Guru in this jungle of modern Gurus. Even though Shri Sai Baba did not name anybody as His disciple or as His heir, still some people are misusing the name of Shri Sai Baba for their benefit; but exploiting somebody’s name for one’s own benefit is a common feature and nobody will be able to prevent it.
Shri Annasaheb Dabholkar, who was a sincere Sai devotee, had very high regards for Shri Sai Baba as his Guru. We find in many places his sincere devotion to his Guru. Shri Dabholkar has described Shri Baba from various points of view and has also acknowledged his debt in giving him the inspiration to compose Shri Baba’s biography. Shri Sai Baba Himself also had high regard for His Guru, as can be seen from the various incidents described in Shri Sai Sachcharit. It will therefore be seen that we Sai devotees are grooved well in the teacher-student tradition.
All of us, who are the devotees of Shri Sai Baba, are singularly lucky that Shri Baba’s thoughts are before us. His advice is known very clearly from Sai Sachcharit and as it is very simple to follow, there is no difficulty in understanding the mind of this Guru and following Him to the last letter of His advice. All Sai devotees should therefore pray to our Guru on the Gurupournima day on the 2nd of this month. In this connection one thing is required to be made very clear. Most of the Sai devotees crave to go to Shirdi on the festive day of Gurupournima and have darshan of Shri Sai Baba at Shirdi. The sincere devotion of these devotees prompts them to attend Shirdi for the festival and those that are lucky get a chance to remain present at Shirdi on this festive day; but some, who are not able to go to Shirdi on this day, get, frustrated. It is not proper on their part to do so. If they think that Shri Sai Baba is only at Shirdi, then it may be said that they have not properly known their Guru. As Shri Sai Baba stayed at Shirdi for more than sixty years, there is no doubt that Shirdi is sanctified by His stay over there for so long a time and it is therefore considered very holy by every Sai devotee and he has a wish to undergo a pilgrimage of that place; but from Sai Sachcharit we know that Shri Sai Baba is not confined to Shirdi alone though we common people may think like that. By the incidents recorded in Sai Sachcharit it has been amply proved that Shri Sai Baba is omnipresent and from the experiences of the devotees that we come across even now, we know that this fact is corroborated even at the present day. All Sai devotees should therefore pray to Shri Sai Baba in the local Mandirs with full devotion and feeling that Shri Sai Baba is present there and then they will start feeling the presence of Shri Sai Baba then and there. Emotion and devotion count very much in the spiritual line and if we are able to rise to a certain level then only we get the experience. The devotees, who go to Shirdi for the pilgrimage of that place have different experiences. Some who are able to rise to a certain spiritual level are able to feel the presence of Shri Sai Baba in Lendibaug, Samadhi Mandir, Chawadi, Gurustan and other places at Shirdi; while others are not able to feel it. This is due to the different level of devotion. On this very auspicious day of Gurupournima, which is very holy for every Sai devotee, we pray at the feet of Shri Sai Baba to bless all His devotees with prosperity in this world and the next.
No comments:
Post a Comment