| The importance of finding a guru who can impart | | | | a guru is one's spiritual guide on earth. In some more |
| transcendental knowledge (vidya) is one of the | | | | mystical traditions, it is believed that the guru could |
| tenets of Hinduism. One of the main Hindu texts, the | | | | awaken dormant spiritual knowledge within the pupil. |
| Bhagavad Gita, is a dialogue between God in the | | | | The act of doing this is known as shaktipat. |
| form of Krishna and Arjuna a nobleman. Not only | | | | In Hinduism, the guru is considered a respected |
| does their dialogue outline many of the ideals of | | | | person with saintly qualities who enlightens the mind |
| Hinduism, but the discussion and relationship between | | | | of his or her disciple, an educator from whom one |
| the two considered to be an expression of the ideal | | | | receives the initiatory mantra, and one who instructs |
| Guru/disciple relationship. In the Gita itself, Krishna | | | | in rituals and religious ceremonies. The Vishnu Smriti |
| speaks of the importance of finding a guru to Arjuna: | | | | and Manu Smriti regard the teacher, along with the |
| Acquire the transcendental knowledge from a | | | | mother and the father, as the most venerable gurus |
| Self-realized master by humble reverence, by sincere | | | | (teachers) of an individual. |
| inquiry, and by service. The wise ones who have | | | | Some influential gurus in the Hindu tradition (there |
| realized the Truth will impart the Knowledge to you. | | | | have been many) include Adi Shankaracharya, Shri |
| (Bhagavad Gita, c4 s34) | | | | Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and Shri Ramakrishna. Other |
| In the sense mentioned above, guru is used more or | | | | gurus whose legacy of continuing the Hindu yogic |
| less interchangeably with "satguru" (literally: true | | | | tradition grew in the 20th century were men like Shri |
| teacher) and satpurusha. Compare also Swami. The | | | | Ram Chandra, Shri Aurobindo Ghosh, Shri Ramana |
| disciple of a guru is called a chela. Often, a guru lives | | | | Maharshi, Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati (The |
| in an ashram or in a gurukula (the guru's household) | | | | Sage of Kanchi), Swami Sivananda, Swami |
| together with his disciples. The lineage of a guru, | | | | Chinmayananda and A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami |
| spread by worthy disciples who carry on that guru's | | | | Prabhupada. See also the list of Hindu gurus. |
| particular message, is known as the guru parampara | | | | In Indian culture, someone not having a guru or a |
| or disciplic succession. | | | | teacher (acharya) was once looked down upon as |
| In the traditional sense, the word guru describes a | | | | being an orphan, and as under a sign of misfortune. |
| relationship rather than an absolute and is used as a | | | | The word anatha in Sanskrit means "the one without |
| form of address only by a disciple addressing his | | | | a teacher". An acharya is the giver of gyan |
| master. Some Hindu denominations like BAPS | | | | (knowledge) in the form of shiksha (instruction). A |
| Swaminarayan Sanstha hold that a personal | | | | guru also gives diksha initiation which is the spiritual |
| relationship with a living guru, revered as the | | | | awakening of the disciple by the grace of the guru. |
| embodiment of God, is essential in seeking moksha. | | | | Diksha is also considered to be the procedure of |
| The guru is the one who guides his or her disciple to | | | | bestowing the divine powers of a guru upon the |
| become jivanmukta, the liberated soul able to achieve | | | | disciple, through which the disciple progresses |
| salvation in his or her lifetime through God-realization. | | | | continuously along the path to divinity. |
| The role of the guru continues in the original sense of | | | | The origin of concept of "guru" can be traced as far |
| the word in such Hindu traditions as the Vedanta, | | | | back as the early Upanishads, where the conception |
| yoga, tantra and bhakti schools. Indeed, it is now a | | | | of the Divine Teacher on earth first manifested from |
| standard part of Hinduism (as defined by the six | | | | its early Brahmin associations. |
| Vedic streams and the tantric agamic streams), that | | | | |