A Guru Purnima Devoted to the Youth of India

by Sunita Viswanath

Guru Purnima is a sacred full moon day in the Hindu calendar dedicated to our teachers.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna lists “abhaya” or absolute freedom from fear as the most important quality of any truly spiritual person. This Guru Purnima, my heart is filled with both excitement and trepidation for the youth of India that gathered for over a month at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, protesting for their rights. Excitement because they are standing up without fear against the Indian government and its police, and trepidation because a brutal tidal wave of state retaliation is underway.

demos in support of students were worldwide

Like an avatar of Lord Vishnu living among us in human form to bring balance to the world, these students are showing us all what Abhaya (fearlessness) looks like when unarmed youth come face to face with the violent state. Instead of meeting violence with violence, they tapped into their best weapons: fearlessness, righteous anger, truth, joy, and satirical humor. And they prevailed.

The students also fought the communalism and divisiveness of the Hindu nationalist government by coming together as one, across every kind of difference: religion, caste, age, gender, ability. While “Vasudhaiva kutumbakam” (the world is a sacred family) are words from the Maha Upanishad (Sama Veda), that the government cheapens as it spreads hate, the students embodied them.

Of course the fight continues. Government promises are broken before they are even uttered. The police state is engaged in a witchhunt all across India against student protesters. The new education minister is an Islamophobe and a despicable defender of rapists. And the student movement is growing in leaps and bounds all across the nation.

The massive outpouring of love and solidarity we have seen in the diaspora is unprecedented. I have been stunned to see usually conservative mainstream news anchors in India gushing over “our precious children” rather than defending the government. A seachange is underway. I am certain of it.

The whole protest movement started because the education system in India – the system that actually produces gurus – was broken. We are taught  “acharya devo bhava” (the teacher is to be honored), but when the people who run our education system are corrupt and bigoted, we need to search for other Gurus.

While the Hindu tradition encourages us to be guided by a Guru in our quest for knowledge and meaning, we are also asked not to follow false Gurus. In fact, we can choose our own Sva Guru, the Guru of our choice. Most profound of all is the Bhagavata Purana, in which Lord Krishna gives us permission to reject all Gurus entirely and follow our own conscience, “Atmano gurur atmaiva.” (The self is the ultimate Guru).

The students have pushed through fear, and dismantled the lies and propaganda that have been clouding the minds of the Indian people for too long. Like Hans Christian Anderson’s little boy who said, “But the emperor has no clothes on!,” the students in India have exposed the unforgivable deceit of the current Indian regime. My prayer is that they remain rooted in their Abhaya and make sure we all don’t unsee the truth they have revealed.

This Guru Purnima, my deep gratitude and pranam goes to the formidable youth of India.