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

78 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. Payment of Fees: No Stipulation:—Stipulation for fees was vehemently condemned in ancient India. No student could be refused admission even by a private teacher simply because he was too poor to pay any fees. A teacher guilty of this misdemeaner was declared to be unfit to officiate at religious ceremonies and was held to obloquy as a mere trafficker in learning.¹ It was held that the cause of education was a sacred one; every teacher qualified to teach must teach as a matter of duty. The relations between the teacher and the student should be based upon mutual affection and regard, and not on any mercenary consideration.² There is ample evidence to show that this theory was acted upon in all public educational institutions in ancient India. Evidence of indisputable character shows that the Buddhist Univer- sities, temple colleges, Agrahāra institutions, and Maṭhas were all imparting free education to their students. When they used to receive sufficient endowments, they would also arrange to provide free boarding, lodging, clothing and medicine to the students admitted by them. Education therefore was free in a much wider sense in ancient India than is ever dreamt possible in modern times. 1 यस्यागमः केवलजीविकायै तं ज्ञानपण्यं वणिजं वदन्ति । Mālavikāgnimitra, 1. 17 The Saura Purana, X. 42, condemns such a teacher to hell. Such condemnation however may suggest that a small minority of teahers may have been following the objectionable practice. 2 It is interesting to note that there existed a similar prejudice against the charging of fees in ancient Greece for a long time. Neither Socrates nor Plato charged any fees. It was the Sophists who first introduced the custom of offering instructions to any person in any subject he chose, if he offered sufficient remuneration. The practice was despised by the public opinion in the beginning, but was soon adopted by all educational institutions before the 3rd century B. C. Spencippus, the successor of Plato at the Academy, charged fee from his students. Monroe, A Text-book, p. 112