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→Preceptors
=== Preceptors ===
=== Preceptors ===
Gurukulas had teachers who were householders. Gurus such as [[Vasishta (वसिष्ठः)|Vasishta]] were associated with the members of the lineage of Ikshvaku and advised them long before Shri Rama was born. So was the case of many such Rshis and Maharshis. Guru is a person who takes charge of immature children and makes them worthy and useful citizens in society was naturally held in very high reverence. The preceptor naturally possessed several qualifications. He was expected to be a pious person, with high character, patient, impartial, inspiring and well grounded in his own branch of knowledge; he was to continue his reading throughout his life.
It was the duty of the teacher to teach; all students possessed of the necessary calibre and qualifications were to be taught, without withholding knowledge irrespective of whether the student would be able to pay an honorarium or not. A Guru is the spiritual father of the child and was held as morally responsible for the drawbacks of his pupils. He was to provide food clothing and shelter to the student under his charge and help him get financial help from people of influence in the locality.
It is usually held that the profession of teaching was vested with the Brahmana community and they held a monopoly over the Vedic education. Dr. Altekar discusses extensively on this topic as to how we find that Kshatriya teachers of Vaidika and Vedanta subjects existed down the recent millenium and that they were instrumental in furthering the knowledge in several non-vaidika subjects. Only in the later times did religious and literary studies came to be confined to the Brahmanas and professional and industrial training to non-Brahmanas. Examples include
Pravahana Jaivali was the Kshatriya who taught Brahmavidya to Shvetaketu.
Satyakama was the son of a fallen woman but maintained Srauta fires and taught Upakosala.
Visvamitra
== Terminology ==
== Terminology ==