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

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 33 hundreds of students in subjects like philology, grammar, astronomy and civics, in addition to Veda, religion and philosophy (Mbh., I: 91). In the Jātakas (e. g. No. 438) we sometimes come across the stories of teachers leaving cities like Benares and retreating to Himalayan forests with a view to be free from the disturbances from the city life. They were confident that the villagers around would supply their few and simple wants. But in the majority of cases Gurukulas were located in villages or towns. It will be seen that such was the case with most of the educational centres that would be described in Chapter V. This was but natural, for teachers were usually householders. Care however was taken to locate Gurukula in a secluded place or garden¹, and in holy surroundings. The case of Buddhist Universities like Nālandā or Vikramaśīlā and of Hindu _agrahāra_² settle- ments was peculiar; they were like modern University towns of Oxford, Cambridge or Benares Hindu Univer- sity, independent educational settlements, where arrange- ments were made for the lodging and boarding of students who flocked in hundreds and thousands. They combined the advantages both of the town and forest life. The Importance of the Family, Pre-birth Period: Association and imitation begin to influence the student not only from the time of his joining a school or Guru- 1 At Benares during the 17th century, students and teachers used to repair to adjoining gardens and orchards for the purpose of study. This practice is presupposed by the Go. Br., I. 2. 1-8 where it states that students should enter the village only for necessary work like begging alms, etc. 2 This word denotes village consisting only of Brahmana scholars, who were assigned its entire revenues for the purpose of their maintenance. It may therefore be compared to a settlement of teachers, each of them being engaged in teaching some students free of charge. 3