Valmiki’s Conception of Teacher-Pupil

VALMIKI’S CONCEPTION OF TEACHER - PUPIL RELATIONSHIP

In his marvellous portrayal of the relationship between Viswamitra as Guru and Rama as pupil Valmiki with his impeccable psychological insight touched upon all the basic elements and all human chords which constitute such a deep vibrant relationship. The very words Guru and Sishya indicate explicitly the immense hidden potentiality. The term Guru primarily means the dispeller of darkness or ignorances: ‘andhakaranirodhitvtat gururitabhideyate’ and ‘Sisya’ is one who is to be disciplined and trained into an enlightened personality: “Sasanarhaha”. The upanishadic prayer to the Lord by both the preceptor and the disciple together brings out in no uncertain terms the full force, the traction, the extent and the nature of the close organic affinity of both:

“sahanavavatu, saaanau bhunaktu,
sahaveeryam karavavahai,
tejasvinavavadheetamastu,
maavidvishavaha.”

“May He protect us both. May He give us both to enjoy. May we grow strong and attain vigour together. Let what we study be invigorating.” Our ancients were awe-struck with its vital character that in the exuberance of their imagination they gave to this relationship a strange yet telling biological turn, “acharyayonimiha ye pravisya bhutva garbham brahmacharyam charanti”. The pupil is metaphorically described as conceived, growing and developing in the womb of the Acharya, to be delivered at the termination of the gestation period. The idea is that the teacher is to be large-hearted, sympathetic, kind and love incarnate, with an abundance of culture as said in Viveka Chudamani by Sankara as “Santam Mahantam”, “Dayasindhum Gurum”, with an irrepressible, earnestness to disseminate that culture among his pupils. It is this magnificent concept of perceptorship and pupilage that is envisaged and illustrated in the splendid Viswamitra episode in the Ramayana.

Viswamitra exemplified in his life all the virtues of a sublime Teacher. He had understood the meaning and the entire gamut of human life and the scheme of the universe. He had realised that a Teacher to be true to his vocation, should first himself be a living example of what he teaches, should be an active and profound force ever ready to shoulder his share of creative responsibility. So, step by step, with an unparalleled strength of will and purpose, he had pursued the path of self- conquest, purged himself of the evil elements in his life, overcame temptations one after the other and at length succeeded in metamorphosing himself into a mighty “Brahmarshi”, a mighty spiritual force, by an intense process of’ inner evolution.

With rare intuitive insight, Viswamitra the glorious teacher perceived that Sri Rama, ‘the prince charming’, the heir-apparent to the Ikshvaku Raj, was an institute by himself in the context of the traditional political climate of the day, and that by training him into a first-rate dynamic personality, he would be rendering immense service to the entire society. If the sovereign part of the body politic is sound, the entire body politic wouldbe sound: “Yatha rajaa tathaa prajaaha”.

Not for money, not for fame, did Viswamitra undertake this noble task; but to discharge his social obligation as a custodian of culture. What an inspiring lesson to his counterpart in modern times!

Accordingly we find Viswamitra proceeding to Dasaratha’s court to take Sri Rama along with him, only to do him infinite good by disciplining into a “Poornapurusha” a perfect man, as can be seen from the far-seeing counsel of Vasishta to Dasaratha “tava putrahitarthaya tvamupetya abiyachate”.

Next we see Viswamitra on the banks of the Sarayu, initiating Sri Rama into the twin sciences of Bala and Atibala and creating a climate congenial for the development of Sri Rama’s personality in full. As a sound healthy physical organism is an essential prerequisite for the attainment of the proper goal of human life, Viswamitra first took care of the bodily fitness of his pupil.

The poet in this context very rightly lays particular emphasis on another factor of special significance in the Teacher-pupil relationship, namely that a teacher should not impart learning without first satisfying himself as to the competence, moral as well as intellectual, of the pupil. Viswamitra initiated Sri Rama into the master sciences of Bala and Atibala, only after he was satisfied as to the fitness of Sri Rama in every respect, with the full hope and confidence, that Sri Rama would spread the knowledge imparted to him for the good of the world.

Viswamitra was not content with merely teaching his pupil the ways of cleanliness and purity, the ways of the culture of the body and mind. With the intuitive vision of a sage, he saw that mere theoritical learning unaccompanied by practice, mere intellectual specialisation without moral and spiritual culture is a great danger to society: “saaksharo vipareeratve raakshaso bhavati dhruvam” (An inverted literate is a veritable demon). The intellectual and the ethico-spiritual are the two significant complementary sides of man’s real culture, the obverse and the reverse so to speak of the coin of human personality. Man’s life on this earth without solid spiritual and ethical foundations would be ‘a mere sound and fury signifying nothing’. Thus on the very second day of his journey we find Viswamitra waking up the sweet little sleeping prince in the early hours of the morning and exhorting him to perform “Sandhya”, which term in a nutshell, means and includes the entire gamut of the marvellous process of awakening the immense spiritual potentialities in man. Man is a profound composite amalgam of animality, rationality and divinity, of body, mind and spirit, everyone of which requires full nutriment, in order that the entire human personality might evolve in all its pristine purity and majesty. The body is to be nourished and kept fit by food and exercise, the intellect by education and arts, and the spirit by religious and moral discipline. It is the spiritual aspect of education that is emphasised in the famous verse of the poet, which deserves to be enshrined in letters of gold:

“Kausalya suprajaa rama poorva
sandhyaa pravartate
uttishta nara saardula kartavyam
daivamaashnikam”.

Next we see Viswamitra creating conditions and facilities for Sri Rama to enter into the society of the intellectual elite of the day, the Rishis that lived in Ashramas. The Rishis were the custodians of the cultural traditions of our country, and the torch-bearers of spiritual light, who had dedicated their lives to the cultural service of humanity. If Sri Rama developed loyalties and devotion to the high ideals of Dharma and if, in the felicitous language of Valmiki, Sri Rama was a living embodiment of Dharma “Yesha yigrahavan dharmaha”, it was largely because of his association with personalities of high intellectual, moral and spiritual stature. A conversation even for a while with a wise man is of far greater value than a long course of self-study.

We thus find that the salient features of the Teacher-Pupil relationship as conceived by Valmiki stands exemplified in the lives of Viswamitra and Sri Rama. The teachers and the taught, according to the Valmikian educational idealism, ought to constitute a sort of sacred corporation where appropriate facilities for the evolution of human personality in full should exist. A great nation can be built only in educational corporations of this kind. The dictum that man-making is the function of a university, is verified in the Teacher-Pupil relationship of Viswamitra and Sri Rama.