In a recent culture spat involving many persons, one of the correspondents demanded that she was wrongly addressed as a teacher, when she should have been called the guru! It is this that has led me to revisit the concept of guru, especially as is understood in Bharatanatyam.
The Guru Geeta contains a beautiful shloka describing qualities of a guru (one who leads and shows the light): Chaitanyam Shashwatham Shantam Vyomaateetam Niranjanam/ Nadabindu-Kalateetam Tasmai Shree Guruve Namah. Paraphrase: I bow to my teacher who is the supreme spirit, who is eternal and benign; who is beyond sound, line and art. Salutations to thee!
The guru is vested with incredible responsibilities. As the role model and as one who knows, it is up to the guru to enlighten disciples. The Sanskrit roots of the word Gu-Ru implies one who chases away darkness! In a world where role models are far and few between, the guru’s importance cannot be overemphasised. The guru leads the way, shows the path. And most importantly, awakens in disciples the ability to gauge between right and wrong, between good and bad, and between acceptable norms and eschew- able norms.
In our world of globalisation, when material things acquire luminosity and values are at a discount, the teacher who shows the path to eternal values needs to be celebrated.
But the key factor is that gurudom is not a title, it is a feeling bestowed by the student on the teacher. When the student feels that the path has been revealed, then the teacher is voluntarily ascribed the status of a guru by the shishya. Thus, gurus do not exist in the abstract. Any guru is always within the context of his/her disciples.
I have had the good fortune of learning classical dance from gurus who were also wonderful and warm human beings. They gave willingly not only their technical skills in dance, but veritably a part of themselves, their feelings, thoughts and values. I imbibed these at my own pace, fully immersed in their sacred offering. Learning the art was entirely without stakes; it was learning for the sake of learning alone!
Values or traditional arts cannot be transmitted through time-bound courses, workshops and syllabi; they can only be transmitted through the best Indian practice of shruti and smriti. Hear and memorise, see and follow; be led only by example. The fascinating process of traditional transmission of art frequently engaged the imagination, and strengthened the mind and tempered the character. It was a complex and highly evolved system. There were no external exams, no fixed terms in which to acquire knowledge; each student acquired knowledge and progressed at the individual pace, with only the guru as arbiter.
Such processes are today extant only in the Indian performing arts; in both dance and music, these age-old traditions have continued. Time-tested and true, they are the best proof of our unique system of transmitting knowledge. They enshrine the role of the teacher—one who instigates creativity and original thinking. The guru is thus vested with great responsibility. The best prayer that a guru can offer is found in the Devibhagwatham, IX-9, and is dedicated to Saraswati, Goddess of knowledge: “Jnaanam Dehi Smritim Dehi Vidyaam Vidyaadhidevathe/ Pratishtham Kavitham Dehi Shakti Shishyaprabodhikaam.” Paraphrase: O Saraswati, Goddess of learning, grant me knowledge, grant me memory, grant me learning, reputation and poetry, and the power to enlighten disciples.
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