Vyasa is perhaps the greatest

sage in the history of Hindu

religion. According to Vishnu
Purana that Shri Vyasa Deva or
Ved Vyasa, son of Parashara and
Satyavati, and composer of
Mahabharata was born in an
island on Yamuna at Kalpi.
According to the legends, in his
previous life, Vyasa was the Sage
Apantaratamas, who was born
when Lord Vishnu uttered the
syllable "Bhu". He was a devotee
of Lord Vishnu. Since birth, he
already possessed the
knowledge of the Vedas, the
Dharmashastras and the
Upanishads. At Vishnu's behest,
he was reborn as Vyasa.
Vyasa’s life is a unique example
of one born for the
dissemination of spiritual
knowledge. His writings inspire
us and the whole world even to
this day in innumerable ways.
The festival of Guru Purnima is
dedicated to him. It is also known
as Vyasa Purnima, for it is the
day believed to be both his
birthday and the day he divided
the Vedas.
 Works of Ved Vyasa

Vyasa arranged the Vedas for the

good of mankind and wrote the
Brahma Sutras for the quick and
easy understanding of the
Shrutis. He also wrote the
Mahabharata to enable common
people to understand the highest
knowledge in the easiest way.
Vyasa wrote the 18 Puranas and
established the system of
teaching them through
‘Upakhyanas’ or discourses. In
this way, he established the
three paths of Karma, Upasana
(devotion) and Jnana
(knowledge). Vyasa’s last work
was the Bhagavatam which he
undertook at the instigation of
Devarshi Narada, the celestial
sage, who once came to him and
advised him to write it, without
which, his goal in life would not
be reached.
Ved Vyas asked Lord Ganesha to
write down his epic the
MAHABHARATH. Lord Ganesha
accepted his request but, gave
him two conditions -

1. Ved Vyas would have to

dictate him the verses
continuously without pause.

2. Before dictating the verses

Sage Ved Vyas had to explain
 the meaning to Lord
Ganesha .

Sage Ved Vyas agreed to these

conditions and wrote the
MAHABHARATH. Lord Ganesha
and Ved Vyas composed them in
a cave now called The cave of
Ved Vyasa. He lived in this cave
after growing up on his father's
island.
In Brahm Avtar, one of the
compositions in Dasam Granth,
the Second Scripture of
Sikhs, Guru Gobind
Singh mentions Rishi Vyas as an
avatar of Brahma. He is
considered the fifth incarnation
of Brahma. Guru Gobind Singh
wrote brief account of Rishi
Vyas's compositions about great
kings— Manu, Prithu, Bharath,
Jujat, Ben, Mandata, Dilip, Raghu
Raj and Aj— and attributed to
him the store of Vedic learning.
Born to sage Vishwamitra,
Sushruta is the father of surgery.
2600 years ago, he and health
scientists of his time conducted
complicated surgeries like
cesareans, cataract, artificial
limbs, Rhinoplasty (restoration of
a damaged nose), 12 types of
fractures, 6 types of dislocations,
urinary stones and even plastic
surgery and brain surgery. Usage
of anesthesia was well known in
ancient India. Author of the book
"Sushruta Samhita", in which he
describes over 300 surgical
procedures and 125 surgical
instruments, including scalpels,
lancets, needles, catheters and
rectal speculums; mostly
designed from the jaws of
animals and birds. He has also
described a number of stitching
methods; the use of horse's hair
as thread and fibers of bark.
The Suśruta-saṃhitā, in its extant
form, in 184 chapters contains
descriptions of 1,120 illnesses,
700 medicinal plants,
64 preparations from mineral
sources and 57 preparations
based on animal sources. The
text discusses surgical
techniques of
making incisions, probing, extrac
tion of foreign bodies, alkali and
thermal cauterization, tooth
extraction, excisions, and trocars
for draining abscess, draining
hydrocele and ascitic
fluid, removal of the prostate
gland, urethral stricture
dilatation,
vesicolithotomy, hernia
surgery, caesarian
section, management of
haemorrhoids, fistulae, laparoto
my and management of
intestinal obstruction, perforated
intestines and accidental
perforation of the abdomen with
protrusion of omentum and the
principles of fracture
management, viz., traction,
manipulation, apposition and
stabilization including some
measures of rehabilitation
and fitting of prosthetic. It
enumerates six types
of dislocations, twelve varieties
of fractures, and classification of
the bones and their reaction to
the injuries, and gives a
classification of eye diseases
including cataract surgery.
 IMPORTANCE OF A
GURU
‘Gu’ means Guhya or darkness
and ‘Ru’ means remover or
alleviator.He who removes our
ignorance and makes our life
happy,comfortable, enlightened
and blessed is our guru.
Even to suceed in worldly life
one needs a good guru, a
guide, a counsellor or a subject
expert.Hence,it goes without
saying that for getting liberated
from the shackles of birth and
death-to attain supreme bliss
,nirvana and emancipation
from this world one should find
a suitable guru and surrender
totally.
Let every Guru Poornima day
open up a new page in
everybody’s life.
 Meaning in English
Guru is the Creator
(Brahma), Guru is the
Preserver(Vishnu),
GuruDeva is
Destroyer(Maheshwara)
Guru is the absolute
(singular) Lord himself,
Salutations to that Sri
Guru
 Guru Brahma, Guru
Vishnu, Guru devo
Maheshwara
Guru sakshat, param
Brahma, tasmai shri
guravay namah
Our creation is that guru
(Brahma-the force of
creation); the duration of
our lives is that guru
(Vishnu-the force of
preservation); our trials,
tribulations, illnesses,
calamities and the death of
the body is that guru
(devo Maheshwara-the
force of destruction or
transformation). There is a
guru nearby (Guru Sakshat)
and a guru that is beyond
the beyond (param
Brahma). I make my
offering (tasmai) to the
beautiful (shri) remover of
my darkness, my
ignorance; (Guru) it is to
you I bow and lay down my
life (namah).