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

IX] FEMALE EDUCATION 213 for boys. We have already seen how this ensured a certain amount of higher education to every Aryan girl. During the period we are reviewing, however, Upanayana began to be gradually prohibited to girls. By about 500 B. C. it had already become a mere formality, not followed by any serious course of Vedic education.¹ The Manusmriti, which was composed at about 200 B. C., goes a step further and declares that girls' Upanayana should be performed without the recitation of Vedic Mantras.² But immediately in the next verse it is stated that it is really the marriage ritual of girls which corresponds to the Upanayana ritual of boys³. It is therefore clear that Upanayana of girls, even as a mere formality, was dying down by the beginning of the Christian era. Yājñavalkya (200 A. D.) therefore takes the logical step of prohibiting Upanayana altogether in the case of girls (I. 13), and all later Smṛiti-writers follow his lead, though some of them like Yama admit that once upon a time girls used to have the privilege of Upanayana and Vedic studies. The discontinuance of Upanayana was disastrous to the religious status of women; they were declared to be of the same status as that of the Shudras⁴ and unfit to recite Vedic Mantras and

1. तत्र ब्रह्मवादिनीनामग्नीन्धनं वेदाध्ययनं स्वगृहे च भैक्षचर्या । सद्योवधूंनां तूपस्थिते विवाहे कथंचिदुपनयनमात्रं कृत्वा विवाहः कार्यः । Hārīta quoted in V. M. S., p. 402; S. C. S., p. 62.
2. अमंत्रिका तु कार्येयं स्त्रीणामानृदशेषतः । II. 66. Cf. also नास्ति स्त्रीणां क्रिया मंत्रैरिति धर्मे व्यवस्थितिः । IX. 18.
3. वैवाहिको विधिः स्त्रीणां संस्कारो वैदिको मतः । पतिसेवा गुरौ वासो गृहार्थोऽग्निपरिक्रिया ॥ II. 67.
4. वदन्ति केचिन्मुनयः स्त्रीणां शूद्रसमानताम् । Purāṇāntara in V. M. Paribhāshā, p. 40.

214 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. perfom Vedic sacrifices. The wife's association with the husband in the family sacrifices became a formal matter and there were some theologians like Aitiśāyana who were opposed even to this formal participation. (P.M., VI. 1. 2. 2.) Why Vedic Education was prohibited to Women : The causes of the prohibition of the Vedic education to women during this later period have nowhere been specifically stated ; they can only be inferred. When Vedic literature came to be regarded as revealed, it was insisted that it should be very meticulously and accurately committed to memory. The Vedic course also became a lengthy one, requiring a long period of study, and could not be finished till about the age of 24. The marriages of girls, as a rule, were never postponed to this advanced age even during the Vedic period. Usually they took place at about the age of 16 or 17. Girls in well-to-do families therefore could get only about six or seven years for their Vedic studies ; they could not therefore carry them out with that exactitude and thoroughness which was insisted upon by the age. In poor families, the exigencies of the household work must have resulted in only very little time being available for Vedic studies after the Upanayana. Girls in such families were often unable to recite even the formulæ in the marriage ritual prescribed for the bride ; they had to be recited by the priest or the bridegroom (Go. G. S., II. 1. 21. ; Jai G. S., I. 20). Dilettante Vedic studies were regarded as not only useless, but also dangerous ; even the slightest mistake in the recitation of the Vedic hymns was regarded as very disastrous in its consequences. It was therefore probably felt that since women could not study the Vedic literature in

IX] FEMALE EDUCATION 215 the proper manner, its study should be prohibited to them in order to avert spiritual disasters to the family arising out of the mistakes of amateurish Vedic girls- students. Spoken dialect had by this time become completely differentiated from the Vedic speech ; women were unable to speak even ordinary Sanskrit and used to express themselves in Prakrits or vernaculars. They must have experienced greater difficulties in correctly pronouncing the Vedic hymns than men, who could speak classical Sanskrit correctly. Leaders of society therefore felt that correct transmission of the Vedic literature necessitated the prohibition of its study to women. Their Upanayana was therefore also discontinued. **The Lowering of the Marriage Age :—**The mischief caused by the discontinuance of Upanayana was further enhanced by the lowering of the marriage- able age. In the Vedic period girls were married at about the age of 16 or 17 ; but by c. 500 B. C. the custom arose of marrying them soon after the attainment of puberty. Dharmaśāstra works of the

