Guru Purnima and RSS

Guru Purnima (Ashaad Purnima) is a very important festivity in the social and national life of our country. Mahrishi Vyas is an ancient teacher. He designated virtues to the human life and put in place high morals in the society. By balancing actions and thoughts, he not only enlightened the path of Bharat but the whole humanity. Hence Mahrishi Vyas is Jagat Guru (Teacher for all), therefore the saying “Vyaso Narayanam Swayam”. This is the reason that Guru Purnima  is also termed as Vyas Purnima.   

Notion of Guru

“Akhand mandalakaram vyaptam yen characharam,

tatpadam darshityenam tasme shri guruve namah”.

This universe is cyclic in nature. All mighty God, the formidable force which drives all entities ranging from unit to universe. Society, nature and all mighty are closely associated with humans. Guru is the one who enlightens us with all these associations and knowledge. Whole universe is full of energy. God is there in all movables and non-movables. It is human endeavour to appreciate and maintain delicate balance with universe around us. Having a feeling of controlling this universe is diabolical. To live in harmony with universe is our culture. That all components of this universe complement each other is the utter truth of this universe. This forms the basis of our universe. To give and Dontae is our philosophy. Sacrifice, dedication and harmony are deep rooted in Hindu culture. This forms the foundation of a peaceful and cheerful human life, thus a peaceful and cheerful universe.

Daily Experiences

Flora with the help of sun and through the process of inhaling carbon dioxide and exhaling oxygen prepares its food. This exhaled oxygen provides the lifeline to human beings. In absence of flora, this nature would be destroyed. Pollution is a major concern today and human life seems to be in peril on account of the same. To preserve our nature human needs to become a better human and humanity needs to be exercised. To preach humanity a Guru is required. By nature all other living organisms live in harmony with nature. However, human beings being gifted with deep intellect, tend to destroy nature with the very same intellect. Intellectual arrogance causes trouble. Through Guru Puja, we tend to overcome our arrogance and embrace the virtue of sacrifice.

Guru is not an individual, but a principle

We have been following practice of revering our Guru for thousands of years now. Our first Guru was Mahrishi Vyas. Crores and crores of people choose their Guru in individual capacity. Guru is revered with all dedication and gratitude and in turn Guru imparts high morals in the disciples. This is probably the reason why our nation, society and culture is still intact besides numerous aggressions. Contemporary society lacks the feeling of oneness. Lack of emotions such as nationalism and sacrifice is leading to corruption, inequalities, narrow minds, jealousy, hatred, chauvinism and lesser sensitivities.  Sangh chose Bhagwa Dhwaj as guru. Bhagwa Dhwaj signifies sacrifice and dedication. Its colour resembles as that of Sun which burns itself to enlighten the surroundings. All our saints who dedicate their lives for the eternal pleasure of mankind also wear Bhagwa. Bhagwa Dhwaj is witness to the history of our nation and civilization. It is eternal, infinite and everlasting.         

Adulate Principles not individuals

Sangh does not believe in adulation of individuals. Sangh puts credo in principles. Humans are mortals whereas society is not. Society is eternal.  Many great souls existed in our society, they still exists. We always pay our homages to all such souls. However for the current task in hand i.e. to organize our society on the basis of nationalism, RSS chose to place Bhagwa Dhwaj as guru rather than any personality. It is in line with the principle “Adulate Principles not individuals”.

Adulate Principles: Epitome of Knowledge, sacrifice and grace

“Yagnya” has a very important connotation in our cultural life. “Yagnya” has multi-faceted meanings. To sacrifice one’s life to uphold high morals in life is a “Yagnya”. Donating unfair, harmful and undeserving entities to fire is “Yagnya”. To lead a life which is faithful, sacrificing, service oriented and devotional is a “Yagnya”. Flames signifies fire and revered Bhagwa Dhwaj signifies flames.

We worship faith and denounce superstitions. We worship knowledge and denounce ignorance. It is the virtue of our culture to establish scientific temperament in every walk of life.

