System of studying of the Vedic scriptures (Gurukul Method)

Today I have come up with a topic which I found very important. This is a topic in which I will discuss the methodology of studying Vedic scriptures. I did a lot of surfing on the internet and found that there are many channels and blogs already existing which are spreading authentic knowledge of Vedas and there are also many more blogs and channels which are spreading fake and corrupt knowledge of the Vedas and Vedic traditions. 

But both of these kinds of channels and blogs are sharing knowledge in such a manner that they look as if they are sharing some kind of news report to their viewers and readers. And at the end of the day, these mediums only raising the level of different types of confusion among people, because in some channels and blogs makers spreading high-level knowledge of Vedic knowledge to their viewers who don't aware of the basics of the concepts which are most needed to understand that high-level knowledge of Vedas. Because people don't aware of the reading methodology of these Vedic Scriptures which is necessary to understand the concepts related to Vedas, this will not only help them to understand the concepts which are spread by authentic channels and blogs but also help to identify the fake and corrupt knowledge of spreaders on the internet. So, without wasting any more time, let's dig into this.

But before that, let's remember and worship all the Jagadgurus and the Jagadgurum that they bless both the reader and writer of this article which is an initiative to enlighten the mind of the readers of this article that they can discriminate between real and corrupt Vedic knowledge.

वसुदेवसुतं देवं कंसचाणूरमर्दनम् , देवकीपरमानन्दं कृष्णं वंदे जगद्गुरुम्||

 Pronunciation:- Vasudeva Sutam Devam ; Kamsa Chanoora Mardanam ; Devaki Paramanandam Krsnam Vande Jagadgurum||

सदाशिव समारम्भाम पंचजगतगुरु यस्य मध्यमाम्

अस्मद आचार्य पर्यन्ताम वंदे गुरु परम्पराम्।।

Pronunciation:- Sadashiva Samarambham PanchaJagadguru Yesya Madhyamam Asmad Acharya Paryantam Vande Guru Paramparam ||

** Here I have changed the main sloka which belongs to Shankaracharya Parampara to fit in the Five Jagadgurus in one sloka.

नमस्ते वर्तमान जगतगुरु युवालम, जगतगुरु पदमआश्रित आचार्यौ ते नमः।। 

Pronunciation:- Namaste Vartamaan Jagadguru jugalam Jagadguru padam aashrit acharou te namah||

Now to worship all of them together, I'm humbly taking shelter of Goswami Tulsi Das's Ramcharitmanas choupai number 1.1.

बंदउ गुरु पद पदुम परागा। सुरुचि सुबास सरस अनुरागा।।

अमिय मूरिमय चूरन चारू। समन सकल भव रुज परिवारू।।

सुकृति संभु तन बिमल बिभूती। मंजुल मंगल मोद प्रसूती।।

जन मन मंजु मुकुर मल हरनी। किएँ तिलक गुन गन बस करनी।।

श्रीगुर पद नख मनि गन जोती। सुमिरत दिब्य द्रृष्टि हियँ होती।।

दलन मोह तम सो सप्रकासू। बड़े भाग उर आवइ जासू।।

उघरहिं बिमल बिलोचन ही के। मिटहिं दोष दुख भव रजनी के।।

Pronunciation:- baṃdau guru pada paduma parāgā. suruci subāsa sarasa anurāgā..amiya mūrimaya cūrana cārū. samana sakala bhava ruja parivārū..sukṛti saṃbhu tana bimala bibhūtī. maṃjula maṃgala mōda prasūtī..jana mana maṃju mukura mala haranī. kiēom tilaka guna gana basa karanī..śrīgura pada nakha mani gana jōtī. sumirata dibya drṛṣṭi hiyaom hōtī..dalana mōha tama sō saprakāsū. baḍaē bhāga ura āvai jāsū..ugharahiṃ bimala bilōcana hī kē. miṭahiṃ dōṣa dukha bhava rajanī kē..  

In the Vedic Parampara, there are two education systems are proposed by Rishis. Both of these have their own environment to share wisdom among the respective alumni of each. I have already shared the categorization of Vedic scriptures in one of the previous articles. I will share that entire categorization in this blog also but before that, we need to understand the basics of the Vedic Parampara.

The two education systems which are proposed by Rishis are...

