Do we need a Guru?

Do we need a Guru (teacher)? I think, yes, we do, not one but many. Actually, we have teachers everywhere around us, we just have to look around. There are so many things people around us can teach us directly or indirectly. We have to be open to ideas and try to grasp whatever good we see. People often expect that they will meet or find someone in life who will be their real 'Guru' who will be able to answer all their questions and solve their problems. Whereas its not wrong to have such expectations, but very often it is not easy to find such a person and we also don't know where to search for such a Guru, and everyone is not so lucky to meet them. Many times we get so focused in our search that we tend to miss many nice things that we come across during our search. We become so focused on the target that we forget to look around and fail to notice many beautiful things along the way. It's good to be focused but at the same time, we should not miss many beautiful things in our lives.

In Mahabharat, there are some interesting stories about the teacher-student relationship. I want to mention here the story of Ekalavya. He was the son of a tribal chief, he belonged to a hunting tribe but he wanted to become a warrior. At that time society was divided into four classes (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras). People from the fourth section (Shudras) were not treated equally with the other three sections of society. They were discriminated against because of their profession. Maybe the original intention was noble for this division but it resulted in a horrible caste system and untouchability in Hindu society, I am against such division and discrimination. Ekalavya was born as a shudra, but he wanted to become an archer/warrior. Skills required for archery were taught by very professional and talented teachers often belonging to the Brahmin section of society. Ekalavya was determined to become the best archer in the world, so he started learning on his own without anyone's guidance. His aim was to acquire as much knowledge as he could on his own so that when he asks any teacher for their guidance it would be impossible for them to reject him (because of his talent). He knew that his 'varna' (shudra) wouldn't make it easy for him to get admission to any Gurukul. He wanted to be a discipline of Dronacharya, who was a very celebrated martial arts teacher for Kuru princes (Kaurav and Pandav) and was considered one of the best in the world. Drona was impressed with his talent but he refused to accept him as his student, he rejected him because of his 'varna', and Ekalavya's talent didn't help him. This rejection was disheartening for Ekalavya, but he didn't give up, he was determined to achieve his goal. So, he went to the forest, made a statue of Drona, and in front of that statue practiced his skills in archery. He got all the inspiration he needed from that statue. He continued learning on his own and soon became a very expert archer. News of his great skills spread everywhere. Drona wanted his favorite student Arjun to become the best archer in the world. Arjun was very skillful and one of the best archers but Drona wanted his favorite student to be 'the best'. During their next meeting, Ekalavya credited Drona for all the knowledge he acquired and called him his guru even though he didn't directly learn from him. Drona really impressed by the progress of Ekalavya surprisingly asks for his right thumb as a 'gurudakshina' (sort of a tuition fee). Ekalavya like an obedient student complied with Drona's demand without any protest and in turn, destroyed his prospect of becoming the best archer in the world. There are so many theories on why Drona did that, some justify his action, some criticize, but he definitely failed here as a Guru of Ekalavya.

This is a very interesting story where we see a dedicated student, his search for a Guru, his dedication towards his Guru even after getting rejected, his thirst for knowledge, and his achievements. Then there is also this "Guru," one of the best in the world, who acts very selfishly and destroys the life of one of his talented students for the benefit of his favorite student. This story is a unique mix of dedication, determination of the student, and selfishness and betrayal of his Guru. This is a very sad story but there are many lessons to learn from this story. There is no doubt that we need a teacher, a guide, or a mentor who can inspire us, guide us, and help us to acquire the required knowledge and skills. Teacher-student is a very important relationship, commitment and dedication should be from both sides, it doesn't work if it's only from one side (only from the student or from the teacher). Students and teachers both have responsibilities to fulfill towards each other, only one-way dedication can produce very disastrous consequences like it did in the story of Ekalavya. For Arjun guru like Drona was a blessing but the same guru proved to be a curse for Ekalavya. So, we should be careful while selecting our Guru and should never surrender our loyalty without serious consideration.

Sometimes our wait for the right Guru can be endless, if he/she has to come they will come but no need to wait for that. One of the lessons from this story is that we can learn a lot on our own, from people who inspire us, or from books. Almost everybody around us including kids, adults, books, internet all have something to teach us, the only problem is whether we want to learn from them or not. It's very difficult to find one person who can acquire and deliver knowledge from all the fields to us. Some people are very good in science, some in maths, some in history, some in psychology, some in medicine, and some in philosophy or religious studies or something else. Every field is exploding with knowledge, we are inventing or discovering new things every day. One person can not specialize in all fields but it's always nice to have some general knowledge about other fields apart from our specialization, it definitely helps. There are some advantages as well as some risks involved in surrendering totally to one person and believing all his/her teachings blindly. Wherever we feel doubt we should ask questions. A good teacher won't mind honest questions from students. Asking questions is a very important part of being a student and very often we forget that. Asking our doubts or putting forward our hypothesis (even if it doesn't match with our teacher's hypothesis) is not an insult to our teacher, rather it's a part of the learning process for both, the teacher as well as the student. Actually, the teacher is also a student but in an advanced stage compared to his/her students. The aim of the teacher (Guru) should be to bring students to their level and then inspire them to go for a higher level. Ideally, there should not be a clash of egos between a student and a teacher.

We should not restrict ourselves because of our age, religion, gender, or anything else to acquire knowledge, it is an endless process. We don't learn only in school or college but our life itself is like a school where we learn new things every day. We need the knowledge to overcome our ignorance, to understand things in a better way, Wayne Dyer said "The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about". Our generation is lucky to see such a huge transition in a system of acquiring and distributing knowledge. We have this great tool, the Internet, which has made it very easy to learn and share things. We should keep our minds open to everything, learn as much as we can, and use those things in real life. Knowledge remains only a piece of information unless it's utilized for the betterment of oneself and society. Life is a unique school, it first takes an exam and then teaches a lesson, sometimes it's hard but we should not miss the lesson. Knowledge is more important, not its source. Let's try to learn new things and also share our knowledge with each other. Knowledge and happiness are the only things that multiply even after sharing. Let's share and care.

Thanks for reading and please share your comments.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)