1. It is undoubtedly true that Mādhava, who flourished in the 14th century, observes in his Nyāya-mālāvīstāra (p. 335, Bombay edition) that women are entitled to Upanayana. A similar statement is made by Mitramiśra of the 17th century when discussing Manu II, 66. The statements of these authors in these passages do not warrant the view that Upanayana of girls was performed in some families even in the 17th century A. D. The above authors are simply expounding the views of the earlier writers they are commenting upon, and not attesting to the contemporary practice. This would be quite clear from a wrong construction which Mitramiśra elsewhere places upon a passage in the Pāraskara Gṛihya Sūtra :—बाह्यतः स्त्री बलिमुपहरति II, 17. Mitramiśra com- bines the two words स्त्री and बलिम् into स्त्रीबलिम् on the ground that women were incapable of offering any oblations owing to their ignorance. Cf. एतादृशव्याख्याने स्त्रीणां तत्तद्बलिप्रदानानुकूलविद्याकल्पना स्यात् । V. M. S. p. 908.

216 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. period however permit the postponement of a girl's marriage to the age of 16 or 17 in case a suitable match could not be arranged.¹ Manu, though in favour of a marriage at 12 in normal circumstances, was prepared to contemplate the possibility of a girl remaining unmarried to the end of her life, if no suitable bridegroom could be found.² Later writers, however, of this period like Yājñavalkya,³ Saṁvarta⁴ and Yama,⁵ most vehemently condemn the guardian who fails to marry a girl before the attainment of the puberty. This condemnation had the natural effect ; from Alberuni we learn that in the 11th century Hindus used to marry at an early age, and that a Brahmana was never allowed to marry a girl above the age of 12.⁶ Many marriages must have taken place much earlier, for the Smṛitis written at the end of this period begin to glorify the merits of a girl's marriage at the age of 7, 8, or 9.⁷ When it was regarded as an ideal thing to celebrate a girl's marriage at so young an age, female education could hardly prosper. Female Education in cultured Families :— Though in society as a whole female education received

1. E. g., Va. Dh. S , कुमारी ऋतुमती त्रीणि वर्षाण्युपासीत । ऊर्ध्वं त्रिभ्यो वर्षेभ्यः पतिं विन्देत्तुल्यम् । XVII. 59 See also Vishṇu, 24, 41.
2. काममामरणात्तिष्ठेद्गृहे कन्यर्तुमत्यपि । न चैवैनां प्रयच्छेत्तु गुणहीनाय कर्हिचित् ॥ IX, 89.
3. अप्रयच्छन्समाप्नोति भ्रूणहत्यां ऋतौ ऋतौ । I, 64.
4. I, 67. 5. I, 22.
5. Sachau, II, 131.
6. See Āśvalāyana, Saṁvarta, Kāśyapa etc. quoted in VMS., p. 767.

[IX] FEMALE EDUCATION 217 a great set-back during this period, it continued to receive attention in rich, cultured, aristocratic and royal families.¹ Girls in these families were given a fairly good literary education, though they were not allowed to study the Vedic literature. They could read and understand Sanskrit and Prakrit works and even detect mistakes accidentally committed by their male relations.² Special effort was made to give them a good grounding in domestic and culinary arts and fine arts like music, dancing, painting, garland-making and household decorations.³ Tutors were appointed in rich families to train girls in these arts and accomplishments, as is shown by the employment of Gaṇadāsa and Haradatta in the household of king Agnimitra. Most of this education was finished before the marriage ; but famous lady scholars of the age, to be mentioned in the next para, probably continued their education and reading even after their wedlock. Lady Authors of the Age : Educated ladies in cultured families continued to make their own contributions to literature, as was done by the lady scholars of the earlier period. During this age, there flourished several poetesses in south India, who

1. पुरुषवद्योषितोऽपि कवीभवेयुः ।••••। श्रूयन्ते दृश्यन्ते च राजपुत्र्यो महामात्रदुहितरो गणिकाः कौटुंबिकभार्याश्च शास्त्रप्रहितबुद्धयः कवयश्च । Kāvyamīmāṁsā, p. 53.
2. Stories are current in learned circles of how clever wives would bring milk to serve at the dining party when the order given was dadhimānaya ; they could at once see the blunder committed by the husband and in order to save him from the reproach of ungrammatical speech, would pretend to understand the order, not as dadhim ānaya bring curds (which would have been incorrect as dadhi is not a word in masculine gender), but as dadhi mā ānaya, ‘do not bring curds’
3. Vātsyāyana, (Kāmasūtra, 1. 3. 16.) lays down that girls should be trained in all the 64 arts and crafts.

