Teacher VS guru

On Guru Purnima, I tweeted “Confused Hindus think…. Guru Poornima….is teachers day..”

Confused Hindus think…. Guru Poornima….Is teachers day..

— No Conversion (@noconversion) July 5, 2020

Many people  responded what is the difference, So here is my view .

गुरु और अध्यापक में क्या अंतर है

As I understand from Vedic traditions

An Adhyapk  (अध्यापक)  could be equated with “Teacher” or a ” शिक्षक”  Shiksak

After that we have several levels of expertise, but teacher is being the start

Then comes

Upadhya उपाध्याय  – Next Level of teacher with deep subject knowledge

Pandit  पंडित – Expert in one subject or multiple subjects

Acharya आचार्य – More based on Skill  of trade. For example Trade, Weaponry, Medicine  and thousands of more are all skill based professions.

Mother / Father are also considered at the level of a “Teacher”.

Guru गुरु

“गुं रौतितिः गुरु:” : अर्थात गुरु वह है जो गुं (अज्ञान) का नाश करके प्रकाश प्रदान करे

‘Gu’ simply means ‘darkness’ in Sanskrit and ‘Ru’ simple means ‘dispel’ or remove.

So the word ‘guru’ speaks to one who dispels the darkness and brings more understanding and light.

Guru takes away darkness of Ignorance and provides you Gyan.

Guru is considered more important than God, as only a Guru does the cleansing work and only then God gives grace (Kripa)