The journey of devotion

Guru Purnima celebrates a guru's Shakti. Only with a guru's blessings can a sadhak, a spiritual practitioner, progress spiritually. Ram and Krishn also had gurus when they took human form, even though they were gods.

Once there was an ordinary person named Giri; he had no unique talents or intelligence. But he had humility and good intentions to do seva. A guru came to his town and took him under his wings. The guru had three very able disciples who were well-versed in the shastras and had phenomenal revelations and realisations. Giri never participated in discussions or answered any questions during the guru's lectures and was often mocked by other disciples for being dull. Giri, however, was immune to all this and took pleasure in serving the guru.

One day, as the guru was about to begin his lecture, he noticed that Giri was missing. The guru decided to wait for him. The other disciples, puzzled, asked, "Guru ji, why do you wait for him? Speaking to him is like talking to a wall." The guru simply smiled and continued to wait.


When Giri finally arrived, the guru gazed at him intently. Suddenly, something remarkable happened. Giri bowed before the guru and spontaneously began singing praises of his teacher, composing beautiful verses on the spot. The other disciples were astonished and marvelled at the brilliance of his poetry. Pleased with his disciple, the guru, Adi Shankaracharya, bestowed upon him the title of Totakacharya, and his composition in praise of his guru became known as Totakashtakam.