218 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. composed poetry in Prakrit. Among the authors from whom selections have been made in the Gāthā- sapta-śatī of Hāla, there are sevan poetesses, their names being Revā¹ Rohā,² Mādhavī³ Anulakshmī,⁴ Pāhaī,⁵ Vaddhavahī⁶ and Saśiprabhā.⁷ Some of the Sanskrit anthologies also have preserved the memory of a few other poetesses, who seem to have composed poetry of a very high order. Sīlabhaṭṭārikā was famous for her easy and graceful style, noted for a harmonious combination of sense and sound.⁸ Devī was a well known poetess of Gujarat, who continued to enchant her readers on the earth even after her departure to heaven.⁹ Vijayāṅkā's fame in Berar was second only to that of Kālidāsa¹⁰. She seems to have attained a really high position among Sanskrit poets and poetesses, for the poet Rājaśekhara compares her to Saraswatī.¹¹ A drama,

1. I, 87 and 90. 2. II, 63.
2. I, 91. 4. III, 28, 63, 74, 76.
3. I, 70. 6. I, 86. 7. IV, 4.
4. शब्दार्थयोः समो गुंफः पांचालीरीतिरुच्यते । शीलभट्टारिकावाचि................................॥
5. सूक्तीनां स्मरकेलीनां कलानां च विलासभूः । प्रभुर्देवी कवी लाटी गतापि हृदि तिष्ठति ॥
6. सरस्वतीय कर्णाटी विजयांका जयत्यसौ । या वैदर्भंगिरां वासः कालिदासादनंतरम् ॥
7. नीलोत्पलदलश्यामां विजयांकामजानता । वृथैव दण्डिनाप्युक्तं सर्वशुक्ला सरस्वती ॥ These verses are attributed to Rājaśekhara in the Sūktimuktāvali.
8. शीळाविजामारुलामोरिकायाः काव्यं कर्तुं संति विज्ञाःस्त्रियोपि । विद्यां वेत्तुं वादिनो निर्विजेतुं विश्वं वक्तुं यः प्रवीणः स वन्द्यः ॥ Śarang. P.

IX] FEMALE EDUCATION 219 na med Kaumudīmahotsava has been recently discover- ed' which is from the pen of a poetess, whose name seems to have been Vidyā or Vijjakā. The plot dramatises the incidents of a political revolution at Pātalīputra, showing thereby that ladies were not uninterested in the incidents of political history. Subhadrā, Sītā, Marulā, Indulekhā, Bhavadevī and Vikaṭanitambā are some other poetesses quoted in later anthologies¹. It is a pity that we should have lost their works. Lady scholars of this age took interest in criticism also ; Rājaśekhara's wife was both a critic and poetess. The umpire in the controversy between Śaṅkara and Maṇḍanamiśra was the accomplished wife of the latter²; she must have been well grounded in Mīmāṁsā, Vedānta and literature. Some ladies were attracted by medical studies also ; the majority of these must be specialising in gynæcology. Some of the lady doctors had also written authoritative works on the medical science. Among the Hindu works on medicine translated into Arabic in the 8th century A.D. was a book on midwifery, written by a lady doctor, whose name appears as Rūsā in the Arabic garb³. Female Education in ordinary Families :— Achievements of lady scholars in cultured families were thus fairly high. Cultured families are, however, relatively few in society. They could afford to

1. पार्थस्य मनसि स्थानं लेभे खलु सुभद्रया । कवीनां च वचोवृत्तिचातुर्येण सुभद्रया ॥ K. M., See also M. Krishnamachariar, Classical Sanskrit Literature, pp. 301-3
2. विधाय भार्यां विदुषीं सदस्यां विधीयतां वादकथा सुधीन्द्र ॥ Śaṅkaradigvijaya, VIII. 51.
3. Nadvi, Arab aur Bharat ke Sambandha, p. 122.

220 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [CH. employ special teachers for their girls. Ordinary families, however, were not so well situated, and it is therefore doubtful whether the average woman was receiving any education after about the 6th or the 7th century A. D. Asahāya, a commentator on the Nārada-smṛiti, ' who flourished in the 8th century A. D., justifies the theory of the dependence of women on the ground that their intelligence is not developed like that of men on account of the absence of proper education.¹ It is hazardous to make any statement about the percentage of literate women in society at the end of the 12th century A. D., but it could not have been higher than 5 percent. Literacy among men at this time was probably about 30 percent as has been shown in Chapter, VIII. Buddhism and Female Education in later Times :— We saw how in the earlier period the Buddhist movement gave an indirect impetus to female education and produced a number of nun-poetesses. During this period however we do not come across any nun scholars at all. Nunneries had gone out of vogue by the 4th century A. D. ; Chinese pilgrims of the 5th and 7th century A. D. do not refer to them at all. It is interesting to note that in modern Ceylon and Burma also nunneries do not impart instructions to girls as monasteries do to boys. We have there- fore to conclude that female education, which was languishing during this period, could not get any impetus from Buddhism also. Education of Princesses and Girls in Aristocratic **Families :—**Ancient Indian history knows of several

1. शास्त्रोध्ययनानधिकारित्वात् शास्त्रमात्रोपजीविधर्माधर्मज्ञानाभावात अस्वातंत्र्यम् । On xiii, 86.