1. Gram (Safe Eco-system or Close Eco-system)
2. Aranyaka (Open Eco-system) 

The Gurukul Parampara is part of both these systems but with variations or rather I can say that with different interpretations. Because they have different interpretations so their functioning style is also different. I will share both of these but before I need to share the categorization of Vedic scriptures.

There are thousands of scriptures related to Vedic Parampara. But we can categorically represent this. Like...

• Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sam, Atharva, Itihas)
• Vedanga (Jotisha, Kalpa, Vyakaran, Nirukti, Shiksha, Chandas)
• Upa-Vedas (Dhanurved, Ayurved, Gandharvaved, Sthāpatyaved)
• Smiti (Each Rishi has his/her own Smiti but among them Manusmiti is foremost)
• Darshan
• Agam or Tantra-Sastra (Vaisnava Tantra, Shaiva Tantra, Shakta Tantra, Misshra Tantra)
• Sahitya
• Niti Sastra

All these are interlinked with each other and also have furthermore sub-divisions. All these scriptures have two different methods to study, and these two methods are followed by the two eco-systems (Gram, Aranyaka) respectively.   

Now, allow me to describe the two methods independently. The Gurukul system about which we have heard is actually part of the Gram eco-system, where the knowledge is used to share in the sessions of conversation between the Guru and Sissya (Student) in questionary format. In which the Student is used to ask a question and Guru is used to give the reply then another question and another reply. This entire process is used to happen in the Guru Ashram, so the student has to stay in the Guru Ashram for at least 20 years to complete his/her studies after the Upanayanam Sanskara. 

In a brief statement, the Upanayanam Sanskara is a ritualistic process in which the Guru accepts the little boy or girl as his/her disciple until that little boy or girl attains perfection at least in one branch of the Vedic scriptures and because to attain the perfection in one branch of the Vedic scriptures, a student needs 12 years to 20 years of intense study so this process of studying continues for this amount of time. In the Gram Gurukul system, Guru ensures the holistic development of the student. That's why it is considered the best education system even today.

**Only labor generation is not the motto of the Gurukul system.     

In the Aranayak Gurukul system, the process is a little bit different. Here, Guru first takes an examination of the student to check the student's potentiality, which is within the student since his/her birth. And then the Guru delivers the knowledge to that student as per that potentiality of that student. Sometimes, the examination also holds the power to help the student identifies his/her potentiality if that student is unable to recognize that all by himself/herself. In this Gurukul system, potentiality is the key thing to explorer the Vedic wisdom. This is a potential-oriented education system. This education system doesn't hold any pre-define periods to get the knowledge like the Gram education system has.

In the Gram education system potentiality is also explored by the Guru but because the Gram education system is based upon holistic development of the student, so potentiality is not considered as important as it is in the Aranayak education system. Now lets me give an example that will prove and help to understand both these education systems.

The easy and the best example is from the Ramayanam. Here, I will take three sets of Choupai under Doha number(204,209,210) from Goswami Tulsi Das's Ramcharitmanas, Balkand as the evidence for these two concepts which I have discussed above.

 Gram Gurukul education system...

  

भए कुमार जबहिं सब भ्राता। दीन्ह जनेऊ गुरु पितु माता।।

गुरगृहँ गए पढ़न रघुराई। अलप काल बिद्या सब आई।। (1.204)

Pronunciation:- bhaē kumāra jabahiṃ saba bhrātā. dīnha janēū guru pitu mātā.. guragṛhaom gaē paḍhana raghurāī. alapa kāla bidyā saba āī..

Translation:- When Ramchandra along with his younger brothers attain Kumarabastha (entered into the youth phase of life) then their parents organized the Upanayanam Sanskar and gave them the Janeu. After that Shri Ramchandra along with his three younger brothers arrived at the Guru Ashram for study and within few times, they got the expertise on the Vedic scriptures.  

Aranyaka Gurukul education system...

