The concept of the GURU- SISHYA PARAMPARA in Indian Culture has always been an important aspect of education or learning in India from times immemorial. In ancient India, when a child reached the seventh year, he was put under the tutelage of a suitable GURU. He moved into the GURU'S ashram or house and stayed with him for the next few years acquiring in-depth knowledge. In the Indian tradition, any disciple paying respect to his elders through Abhivandan introduced himself not as his father's son, but as belonging to so and so GURUKULA house or tradition.
The Guru's duty was not only to teach the student a specific subject, but also to develop the overall personality of the student. The Guru tried to develop the student's character, versatility, confidence, strength and overall vision of life. The ideal Guru was supposed to be a friend, philosopher and guide! In the Guru-Shishya parampara, the relationship was unconditional - nothing was asked for in return as a pre-condition other than the acceptance of the shishya as a student and the student whole heartedly submitting himself to the Guru. Acquisition of knowledge was helped in a value-rich environment with focus on the development of the entire self.
The process of learning, as we understand from the Upanishads, was a journey in which the teacher took the disciple, from the familiar to the unfamiliar, from the known to the unknown and from the concrete to the abstract ( Asathoma Sath gamaya, Thamasoma Jyothir gamaya.........). The Guru adopted encouraged the students to question, allowed them to use reasoning to arrive at theories that were validated, corroborated or rejected and then encouraged the disciple to search for answers by steering him in the right direction.
The Guru's mission appears to have been two-fold. The first and most important concern of the Guru was to awaken, elevate and transform the Sishya (seeker). The second and final purpose of the Guru was paradoxically to help the Sishya to transcend this state of complete dependence on the Guru, which dependence the Guru himself had taken such pains to foster. The final leap of realizing his true identity with God was exclusively the Sishya's job. ( in this context it is required to give an explanation to the popular saying 'matha, pitha, guru, deivam'...the popular explanation is that mother comes ahead of everyone else......this is not true.........what it means is that a child learns the initial lessons from mother while in womb and during the toddler years, then from the father, then he goes in search of a guru for knowledge and finally the God completes his education........god meaning experience).
In the guru-sishya parampara, the learning process determines the Guru-Shishya relationship. Acquisition of knowledge in a value-rich environment was undertaken in a formal framework under the Gurukula system, where the Shishya surrendered himself to the Guru. All learners, irrespective of their background, were equal under the constant supervision and tutelage of the guru. Rabindranath Tagore attempted to emulate the Gurukula system in his experiment at SHANTINIKETAN. It is still prevalent in India especially in the areas of learning traditional arts, though this has not been extended to the modern education.
The GURU is both light and fire. He shows the way out of darkness ( thamasoma jyothir gamaya) and is himself the fire that destroys ignorance and falsehood.
The GURU is both light and fire. He shows the way out of darkness ( thamasoma jyothir gamaya) and is himself the fire that destroys ignorance and falsehood.
In the modern context, there is less emphasis on acquiring knowledge and the focus is on accumulating Degrees. The teaching profession is not attracting talent it used to and the commitment is sadly lacking. Average teachers produce below average students and therein lies the tragedy of modern India
