or Dakshina () is a Sanskrit word found in Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain literature where it may mean any donation, fees or honorarium given to a cause, monastery, temple, spiritual guide or after a ritual. It may be expected, or a tradition or voluntary form of dāna. The term is found in this context in the Vedic literature.
It may mean honorarium to a guru for education, training or guidance.Mahendra Caturvedi, A practical Hindi-English dictionary=utf8
Etymology and description
According to Monier Williams, the term is found in many Vedic texts, in the context of "a fee or present to the officiating priest (consisting originally of a cow, Kātyāyana Śrautasūtra 15, Lāṭyāyana Śrautasūtra 8.1.2)", a 'donation to the priest', a 'reward', an 'offering to a guru', a 'gift, donation'.Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary ; Quote: f. Donation to the priest (personified along with Brahman2as-pati ब्रह्मणस्-पति, Indra इन्द्र, and Soma सोम, i, 18, 5; x, 103, 8; authoress of x, 107 RAnukr.; wife of Sacrifice [Ragh. i, 31 BhP. ii, 7, 21], both being children of Ruci रुचि and A1ku1ti आकूति, iv, l, 4 f. VP. i, 7, 18 f.); f. reward RV. viii, 24, 2I; f. (offered to the Guru गुरु) MBh. v Ragh. v, 20 Katha1s. iv, 93 f.; f. (˚णाम् आ- √दिश्, "to thank" DivyA7v. vii, 104; Caus. "to earn thanks", i); f. a gift, donation (cf. अभय-, प्रा*ण-) Mn. iii R. ii;
The word also connotes 'south', a cardinal direction, and by extension, 'the Deccan'. is also found in various other expressions such as , right-hand path of tantra.Bhattacharya, N. N. History of the Tantric Religion. Second Revised Edition. Manohar Publications, Delhi, 1999.
refers to the tradition of repaying one's teacher or guru after a period of study or the completion of formal education, or an acknowledgment to a spiritual guide.गुरुदक्षिणा, Gurudakshina English-Sanskrit Dictionary, Spoken Sanskrit, Germany (2010) The tradition is one of acknowledgment, respect, and thanks.Radhakrishnan, L. J., & Rabb, H. (2010). Even in nephrology, is important, Kidney International, 78, 3-5 It is a form of reciprocity and exchange between student and teacher. The repayment is not exclusively monetary and may be a special task the teacher wants the student to accomplish. A well-known example of an unusual gurudakṣiṇā is the story of Ekalavya.
In Indian epics In the Mahabharata, features in the story of Ekalavya that explores the student-teacher relationship, proper authority, and caste.Kakar, S. (1971). The Theme of Authority in Social Relation in India. The Journal of Social Psychology, 84(1), 93-101 In the tale, Ekalavya, a tribal boy, has a passion to learn and master archery. He asks the famed weapons instructor Dronacharya to be his teacher, but Drona refuses. Ekalavya then fashions a clay statue of Drona and teaches himself archery.
Over time, Ekalavya becomes a skilled archer. One day, he shows off his skill by shooting multiple arrows into a dog's mouth. Arjuna, one of Drona's pupils, sees the dogs and fears that his skills will be surpassed by a tribal boy. Arjuna asks Drona to intervene. Drona goes to Ekalavya, sees the clay statue, and demands the boy's right thumb as payment (). Ekalavya complies and cuts off his right thumb. This makes him a much less capable archer and ensures that Arjuna, Drona's pupil, remains the world's premier archer.
In the epic Mahabharata, after the right hand thumb as event, Drona is haunted and wonders if demanding Ekalavya's thumb was proper,Kumar, S. THE MAHABHARATA. HarperCollins Publishers India (2011), Ekalavya goes on to re-master archery with four fingers of his right hand, as well as left hand, thereby becoming a warrior (although not as skilled as Arjuna), becomes accepted as a king, and tells his children that education is for everyone and that no one can close the doors of education on any human being.Brodbeck, S. (2006). Ekalavya and Mahābhārata 1.121–28, International Journal of Hindu Studies, 10(1), 1-34Brodbeck, Simon (2004) 'The story of Ekalavya in the Mahabharata.' In: Leslie, J. and Clark, M., (eds.), Text, belief and personal identity: creating a dialogue, The story also has a caste angle since Drona and Arjuna, both upper caste, acted to restrict the skills of Ekalavya, a tribal.
Guru Dakshina (In Literature) Guru Dakshina (Play) in Hindi is written by Bihari Lal Harit in 1969.
See also Guru-shishya tradition
References