चले जात मुनि दीन्हि दिखाई। सुनि ताड़का क्रोध करि धाई।।

एकहिं बान प्रान हरि लीन्हा। दीन जानि तेहि निज पद दीन्हा।।

तब रिषि निज नाथहि जियँ चीन्ही। बिद्यानिधि कहुँ बिद्या दीन्ही।।

जाते लाग न छुधा पिपासा। अतुलित बल तनु तेज प्रकासा।। (1.209)

Pronunciation:- calē jāta muni dīnhi dikhāī. suni tāḍakā krōdha kari dhāī..ēkahiṃ bāna prāna hari līnhā. dīna jāni tēhi nija pada dīnhā..taba riṣi nija nāthahi jiyaom cīnhī. bidyānidhi kahuom bidyā dīnhī..jātē lāga na chudhā pipāsā. atulita bala tanu tēja prakāsā..

प्रात कहा मुनि सन रघुराई। निर्भय जग्य करहु तुम्ह जाई।।

होम करन लागे मुनि झारी। आपु रहे मख कीं रखवारी।।

सुनि मारीच निसाचर क्रोही। लै सहाय धावा मुनिद्रोही।।

बिनु फर बान राम तेहि मारा। सत जोजन गा सागर पारा।।

पावक सर सुबाहु पुनि मारा। अनुज निसाचर कटकु सँघारा।।

मारि असुर द्विज निर्मयकारी। अस्तुति करहिं देव मुनि झारी।।

तहँ पुनि कछुक दिवस रघुराया। रहे कीन्हि बिप्रन्ह पर दाया।।

भगति हेतु बहु कथा पुराना। कहे बिप्र जद्यपि प्रभु जाना।। (1.210)

Pronunciation:- prāta kahā muni sana raghurāī. nirbhaya jagya karahu tumha jāī..hōma karana lāgē muni jhārī. āpu rahē makha kīṃ rakhavārī..suni mārīca nisācara krōhī. lai sahāya dhāvā munidrōhī..binu phara bāna rāma tēhi mārā. sata jōjana gā sāgara pārā..pāvaka sara subāhu puni mārā. anuja nisācara kaṭaku saomghārā..māri asura dvija nirmayakārī. astuti karahiṃ dēva muni jhārī..tahaom puni kachuka divasa raghurāyā. rahē kīnhi bipranha para dāyā..bhagati hētu bahu kathā purānā. kahē bipra jadyapi prabhu jānā..

Translation:-(1.209) While they are moving via Jungle the Muni had seen the Tarka who was running towards them with a vexation temperament. Only one Baan took away the life of Tarka and considered her as a victim he(Ramchandra) had given her the topmost spiritual place. At that time, Rishi identified his own god in the form of Ramchandra, and he gave the knowledge to already learned one. He(Rishi) had given them the knowledge of how to restrain hunger and thirst. (1.210) In the morning, Ramchandra said to Muni that they can enroll themselves into the Yagya ceremony without any worry. The Muni had started to perform Homam and Ramchandra had been starting to protect that. After hearing the chanting of the mantras, Marich who was the hater of Muni with a companion named Subahu attacked that place. Ramchandra saw Marich and shot him which dragged and dropped Marich across the sea then he aimed and shot Subahu with a fire Baan and his(Ramchandra) younger brother Laxman had already destroyed the army of these two. This way Ramchandra provided peace to the Dwaija present at that place. After this, everybody praised Ramchandra and his younger brother. After this, Ramchandra stayed there a few more times to make Vipra happy. For their own emotional satisfaction, Vipra told different stories to Ramchandra and Ramchandra had listened to them with full concentration though he knew all the stories already.     

                                             In the Aranayak Gurukul system, the Tarka killing and Marich killing are the two examinations where Muni(Viswamitra) examined Ramchandra's and his younger brother's eligibility to pursue the Vedic knowledge which he(Viswamitra) got. That's why Muni gave two different knowledge after these two different incidents happened; In the first one Muni gave knowledge of restraining hunger and thirst and in the second one he revised all the knowledge which Ramchandra had already learned at the Brahmarishi Vashistha's Ashram but he delivered the knowledge in the form of stories. As per the Ramayana, Brahmarishi Vashistha's Ashram is the Gram Gurukul and Brahmarishi Viswamitra's Ashram is the Aranyaka Gurukul. 

