Guru-Shishya Parampara

Guru Shishya parampara is the ancient Indian system of mentor/teacher and disciple/student lineage in India. It is based on the unwavering faith in the teacher and determination on the behalf of the disciple to make the mentor’s path his own. This relationship is life long and deep. In the field of Indian classical dance and music this relationship is formalized with a ceremony called the “Gandabandhan’. With this ceremony the Guru /teacher formally accepts the student in the   lineage of the gharana the guru comes from. In Urdu the student is also called Shagird. Here the ‘Sha’ stands for the teacher and ‘Gird’ means around. Thus the word Shagird litlerary means one who makes the teacher the center of his or her world. It is a very sensitive and strong bond. We see examples of such strong student teacher relationship in Greek philosophy between Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The relationship between Shri Krishna and Arjun in Bhagvat Gita is fine example of what a Guru-Shishya bond is in Indian philosophy. In the Chritian philosophy we see this fine bond between the Christ and his apostles. In Buddhism this mentor disciple relationship forms one of the pillars of the philosophy example; mentor disciple relationship between Shakyamuni Buddha and Shariputra. In Sufism too, the seeker begins his search by finding a teacher, as the connection to the teacher is considered necessary for the pupil’s growth. Thus we see that though the term “Guru-Shishya”is considered Indian, it does have strong roots all the cultures and philosophies around the world. The bond between the mentor and his disciple is universal. Even in today fast paced modern world we see this bond going strong not only in the field of dance and music but even in sports, science and academics. Everyone has some mentor in their life; it can be a parent, friend, a favorite teacher or coach, spouse or even some stranger who teaches you some valuable lesson in life. But for everyone irrespective to gender class and race our biggest teacher is our life itself.