14 Great Teachers 1. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Born: 18 February 1836 Ramakrishna was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda. He is also referred to as Paramahamsa by his devotees, as such he is popularly known as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. 2. Ram Mohan Roy Born: 22 May 1772 Essentially a humanist and religious reformer, he left the company to devote his time to the service of his people. Profoundly influenced by European liberalism, Ram Mohan came to the conclusion that radical reform was necessary in the religion of Hinduism and in the social practices of the Hindus. He founded the Brahmo Samaj at Calcutta in 1828, which was initially known as the Brahmo Sabha. 3. Swami Rama Tirtha Born: 1873 Swami Rama Tirtha was one of the greatest spiritual figures of modern India. He also visited the United States from 1902-1904 and was one of the first great Swamis to bring the Vedantic teaching to the West, following in the footsteps of Vivekananda. Though his teachings are on par with Vivekananda-indeed often more poetic and inspiring-since he formed no organization they are not as well known. During his American tours Swami Rama Tirtha spoke frequently on the concept of practical Vedanta and education of Indian youth. He proposed bringing young Indians to American universities and helped establish scholarships for Indian students. 4. Swami Dayanand Saraswati Born: 7 April 1875 Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the founder of the Arya Samaj. The great sage who sought to restore to Hinduism its natural radiance and wisdom. He was the first to give the call for Swarajya as India for Indians – in 1876, later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak. Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship prevalent in Hinduism at the time, he worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies. Subsequently the philosopher and President of India, S. Radhakrishnan, called him one of the makers of Modern India, as did Sri Aurobindo. 5. Sri Ramanuja-Acharya Born: 1017A.D. Sri Ramanuja-Acharya was the first propagator of Vishishtadvaita philosophy on a national scale. His followers are known as Sri Vaishnavas. He was the third Acharya (Master, Teacher, Guru, Guide) in the succession of Sri Vaishnava Acharya beginning from natha-muni (9th century A.D.). While the Alvars represented the emotional side of Vaishnavism, the Acharyas who followed them represented the intellectual side. 6. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Born: 1486 AD Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was one of the renowned Hindu saints of the 15th century and was well known for his devotion to Lord Krishna. Also known as Gauranga he is said to have mastered all branches of Sanskrit learning from logic to philosophy. He spent his last days in Puri, Odisha where several devotees from over the country came to pay their respects 7. Guru Govind Singh Ji Guru Govind Singh Ji did not baptise all the Sikh to `Khalsas`. Only those who offered to fight the war of Guru Govind Singh againt the tyranny of Moghals were ordered to wear `5Ks` and bear a name ending with `Singh` (meaning lion). Rest of the Sikhs continued with their original names without the word `Singh`, as was the original name of Guru Govind Singh Ji. The persons with new `Swaroop` (Khalsas) were called Keshdhari Sikhs and otheres were known as `Sahajdhari Sikhs`. 8. Shankracharya Born: 788 AD Shankracharya was one of the most famous Advaita philosopher in India. Shankaracharya also known as Bhagavatpada Acharya is known to have cleansed superstitious religious practices which were rampant during his time. He was also hailed as Eka-Sruti-Dara meaning one who can retain anything that has been read just once 9. Ved Vyas Ved Vyas is the author and one of the characters in the epic Mahabharata. He is also considered to be one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. He is also referred to by other names in the scriptures such as Vadrayan, Dwaipaya, Vyas, Krishn Dwaipayan and Satyavati-sut. It is said that the ancient cave in which he wrote the Mahabharata still exists in Nepal. Ved Vyasa means the splitter of Vedas. He split the original version of Vedas into four parts, thus making it easier to understand. 10. Maharshi Valmiki Maharshi Valmiki is considered the first poet of classical Sanskrit Literature. He composed Ramakatha in verses. This work is called Ramayana,Ramacarita,Sitacarita and Paulastya-Vadha. Valmiki was a great scholar of his time. He had the divine power.Millions of people worship this Rishi and consider him as their God. In Indian literature any poet who wrote Ramakatha ,paid his homage to this Rishi. 11. Gautam Buddha Born: 480 BC Buddha was born near Kapilavastu in Nepalese Terai. At his birth-site stands an engraved pillar, erected by Ashoka proclaiming: Here the Buddha was born. Before he became Buddha, Siddhartha lived a life of luxury until he was 29 years old. After the young prince witnessed old age, sickness and death he renounced his princely life in search of the key to freedom from sorrow. The word Buddha means awakened one or enlightened one. 12. Swami Vivekananda Born: January 12, 1863 The valiant monk who proclaimed in America the greatness of Hinduism and of Indian culture at a time when the West regarded India as a land of barbarians. The beloved disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.He was the living embodiment of sacrifice and dedicated his life to the country and yearned for the progress of the poor, the helpless and the downtrodden. 13. Sant Namdeo The names of Lord Vithoba and Pandharpur are now by words for every devout Hindu and it is Namdeo who was responsible for popularising them not only in Maharashtra but in the rest of India as well. Last but not least, Namdeo was one of the earliest to democratise religion by carrying its message from the learned to the lowly and encompassing within its fold the tailor, the barber. the maid-servant, the sweeper, the potter and even the dancing girl. 14. Guru Nanak Born: 15 April 1469 Guru Nanak, was the founder of the religion of Sikhism and the first of the Sikh Gurus. He was born of humble parentage. His parents owned a store, and were ambitious for their son. They urged young Nanak to sit in the store and do some business. The young man started to count, Ek do teen (One, two ,three) ......Gyaara, Baarah, terah....(Eleven, twelve, thirteen)....The minute young Nanak said `terah` meaning thirteen, he thought of `terah` as `Tera` which means `Yours`. Guru Nanak went into deep meditation, thinking that all that is, belongs to the Lord. Needless to say, Guru Nanak never became a merchant, rather he turned out to be a `Baadshah` (King). Guru Nanak’s teachings can be found in the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib, as a vast collection of revelatory verses recorded in Gurmukhi. Nanak describes the dangers of egotism (haumai- I am) and calls upon devotees to engage in worship through the word of God. Naam, implies God, the Reality, mystical word or formula to recite or meditate upon (shabad in Gurbani), divine order (hukam) and at places divine teacher (guru) and guru’s instructions) and singing of God’s qualities, discarding doubt in the process. However, such worship must be selfless (sewa). Source: sify
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 05:02:48 +0000