गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः। गुरुः साक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः॥

Gurur brahma is the best-known verse in praise of the teacher in the Hindu tradition. Tradition credits a Guru Stotram associated with the Skanda Purana; the verse is also sung independently and is often among the first stotras a child learns. It is the standard salutation to a guru at the beginning of classes in music, dance, Vedic recitation and other traditional arts, and is prominent on Guru Purnima.

The first line equates the guru with the three functions of the divine triad. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu the sustainer and Maheshwara, a name of Shiva, the one who dissolves. The teacher is said to do all three in a student's life: creating understanding, sustaining it, and removing ignorance. The second line goes further and calls the guru sakshat param brahma, the Supreme Brahman directly present. Tasmai shri-gurave namah then offers a salutation to that honoured teacher. The word guru itself is often explained as the one who dispels the darkness of ignorance, with gu understood as darkness and ru as its removal, an etymology that is traditional rather than strictly linguistic.

The verse should be understood in its spirit. It does not make a claim about any specific person; it expresses the Indian view that a teacher who passes on liberating knowledge deserves the highest respect. Students recite it before beginning a lesson, and many households say it on Guru Purnima or when visiting a teacher. Other traditions of reading draw the line between a living teacher and the inner guru, and the verse leaves room for both.