The Teacher

[Guest guest]

The Teacher

 

Dr. N.V. Koteswara Rao, 5.10.2007

 

Every one is a teacher in a sense, from some we learn what to do and

from others what not to.

 

All of us had teachers from whom we learnt what to do. We equally

learnt what not to do from other teachers.

 

A teacher is a source of enlightenment to a student. A teacher

commands respect during his life time from his old students. As per

our Hindu tradition, the student would offer Tilodakams and Sraadha

for his teachers during Mahalaya Paksham, along with his parents and

forefathers. This shows that a teacher is given the position of

one's own " pitruDevatas " .

 

The role of a teacher is significantly different from that of a

parent. Parents only provide the circumstances necessary to nurture

the child in different aspects of life. They are the first teachers

of the child. They try to convince the child by different methods

and means as to understand what is right and what is wrong in life.

Morals are learnt from the parents, to start with. It is because of

this role the parents play they become godly to the child. Thus a

teacher has the godly role to play whether he/she happens to be the

parent of the child or not.

 

To live up to the position of a teacher one should develop godly

qualities. The role of a teacher is thus very sacred. We celebrate

Gurupoornima to express our gratefulness to our teachers and to the

teacher community and its lineage. The teacher's lineage starts with VedaVyasa

Mahrshi. Vasishta and Viswamitra were the teachers of Lord SriRama. Lord

SriKrishna taught SrimadBhagvadGita to Arjuna and

enlightened him to perform his duty in the battlefield protecting him against

falling into Moha. Suka Maharshi taught SrimadBhagavatam to Parikshat Maharaj

enlightening him with the different aspects of

life, creation, the Creator and the insignificance of the human being and the

supremacy of the Divine will. Narada Maharshi taught

SrimadRamayana to Valmiki Maharshi which was expanded by Valmiki

Maharshi with more details. Narada Maharshi enlightened Vedavyasa

that he would get peace of mind only if he writes about the

BhagatKathalu to inculcate Bhakti in the people. Any amount of

writing about Morals through the stories of MahaBaharat would not

give him peace of mind but only writing about the Lord will give him

solace. Thus a timely suggestion is also a great teaching.

 

Agastya Maharshi came to the rescue of Lord SriRama during his

battle with Ravana when Ravana was not being killed in spite of Lord

SriRama's efforts. He suggested to Lord SriRama to pray to the

SunGod through Aditya Hrudaya paraayanam. Lord SriRama immediately

did so and later killed Ravana.

 

Teacher is one who practices and then helps others practice the same. This is

applicable in all fields of learning. One great teacher who was requested to

instruct a child not to eat jaggary took one month to practice not to eat

jaggary himself before he instructed the child. That was Ramakrishna Parama

Hamsa. Thus any conscious teacher has to practice and experience before he

starts teaching. This produces a great amount of confidence in the student and

produces learning in him quickly. Otherwise the student would be having a mental

barrier when he sees a contradiction from what the teacher says and what he

practices. This will be of great hindrance to the learning process.

 

A good teacher would anticipate questions from the student and would

answer them from the level of understanding of the student. Unless

he clears all the doubts of the student he wouldn't proceed to the

next part of the lesson. The teacher should encourage the questions

and answer them fully to the proper understanding of the student to

produce learning in him.

 

Lord Srikirshna answered various questions raised freely and frankly

by Arjuna. Arjuna as an exceptionally good student didn't restrain

himself in asking embarrassing questions. Lord SriKrishna answered

all of them without getting offended. He gave Arjuna the vision to

see His Universality and to understand the truth in his statements.

It is the confidence of the teacher and his readiness to answer any

question by the student that produces learning. It demands a great

amount of work from the teacher. Nowhere we notice Lord Krishna

reprimanding Arjuna belittling his questions. This calls for a great amount of

patience on the part of the teacher. Anger not only

discourages the student but would obstruct learning. After getting

convinced of Lord Srikrishna's teachings Arjuna fought the battle

with the continued guidance and assistance of Lord SriKrishna. As

would happen usually with a student, Arjuna asked Lord SriKrishna to

repeat BhagavadGita once again later after the war. Lord SriKrishna

again covered the aspects without any grouse or grudge. That is a

very important aspect of a good teacher. The aim of the teacher is

to produce learning in the student, at any cost. He should be

prepared to repeat it or reorient it or bring in newer examples which would

illustrate the points to the student clearly.

 

Thinking produces learning. The teacher should provide for free

thinking by the student. The teacher should encourage the student to analyse and

understand rather than to force a concept on him. The

teacher should have the openness to accept the view point of the

student and clarify its validity.