History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.202
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.202
- Language
- English
v2.c24.s1.202.1
The pivot of the whole educational system of ancient India was the teacher (variously called ācārya, guru, upādhyāya). The instruction was oral. Ṛg. VII. 103. 5 (speaking of frogs) says 'when one of these frogs follows another in making noise just as a learner repeats the words of the teacher'. Vide the quotations from the Atharvaveda and the Śat. Br. cited above (*f. n.* 622 and 625). In the beginning the father alone may have taught his son. The story narrated in the Bṛ. Up. V. 2. 1 and the story of Śvetaketu Āruṇeya who was taught by his father everything he knew (Bṛ. Up. VI. 2. 1 and 4) illustrate this (*vide f. n.* 633). But even from very ancient times the practice of sending⁷⁶⁶ boys to learn from an ācārya had become usual. The Chān. Up. itself says in one passage (VI. 1) that Śvetaketus Āruṇeya was placed by his father for twelve years as a student with a teacher. The same upaniṣad (III. 11. 5) says that the father should impart the 'madhuvidyā' to his eldest son or to a worthy pupil only. As the boy stayed with the teacher in the latter's house and all instruction was oral, the teacher's position assumed the greatest importance. Satyakāma Jābāla⁷⁶⁷ says to his teacher (in Chān. IV. 9. 3) 'I have heard from persons like your revered self that knowledge when learnt from an ācārya reaches the highest excellence'. The Śvetāśvataropaniṣad⁷⁶⁸ (VI. 23) places the guru almost on a level with God and inculcates the highest devotion to him. The Āp. Dh. S. I. 2. 6.
v2.c24.s1.202.2
13 says 'the pupil should wait upon the ācārya as if he were⁷⁶⁹ God.' The story of Ekalavya, whom Droṇa refused to take as a pupil because he was a niṣāda and who by worshipping the image of Droṇa is alleged to have become an adept in archery, illustrates two points viz. the prevailing notion of the greatness of a guru and the necessity of single-minded devotion to him for attaining proficiency (vide Ādiparva 132 for the story and also Droṇaparva 181. 17). The Mahābhārata condemns him who learns the Vedas at home and says that Raibhya became superior to Yavakrīta⁷⁷⁰ because the former learnt from a *guru*, while the other did not do so. In Manu and other smṛtis there is some divergence about the greatness of the ācārya. Manu II. 146 (= Viṣṇu Dh. S. 30. 44) says that both the father (*janaka*) and the teacher are called father (*pitā*) but the father (i. e. ācārya) who imparts the sacred Veda is superior to the father that gives (physical) birth, since the birth in spiritual learning is for a brāhmaṇa of eternal benefit here and hereafter. But in II. 145 Manu⁷⁷¹ says that an ācārya is ten times superior to an upādhyāya, the father is superior to a hundred ācāryas, while the mother is thousand-fold superior to the father. Gaut. II. 56 declares that the ācārya is the highest among all *gurus* while according to some the mother is the highest. Yāj. I. 35 also places the mother higher than the ācārya. Gaut. I. 10-11, Vas. Dh. S. III. 21, Manu II. 140, Yāj. I.
v2.c24.s1.202.3
34 define⁷⁷² the ācārya as one who performs the upanayana of the student and imparts the whole Veda to him. The Nirukta⁷⁷³ (I. 4) derives ācārya as follows: 'he makes the student understand the proper course of conduct, or he collects wealth (i. e. fee) from the student (or gathers together the meanings of words), or he increases the intelligence (of the student)'. Āp. Dh. S. I. 1. 1. 14 says 'The ācārya is so called since the student gathers his duties from him.' Manu II. 69 says that the teacher, after performing upanayana, teaches his pupil the rules about śauca (bodily purity), ācāra (rules of conduct in every day life), the offering (of fuel-stick) in fire and saṁdhyā adoration. Yāj. I. 15 is to the same effect. Though the words *ācārya*, *guru*⁷⁷⁴ and *upādhyāya* are very often used as synonyms, ancient writers made a distinction between them. According to Manu II. 141 and 142, an upādhyāya is one who teaches to a student a portion of the Veda or the Vedāṅgas⁷⁷⁵ (subsidiary lores of the Veda) as a means of his own livelihood and a *guru* is one who performs the saṁskāras and who maintains the child. This latter definition shows that *guru* means the father here. Vas. Dh. S. (III. 22-23), Viṣṇu Dh. S. 29. 2, and Yāj. I. 35 define upādhyāya in the same way as Manu. According to Yāj. I. 34 the guru is one who performs the saṁskāras and imparts the Veda. This corroborates the statement made above that originally the father himself taught the Veda to his son.
v2.c24.s1.202.4
The word guru is often used in the sense of any elderly person, male or female, who is entitled to respect. Viṣṇu Dh.⁷⁷⁶ S. (32. 1-2) says that the father, the mother and the ācārya are the three highest gurus of a person and Manu II. 227-237 contain the most sublime glorification of these three. Devala⁷⁷⁷ says that 'among gurus five deserve special honour, viz. father, mother, ācārya, eldest brother and husband (in the case of women)'. Manu (II. 149) says that whoever confers on another the benefit of knowledge, whether great or small, is the latter's *guru*.