Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj

Vyasa Puja

There is no principle more essential and sacred to Vaishnava life than that of the relationship between the guru and disciple. It is the perfection of the relationship between a teacher and a student.

Vyasa-puja is that day on which the Vaishnava student celebrates this most sacred of all relationships by specially honoring the guru on the day of his appearance. In every culture of human civilization the relationship between the teacher and the student is found. The function of any teacher is to transmit the knowledge of a particular culture to the student for the purpose of establishing a connection between the student and that culture. It is through this teacher - student relationship that every culture, material or spiritual passes down its knowledge and tradition. Since the educational aims and ultimate goals of cultures vary, the nature and quality of this teacher student relationship varies greatly from one society to another. In Vaishnava culture we find the ultimate teacher - student relationship, which is uniquely that of guru and disciple.

The literal meaning of guru-tattva is the truth or reality of the teacher. Because the connective power of guru-tattva originates in the Supreme, it is seen active in some basic form in all cultures. God Himself is the original Supreme teacher of everyone, and therefore this teacher - student relationship originating in guru tattva is universal. Indeed guru-tattva is one of the divine potencies of the Lord as represented by Nityananda Rama (bhakta svarupa) the ultimate source of all teaching potencies. However, guru-tattva is manifested incompletely within most cultures, because they lack the knowledge of the original supreme teacher. There are teachers in these cultures, but their knowledge is incomplete and distorted, replete with half-truths. The Vaishnava guru however, is the perfect teacher, because he comes in a line of spiritual teachers who have been recognized and authorized by their teachers and by Sri Krishna Himself, the source of all true disciplic successions. The following verse reveals this mystery of disciplic succession.

vyasa-prasadac chrutavan
etad guhyam aham param
yogam yogesvarat krsnat
saksat kathayatah svayam

Herein, Sanjaya, the narrator of the Bhagavad-gita, states that it is by the grace of Vyasadeva (Vyasa prasadat) that he has heard (srutavan) directly the divine conversation (sakshat kathayatah) and received the confidential and transcendental connection (guhyam param yogam) that is established by Krishna Himself. Although Sanjay was not present at Kurukshetra, he nevertheless heard directly by the grace of Vyasadeva. The mystery of the disciplic succession is that the guru is able to directly transmit to the disciple the teachings of Sri Krishna transcending time and space, exactly as Vyasadeva was able to transmit the divine conversation between Arjuna and Krishna to Sanjaya. (That is why the day on which we honor the appearance of our guru is called Vyasa-puja) The connection between the Lord and His devotee, and the continuity of teachings, which the guru reveals through the power of the disciplic succession demonstrates the oneness in guru tattva. It is in this sense that we can say guru is one.