Guru Purnima: Expressing reverence to guru

KATHMANDU, July 27: Guru Purnima is being celebrated across the nation today by Hindus and Buddhists to express their gratitude and respect to gurus who guided them to better life.

The festival, also marked as Teachers’ Day, is celebrated every year on the day of Ashadha Shukla Purnima.

Spiritually, the day is dedicated to the gurus or one’s teacher who bestows the gayatri mantra for the first time during one’s bratabandh or the sacred thread ceremony, initiates one to reading and writing, reads out the Vedic hymns during the religious rituals and other teachers in general.

Etymologically, the word ‘guru’ is made of two roots ‘gu’ and ‘ru’. ‘Gu’ means darkness or ignorance and ‘ru’ denotes the remover of that darkness. So, the word guru means the person who removes the darkness of ignorance with the light of knowledge as per the tantric and religious texts.

Our religion also sees the teacher as the embodiment of the Hindu triumvirate gods Brahma, Bishnu and Maheshwar. The teacher is also considered as a form of god, like one’s parents.

Schools, colleges and various organizations are marking Guru Purnima today by organizing different programs and paying homage to the teachers. This day is taken as a great opportunity to consolidate the bond of teacher-student relationships.