Canto 2: Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 111: Rāma Agrees to Accept the Throne After Returning to AyodhyāText 2.111.3
Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 111: Rāma Agrees to Accept the Throne After Returning to Ayodhyā
Text 2.111.3
पिता ह्येनं जनयति पुरुषं पुरुषर्षभ।
प्रज्ञां ददाति चाचार्यस्तस्मात्स गुरुरुच्यते।।
pitā hy enaṁ janayati puruṣaṁ puruṣa-rṣabha
prajñāṁ dadāti cācāryas tasmāt sa gurur ucyate
pitā hi = a father; enam = him; janayati = gives birth; puruṣam = to a man; puruṣa-ṛṣabha = O prince; prajñām = knowledge; dadāti = bestows; ca = and; ācāryaḥ = a teacher; tasmāt = so; saḥ guruḥ = a guru; ucyate = is called.
O prince, a father gives birth to a man. A teacher bestows him knowledge and so is called a guru.
Here “a father” means “a father and a mother.”
Because one’s teacher gives knowledge, he is superior to one’s mother and father who only give the body because of the following [authoritative] statement:
sa hi vidyātas taṁ janayati. tac chreṣṭhaṁ janma. śarīram eva mātā-pitarau janayataḥ.
“The teacher gives birth to him through knowledge. This birth is superior. The mother and father only give birth to the body.” (Āpastamba Dharma-sūtra 1.1.1.16-18)