Veda Vyasa
Honoured alongside: One's own guru · Dakshinamurti
The teacher — beginning with Vyasa, who is honoured as the first guru of the tradition, and extending to one's own living teacher. This is one of the few observances with no deity image at its centre.
What the puja consists of
- Bathe early and offer padapuja — washing the teacher's feet — where a living guru is present.
- Offer flowers, fruit and dakshina according to means.
- Read from the teacher's lineage: Vyasa's works, or the text one is studying.
- Renew a practice or a study commitment for the coming year.
- Buddhists keep the same full moon as Asalha Puja, the Buddha's first sermon.
Core chants
Named, not printed — each links to a recording where the catalogue has one.
- Stotra
Guru Stotram (Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu)गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः
The verse recited while offering respect to the teacher.
Not in the catalogue yet — ask at your local temple or gurdwara, or learn it from a teacher in your tradition.
- Stotra
Guru Paduka Stotram
Shankaracharya's hymn to the guru's sandals, used in padapuja.
Not in the catalogue yet — ask at your local temple or gurdwara, or learn it from a teacher in your tradition.
- Mantra
Om Gurubhyo Namahॐ गुरुभ्यो नमः
Simple japa for the day.
Not in the catalogue yet — ask at your local temple or gurdwara, or learn it from a teacher in your tradition.
It differs where you are. In the Nath and Dattatreya lineages the day is the year's principal observance; Sikh tradition honours the Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal Guru rather than any living person, and does not keep this date.
This page is editorial context, not religious instruction. Where your family, region or lineage does it differently, that is the version to follow — ask an elder or a teacher in your tradition rather than a website.