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guru-shishya

गुरुशिष्य guru-śiṣya

The teacher-disciple relationship, the heart of every sampradaya, through which teaching is transmitted in person, usually sealed by initiation (diksha).

Where this term appears

  • What is a Guru? Lineages

    This is the seed of the whole guru-shishya relationship, the bond of teacher and student that later traditions would ritualise into initiation and lifelong obedience.

  • What is a Sampradaya? Philosophy

    A *sampradaya* is a living tradition handed down: a lineage of teaching and practice transmitted through an unbroken succession (*parampara*) of teacher and…

  • How the Vedas Were Preserved History

    It ran on people, and on a discipline of transmission the tradition calls guru-shishya parampara — the unbroken succession from teacher to student.

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