GURUKULA - A System that produced innumerable Jagadguru's

After a long journey, a saint and his disciples reached the outskirts of Vrindavan – the land of Shri Krishna when suddenly the Saint uttered “Jai Shri Krishna Mukunda Muraari” with a unique zeal. The fatigue from the face of the saint had instantaneously sublimed into a combined expression of joy, satisfaction & enthusiasm. The look on his face and his gait to reach into the temple of Vrindavan to have the lord’s darshan surprised the disciples. They were astounded as to how a tired septuagenarian who had walked over 180 miles had all of a sudden transformed into an energetic youngster?. A scene they could never imagine. After prostrating before the lords Idol the Saint said “ वसुदेव-सुतं देवं कंस-चाणूर-मर्दनम् |  देवकी-परमानन्दं कृष्णं वन्दे जगद्गुरुम् || नमो नमस्ते || “ (vasudeva-sutam devam kamsa chanoora mardhanam | Devaki-paramaanandam krishnam vande jagath gurum)” meaning “Son of vasudeva the Lord, and killer of Kamsa and Chanoor. The one who brings immense bliss to Devaki, Oh Krishna you are the one and only Guru of the Universe – I Prostrate to thee”. Looking at the Saint all the other disciples followed and offered their obeisance too to the lord.

After the darshan of the lord, as the Saint and his disciples retired to a resting place in the temple complex, one of the disciples asked the Saint, “Guruji! how does one attain the state of Jagadguru?”. The saint smiled, and replied “it happens when Mother Nature decides to honor an individual who is an embodiment of perfection in all realms of life thus transcending to a level where he becomes a connect between humans and gods thus paving the pathway for other souls to experience God”. He went on to say “it takes a lot to achieve this state, but, with right guidance, non-egoistic perseverance that is devoid of vested interests and love for elevating humanity it can be attained. The Gurukuls of ancient times were the seats from where many Guru’s and Jagadguru’s have emerged. It meant the family of Guru - whoever studied had to live with and be part and parcel of the family, and continued to call themselves as the members of this Guru's family. In today’s era we have only schools and no Gurukuls. The center of learning has today transformed into a commercial complex that sells distorted western knowledge that is wealth centric and does not provide life centric holistic education that builds character and makes the student master of life and lives”. Intrigued by the reply the disciple went on to ask what was the Ancient system like?.

As the Saint began to elaborately explain the system of education that existed in ancient Bharat, many devotees visiting the temple seated themselves to listen. The saint gazed at the setting sun and said “our gurukula samskruti (culture/ tradition) had a glorious past just like the ever radiant Sun which has now set in the west. The Gurukula was designed to focus on all aspects of the student in a very systematic manner. It encouraged the student to learn, gave him time to master, acquire perfection and evolve into a valuable individual. The system was distinctly layered which laid special emphasis on the role and responsibility of the educator. A brief of which I hereby share:- Mother is the first educator for any child and it was essential that she permits her child to go under the tutelage of another educator with a promise not to interfere in the child’s future upbringing in the Gurukula. The child now gains the status of a Student the moment it is enrolled in the Gurukula.”

THE TUTELAGE OF ACHARYA

“The child’s age at this time would be around 8 years old and he was put under the tutelage of an educator titled ACHARYA. The Acharya focused on 2 major attributes that lays foundation to character building and contribute in the student’s evolution. The two attributes were “AACHAAR” (meaning Behavior in English) and “VICHAAR” (meaning the process of Thinking). These resulted in the child imbibing and performing “Thoughtful Actions”. He would learn to appreciate the value of behaving in a manner acceptable to others (who lived with him & worked in the Gurukula) thus, his actions were well thought out. This when learnt at the young age will last till the end of his life and also enables others to accept the student and build healthier relationships with him. Once rightful behavior in a variety of situations as well as among people of all ages and relationships is achieved, the student becomes eligible to go under the tutelage of a higher educator called as the SHIKSHAK

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THE TUTELAGE OF SHIKSHAK

The SHIKSHAK now introduces the student into 3 streams – DEEKSHA, BHIKSHA & SHIKSHA. These are focused around inner sciences. The Educator initiates the student through a process called “Deeksha” where the student is put into a regimen of observance of the self and building awareness on his self. The next, to bring humility into the student it was required for the student to go for BHIKSHA (asking people for alms/ food etc). This had dual benefits one – it would instill humility in him and tunes him to have a healthy ego, and, two – the student learns the art of asking/ questioning thus he starts to ask right questions to get right answers. Once this is achieved the educator now starts to introduce the student to the right process of learning called SHIKSHANA that involves effective utilization of time (every moment (kshana) to learn and various methods that can enable him to learn effectively and adopt that method that’s most beneficial/ effective to him;. Once the student excels under the Shikshak he is now geared to go under the tutelage of an ADHYAPAK.

TUTELAGE OF ADHYAPAK

The student under the tutelage of Adhyapak acquired 2 major attributes DHYAYA and ADHYAYANA. The student was taught to get focus and how not to lose attention (meaning dhyaya). This involved a series of practices where the student was to master attentiveness – expanded attention span and attentive listening. It also emphasized on active memory – storage as well as recall. The process (called Adhyayana) involved chanting, reading, studying, looking through comparisons, making & taking decisions and the art of enumeration. These gave a greater leverage to the student’s attribute to learn, comprehend, understand, relate and work upon (or do what is best). Once he mastered this it was now time for the student to be put under the tutelage of a Pundit (or Vidhwan) for further education.

