History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.202.4

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*.