Guru Shishya Parampara : "Shishya"

The vision the future holds is the student...for he shall apply his learning and wisdom to foresee the future and take the righteous actions. He is the stone from the quarry that needs to be sculpted by not a chisel, but by the sweet words of the guru's wisdom. The disciple or "Shishya" meaning 'chela' in sanskrit is more of a devotee to the Guru and his wisdom. It was a bondage wherein the disciple had to surrender himself to the learned Guru abiding the principles of 'Brahmacharya'. If the disciple could make himself the ideal student to his guru, he would be taught the very secrets to excel in diverse fields. Since, the Vedic age was an age of self-realisation or spirituality, the main education imparted to the student was that of the secret of life and death, of soul and body, and of mortality and immortality. Not only were the teachings religious, it was based on sound ethics which suited the clan of the disciple. While Brahmins were taught of the religious practices, the Kshatriyas were taught 'Raajaneeti'(laws of ruling) and 'Shastra-Vidya'(weaponry). Directly or indirectly, the wisdom of the Guru would reach all sections of the society, through the Shishyas as its carriers. So, the motive of the guru was not just train 'Shishyas' but to breed a new set of 'Gurus' who shall lead forward the society. The student was highly disciplined, determined and devoted. The guru was selfless and always hoped that the student excelled him in the field.

Guru Shishya Parampara : "Guru"

The existence of all that exists began as a dream of a single person...A Teacher. It may be in the form a parent, a sibling, a friend, a relative or maybe even a stranger. So, directly or indirectly, a teacher moulds and shapes the world with his ideas. Any relationship which may involve communication of knowledge, discipline, wisdom, principles and values, with strict yet feasible rules of conduct can be regarded as 'Guru Shishya Parampara'. Everyday in our lives, we learn and experiment. We learn more not for the sake of learning, but for the very sake of our existence. Even lower organisms are known to learn new behaviours to survive its very own little universe. Man, being the pride of creation, can apply this knowledge for the benefit of the others. But, sometimes incorrect or insufficient learning makes him 'destroy', rather than 'make'. Hence, a man should differentiate between the good and bad, the feasible and non-feasible, the right and the wrong,... But, it is the inherent weakness of mankind to incline to the easiest way out, which in most cases is 'wrong' or 'bad'. So, a clear-cut understanding of the forces in the environment is required by a man to be helpful to himself and to others.

Nothing beats experience, nothing beats history,... So, isn't it always to have a guiding force which can reset you in the right path when you go in the wrong way? A person who has had an understanding of these matters, either by experience or by intuition or by intellect, is the one required. We may term such a person, regardless of age, gender, creed and caste, as a 'Guru'.

As stated in the Advayataraka Upanishad, the word 'Guru' is made of two syllables. The syllable "gu" means 'shadows' and the syllable "ru" means 'he who disperses them'. Hence, any person capable of explaining the knowledge or differentiating between the various factors, such that the student is unbound from confusion or ambiguity (darkness), can be termed a 'Guru'.
In the next post, I shall try to elaborate on the definition of a 'Shishya'.

Guru-Shishya Parampara in the Golden Ages

"Acharya Devo Bhava" (Our teacher is our God)... Taittiriya Upanishad

Let's start with naming a few great Guru-Shishyas of the golden ages:

Sri Krishna and Arjuna,

Bhagawan Vyasa and Ganesha,

Bhagawan Vyasa and Sriman Madhvacharya,

Dronacharya and Ekalavya,

Dronacharya and Arjuna,

Sri Vyasaraja Theertha and Sri Krishnadevaraaya,

Chanakya and Vikramaditya,

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda...

We can name many more guru-shishyas who have together challenged the human intellect to its extremities. What is it that made them successful? What was their secret? Can we have so pure a relationship even today? Are the present great minds bind in such a divine relation?

The Great Gurus and their Great Shishyas had these things in common: Devotion, Belief, Respect, Selflessness and Dedication. Perhaps we will never be able to completely define their relationship. It was sacred, it was divine, it was 'godly'. Here, we shall make a small attempt to capture the principles and values associated with guru-shishya relationship. It is based on the genuineness of the guru, and the respect, commitment, devotion and obedience of the student.