TUTELAGE OF PUNDIT

The Pundit introduced the student to the wide expanse of unbounded pure knowledge (called Vedas) which were imparted in smaller capsules of specific knowledge bases (called Vidya) and Concrete ethos-cultural science (called Shastra); or specific knowledge bases such as health science (called Ayurved), Music (called Gandharva ved), Dance (called Natya ved) etc. The plethora of subject matter was offered and imparted in a manner that made the student a ”Deep Generalist” later he was encouraged to learn subjects/ topics/ knowledge bases where the student had immense interest as well as a passion to excel and master it so he becomes a specialist in that field of study. The pundit also ensured that the student was strengthened in all aspects of his being pertaining to the knowledge bases (called Poorn Dridta – complete strengthening). Here the focus was on complete holistic learning that was subjective, objective and experiential (personal experiences as well as experiences of others). Once the student excelled in these he would now be sent under the tutelage of a Purohit.

TUTELAGE OF PUROHIT

Any amount of knowledge gained would be futile if it did not yield benefit to the society. The Purohit imparted knowledge of the society to the student. The student all this while was in the Gurukul devoid of any knowledge about the ways and living of the society. There was hardly any social interaction with people outside the Gurukul (except during Bhiksha). On successful completion of learning and upon exiting from the Gurukul, the student should not be a misfit in the society or much worse become a curse to the society. Thus, the Purohit educated the student on this Science of the Society or social science. This ensured application of the knowledge gained so far for the betterment or good (call Hita in sanskrit)  of the society – be it a village or the place or the nation as a whole (called PURA in Sanskrit) – hence the word PURO-HITA. Once the student excelled in this he finally came under the hood of a GURU who would then guide him under his tutelage.

TUTELAGE OF GURU

The Guru was the last pedestal of the learning process. The Guru never taught, he only activated (called Raudrik roopa) the qualities (called Guna’s) that were already innate in the student. Some needed Satva Guna, while some needed Rajo Guna and some others the Tamo Guna. Here the main focus was to bring balance (Called Rutam in sanskrit) in the physical, ethical, moral and spiritual nature of the student and integrating them (called Samyama in Sanskrit), such that, all the forces maintain the order of his inner self and the other existence (universe). In short the Guru ensured that the student gains mastery over the self and the existence external to the student. Very few gained mastery and excelled in these aspects and those who successfully graduated became Shri Krishna or Adi Shankara, or Madhvacharya or Ramanujacharya and others who left their indelible footprint on the land of Bharat for centuries to come.”  It should be noted that Acharya Drona became Guru Drona; Acharya Sandeepani became Guru Sandeepani etc. so it could be one single individual who would play these roles from that of an Acharya to that of the Guru.

Astonished!! I’m sure all of us are. Ever thought of the existence of such a robust, outcome based education system that possibly existed centuries before we were born? Ever wondered what would we have been if they existed today? Ever imagined the amount of time the parents today are stressed educating their children – getting them to study; forcing them to score well in the examinations; despite schooling in the schools the need to send them to tutorials hoping to see better grades on the marks card of the child???

An observation I have had over time is that

1.         Parents today are primarily focused on the growing grades on the marks sheet and seldom on the development of the child. For them the higher marks is an indicator of child development.
2.      .   Almost all students’ today study to get a job and not become an asset to the nation. Either ways their aim is to get a job (even if its not in his field of study or interest) – here it is the interest on salary that he gets or the money he makes even if it means jeopardizing his ethics, morals and good for the society.
3.    Universities and centers of learning are chosen by the students/ parents looking at the achievement of job placement history that the earlier batches of students were employed and the companies that have employed them rather than what my child would learn and become. They fail to reflect upon the past and fail to understand that the invaders to our countries were primarily looters – what would their schools of learning teach – not entrepreneurship or self-reliance but only slavery or taking shortcuts (easier way out) or cut-throat-ism under the garb or name of modern education. And today we’ve seen the outcome in 8 years post attaining freedom from British rule.

Certainly the ancient system that the saint mentioned was not for EDUCATING people but a process for MAN MAKING. The intricately systematized levels of elevating the student in a manner that he becomes self-reliant, self-administering, self-managed, self-driven and a walking embodiment of distilled complete holistic knowledge coupled with the wisdom to apply for the good of the society, made the student an asset to the nation. This system was meticulously, mercilessly mutilated and systematically wiped out of Bharat by Thomas Babington Macaulay during the British Rule. Today we are at a standpoint where the land of Bharat craves for value driven contributive visionaries enriched in all aspects of the being to reclaim the position of VISHWA GURU to our Motherland. Its time all of us (parents, children, students, educators, entrepreneurs, etc) decide what we want our next generations to be and become – A Jagadguru or a Curse to the world.

It certainly is a food for thought for us to ponder upon on this auspicious occasion of Guru Poornima as we owe it to the ancient gurus for their contribution in the past. Jai GuruDev !!