Sorry! Guru is not a teacher, He is a giver!
By Vivek Sharma
We get confused about certain terms assigned to a person who educates—Guru, acharya, adhyapak, shikshak and teacher. There is need to know these terms fully and then celebrate the Teacher’s Day in the right spirit.
Who is a Guru?
A guru is a person who imparts the profoundest knowledge in a seed form. He will just give you one seed of knowledge, which will grow into a big tree of practical wisdom. He is the man in depth. He knows all the three dimensions of Existence and has nothing more to know. He is one with his realisations. His one word can give you the entire knowledge whether you understand it or not. The word guru comes from the Sanskrit root गृ (gree, like in tree, Sanskrit symbol is not available on Mac and hence explained this way). It means the sounding with power. Guru means whose words carry power to bring the best out of you. He speaks less. But, whatever comes out of his mouth is the seed vibration of knowledge. It grows into you unawares and makes you the channel of that knowledge. All the rishis, specially Brahmrishi Vashishta, Vishwamitra, Jamadagni, Atri, Kashyap, Gautam, Bhardwaj, Devarishi Narad, Deval, Asit, Maharishi Ved Vyas and Vasudeva Krishna ( the person with principle) are in this category.
Now you can ask they are dead people then how can they be gurus? They are dead and gone. So we have no gurus now in the universe. The answer to this will give you the final dimension of a guru. Their words survive time and place, find the right disciple in any time zone and begin to work through them. Isn’t it wonderful? Therefore, a guru keeps vibrating as a principle in the universe. He can never be dead. That is the reason why in India, during any sanskar, one or two such names are taken during the pledge. In the Vedic culture, whenever you begin a work or consummate it, your pledge and thanks carry any of these names, called guru. It is still being followed. This practice can never disappear. Therefore, never call every Tom, Dick and Harry guru. Look! Today we are only practising one or two words uttered by any such guru, whether it is Bhagwad Gita, Gayatri Mantra or anything else. That is why a guru is considered to be a living embodiment of Brhama, Vishnu and Mahesh, the principles of creation, maintenance and dissolution. Therefore, those who think that they have no guru are big fools. They should rather say, there are no good disciples to be able to receive a guru’s word, vibrating live all around us!Guru is an expert in every branch of knowledge and skill. So don’t just think that he will give you spiritual knowledge alone. He will give you the seed of what you are fit to receive.
Who is an acharya?
The person, who is qualified to educate you and help you bring into action higher, specialised and established skills, is called an acharya. But, he himself should be fully skilled in the given form of knowledge first. Dronacharya, Kripacharya, Patanjali and all those who have mastered more than three skills and are educating others in them, come into this category. Basically, an acharya carries the word of a guru with his own realisations. He doesn’t depend on the written words but knows things through practice, experiences and realisations.
विद्या को आचरण में लाने
वाला व लाना सिखाने वाला
आचार्य कहलाता है।
He follows a school of thought in its all aspects. In the modern context, a person teaching music of a particular accepted form, yoga, vyayama, life skills, or knowledge of a particular kind be it secular or spiritual is an acharya of a sort. The main job of an acharya is to make his disciples practise, experience and realise. If you are learning a particular style of self-defence technique, the one who is imparting you that training is called acharya, not guru. Perfection in knowledge is the basic degree of the acharya. He doesn’t depend on formal education and degrees.
Who is an adhyapak
He is a person who has memorised and expertise one aspect of knowledge or skill, learnt its implementation and is qualified to impart that ideological, scientific and multi-dimensional implications after a lot of research and analysis. He is the person who has internalised instructions in an aspect of knowledge and can train others in the scientific understanding of the same.
When an adhyapak expands his expertise in every aspect of that knowledge, he is qualified to become an acharya. Basically, his knowledge is based on practice, research and analysis in the given aspect of knowledge. He is required to master all forms of that knowledge to qualify as an acharya.
When an adhyapak expands his expertise in every aspect of that knowledge, he is qualified to become an acharya. Basically, his knowledge is based on practice, research and analysis in the given aspect of knowledge. He is required to master all forms of that knowledge to qualify as an acharya.
Who is a Shikshak?
A Shikshak is a formal trainer in a subject. He is capable of imparting only the basics of that subject. Because, he himself is being training himself in that subject under an adhyapak. He is not qualified to teach beyond what he knows. Broadly speaking, a Shikshak makes you learn primary and basic knowledge of a skill. He can be termed as a trainer, who himself is training in experiencing and realising the deep principles of his skill or knowledge. Shikshak is the person who educates and regulates a student’s progress in his own way through direct and indirect ways, through positive or negative ways. His main aim is to arm the student with the skill he has.A Shikshak challenges his students to manifest the best they have learnt and employs sophisticated psychological methods to naturally provoke the students to gain expertise in that knowledge or skill.
Who is a teacher?
The one who teaches on the basis of the degrees acquired through the western form of education. He is a trainer, who educates students in a class, through instructions. He is a Shikshak, when he does his job diligently. But, he is only an instructor when he is not worried about the progress of his students. Basically, teacher in English means instructor only. He has only a set system to follow and judge his student’s progress. But, Shikshak is the person who instructs and regulates student’s progress in his own way—be it negative or positive.
I have described the finer differences among the terms to let you know the depth of the Gurukul system of education. Gurus are the central vibration of the system. Acharyas are the masters who carry forward that vibration. Adhyapakas are researcher-cum-trainers. Shikshaks are skilled in one aspect of a form of knowledge. A teacher represents what modern day education is all about—all information, no practical implementation. It is time for Shikshaks to take over. It can only happen when the education system is thoroughly overhauled as a system of life skills.
कृष्णं वन्दे जगद्गुरुम्। Let’s bow to the world teacher Krishna—the unfathomable, dark principle of life who represents the force of attraction.