History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.202.2

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.