Now, I will discuss how these two education systems function. In the Gram Gurukul system, the Gurukul starts when the child takes Janau and leaves for Ashram to stay there until the end of the education which approx takes 12 to 20 years after that student will decide whether he enters into the Grihastya Ashram(Married life) and execute the social life and contribute himself for the welfare of society and then family or will take Sanayash(Renunciation) and continues his studying of Vedas and explore the spiritual realm of the Vedas by executing different intense Sadhanas which are required guidance of Guru. It doesn't mean that spirituality is only for Sanayashis it just means that the intense Sadhanas can only be performed by Sanayashis; it would be very difficult for a Grihasti to perform those intense levels of Sadhanas. That's why in the Vadas two ways are proposed to enter into the spiritual realm of this infinite existence.

1. Prabritti Marg (Path of Entanglement / Path of Association)
2. Nibritti Marg (Path of Abandonment / Path of Abnegation)

The Prabritti Marg is for Grihastha people and Nibritti Marg is for Renunciated people; The Prabritti Marg a kind of path where engagement is part of it, here engagement does not only mean marriage but it also means the association of people or social association with each other to attain a certain goal and the Nibritti Marg is a kind of path where this engagement and association of people is denied by the person who enrolled himself/herself into this path but it also does not mean that the person who chooses this path for self, he/she would totally leave the social association and remain in an isolated region the moment he/she enters into this path, the main purpose this for sure but to attain this state the person slowly discourage the social association to a minimum level until he/she finds himself/herself in a state of mind where he/she can go for the state of isolation where he/she can attain Samadhi(a state from Yog Darshan).

In the Ramanaya, King Sirodwaj Janak is a Prabritti Margi personality but in the same Ramanaya Brahmarishi Viswamitra is Nibritti Margi personality, and both of them attained a high state in the spiritual realm but they both execute different paths for that. Because if the Nibritti Margi Sadhana is tough for a common Grihasti person then it is next to impossible for a King to execute such an intense level Sadhanas while remaining as a King.

In the Gram Gurukul System, after reaching the Guru Ashram, students need to follow a strict set of disciplines. In that set, there are...

• Ahimsa: nonviolence, non-harming other living beings
• Satya: truthfulness, non-falsehood
• Asteya: non-stealing
• Brahmacharya: chastity (marital fidelity or sexual restraint)
• Shaucha: purity, clearness of mind, speech, and body
• Santosha: contentment, acceptance of others, acceptance of one's circumstances as they are to get past or change them, optimism for self
• Tapas: persistence, perseverance, austerity, asceticism, self-discipline
• Svadhyaya: the study of Vedas, the study of self, self-reflection, introspection of self's thoughts, speech, and actions
• Ishvarapranidhana: contemplation of the Ishvara (God/Supreme Being, Brahman, True Self, Unchanging Reality)
• Āsana: posture, seat
• Prāṇāyāma: the control of the breath 

One after another from this set, Guru initiates to his/her students. First Guru tells the importance of these individually and then Guru tells the methods to obey these in real life means the applied version of these along with knowledge of Alphabets and Vyakaran started then slowly the rest of the Vedanga sub-divisions means Jotisha, Kalpa, Nirukti, Shiksha, Chandas. After that, Guru introduces the Samhita section of the Vedas then introduces the Brahmana section followed by the Aranayak section of the Vedas. After that, Upa-Vedas are introduced by the Guru based upon the potentialities in the students. It means that, if one student has certain potentialities which are needed to learn Dhanurved then Guru will teach Dhanurved to that student, and if another student has certain potentialities to learn Ayurved then Guru will teach that student Ayurved. 

Then comes the Smiti section when Guru teaches the written Smiti of that time after that the Darshans are introduced by Guru. In the Darshan section, the chronological order has to follow; so Guru first lectures the Sankhya Darshan then Yog Darshan then Naya Darshan then Vaishashik Darshan then Purba Mimansha and at last the Uttar Mimansha which is also known as Vedanta. The moment Vedanta comes into the picture then Guru introduces the Upanishad section of the Vedas. But because it is not sure that whether the student will take Sanayasha or not, so Guru only focuses on those Upanishads which follow the "Tat Tvam Asi (तत् त्वम् असि)", "Prajñānam Brahma (प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्म)", "Ayam Ātmā Brahma (अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म)" Mahavakyas only not the fourth one, which is "Aham Brahmāsmi (अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि)"; this Mahavakya is only dedicated to Sanayasha Ashram and only for Sanayashis not for rest.

