The Teacher's Parting Counsel

Photo by Santiago Pinto

From the Taittiriya Upanishad with Dr. H. V. Nagaraj Rao

The first section of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, the Śikṣāvallī, contains a passage near its close that any student will recognize. The texts have all been taught. The student has completed his education in the gurukula, the teacher's household, and he is about to return to his parents, his town, and a life of his own. Before he goes, the teacher speaks to him one last time.

In our third class on the Upaniṣad, Dr. H. V. Nagaraj Rao compared this passage to the address given at a convocation, or what we call a commencement address in America. It concerns the life the student is about to enter: how to live so that one's life is fruitful and peaceful.

Speak the Truth, Follow Dharma

The teacher begins simply. Satyaṃ vada, dharmaṃ cara: speak the truth, and follow dharma. Then he warns against carelessness, pramāda, in every area that matters. We should not be careless about truth. We should not stray from the just ways of dharma. We should not be careless about our own welfare, kuśala, because this life is precious. It is only through this life that we are able to study and come to understand Brahman.

Even wealth is honoured here. The Upaniṣad does not ask us to despise the world. To gain wealth is helpful, and when it comes we should be attentive to it and use it well.

The teacher also asks the student not to cut off the line of children. We were born from our parents, and the continuity of a family is a sacred thing. It deserves our time and care.

Study Until the Last Breath

Svādhyāyān mā pramadaḥ: never be inattentive to study. Dr. Rao was clear that this does not end with graduation. A person should be engaged in gaining knowledge until the last moment of life.

Alongside study comes pravacana, sharing what we have learned. We should not be careless in giving knowledge to those who seek it. What we have received is meant to pass on.

Nor should we forget our debts to the devas, the powers of nature, and to the pitṛs, our ancestors. It is because of them that we have this body, this mind, this intellect, and every ability we use.

Mother, Father, Teacher and Guest

Then come four instructions: mātṛdevo bhava, pitṛdevo bhava, ācāryadevo bhava, atithidevo bhava.

Consider your mother as God. Her sacrifices are immense, and everything we have, our education, our abilities, our very growing up, rests on them. Before any other god, we honour our mother.

Next to the mother is the father. He guides us through childhood, educates us, and shows us how to live.

Then comes the ācārya, the teacher. Our parents gave us life; the teacher gives us knowledge and makes the mind able and noble. He is the next layer of divinity in our lives.

And last, the atithi, the guest who arrives without notice. Whoever comes to our home should be received as divine, with a seat, with food and water, with whatever we are able to offer, given attentively.

Follow Only What Is Good

The teacher says, yāny asmākaṃ sucaritāni, tāni tvayopāsyāni, no itarāṇi: only those things that are good in us should you follow, and not the others.

No teacher is perfect in every way. A teacher may give a great deal of knowledge and still carry faults of his own. If the teacher smokes, the student need not smoke. The student is asked to have discernment: to take up what is faultless and leave the rest. And this discernment does not cancel respect. We can see a teacher's shortcomings and still hold him with compassion and gratitude. What we pass on to our own students should be only the good.

The teacher applies this same standard to himself. The counsel extends to the world at large. Wherever we see good actions, such as people helping the weak and the unfortunate, those are the actions to follow.

Respect for Those Senior in Knowledge

When a scholar who is senior to us in learning and experience arrives, we should offer the seat first and remain standing until he is seated. Whatever the customs of our own place may be, the inner attitude is the same: complete respect.

How to Give

Śraddhayā deyam: give with faith. Never give with contempt or carelessness. Dr. Rao said that not giving at all is better than giving contemptuously. Give according to your means. Give with hrī, a gentle humility that asks whether what we offer is truly worthy. Give with saṃvid, with understanding and consideration for the person receiving it. Whatever we give, we should give our best, with a pure heart.

When Doubt Arises

Doubts will come to all of us. Is this the right thing to do? Is my conduct just? Doubts about our choices, our character, and our decisions arise in every life, and in public life too, as when we must choose a leader.

The Upaniṣad does not ask us to settle these alone. It asks us to seek out those who can help us see clearly. Such people should be knowledgeable in the particular matter we are asking about. A great physician cannot advise us on law. They should have no vested interest, and should not tell us only what is convenient or profitable for themselves. They should be gentle rather than harsh, and their one desire should be to follow dharma. We need discernment to recognize such people. Then we should watch how they conduct themselves in difficult situations, and learn from them carefully.

The First Stone

The teacher also considers what to do when someone is accused of wrongdoing.

Dr. Rao recalled the story from the Gospels of the woman about to be stoned, and the words of Jesus: let him who has done no wrong throw the first stone. When someone is weak and a crowd gathers to punish, it is easy to join in. The Upaniṣad asks us instead to look at how the truly good, those devoted to dharma, behave toward the accused, and to do as they do. We should not be carried along by the crowd. We should have compassion for the faults of others, remembering our own.

The Secret of the Vedas

The teacher closes with these words: eṣa ādeśaḥ, eṣa upadeśaḥ, eṣā vedopaniṣat. This is my command. This is my advice. This is the secret of the Vedas.

After all the texts have been taught, this is what remains. The distilled teaching of the Vedas and Upaniṣads is a way of living. Evam upāsitavyam: this is how the teaching is to be practiced, with the care and reverence of worship. Lighting a lamp or attending a service is not enough on its own. What is asked of us is a life lived in truth, gratitude, generosity and care, with a pure heart.

The teacher's counsel ends here, and the student goes out into the world carrying it. We may carry it with us too.

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