Never Neglect Study and Teaching

“Never Neglect Study and Teaching (Svadhyaya pravachanabhyam na pramaditavyam)”

In the Yajur Veda (Taittiriya Upanishad), the teacher urges his graduating students to never neglect study and teaching (svadhyaya pravachanabhyam na pramaditavyam). This advice is of perennial value for Hindu teachers, and teachers of all traditions. The order of the teacher’s words is crucial.

There is no meaningful teaching without diligent and continuous study. In fact, the greater work is always the study and deep reflection that precedes teaching. Those who strive to be good teachers know the countless hours, often in solitude, that go into the preparation of a worthwhile public lecture.

The word svadhyaya (svā स्वा-one’s own + adhyāya (अध्याय study) puts the emphasis on one’s own deep engagement and conversation with the sacred text. In this process, one certainly consults and acknowledges the commentaries and insights of other teachers, but svadhyaya is very different from mechanically repeating or reading the words of another. It is the bringing of one’s life’s experiences and accumulated wisdom to the study of a text in a living encounter that makes possible the retrieval of new insights and relevant layers of meaning.

Svadhyaya, integrates all three process of learning described in the Upanishads: hearing (sravana), reasoning (manana) and deep reflection (nididhyasana). It is itself a religious practice, an exercise in austerity (tapas). Teachers who do not find time for the tapas of self-study will not be capable of authentic pravachana.

Svadhyaya of such depth is alone beneficial to a teacher and to those who seek to learn from him. Svadhyaya is not just for the student, but it is a process of learning and growth necessary for the teacher. The first student for a good teacher is always the teacher himself.

Beware of the teacher who boasts that he or she never studies and does not need to study.

Beware of the teacher who does not acknowledge learning from another and who is not always a student.

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