Guru Purnima: What, Why, When, How

What it is

Guru Purnima is the full moon of Ashadha, at the start of the monsoon. It is the day to honour the guru, the teacher who removes the darkness of not knowing, and with the guru every teacher: the spiritual guide, the school teacher, the music or dance teacher, and the parents who were the first teachers of all.

It is also called Vyasa Purnima. Tradition holds that the sage Vyasa was born on this day: the one who arranged the Veda into four, and to whom tradition gives the Mahabharata and the Puranas. Monks of the Shankara tradition worship Vyasa on this day (Vyasa Puja) and begin the four months of the rainy-season retreat (Chaturmasya) in one place.

Families touch the feet of their teachers and elders, offer a small gift (guru dakshina), attend satsangs and temple programmes, and many students perform for their teachers.

Other traditions keep this full moon too. Buddhists remember it as the day the Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath, and Jains as the day Mahavira took Gautama Swami as his first disciple; those observances are their own. In Nepal it is Teachers' Day in schools.

Why it is kept

Vyasa, the arranger. The Mahabharata tells that Krishna Dvaipayana was born to the sage Parashara and Satyavati on an island in the Yamuna, which is why he is called Dvaipayana, "the island-born". Seeing that virtue, the length of life and people's strength would decline age by age, he arranged the Veda into parts, and so he came to be called Vyasa, "the arranger"; he taught the Vedas, with the Mahabharata as a fifth, to his disciples Sumantu, Jaimini, Paila, his son Shuka and Vaishampayana (Adi Parva, section 63 in K. M. Ganguli's translation). Tradition keeps his birthday on this full moon, and every guru is honoured as sitting in Vyasa's seat.

The teacher in the Upanishads. The Taittiriya Upanishad ends a student's training with the teacher's parting advice, which includes, in Max Müller's translation: “Let thy mother be to thee like unto a god! Let thy father be to thee like unto a god! Let thy teacher be to thee like unto a god!” (1.11.2). The Mundaka Upanishad tells a seeker to “take fuel in his hand and approach a Guru who is learned and dwells entirely in Brahman” (1.2.12), and the Gita (4.34) tells Arjuna to learn from the wise with respect, questions and service.

A pupil who kept his word. The Mahabharata also tells of Aruni, a pupil of the sage Ayoda-Dhaumya, who was sent to stop a breach in a field's water channel. When nothing else worked, he lay down in the breach himself, and stayed there until his teacher came looking for him and called his name. Dhaumya blessed him and said that all the Vedas would shine in him (Adi Parva, section 3).

Many schools, one day. Advaita monks keep the day as Vyasa Puja, other sampradayas honour the teachers of their own line, and every family honours its own teachers. In the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition the name Vyasa Puja is also given to the yearly celebration of one's own guru, which falls on that guru's own birthday.

The texts behind the story

• Mahabharata, Adi Parva, section 63 (the birth of Vyasa and the arranging of the Veda) and section 3 (Aruni). K. M. Ganguli (tr.), The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (Calcutta: P. C. Roy, 1883–96), Project Gutenberg volume 1. Public domain in the US; India status not yet confirmed, so summarised, not quoted. (Adi Parva, Sections III and LXIII)
• Taittiriya Upanishad 1.11.2 and Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.12. F. Max Müller (tr.), The Upanishads, Part 2, Sacred Books of the East vol. 15 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1884). Müller died 1900: public domain. Quoted verbatim. (Mundaka 1.2.12, pp. 32–33; Taittiriya 1.11.2, p. 52)
• Bhagavad Gita, 4.34

When it is kept

Guru Purnima is Ashadha Purnima, the full moon of Ashadha, kept on the day on which Purnima is present at sunrise at your location, provided it lasts at least three muhurtas (about two hours and twenty-four minutes) after that sunrise; otherwise it is kept on the day before. This is the rule the engine uses for this festival.

The date, from the calendar engine

• Guru Purnima 2027: Puja falls on Sunday, July 18, 2027 in Washington DC (computed for this city). The date is the same in New Delhi.

The date depends on your city. Every city we cover is on the year page.

Traditions and regional customs

• Ashadha Purnima at sunrise, lasting at least three muhurtas
• Advaita (Shankara) monasteries: Vyasa Puja and the start of Chaturmasya
• Gaudiya Vaishnava: Vyasa Puja is also each guru's own birthday, on another date

Why the day can differ

Because sunrise is local, the full moon can meet the rule on different days in different cities, and a city abroad can keep Guru Purnima a day before or after India. Monasteries and ashrams follow their own calendar for Vyasa Puja and the start of Chaturmasya, so follow your own guru's community for their programme.

How to keep it at home

1. Bathe early and set up a clean place with a picture of Vyasa, of your own guru, or of the family's spiritual teacher. Some families place the teacher's sandals (paduka) or a book of their teaching there.
2. Light a lamp and incense, offer flowers, sandalwood paste and fruit, and say the prayers your family knows: "Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu", the Guru Stotram, or verses from the Bhagavad Gita, such as 4.34. Many read a chapter of a text their teacher taught.
3. Visit your teachers if you can, touch their feet or greet them with folded hands, and give a small gift (guru dakshina): fruit, a book, flowers, or something the teacher can use. Write or call those who live far away.
4. Join the satsang or Vyasa Puja at your temple, ashram or community. Students of music and dance often perform before their teacher on this day.
5. Begin a small study vow for the rainy months: a verse a day, a chapter a week, or a reading plan, in the spirit of Chaturmasya.

Fasting

Guru Purnima is not a strict fast. Some devotees fast until they have offered worship to their guru, and some families keep the monthly Purnima fast or a Satyanarayan puja on this full moon. Anyone unwell should not fast without a doctor's advice.

Food

The day's food is simple prasad: kheer, sheera or sooji halwa, fruit and, after a Satyanarayan puja, panchamrit. Ashrams often serve a shared meal to everyone who comes.

Prayers read at this time

• Bhagavad Gita

For children

Long ago a boy named Aruni lived with his teacher, Dhaumya. One day the teacher asked him to stop water running out of a gap in a field's little canal. Aruni tried mud and stones, but the water kept escaping. So he lay down in the gap himself and kept the water in. Later, his teacher came looking for him, called his name, and was so moved that he blessed him. Aruni became a great scholar. On Guru Purnima families thank their teachers, and teachers bless their students.

Something to do together

Make a thank-you card for a teacher: a school teacher, a music teacher, a grandparent or a parent. Draw something they taught you and give it to them, or send a photo of it.

Sources

• Panchang engine rule guru-purnima (packages/panchang/data/festivals.json), with the sources it lists.
• F. Max Müller (tr.), The Upanishads, Part 2, Sacred Books of the East vol. 15 (Oxford, 1884). Public domain.
• K. M. Ganguli (tr.), The Mahabharata, Adi Parva, sections 3 and 63. Public domain in the US; India status unconfirmed.
• Bhagavad Gita
• P. V. Kane, History of Dharmasastra, vol. 5, part 1 (Poona, 1958), p. 420: Vyasapuja on Ashadha Purnima, particularly by ascetics (sannyasins). Cited, not quoted.