Instances of Teachers’ moral depravity has been in the news quite frequently ,not only in India but throughout the world as well.
Reasons for this has already been blogged under ‘Education’.
There is no point in complaining about the conduct of Students if their Teachers,instead of being a role model, have descended to be models of bad behavior.( not all of them,still there are Teachers who are self-sacrificing and a model of sterling character,though very few.)
Hinduism accords highest Respect and importance to Teacher(loose translation of Guru from Sanskrit,Preceptor may foot the bill more)
गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुर्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः ।
गुरुरेव परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥१॥
Gururbrahmaa Gururvissnnurgururdevo Maheshvarah |
Gurureva Param Brahma Tasmai Shriigurave Namah ||1||
‘The Guru is Brahma, the Guru is Vishnu, the Guru is the Lord Shiva, the Guru is verily the Supreme Brahman. Salutations to the Guru’.
Taittriya Upanishad declares ‘Mathru Devo Bhava,Pitru Devo Bhava,Acharya Devo Bhava’,giving importance next only to parents,even God is relegated.
A Guru is one who imparts mundane knowledge as well as knowledge that will help one Spiritually.
Sastras have indicated Two Gurus,one Vidya Guru and the other Gnana Guru.
Vidya Guru enables you learn all the Vidyas and prepares you for mundane Life and lays down a path which you may not understand immediately but guides you in Gnana at a later stage in Life.
He teaches you all the available knowledge through Vidyabyaasa,that is by imparting the Eighteen Vidyas explained in the Vedas.
Contrary to what people think, The Vedas contain all that is needed to sail through Life .
The Eighteen Vidyas are.
The Vedas-4 -Rik,Yajur,Sama and Atharva
Vedaangas-6-(Parts of Veda)
Siksha,Vyakarana,Chandas,Niruktha,Jyothisha and Kalpa.
Upaangas-(Sub-parts)-4
Mimasa,Purana, Nyaya and Dharma Sastra.
and
Ayur Veda Arthasastra,Dhanur Veda, Gaandharva Veda
These are called Ashta Dasa Ashta(18) Vidyaas.
Fourteen are the ones that were initially indicated.
The last four were not included originally as they are more empirical.
‘Angaani Vedach chathwaro Mimama Nyaya vistaraha l
Puranam Dharmasastramcha Vidya heyadayach chatur dasal l
Purana Nyaya Mimamsaa Dharma Sastra angamistritha l
Vedah sthanaani Vidyaanaam Dharmasya cha chatur dasa ll
Yagnyavalkya Smriti.
One may notice that all aspects Life are included.
Will detail these in a separte blog.
Vidya Guru teaches students from the age of 7 till he attains the age of 19(as it takes minimum 12 years to have a a birds eye view of The Vedas).
Having learned this the Student does not become a sanyaasi , but goes about life by getting married , begetting children and at the time when his Son is old enough to take care of the family,he enters Vaanaprasthaasrama and later a Sanyaasi.
When he becomes a Sanyaasi , he seeks a Guru, called Gnana Guru who guides him in the path of realization.
The Vidya Guru is mandated to be a married man ( generally,there are exceptions).
He is to be one of exceptional character.
He should be well versed in these 18 Vidyaas.
( for difference between Guru, Upadhyaya and Acharya please read my blog on the same filed under ‘Hinduism)
He should not have riches nor should he money minded.
He should accept what the student offers as fees after the student completes his course and not before.
In exceptional cases, like Drona asking Arjuna to defeat Drupadha and Santhepani rishi asking Lord Krishna to save his son from Asura, Gurus ask of these things only to demonstrate to the world what their Sishyaas are capable of.
The guru feeds the Sishyaas from the food that has been obtained by them by begging(Bhikshai)
This was practiced as a method to ensure Humility for the students.
The students were treated more as children and not as students.
Now read what teacher has descended to( not all of them)
The headmistress of a pre-primary school run by Mahila Vidya Peeta , Hubli, has been arrested on charge of running a flesh trade.
A team of police officers headed by ACP A R Badiger raided the headmistress ‘ house and busted the racket, police commissioner K Ramachandra Rao said on Monday. The accused, Sulomi Vijayakumar Zande of Hosur, had been running the racket for the past few years. But the school authorities weren’t aware of her activities, the police chief said.
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