Guru Vandana

मातृदेवो भव।  पितृदेवो भव।

Be the one for whom mother and father are the Gods!

Salutations to my first Gurus, my mother, Adilakshmi and my father, Manikya Rao who instilled strong values and discipline by leading by example. They lived a very simple life with the least expectations and also introduced me to the nishkaama bhakti.

आचार्यदेवो भव।

Be the one for whom the teacher is the God!

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुर्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः।

गुरुः साक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः।।

Salutations to all the Gurus -both direct and indirect- who pass on their incredible knowledge without expecting anything back.

Namaskarams to my direct Guru, late Dr. Hemalatha Burra, who introduced me to the wonderful world of the Scriptures and their language, Samskrutham.

Dr. Burra served as the Principal, Dean and Professor of Telugu and Samskrutham, at the Anantapur campus of Sri Satya Sai University for more than 30 years. Even after retirement, she continued to teach and influenced many people in the community through her classes on scriptures, stotras and the Samskrutham language.

Her teachings encouraged to explore and understand the higher and deeper meanings behind every aspect of Sanatana Dharma, thereby creating a positive internal environment to practice spirituality through religion.

She impacted me not only through her teachings of the text of Soundarya Lahari, but also by being an Acharya, by her way of living, including the presentation of herself to reflect the tradition and culture, talking according to the context, impactful teaching methods, principles, discipline, perseverance and sincerity in every task irrespective of her age and health condition.

That is Soundarya Lahari, the flow of beauty- the real beauty is not just the physical appearance but all the aspects that make up a person- knowledge, conduct, love and affection, and essentially the highest ideals in the mind, words and actions.

The beauty is still flowing in the form of a great community of her students, a satsang. 

Though she is not here physically anymore, I can always feel her presence as the lahari, through the lasting impression she created in many ways.

It's only the Guru's grace that can show the right path and I started this blog to share whatever little I know and explore, as a way of expressing my gratitude, while trying to stay in this path of spiritual knowledge and practice.

Happy Guru Poornima!