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

III] THE TEACHER AND THE STUDENT 49 to him and show him the highest possible reverence. He is to be revered even more than parents; to the latter, we owe our physical birth, to the former our intellectual regeneration. From the Vedic age downwards the teacher has been all along designated as the spiritual and intellec- tual father of the student.¹ Without his help and guid- ance, no education is possible. He is in fact indispensable. This is graphically illustrated by the story of Ekalavya, who when refused admission to his school by Droṇa, pre- pared an image of the teacher under whom he longed to learn, and successfully finished his studies in archery under the inspiration that he received from the inanimate representation of his animate preceptor. Buddhists and Jains also attached equally great importance to the tea- cher. This importance attached to the teacher need not surprise us, for it is now admitted on all hands that neither buildings nor equipment exercise such influence on students as is exercised by cultured and competent teachers, who instruct as well as inspire. Why the Teacher was Revered : The great import- ance that was attached to the teacher in the ancient system of education and the high reverence that was shown to him in society are not difficult to understand. Since the earliest times the Vedic learning is being transmitted orally in India from one generation to another. This continued to be the case even when the art of writing came into general vogue. The Mahābhārata condemns to hell a person who commits the Vedas to writing. Great importance was attached to the proper 1 Cf. आचार्य उपनयमानो ब्रह्मचारिणं कृणुते गर्भमन्तः । A. V. XI, 5, 3, See also Va. Dh. S., 28,38-9; Gau. Dh. S., I. 1, 10; Manu, II, 170. Bau. Dh. S., 1. 2. 48 maintains that a Śrotriya can never be regarded as issueless, his students are his sons. 4