Concept of Guru

Let us look at the origin of the word 'Guru';

गु शब्दस्तु अंधकारः स्यात् रु शब्दस्तन्निरोधकः
अंधकारनिरोधत्वात् गुरु इति अभिधीयते

‘Gu (गु)’ refers to darkness assuming the form of ignorance and ‘ru (रु)’ to the radiance in the form of spiritual knowledge, which dispels this darkness. Thus the Guru is the one who dispels the darkness of ignorance.

Quite a lot of teachers consider them to be Gurus. But there is a difference between a Guru and a Teacher.

The teacher teaches for a specific period of time and only through the medium of words. On the other hand, the Guru continues to guide His disciple twenty-four hours of the day both through the medium of words and beyond them. A Guru takes care of His disciple in any catastrophe while a teacher has hardly any concern about a student's personal life. In short, a Guru pervades the entire life of a disciple while a teacher is associated with a student only for a few hours and that too confined to teaching a few subjects. In short, a Guru is omnipresent in the student's life, as a friend, philosopher and mentor