Gurupoornima 2025

The Divine Relationship

The word Guru is derived from the Sanskrit root words, gu and ru. Gu means ‘darkness’ or ‘ignorance’, and ru means ‘dispeller’. Thus, Guru is the dispeller of darkness or ignorance.

For a devotee having reverence for a Mahatma, the Gurupoornima holds supreme significance and auspiciousness. It is a day to seek blessings from Guru and revel in the nectar of his teachings.

But what does Guru teach? To a shishya, Guru not only imparts specific knowledge of śāstras but also shares experiential knowledge and insight about the true essence, meaning and purpose of life. As Poojya Swamiji says, moderate use of senses, and turn inwards. With this thought in mind, all of us devotees who arrived in the Ashram from various parts of India, USA, Singapore and Malaysia participated and performed seva in Ashram from the days leading to Gurupoornima.

At the dawn of July 03, Nutan Swamiji, Prashanta Di (at that time known as Miru Di) and Aravindan returned to the Ashram from their USA trip. It was a great delight to see all the residents and devotees gathered with Poojya Swamiji and Ma to welcome them. The moments of laughter, simplicity and care made it feel like the reunion of a big joint family.

Workers Day (July 07)

Every year, just before Gurupoornima, present and past workers of the Ashram as well as those doing support services to the Ashram, are appreciated for their dedication and commitment.

At the essence lies Swamiji, Nutan Swamiji and Ma’s love and care for not only the current, but also previous workers, and others who are integral to the running of the Ashram – such as Auto and Taxi drivers who facilitate the pickup and drop of devotees, postman, electrician, plumber, aluminum and steel fabricators and the like. To acknowledge their work, goes to show the depth of care and attention given to each person who steps into the Ashram.

What truly touched my heart is the extent of thought, care and effort given in selecting the dresses that would suit and be liked by each worker – keeping in mind the specifics of choice and preference of clothing that each worker would have. Ashramites and Ma are fully aware of these details. Each set of clothes is then personally approved by Ma and Poojya Swamiji.

In the worker’s day distribution, it was wonderful to watch Poojya Swamiji, Nutan Swamiji and Ma talk about each of the workers in a way one would talk about his family members. And then dawns the realization of ‘vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam – entire earth is one’s family. Gratitude and indebtedness of the workers were expressed by them with full heart, which all present felt clearly. This was followed by a feast at Annakshetra, where Poojya Swamiji, Nutan Swamiji and Maji were present to grace their Kuṭumba with unconditional love and affection.

Brahmacharya Deeksha (July 09)

This year has been extra meaningful because the Workers’ Day was followed by a rare occasion where Poojya Swamiji gave Brahmacharya to two Sadhikas of the Ashram – Brahmacharini Rijuta Swaroopa (formerly Sadhika Chandrika) and Brahmacharini Prashanta Swaroopa (formerly Sadhika Miru). The new names were conferred upon them by Poojya Swamiji signifying the quality that each one of them is to imbibe in her spiritual journey.

Devotees, workers, staff and residents of the Ashram were witness to the sacred leap of surrender taken by the two renunciates at the feet of their Guru. There was no special ceremony or celebration. Yet it was a very beautiful and deeply moving, wordless exchange between the Guru and his shishyas. Poojya Swamiji handing over the white garments signifying Brahmacharya, Ma and Nutan Swamiji speaking about its significance and Swamiji talking about all the Ashramites, the simple yet divinely elegant sentiments left every heart joyfully overwhelmed. I doubt if there was anyone with a dry eye during the programme.

Later, on being asked how the new Brahmacharinis felt, a simple yet honest reply was, “Like a fresh page, a clean slate”. On introspection, I felt we should all feel that way at the dawn of each new day, drop our preferences and prejudices and be open to the directions Guru gives us.

Seva Orchestra

By this time, the Ashram was brimming with devotees pouring in from all around the world to be a part of the auspicious day of Gurupoornima, and to make themselves available for any Seva that was required of them.

It was truly remarkable to experience the symphony of coordination and harmony in the work being done, enveloped by devotion to the Guru. Planning and execution were scrupulously performed.

From forming a human chain to transfer chairs from behind Annakshetra up to Vijnana Bhavan terrace, to cleaning the flowers that would be offered at the Holy feet of Poojya Swamiji, making beautiful kolams and putting up decorations, transferring the necessary items to the hall, the feeling was nothing short of jubilant. Every action was performed wholesomely with reverence and sacredness.

Nutan Swamiji and Ma were at the helm of the preparations. On the eve of Gurupoornima, Poojya Swamiji had an important message for all the volunteer devotees present at the Ashram. Swamiji asked all of us to care for every single visiting devotee equally, ardently and with as much respect as we have for our beloved Gurudev. And care has to be taken that every visiting devotee shall depart from the Ashram with a sumptuous meal and heart overflowing with blessedness and joy.

Gurupoornima Day (July 10)

The entire Gurupoornima program was livestreamed on Ashram’s YouTube channel, Global Gita, from start to finish. Bhajans right from the morning, garlanding of Poojya Swamiji, Nutan Swamiji and Ma by temple representatives, Guru Archana performed by Smt Shuchita Multani (Mumbai) and Smt Sunitadevi (Malaysia), Poojya Swamiji’s benedictory message in English, Bengali and Malayalam, Pranaams and the divine dance led by Poojya Swamiji at the conclusion of the event.

One point from Poojya Swamiji’s message that really struck me was when Swamiji said the power of the Guru Mantra is much more than that of a nuclear force:

“What is nuclear energy? It is derived from the finest particle of matter but still it is matter. But the mind is not matter; it is far above matter and energy. When you exercise your mind, the force which is generated therefrom is beyond imagination.” The magnitude of this statement is so enormous and calls for very deep introspection.

It is a blessed opportunity to be able to participate in the programme from whichever part of the world we are, though perhaps our online viewers were missing the experience behind the scenes – the tangible hustle and bustle warmly wrapped in dedicated and devoted seva.

Bhojana pavitreekaranam – the act of purifying the food – was the cue for all the volunteers assigned to serving food, to be ready at their allotted stations in either Annakshetra, Lower Mandapam or Gas Bank areas. Every guest was served with utmost respect, love and happiness, just as Swamiji had wished.

The day’s festivities closed with Swamiji leading the devotional dance. The energy exuding from Poojya Swamiji along with Nutan Swamiji and Ma spread in all directions engulfing every person. A group of workers were undeterred by the packed hall, revelling in their own dancing next to the screen at Lower Mandapam.

At the core of all the intense activity, there remained an anchor of calm and peace, a sense of utter faith that with Guru’s grace, all is well and all will be well.

Seva continues…

After the programme concluded, many volunteer devotees stayed on to wrap things up in Vijnana Bhavan and Annakshetra. Another important event took place that night after dinner – the Review Meeting with Poojya Swamiji, Nutan Swamiji and Ma, where every aspect of the programme was discussed to weed out trouble spots and plan for future improvement.

The next day, as we prepared to depart from Ashram, Poojya Swamiji was asked how is it that day after day, people at the Ashram radiate delight in doing the same work. To this, Swamiji smilingly replied, “My dear, the Earth rotates unfailingly for countless years, Nature performs its work unceasingly and so does your heart, which continues to beat without a desire to do something differently. Then why should you not rejoice in doing things again and again, even if repeatedly?!”

With these parting words of wisdom, I left. Each visit to the Ashram is a blank canvas at the beginning, but I leave with a beautifully painted picture of memories, learnings and experiences to cherish, and a far greater yearning to come back for more.

Jai Gurudev