After this, the Itihas Ved comes into the picture which is used to revise each and every concept which Guru has taught to his students till now. The most important thing is after every section the examination is conducted by Guru to check whether the student has learned the concept properly or not if the student fails to satisfy Guru's standard then that student needs to learn that section again until he/she reaches Guru's standard. 

In the Gurukul system, there is no mark-sheet kind of thing, the student doesn't need to obtain a certain mark to show that he/she has passed that subject or discipline; it completely depends upon Guru's level of satisfaction, If the student obtains the expected level of profoundness in that particular section of the Vadas then he/she has passed the examination. The interesting thing in this examination is that Guru gives different tasks to each student and then observes how that student involves himself/herself to solve or fix the task then a viva kind of examination is conducted by Guru where Guru asked random questions to students and students should descriptively answer those questions in a certain manner where they should think that they are the teacher who is about to teach that certain topic which they need to use in their answer to answer the following question which is asked by Guru. It is like an interview session where Guru churns students' intellectual level to its last layer or stage and if a student lack in this process then he/she needs to go through the entire study material once again until that student attain the proper intellectual cognition on that section of the Vadas.

Aranayak Gurukul system functions in a different manner. In this system, the student has to pass an entrance examination first then he/she is allowed to enter into the gurukul. After that, to get the particular knowledge of a particular section of the Vedas, students need to face an entrance examination before enrolling in that section to acquire knowledge. This examination is a kind of examination where Guru tests the potentialities of that student for the next section and what that student has learned in his/her already enrolled section of the Vedas. But at the beginning, Guru only checks the potentiality of the student from which Guru starts giving education to that student. This system is only used for higher education where a student already has a basic understanding of language including the grammar of that language. This system is to generate perfectionists in one or more sections of the Vedas. Precision and perfection are very important for this education system. That's why it becomes very hard for a student to continue in this system for a long educational journey but it is also true that the students who passed out from this system are the experts in their studied section of the Vedas. This system also follows a set of disciplines, which includes...

• Satya: truthfulness, non-falsehood
• Asteya: non-stealing
• Brahmacharya: chastity (marital fidelity or sexual restraint)
• Shaucha: purity, clearness of mind, speech, and body
• Tapas: persistence, perseverance, austerity, asceticism, self-discipline
• Svadhyaya: the study of Vedas, the study of self, self-reflection, introspection of self's thoughts, speech, and actions
• Āsana: posture, seat
• Prāṇāyāma: the control of the breath
• Pratyāhāra: withdrawing
• Dhāraṇā: concentration or introspective focus and one-pointedness of mind
• Dhyāna: contemplation, reflection and "profound, abstract meditation"  

These are two kinds of gurukul systems proposed by Rishis for two different kinds of scenarios or situations. Garm Gurukul system is best for a child to begin his/her educational journey after a certain point of time he/she can enroll himself or herself into the Aranayak system for profound and precise knowledge in one or two sections of the Vedas to become a perfectionist in that or those sections respectively. 

Q. Now, what will that person be like who does not enroll himself or herself into any of these mentioned Gurukul systems of the Vedas to acquire the Vedic knowledge?  

Ans:- The knowledge of that person will be fragile in nature or will be questionable. The method of sharing knowledge will only spread superstitions, confusions among people. Because the knowledge in the Vedas and Vedic scriptures are interlinked with each other; if a person having the knowledge about a concept from the Vedic scriptures is unable to link that knowledge with the rest of the portion of the Vedic wisdom then that knowledge is nothing but a cognitive illusion.

Q. In the GyanBharatha blog, what kind of method is used to write down each and every article?

Ans:- In this blog, I used a combination of both these education systems where I use Grammer and Language as a prime factor to explain the concept at the beginning and then I explain the rest of the layers of the slokas and mantras. I try my level best to provide knowledge in an organized way where the reader gets a complete understanding of the topic and he/she can relate that knowledge with future articles of this blog and also in the practical life of their own. My main focus is to provide Vedic knowledge in an applied model where people can use that in real-time.

Thank You       

** I will write a different article on Upanayalam Sanskar where I will discuss the importance of Sola (16) Sanskaras in Vedic Parampara. Though it is related still I can not cover this topic in this blog because this is a different topic under Vedic Parampara.  

** I will also discuss the Guru Parampara of Vedic Parampara but in a different article. Because it is a vast topic which demands separate article for itself.