Vyasa Purnima: The Unsurpassed Educational Heritage of India

निधये सर्वविद्यानां भिषजे भवरोगिणाम् ।
गुरवे सर्वलोकानां दक्षिणामूर्तये नमः ॥

Salutations to Dakshinamurthy the Guru,
Who is the teacher of all the world |
Who is the doctor for all diseases
And who is the storehouse of all knowledge ||

One could begin anywhere but this is as good as any a place. This verse is how Adi Sankara showed his reverence towards the Adi Guru, Shiva, Mahadeva, or Ishwara who incarnated in the form of the Guru Dakshinamurthy. The Dakshinamurthy Stotram from which the aforementioned verse is drawn, is itself profoundly philosophical in the sense that Shiva in the form of Dakshinamurthy taught through silence. And this Dakshinamurthy didn’t teach ordinary people, he taught the Rishis. Adi Sankara goes into raptures extolling the glory of Dakshinamurthy, as the Inner Guru who awakens us to the shining resplendence of the highest spiritual knowledge situated within through his profound silence.