THE GURU IN HINDU TRADITION

JOEL D. MLECKO

Introduction

A striking perception for a student of religions is the universal in- sistence that instruction by an adept teacher is necessary for development in the spiritual life. This insistence is especially vivid with regard to the guru in the traditions of Hinduism. With the variety implicit in Hindu social and religious life and with the lack of an unified hierarchical organization, the individual guru as religious teacher plays an important role in the transmis- sion and development of the Hindu religious tradition, from the passing on of religious knowledge to being himself a locus for worship. It is a general Hindu belief that only through evolution (karma and reincarnation) and through education within the guru system is a person perfectible. For Hindus, religion is manifested or em- bodied in the continuing, successive presence of the guru. It is the guru who reveals the meaning of life; he is the immediate, incarnate exemplar in life, and as such, the guru is an inspirational source for the Hindu. The basic strengths of the guru's role are such that guruhood is the oldest form of religious education still extant. An understanding of guruhood, therefore, is of paramount importance in any consideration of the Hindu traditions. The pan-Indian, Sanskrit term "guru" has a cluster of meanings with significance beyond that of the English translation, "teacher." Gu means "ignorance" and ru, "dispeller. " The guru is a dispeller of ignorance, all kinds of ignorance; thus, there are gurus not only for specifically spiritual development but also for dancing, music, wrestling, and other skills. The term "guru" also means "heavy" or "weighty" and might well illustrate the belief that accomplished or holy persons are characterized by an uncommon weight. Jan Gonda states that "it must primarily have described the man who on account of his 34 special knowledge and function was held to be a bearer of power 1 conspicuous by his prestige, 'weight', and influence."' It is also maintained, though not commonly, that "guru" is derived from the Sanskrit root giri, meaning "one who calls." Kir- pal Singh writes: "Thus he who always hears this (divine) call within himself, and is devotedly attached to the call and can make it manifest in others is described...as Guru. "2 2 If the word "guru" means many things, it is because the guru is many things. He is an entity which in Western culture has no exact counterpart. For the guru is a teacher, counselor, father-image, mature ideal, hero, source of strength, even divinity integrated into one personality. Primarily, however, the guru is the personal teacher of spirituality, that is, of the basic, ultimate values per- ceived within the Hindu tradition. Further, the guru possesses ex- periential knowledge, not only intellectual knowledge, of these values. In a word, the guru is indispensable for spiritual develop- ment. In early Hinduism he was a vital factor in imparting Vedic knowledge; in later thought the guru became the visible embodi- ment of truth and in some cases he was worshipped as an incarnate deity.

The Guru In Vedic and Upanisadic Literature

In his earliest role the guru was a teacher of the Vedas and the various skills needed for their study, such as grammar, metrics, etymology, and mnemonics. By means of a question and answer dialogue, the guru led the fijya or student-seeker-devotee into philosophical and spiritual inquiry. In this process, the use of books was rare; knowledge was orally transmitted; the interpersonal dimension of education was highly regarded. Further, great impor- tance was attached to the proper accent and pronunciation in the Vedic recitation; these could be correctly learned only from a pro- perly qualified teacher. Thus the guru was indispensable since he was the repository of the people's ultimate knowledge and right action as recorded in the Vedas. The guru was generally a Brahman and his students were a very select group drawn from Brahman, Ksatriya and Vaisya families. In ancient India these students ideally lived within the gurukula or the