Acharya (ācārya)

An acharya is a preceptor, a teacher of formal disciplines who instructs by conduct as much as by instruction. In the Mahabharata the word attaches above all to Drona, who is simply called the acharya, and to Kripa, the kulaguru of the Kuru house. The title carries an expectation of impartiality that Drona conspicuously fails, since he favours Arjuna, mutilates Eklavya and finally commands an army against half the students he raised.