Acharya Yagna

ACHARYA—Knowledge, Teachers, Learners

Your second most valuable gift from the Creator is your teachers. Without them, you waste away life in fruitless pursuits. Teachers continue & build on the efforts of ancestral preceptors who yearned to research & share their hard-earned knowledge with future generations of humans. Today, the teachers & books around you are embodiments of the collective knowledge of all the teachers & researchers before them. And the continuity & onward growth of that knowledge is via students.

Read on to know the consequences of your actions against knowledge/ teachers/ learners & some remedies.

Acharya Runam—The debt

You get the paralyzing Acharya Runam when you consciously...

  • Ignore your own teachers—failing to learn from them & not doing further research.
  • Ignore your own students—failing to teach them.
  • Ignore other disadvantaged teachers—failing to support them or preventing others from supporting.
  • Ignore other disadvantaged learners—failing to support them or preventing others from supporting.

As consequences of Acharya Runam, you will...

  • Be ignored as a teacher—unable to pass on your knowledge to others. Your knowledge will not benefit others.
  • Be ignored as a learner—unable to learn & do further research. No scientific/ artistic/ spiritual knowledge or skill. Your knowledge/ ignorance will not benefit you. You get to live an average career.

Instead of passively ignoring, if you actively harm, you get cursed. Read on...

Acharya Dosham—The curse

You get the painful Acharya Dosham when you consciously...

  • Harm your own teachers—preventing their teaching, causing pain to them in any way, & doing fake/ destructive research.
  • Harm your own students—preventing their learning, causing pain to them in any way, & sharing fake/ destructive knowledge.
  • Harm other disadvantaged teachers—preventing their teaching & causing pain to them in any way.
  • Harm other disadvantaged learners—preventing their learning/ research & causing pain to them in any way.

As consequences of Acharya Dosham, you will...

  • Be harmed as a teacher—begetting delinquent students/ learners, or even no teaching career. Your students will hate/ harm you.
  • Be harmed as a learner—begetting abusive teachers, fake/ harmful knowledge, or even no education. Your knowledge/ ignorance will only harm you. You career will be a series of disasters.

If you have high Acharya Runam/ Dosham, you will continue to accumulate more, until divine mercy intervenes & guides you to acquire blessings that break the vicious cycle. Read on...

Acharya Bhagyam—The blessing

You get the blissful Acharya Bhagyam when you...

  • Please your own teachers—gratefully & selflessly respecting them & learning/ researching well. In the presence of your teachers, always be in a state of obedience (samarpanam).
  • Enable your own students—sincerely educating them & sharing genuine/ constructive knowledge.
  • Support other disadvantaged teachers—selflessly supporting them as much as you can with respect.
  • Support other disadvantaged learners—selflessly supporting them as much as you can.

As consequences of Acharya Bhagyam, you will...

  • Be pleased as a teacher—begetting respectful & capable students/ learners.
  • Be enabled as a student—begetting excellent teachers, acquiring great knowledge/ skill (scientific/ artistic/ spiritual), & achieving eventual liberation.

For specific actions to avoid these debts/ curses & gain blessings, read on...

Acharya Yagnam—The Sacrifice

Following are some practical, remedial actions you can take to reduce/ eradicate your Acharya Runam/ Dosham. These actions go beyond your call of duty (thus, the sacrifice), so do them according to your capacity... the more, the better.

Dos

  • Generally, try to reduce pain or give pleasure to teachers/ trainers/ influencers & students/ learners. Selflessly helping them is the long-term/ permanent pleasure you can gain for yourself.
  • As a former student, gratefully remember all your teachers as often as possible.
  • Make your teachers feel respected. Make them feel they enabled your career. Thank them on special occasions, such as their birthdays & Teachers Day.
  • If you had hurt your teacher in any way, beg for their forgiveness as soon as possible. A teacher should never carry a grievance against you. This is very dangerous for your career.
  • Learn respectfully from whomever bothers to share constructive knowledge with you.
  • Ensure the knowledge you receive is genuine. Conduct genuine research to build on your existing knowledge.
  • Volunteer to assist your teachers even before they ask.
  • As a teacher, do your duty sincerely & to your best ability. Getting the opportunity to teach/ train/ influence a human being is a divine opportunity to enable that person, so be very respectful of that opportunity.
  • Know your students well & customize your teaching as per the student. Use varied techniques for varied learning preferences. No one size fits all!
  • Pay special attention to weak students, but ensure you make all students feel you are impartial. Ultimately, the result is that all students should be equally enabled, none left behind.
  • Discipline your students judiciously, while being conscious of their need for self-respect amidst their peers. The difference between disciplining & decimating is that the former is delivered with good intent & without emotion, while the latter is delivered with anger & frustration.
  • Remember that if your student fails, it is your fault alone. Take responsibility & remediate dutifully.
  • Contribute & encourage contribution of time/ money to educational activities & institutions.

Don’ts

  • Generally, try to not ignore or harm teachers/ trainers/ influences & students/ learners. Being selfish/ hurtful towards them is a sure way to attract long-term suffering for yourself.
  • As a learner, don’t fail to learn when the opportunity is given.
  • Don’t conduct partial or false research to generate fake knowledge.
  • Don’t spread fake knowledge/ info. Propagating false information via social media or other means will surely destroy your career.
  • If your teacher asks for a favour, don’t hesitate.
  • As a teacher, don’t withhold or partially give knowledge.
  • Don’t make your students fearful of you. This will make them permanently hate your subject area.
  • Don’t take revenge on your students for their ignorant offenses. You are supposed to be tolerant & wiser than them. This is an essential prerequisite for the great privilege of being a teacher.
  • Don’t punish your students in anger or frustration.
  • Don’t disable your students by being dishonest or corrupt.
  • Don’t curse your students or inflict egregious insults.
  • Don’t administer excessive corporal punishments. Find a better way!
  • Don’t ignore or prevent charity to educational activities & institutions.
  • Some people justify their selfishness by finding faults with beneficiaries/ institutions of charity. Don’t indulge in such selfish bad-mouthing.

Caution

If the above words reached your mind & heart, that is a sign of divine grace to break the vicious cycle you are trapped in. If not, at least keep in mind that Creation constantly provides you with opportunities to save yourself... just don’t condemn yourself any further. God bless! 🙏