Jammu, September 04: The Teachers’ Day is being celebrated in length and breadth of India to pay our homage to India’s first vice president and second president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan coinciding with the Janamashtami celebrations.
One would wonder as to what was the connection between the two, which we want to establish, but that is precisely what this write-up is all about calling upon the people to invoke lord Krishna to understand Teachers Day in a better way to show true respect towards Teachers as per our Indian tradition.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was not only a highly acclaimed teacher and philosopher but also a down to earth person symbolizing the true character of a teacher that Indian philosophy bestowed upon real teachers in Vedic times.
The teachers in Vedic times would go to any extent to educate their pupil and would not run after glamour, money or luxuries of life as their only motive was to impart true education to their disciples and make them the best human beings.
The simplicity that Indian philosophy expects from a teacher was best demonstrated by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan when he became the President of India and some of his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, 5 September. He replied, “Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5 September is observed as Teachers’ Day.” His birthday has since been celebrated as Teachers’ Day in India.
With such humility, farsightedness and belief in education it was but obvious that he rose not only to become the second president of India but was also bestowed with India’s highest civilian award the Bharat Ratna in 1954 and before that Knighthood in 1931.
Dr Radhakrishana thus symbolizes the true ‘Guru Shishya Paranpara’ of Indian culture which makes teachers most respected people in the society.
Even though the modern day students have not been following the tradition in letter and spirit the onus also lies on teachers who too have greater inclination towards glamour and economy rather than the education of the pupils. But still the teacher student relationship has not degraded too much in India even though the Teacher’s Day celebrations have become a ritual and limited to song and dance festivities or exchanging costly gifts.
It would have been better if the day is celebrated in a traditional way by offering respect to teachers and in return teachers offering some moral education and other important sermons to their pupil on the day to lead a peaceful and productive life.
Now coming to the other point to connect Lord Krishna with Teachers’ Day, it is imperative to understand that Lord Krishna was also a great teacher who offered to become the driver of his disciple Arjuna only to teach him at the battle front so that his disciple does not fail.
Lord Krishna became the Sarathi of his chariot and not only taught Arjuna a lesson or two but narrated 18 adhyayas of holy Geeta to him amidst the battle front, the book that is still regarded as the best guide for living a pure and just life, all over the globe.
Thus Lord Krishna acted as a teacher not only to Arjuna but also to the human kind educating us about the intricacies of life, politics and everything that is needed to live a perfect life in this world.
The simplicity that is expected from a teacher was also demonstrated by lord Krishna by driving the chariot of Arjuna even though he was the king at that time and held in high esteem by one and all.
Thus we can conclude that on this Janamashtami when we are also celebrating Teachers Day it will be a befitting tribute to Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan if we invoke lord Krishna to inculcate in our selves the true respect for teachers and also the simplicity with which the teacher must conduct him/herself before the pupil to make them true human beings…. Happy Janamashtami and Teachers Day.