प्राचीन भारत में शिक्षा (डॉ. ए.एस. अल्तेकर - गुरुकुल एवं बौद्ध विहार शिक्षण इतिहास)

92 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. 'Forgetting fatigue', says Yuan Chwang, 'they expatiate in arts and sciences; seeking for wisdom..they count not 1000 li (roughly equal to 200 miles) as a long journey. Though their family may be in affluent circumstances, such men make up their minds to be like vagrants and get their food by begging, as they go about. With them there is honour in knowing the truth and there is no disgrace in being destitute' (I. 160-1). Smṛitis require a Naisṭhika Brahmachari to serve his teacher throughout his life; in actual practice however they used to establish new centres of education after some time. Famous teachers like Kaṇva and Divākarasena (of the Harshacharit) were such Naishṭhika Brahmachāris. This ideal of Naishṭhika Brahmacharya, which is peculiar to India, enabled her to make striking progress in learning and philosophy. EDUCATIONAL FINANCE. Introduction: We have seen already that the item of students' fees was a minor one in the income of the private teacher and did not figure at all in the budgets of public colleges and universities. The question therefore naturally arises as to how education was being financed in ancient India. Society, which had frowned upon the practice of charging regular fees as a mercenary and unworthy procedure, used to succeed in getting ample support for the cause of education by appealing to the religious and charitable instincts of the public. Vidyādāna or a gift in the cause of education was pronounced to be the best of gifts, possessing a higher religious efficacy than even the gift of land (bhūmidāna).¹ Religion had a

¹ सहस्रसंमिता धेनुरनडुवान्दशेभवः । दशानुडुत्समं यानं दशयानसमं हयः ॥ दशवाजिसमा कन्या भूमिदानं च तत्समम् । भूमिदानात्परं नास्ति विद्यादानं ततोऽधिकम् । Bṛihaspati quoted in SCS., p. 145.