True Worship

When we lit a lamp, we give credit to lamp for the enlightenment. However it is not lamp but the underlying oil and thread which are burning themselves for the enlightenment.

Kargil martyrs Maj. Padmapani Acharya, Gunner RaviPrasad and many others sacrificed their lives to protect the dignity of our motherland. To make Mangalayan a success, many scientists sacrificed their personal and family leisure’s.

Maharshi Dadhichi from ancient era donated his life for general good. It is the culture of our society and nation to sacrifice. To sacrifice is synonymous to worshipping god. Pregnant mother follows a discipline for the good health of her child. Our parents sacrifice all their pleasures for the progress of family. We get food when farmers sweat in the fields. Infrastructure is developed with the dedication put in by labourers. We gain knowledge when our teachers teach us with dedication. Medical services to the needy are provided when doctors decide to do so. Hence all our endeavours have an implicit sense of service and sacrifice. Money is just one of the instruments of our lives. All our gestures ought to be executed with a sense to serve. However such emotions are lacking in our social discourse.

Rashtray Swaha: Idam na mam’

To reincarnate the virtues of sacrifice in society and individuals, Param Pujyaniya Dr. Hedgewar Ji commenced the practice of Guru Puja. As Bhagwa Dhwaj is our guru, we worship Bhagwa Dhwaj on Guru Puja day.

Although a human being acquires physical, intellectual and financial strength through one’s determination but one does not own it. Owner is all mighty who has reincarnated himself in the form of society. We should only possess what we need. Once family needs are met, rest of the resources, be it money, time or knowledge, should be given back to society. It is indeed true worship. We should realize that all our possessions are coming from our society. All that we have belongs to all mighty and society. While venerating Sun, we take water from a water source and pour it back in the same source. There is no respectable place for egos. However what we see today is the increasing prominence of self-egos around. And hence the strengthening of demoniac tendencies such as jealousy, egotism, greed for position and selfishness. Guru Puja is deifying virtues of sacrifice, devotion and affection which helps us to overcome such demoniac tendencies.

“Shivobhutva Shivayanjet”, i.e. to imbibe Shiva in oneself while worshipping him. We are imbibing virtues of sacrifice and devotion while worshipping Bhagwa Dhwaj as Guru. We need to serve our society with such virtues. Sangh founder Dr. HedgewarJi dedicated his life to the society. He moulded himself as per his goal. That is why it is said that Dr. HedgewarJi body came to this earth along with its gaol.

Param Pujyaniya Guruji, after attaining Deeksha from Ramkrishna Mission wanted to visit Himalayas. However he also chose to dedicate his energies, knowledge and dedication towards the betterment of society. Such idols encourage lakhs and lakhs of people, ranging from labourers to professional from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, to dedicate their resources for the general good of society. Many social, cultural and religious organizations are participants to this noble goal.

Guru Puja is celebrated every year by every swayamsewak on Ashaad Purnima. With this they get on to the path of enhancing their body, soul and finances using fair means. Such spiritual thoughts enhances one’s personality to unimaginable levels and benefit society at large.

This is not a donation, this is not a favour but this is our duty. To sacrifice is probably the most meaningful aspect of our life. There is nothing wrong in working for family but to work only for family is not prudent. Dedication we show towards our family ought to be shown towards society as well. Such sentiments need to be propagated so as to mitigate the tendencies of corruption, violence and jealousy.

Such sense of sacrifice will give rise to sense of unity in society. Therefore lakhs of swayamsewaks run thousands of service programs in society. Volunteers from many other religious and social organizations lend their hands too for the same. We need to synergize and synchronize all such efforts. To insulate ourselves from the ill effects of individual centric adulation, materialism and consumerism is itself a great meditation. Fundamentalism and materialism is in direct conflict with all the right virtues of dedication, sacrifice, service, cooperation and coordination. However to uphold right virtues is the only way out and probably the only means to achieve good and meaningfulness for human existence.