Guru Vashishta Vs Vishwamitra!

Teachers have a long history of shaping the vision of a student. Bin guru na hohiye Gyan is an old proverb which means you can’t have knowledge without a teacher. But how to choose a guru? Someone who has lot of knowledge and can ask you questions so that you get your answers (coaching), or someone who has been there, seen it and then can tell you what to do in a particular situation (Mentoring).

When we look at coaching/Mentoring as business, especially to CEOs, we realize that lot of CEOs are not looking at Skill per say, they are also not looking for someone to keep asking them questions to untangle their mind because most of the CEOs feel that they are very clear in their thought. Then who can become the guru of these CEOs.

Let me take you to Ramayana, where Lord Ram was taught by two gurus. One was Maharshi Vashisht, who was an authority in Vedas and kalas. He has everything you expect from someone who has wisdom and Lord Ram could learn a lot from being in his Ashram. Gurukool as a concept was thriving in his time and so Dasaratha sent his sons to this gurukool to learn the nuances of veda and other kalas deemed fit for Kings.

Similarly, young men and women go to modern day gurukools, say MBA colleges to pursue all the kalas which they feel will help them once they become kings (CEOs). Nothing wrong here, everyone trying to learn everything with the belief that these learnings can be used once they are out.

Then comes Rajrishir Vishwamitra, who himself was a King and gave it up to become a sage like Vashista, who asked Dasaratha to give his sons to him so that he can take them to jungle and ask them to kill the demons who were troubling him in his Yagna. King didn’t want his sons to go but then Vashishta realized that this is the time of practical education. All the learning these prince had in his gurukool will be put to test and no one can harm them when they are around a teacher like Vishwamitra.

Here comes the practical education. All the education you receive in MBA colleges is fine but if it is not weaved into the realm of practicality its still not prepare you for real challenges in the world. So internship or even the first few years of the job requires people to put to the test, the learnings they had during their MBA days.

In essence we see that success of someone doesn’t depend on either theory or practical but it’s a combination of two which makes you unbeatable. As the story goes, there is always a fight of supremacy between vashshta and Vishwamitra, which in real life you can see as people fighting over ‘theory’ or ‘practical’ approach but the fact remains that without practical theory is not tested and without a solid theory you can’t construct a practical modal.

Hence why not embrace both of these rishi’s in our learning & growth!

p.s: Views are personal.