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

36 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. well-to-do and cultured families. Home, of course, was the main centre of the education of girls in the domestic science. Nature vs. Nurture ; some Western Views: What is the relative importance of nature and nurture in the scheme of education has been a question of great contro- versy since early times. Are human beings born with their mental, moral and intellectual characters and faculties rigidly predetermined, or can these be modified by educa- tion, and if so, to what extent ? As is well known, different answers are given to this question by different educationalists in the west also. Plato, for instance, held that human mind is like a skein, that has to be only unravelled in this world ; all knowledge is contained in a man, he has only to be reminded of it. Darwin, Galton and Ribot attach great importance to the role which here- dity plays in our nature and Shopenhauer held that human character is inborn and unalterable. Herbert and Locke on the other hand maintain that it is not nature but nurture that determine our destiny. We come into this world with minds as empty as our bodies are naked ; it is the training which we receive and the environments in which we live that determine our character and capacities. Vedic Age believed more in Nurture: As may be expected, there is no unanimity of views among ancient Indian thinkers also about the relative importance of nature and nurture. A young people, fortunate to have a series of successes, naturally feel that there is nothing impossible or difficult for man. Vedic Aryans belonged to this category and their age therefore did not much believe in heredity or natural endowments. This is em- phatically expressed in one of the hymns of the Atharva- veda, where we are told that given proper education, everything can be accomplished. Even Indra owes his