The oldest references to the concept of the guru are found in the earliest Vedic texts of Hinduism. In pan-Indian traditions, guru is more than a teacher, in Sanskrit the guru means the one who dispels the darkness and takes towards light, traditionally a reverential figure to the student, with the guru serving as a “counselor, who helps mold values, shares experiential knowledge as much as literal knowledge, an exemplar in life, an inspirational source and who helps in the spiritual evolution of a student”.
Gurukul
The guru and gurukul – a school run by guru were an established tradition in India by the 1st millennium BCE, and these helped compose and transmit the various Vedas, the Upanishads, texts of various schools of Hindu philosophy, and post-Vedic Shastras ranging from spiritual knowledge to various arts. By about mid 1st millennium CE, archaeological and epigraphical evidence suggest numerous larger institutions of gurus existed in India, some near Hindu temples, where guru and shishya (student) tradition helped preserve, create and transmit various fields of knowledge. These gurus led broad ranges of studies including Hindu scriptures, Buddhist texts, grammar, philosophy, martial arts, music, and painting.
Spiritual Guru
In Hinduism, a guru is a personal spiritual teacher. In ancient India, knowledge of the Vedas (a body of liturgical literature) was transmitted orally from guru to pupil. The rise of the bhakti movement, which emphasizes the love of devotees for a personal god, further increased the importance of gurus, who were often looked on as living embodiments of spiritual truth and were identified with the deity. Gurus prescribe spiritual disciplines to their devotees, who follow their dictates in a tradition of service and obedience. Men or women may be gurus, though generally, only men have established lineages.
The Guru is an ancient and central figure in the traditions of Hinduism. The ultimate liberation, contentment, freedom in the form of moksha and inner perfection is considered achievable in the Hindu belief by two means: with the help of guru, and with evolution through the process of karma including rebirth in some schools of Hindu philosophy. At an individual level in Hinduism, the Guru is many things, including being a teacher of skills, a counselor, one who helps in the birth of mind and realization of one’s soul, who instils values and experiential knowledge, an exemplar, an inspiration and who helps guide a student’s (śiṣya) spiritual development. At a social and religious level, the Guru helps continue the religion and Hindu way of life. Guru thus has a historic, reverential and important role in the Hindu culture.