people banded together and built walls to protect themselves from outside attack and secure mutual benefit for the whole. Some had exceptional intelligence, others had physical prowess. Some were negotiators and traders, others were cleaners and organizers. These functions of society became known as the varṇāśrama or four functions necessary to sustain life: intelligence (brahmins), protection (kṣatriyas), exchange and trade (vaiśyas) and waste removal (śudras). There were, however, others who chose to spend much of their time outside the walls, content with their meager shelters and diets of roots and fruits. Through their simplicity and self-sufficiency, the wild world afforded these hermits a rhythm polished by the seasons and informed by the magical forces of Nature: the Sun, the Moon, the Forest, the Waters, the Wind, the Rains, the Fire; even the times of day took on personifications. The Sun informed them when to prepare for seasonal changes; the Moon, when to harvest foods and medicines; the Forest, all the uses to everything that grew around them. The more settled they became in this way of life, the more their inner-world was drawn towards contemplation. And natural as a flower that opens when conditions are just right, those contemplations soared and brought about universal insight. They became ṛṣis, seers of the absolute; and they expressed their realizations through an intuitive language; an analog of the natural world.

The Syllables of saṃskṛta emerged out of their attuned minds’ proximity with the roaring silence emanating from the substratum of material existence. The ṛṣis combined these syllables into words and the words flowed together into spontaneous proclamations describing their internal experiences. These proclamations became known as ṛcas, or verses of praise and were recognized for their poetic beauty and their uncanny ability to transport the listener into deep states of absorption and spiritually elevated moods. The ṛṣis’ discovery of saṃskṛta was akin to a well-driller tapping into a magical well of insight. Their sublime poetry became a world of spiritual inspiration, compiled into what is known as the Ṛg Veda Saṃhitā or compilation of wisdom hymns. The power and clarity of consciousness contained in these majestic hymns became the foundation of Vedic culture. 

Stories of the hermits living in the wild spread to the inhabitants within the walls. Now and then, a hunter would get lost in the woods, only to stumble upon a wizardly being with eyes glowing, seated in perfect stillness. After being fed and re-oriented by the residents of the ṛṣi’s hermitage, the hunter inevitably would return to the village awed by his encounter and inspired by the sage’s insight and advice. 

In times of trouble and uncertainty, village leaders and kings came to rely on their local sage’s council. Kingdoms quickly learned to revere the ṛṣis’ power and the value of their teachings. Village parents began sending their children to live with and learn from the ṛṣi of their community who taught the children according to their varṇāśrama, and their personal proclivities. Ṛṣis also had children who carried their spiritual inheritance through the generations. Some ṛṣi children chose to live in the village and perform priestly tasks. Some children from other varṇāśramas chose to leave the village and live a life of a ṛṣi. The seven most preeminent ṛṣis of ancient time became known as the seven seers, or Sapta Ṛṣis. These lineage holders made it their life’s mission to travel across the land, uniting ṛṣis and inspiring the next generation. Through their efforts, the ten maṇḍalas of the Ṛg Veda were compiled and orally transmitted to disciples through the ages.

As humanity passed from one era to the next, the disciples of the lineage holders lost their capacity to memorize the Veda, which had, by this time, become enormous. The great ṛṣi Veda Vyasa took it upon himself to put the Veda into writing, compile it, and organize it into what is now known as the four Vedas and its four branches. To honor him, and the spirit of preserving the Vedic culture’s trove of wisdom, the Hindu culture celebrates Guru Pūrṇimā, which commemorates the Universal Guru.

The term “Guru” was rarely used in Vedic literature. The more common term is “ācārya” meaning “who has gone before” or “teacher of the way.” In the course of learning how to live like a ṛṣi, students sat and listened to the ṛṣis’ stories and allegories and, with time, they learned how to to properly sit, breathe, and in every way become conducive to the flow of ṛta, the waters of intelligence. Each generation asked questions and added to the dialogue of existing stories, expanding to meet the demands of the time, and the Vedic tradition thus adapted as each subsequent generation produced ṛṣis fit to supply the waters of intelligence to the populace. Like plumbers and drillers of ṛta, some ṛṣis worked within the kingdom walls, keeping the flow of intelligence properly maintained, while others remained in the forest, drilling new pathways.

As the kingdoms’ inhabitants grew, the cultural walls grew as well. Subjects of the kingdom became increasingly specialized in their societal roles and ṛṣis were among the only people with the depth and breadth of holistic knowledge able to delegate and communicate solutions to the problems facing their culture. They became pioneers and innovators of the social and civic framework known as the Upa Vedas.

Over time, the term Guru became a prominent descriptor for one with such insight. Guru can mean spiritual guide, dispeller of darkness, or profoundly deep one. As an adjective, Guru also means heavy. Their actions leave a deep impression and their advice isn’t taken lightly. Their gravitas commands and conveys the utmost respect grounded in the definition of ṛṣi.