A Brief Introduction to Indian Gurus

Brihaspati was the Guru of the Gods and Shukracharya was the Guru of the demons. There have been many great Gurus in Indian history. There have been such Gurus due to whose blessings and teachings this country got great heroes of the era.

There is a list of lakhs of gurus from Kanva, Bharadwaj, Vedvyas, Atri to Guru Nanak and Guru Govind Singhji. We know that Vallabhacharya, Govindacharya, Kabir, Gajanan Maharaj, Tukaram, Dnyaneshwar etc. were all great gurus of their times.

Brief introduction of some Gurus…

Guru Vashishtha: – Who does not know Rishi Vashishtha, the family guru of King Dasharatha. He was the guru of Dasharatha’s four sons. On the advice of Vashishtha, Dasharatha sent his four sons with Rishi Vishwamitra to the ashram to kill demons.

There was a war between Vashishtha and Vishwamitra for Kamdhenu cow. When Vashishtha gave the idea of ​​curbing the royal power, Maitravarun Vashishtha of his clan created a new history by composing hundred Suktas together on the banks of river Saraswati. Guru Vashishtha is counted among the Sapt Rishis.

Guru Vishwamitra: – Before becoming a sage, Vishwamitra was a king and he fought a war with sage Vasishtha to grab the Kamdhenu cow, but he lost. This defeat inspired him to do severe penance. The story of the penance of Vishwamitra and his penance being disrupted by Menaka is world famous.

On the strength of his penance, Vishwamitra sent Trishanku to heaven with his body, but when he did not get a place in heaven, Vishwamitra created a new heaven. In this way, there are numerous stories of sage Vishwamitra.

The credit for making Lord Rama the ultimate warrior goes to Sage Vishwamitra. A Kshatriya king turned sage, Vishwamitra was a descendant of Sage Bhrigu. All the divine weapons that Lord Ram had were given to him by Sage Vishwamitra. Vishwamitra is considered to be the greatest weapon inventor of his time. He had created another creation equal to Brahma.

It is believed that at the same place where Shantikunj is situated in Haridwar today, Vishwamitra had performed severe penance and being angry with Indra, had created a separate heaven. Vishwamitra gave the knowledge of composing hymns to this country and composed the Gayatri Mantra, which has been residing in the heart and on the tongue of India continuously for thousands of years till today.

Guru Parshuram: – When Ganeshji once stopped Parashuram from visiting Shiva, an angry Parashuram attacked him with his axe due to which one of Ganeshji’s teeth got destroyed and he came to be known as Ekadanta. He respected kings like Janak, Dasharath etc. properly.

He welcomed Shri Ram in Sita’s swayamvar. He supported Krishna in the Kaurava Sabha. As a punishment for telling a lie, he cursed Karna to forget all his knowledge. He imparted the knowledge of weapons to Bhishma, Drona and Karna. In this way, there are many stories of Parshuram.

Guru Shaunak: – Shaunak achieved the unique honour of Vice Chancellor by running a Gurukul of 10 thousand students and any sage achieved such honour for the first time. Vedic Acharya and sage who was the son of Shaunak Rishi.

If we tell again, Vashishtha, Vishwamitra, Kanva, Bhardwaj, Atri, Vamdev and Shaunak- These are the seven sages who gave so much to this country that the grateful nation gave them such immortality by placing them in the constellations of the sky that on hearing the word Saptarishi, our imagination gets stuck on the constellations of the sky.

Apart from this, it is believed that all the sages like Agastya, Kashyap, Ashtavakra, Yagyavalkya, Katyayana, Aitereya, Kapil, Gemini, Gautam etc., being from the clan of the above mentioned seven sages, also have the same status.

Guru Dronacharya: – Dronacharya, who was the teacher of Kauravas and Pandavas in Dwapar Yuga, is also counted with great respect in the category of best teachers. Dronacharya was the best teacher of his era. Dronacharya was the son of Bharadwaj Muni. He was the best archer in the world. It is believed that Drona was born in Dehradun, the capital of Uttaranchal, which we also call Dehradron (earthen bowl). Dronacharya was married to Kripi, the sister of Kripacharya, from whom he had a son named Ashwatthama.

Guru Drona taught archery to the sons of Pandu and the Kauravas. Drona had thousands of disciples among whom he blessed Arjuna to be the best archer in the world. To protect this boon, when Drona saw that Ekalavya was a better archer than Arjuna, he asked for Ekalavya’s thumb.

Drona fought on the side of the Kauravas in the Mahabharata war. When Dronacharya and his son Ashwatthama started overpowering the Pandava army, Dhrishtadyumna beheaded them with a trick. Drona was a great teacher. His name will remain immortal in history.

Maharishi Sandipani: – Maharishi Sandipani was the guru of Lord Krishna, Balram and Sudama. His ashram is still in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. Sons of many great kings used to study in Sandipani’s Gurukul. Shri Krishna was 18 years old at that time and he had stayed at the ashram of Sage Sandipani in Ujjaini and received education from him.

Sandipaani had taught 64 arts to Lord Krishna. Shri Krishna, the full incarnation of Lord Vishnu, despite being omniscient, took education from Sage Sandipani and proved that no matter how talented or gifted a person is, he still needs a guru in his life.

Guruchanakya :- Acharya Vishnu Gupta means Chanakya i.e. Chanak. Who does not know Chanakya, the greatest guru of Kaliyuga who tied India together. Acharya Chanakya, the architect of the world’s first political conspiracy, pitted an ordinary Indian youth like Chandragupta Maurya against great emperors like Alexander and Dhanananda and waged diplomatic wars.

Chandragupta Maurya was made the emperor of unified India. For the first time, Acharya Chanakya did the work of uniting India which was divided into small districts and states. He was basically a teacher of economics but due to his extraordinary political understanding, he was considered a great strategist.

Sri Aadya Shankaracharya: – Swami Sri Shankaracharya Ji united the scattered saint tradition of India and formed the Dasnami sect and established 4 monasteries in the four corners of India. He reconstructed the four dhams of Hindus and revived all the pilgrimages.

Pujya Shri Shankaracharya is a great guru of Hindus. He had thousands of disciples and he travelled across the country and abroad to spread Hindu religion and culture.

Swami Samarth Ramdas who laid the foundation of Akhadas in India: – Swami Samarth Ramdas was the guru of Chhatrapati Shivaji. He was the one who built Akhadas across the country.

In Maharashtra, he propagated devotion to Hanuman along with devotion to Ram. Along with Hanuman temples, he laid the foundation of militarization of Maharashtra by building Akharas, which turned into the establishment of the state. Before his death, Saint Tukaram told Shivaji that he no longer trusted him and hence he should concentrate on Samarth. After Tukaram’s death, Shivaji became Samarth’s disciple.

Guru Ramakrishna Paramhansa: – Swami Vivekananda’s guru Acharya Ramakrishna Paramhansa is considered to be the best among devotees. A devotee of Mother Kali, Shri Paramhansa was a supporter of love-path devotion.

It is believed that in the state of Samadhi he used to have direct conversation with Mother Kali.

Gururbrahma Gururvishnu Gururdevo Maheshwar.

Gurursakshat Parabrahma Tasmai Shri Guruve Namah.