A Teacher Is Nothing Without His Students

Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan , a great philosopher-statesman, when asked as to how he should be remembered, replied he would prefer to be remembered as a teacher.

In Indian culture, a teacher is the only professional who is compared to God. A teacher performs all the three important duties of creation, preservation and destruction. He makes a student fit to face the challenges of the world and overcome them to be useful to society by preserving the essential goodness of learning and mustering the strength to overcome evils that harm the soul and the body.

According to Radhakrishnan, a life of happiness and joy is possible only on the basis of knowledge and science. His emphasis on science underscores his faith in the pursuit of knowledge in a scientific way, that is, following the processes of reason and experimentation.

The Bhagwad Gita says that there is nothing as purifying as knowledge. It further underscores that the person who imparts knowledge to the students must be a tattwadarshi, guided by reason and not by blind faith. All students cannot receive knowledge and use it for public good. Only those who have interest and determination to learn and have self-control can acquire knowledge. The path to knowledge is traversed through respect, service and questions.

A teacher must instil in the minds of the students the ability to think critically, and to transform thoughts into action judiciously. The knowledge that has a soul is eternal; it is universal. In the Gita, Krishn says that four types of people worship him. They are the aspirers of knowledge and wealth, the distressed and the knowledgeable. Among these four, the knowledgeable are the dearest to him.

A teacher is omnipresent through his students. Many times, a teacher is glorified by a true student. A true teacher should always adhere to certain qualities, even in adverse circumstances. Truthfulness should never be abandoned by a noble teacher. Despite the frailties of human nature, a teacher must possess a strong character. A teacher is often required to write a character certificate for his students. How can he write one if he does not possess a strong character himself?

A teacher who has lost his reputation has lost everything. Therefore, a teacher should zealously guard his reputation in all circumstances. Imparting knowledge is not the only duty of a teacher; the examination of students is equally important. Learning without being tested in examinations is incomplete, although both the learning and examination processes are not always free of controversy.

Questions are part of a test. A teacher should not set questions to show how knowledgeable he is. Questions should be set in such a way that it should bring out the best in students. On a similar note, a student should not ask a question to test the teacher's ability. Once it happens, it damages the sanctity of the teacher-student relationship. Thus, for a healthy education system, the respective boundaries of ethics and morality should not be breached by teachers and students alike.

Authored by: G S Tripathi
The writer is an Adjunct Professor of Physics at Berhampur University