Around 2000 BC, the Upanishads were first formulated. The term Upanishad is derived from the Sanskrit words upa (near), ni (down) and şad (to sit) — so it means "sitting down near" a spiritual teacher to receive instruction. This was the most ancient reference that we can quote for the parampara. Traditionally this was mainly used to propagate spiritual knowledge. This school of tradition was accepted well by even the new world thinkers like Swami Vivekananda. Slowly, this ancient system is dying out because the present generation have come to think that the ideas of the west are the only scientific ones. It is not so. The ideas of Vedic age are well-equipped to deal with the coming ages too. After what we all have been through- poverty, illiteracy and fear, it is a necessity for us to refine our present system of Education by borrowing from this rich concept. The need of the hour is the refinement of all these wonderful ideas, a confluence of these great thoughts to shape the world as we like it, a world full of Peace and Happiness.

What are the values and principles in this system? What is the current system falling short of?

Can we look back please?

Mankind has progressed a lot since its birth. It has been through a lot of cultural evolution, which is the exact reason why we stand first in the 'race for survival' (as a proud human would phrase). Infact, every second in our life we use the knowledge that has been accumulated through the passing ages. Let us consider, around 200,000 years ago, the first modern humans (homo sapiens) appeared on the face of the earth. Even back then it was the result of a bloody struggle they led against nature...(thinking themselves to be an entity different from 'nature')

Around 2000 BC evolved an Age, The Vedic Age, which is perhaps the most intuitive, inventive and scientific age of all times. Almost 4000 years ago, there evolved a society with a strong social structure with capabilities in multiple fields. Apart from the culture and language, there evolved a sound understanding about nature, its forces, its entities. Of all these, the ability to the reason our very existence was the most fulfilling. There evolved a strong culture, a Guru-Shishya Parampara (Teacher-Student Succession) to research into the very depth of knowledge- knowledge of the material and the immaterial worlds. It was this method of ideating and exchange of ideas that ploughed their way to successfully mine knowledge. Isn't it worth if we could borrow from this rich tradition, imbibe it in our own ways (modern) and evolve a system for the new world.

As Swami Vivekananda proclaimed, "Stagnation is Death". So, in the realms of the ever-changing world, in the spotless sunshine of mind, let us evoke a dream, turn it into a thought, perhaps an idea and work with synergy to turn it real. So, can we look back please so that we can borrow from our rich past?

Then, what is "Education"?

What is "Education" then...

Is it the possession of knowledge...? Is it the possession of a huge library...? Is it the possession of a huge memory...? Is it the acquisition of new skills...? I believe that it is none of the above...

As Swami Vivekananda(undoubtedly the greatest philosopher of the modern era) said "What is Education? Is it just reading a Book? Is it to try to accumulate various skills?No! To make our Will power and habits channelise into a useful stream of purposeful power!"

So, here arises another question about where should we gain education from? Where can we find it in plenty? Here again I quote Swami Vivekananda..."Infinite Knowledge abides within everyone in the fullest measure. You are not really ignorant, though you may appear to be so...You may laugh at me now, but the time will come when you will understand. You must".

So, isn't it a beautiful thought that all education abides within oneself...

But wait, where does it exist inside us? The Mind...or the Body...or the Soul...?

what is education...its soul?

Let me continue on the search to define "Education"...

"the process of teaching or learning in a school or college, or the knowledge that you get from this"...(Source: Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

"the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life"...(Source: dictionary.com)

We can go on to add more than a thousand definitions to define 'education', but are we gaining anything at all by just defining 'education' on its face without understanding its soul???

So, we can conclude that:

"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance"...Will Durant

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school"...Albert Einstein

Maybe these look idiotic, but these really seek to define 'education', mind you they only seek...So, 'Education' is a magical power that has ruled all intelligent life since their inception in this vast

universe...Education cannot be defined by a thousand words, neither by a thousand quotes but only with its practicality in our day-to-day lives

what really is education...?

Here I start peeping into my own subconscious, to reach its very depths...not the dark abyss, but the horizon within the vast luminance. Let us look back and contemplate what the word "education" really means??? What is its soul? What is in its mind...Let me quote from the greatest knowledge possessed by the greatest intellectuals of the age that has passed till date...

Let us look into its technical definition:

Education in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character, or physical ability of an individual (e.g., the consciousness of an infant is educated by its environment through its interaction with its environment); and in its technical sense education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, values, and skills from one generation to another through institutions... (Source: Wikipedia)

Long since has this definition existed, without us peeping into the very depths of the realms of civilization...Maybe, nature and time were the first teachers...but like Hector Berlioz said, "Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils", time teaches us slowly...sometimes even harshly...maybe people never learn till their time's up...'time' may not be the best teacher around with us (even after us). Whereas, nature is the conscious teacher, but lacks to impress upon even the civilised...it ain't aggressive, given men are capable of disturbing the peace and serenity(of its mind)

So, who is the real guru, is it nature, or time, or something else...