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PERCEPTIONS
Eternal India
encyclopedia
MANU'S CONCEPT OF
GURU-SHISHYA
He is the real
guru
who can reveal the form of
the formless before your eyes;
Who teaches the simple path,
without rites or ceremonies;
Who does not make you close
your doors, and. hold your
breath,and renounce the world;
Who makes you perceive
the Supreme Spirit
wherever the mind attaches itself;
Who teaches you to be still
in the midst of all your activities.
Fearless, always immersed in bliss,
he keeps the spirit of yoga
in the midst of enjoyments
-
Kabir
Guru
and the God
Guru and God are standing in front of me,
Whom should I pay my respect first
I bow down to my Guru
Because Guru has shown me the path to God.
-
Kabir
Yassaaraswatha Vaibhhavam Gurukritam
peeyusha paakodbhavam
Thallabhyam gurunaiva naiva
hatathah paathah pratishtaa jushaa
The splendour of knowledge which is
churned out of the cream of nectar (
ambro-
sia)
by the preceptor can be obtained only
through the benevolance of guru; and it can
never be acquired forcibly by anybody with a
conceited bent of mind.
Even to this day, Manu is considered the
first law-giver by the Indians. By the time
Manusmrithi
- treatise on the do’s and
dont’s for all categories of people in Ancient
India — took its present shape several con-
cepts that were floating in the traditional
circles got crystallized.
Education was given prime importance
during the Vedic period where rituals were
an integral part of the life of nomadic Ar-
yans. The imparting of the knowledge of
Vedic rituals through word of mouth from
generation to generation gradually paved
the way for a systematic study of these
Vedas
and the
Vedangas,
the latter being
supplementary to the study of the former. In
this process, the concepts of the teacher,
and the taught also tend to get clear.
In ancient Sanskrit literature we come
across three words that stand for a teacher
viz.,
Aachaarya, Upaadhyaaya
and
Guru.
However it must be borne in mind that
these concepts do overlap and that their
exact position in the chronological sequence
cannot be determined with any certainty.
Yasakacharya’s
Niruktha
explains the
term
aachaarya
etymologically in the fol-
lowing excerpt:
why is
aachaarya
(preceptor) called so?
aachaarya
(preceptor) makes the students
understand right conduct,
or he accumulates the meaning (of texts),
or he accumulates knowledge.
But sage
Aapasthambha
who, like
Manu, wrote a normative treatise on the
duties of different classes of people slightly
differs from this view of
Yasak.
According
to
Aapasthambha
he is
aachaarya
from
whom one can accumulate knowledge per-
taining to
Dharma.
Vachaspati while commenting on
Yo-
gasootra
summarises the qualities to be
found in
aachaarya
in these words:
“Aachaarya is one who accumulates the
knowledge of the scriptures; establishes
one on the path of right conduct and also, he
too practises the right course of action. ”
Even
Amarakosha
speaks of
aachaarya
as one who explains the
mantras
and also is
a guide of
Manthravyakhyakrudachaarya
Aadeshta.
Chanakya,
the
famous
author
of
Arthashaasthra
viz.,
Kautilya
describes
aachaarya
as one who has an abundance of
both general and specific knowledge of as-
sorted subjects, who speaks pleasantly,
who has a perfect control over his organs of
sense and action, one who has the capacity
to impart knowledge properly.
It is interesting to note that the contexts
in which the term
aachaarya
appears in the
Upanishads
suggest its exclusive usage
with reference to the Vedic knowledge.
Having
explained
the
Vedas,
the
aachaarya
instructs the disciple : speak the
truth; practise the
Dharma.
Although the term
aachaarya
connotes
one who imparts Vedic knowledge, in some
contexts it is used to denote a teacher who
imparts knowledge in general.
‘The knowledge acquired through a precep-
tor alone will lead one to the desired goal.’
‘Now as to knowledge. The teacher is the
prior form; the pupil is the latter form;
knowledge is their junction; instruction is
their junction; instruction is their connection.
Thus with regard to knowledge. ’
Thus the root
Ved
and the substantive
vidya
often appear in conjunction with
acharya.
These investigations into the con-
notations of the word
aachaarya
lead to the
following -
1.
In the
Brahmana
texts
aachaarya
exclu-
sively deals with Vedic knowledge. The
episode of
Jhandilya
and
Saptharathvah-
ini and Shathapathbrahmana
illustrates
this view.
2.
In majority of the usages in the
Upan-
ishads
the term
aachaarya
connotes a
preceptor of philosophical and meta-
physical knowledge.
3.
In
some
contexts
in
Upanishads
aachaarya
refers to a teacher of knowl-
edge in general.
Manu defines
aachaarya
in the following
words :
The divja who, after performing the sacred-
thread-ceremony, imparts Vedic knowledge
to the student along with the knowledge of
kalpa and ‘rahasya’ is called ‘aachaarya ‘.
Some of the key-words used in this defi-
nition of
aachaarya
need further clarifica-
tion. Though
divja
normally means all the
three
varnas
viz,
Brahmana, Kshatriya,
Vaishya.,
in this context it is restricted in
its meaning only to
Brahmana.
The participle ‘upaneeya’ refers to the cere-
mony - ‘samskaara’ — of initiating a stu-
dent into the study of Vedic lore. Upanay-
ana marks the beginning of studentship.
An examination of the definition of
aachaarya
given by Manu makes it clear
that by his time, the floative traditions with
regard to the concept of
aachaarya
had
crystallized.