History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.202.3

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.