IX] FEMALE EDUCATION 221 dowager queens and princesses, who used to take active part in the administration of their kingdoms. Nayanikā of the Andhra dynasty (c. 150 B. C.) and Prabhāvatīguptā of the Vākāṭaka dynasty (c. 390 A.D.) were governing extensive kingdoms during the minority of their sons. The queen of Masaga directed the defence of her capital against Alexander the Great after the death of her husband. Several queens of Kashmir have fought on the battlefield,¹ and some of them like Sugandhā and Diddā have ruled as regnant queens. In the Chālukya dynasty several queens and ladies of the royal family like Mailādevī, Akkādevī, Kunkumadevī and Lakshmīdevī are known to have taken active part in the administration of the empire as governors of towns and districts.² It is therefore quite obvious that steps must have been taken in royal families in ancient India to give proper training to princesses in order to make them fit to carry on the administration in the case of emergency, or even in normal times in order to help their husbands. The training was both administrative and military. Administrative training was of course given when they had become old enough to take part in the governance of the kingdom, but military training was imparted during their adolescence. They were trained fairly well in the use of arms; they could also ride and swim. The son of queen Vijayamahādevī was called Gaṅgadatta, because the mother used to swim about in the Ganges, owing to a strong desire to do so during pregnancy.³ In ordinary Kshatriya families also some military training seems to have been imparted to the lady

1. Rājataraṅgiṇī, VII, 905, 909, 981; VIII, 1187-9.
2. I. A., IX p. 274, XVIII p. 37
3. E. C., VII, Shimoga No. 4, dated 1122 A.D.

222 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. folk. Village women are often seen defending their hearths and homes, in times of danger, and even laying down their lives while doing so.¹ Inscriptions have recorded the cases of governments of the day honour- ing village heroines with the gift of suitable ornaments.² The tradition of military training for ladies in high Kshatriya families continued down to the advent of the British rule. There still exists a commemorative tablet in Shikarpur Taluka immorta- lising the memory of a spirited lady, Hariyakkā by name, who died fighting in 1446 A.D., while avenging the murder of her father.³ Maratha and Rajput princesses. could usually ply the sword and wield the lance⁴. Female Education and Economic Independence : In ordinary families, literature and the fine arts were usually the favourite topics of female education. This education was of course not calculated to make women economically self-sufficient, but we must note that the theory that women ought to be economically independent is of quite a recent origin. In the case of emergency, however, the Hindu woman could eke out a humble subsistence for herself and her children by taking to spinning and weaving in her spare time. In Pali literature we find instances of wives imploring their dying husbands to keep composed by pointing out that they could maintain the family by their skill in spinning and weaving⁵. The Artha-śāstra of Kauṭilya lays down that the state superintendent of

1. S.I.E.R., for 1911. 2. Ibid, I, No. 75.
2. E. C. VII. Shikarpur No. 2.
3. Malcolm, Memoirs, II, pp. 99-100.
4. Cf. कुसलाहं गहपति कप्पास॑ कंतितुं वेणिमोल्लिखितुं सक्काहं गहपति तवाच्चयेन दारके पोसेतुम् । Ang. Nik. Vol. III, p. 298.

IX] FEMALE EDUCATION 223 weaving should make special arrangement for sending cotton to and receiving the yarn from those women, who were cripled, or whose husbands were dead or had gone abroad, and who were thus compelled to seek work for their subsistence¹. There is evidence to show that during the 9th century also widows, who were unprovided for, used to have recourse to spinning for their maintenance². This humble but independent means of existence was available to the women in distress in India down to the middle of the last century, when the hand spinning and hand weaving industry was crushed out of existence by the mill competition. Female Education during 1200—1800 A. D. : It will be interesting to take here a rapid bird's eye view of the fortunes of female education during the next six centuries. During the Muslim rule the percentage of literacy among women went down very rapidly. Old, rich and cultured families were as a rule ruined by the political revolution, and they were no longer in a position to make special arrangements for the education of their girls. There were of course no schools for girls. Some new Hindu families did no doubt rise to importance under the new regime. But their number was very small and they did not generally possess sufficient culture to induce them to appoint teachers for their girls. Daughters of Rajput chiefs and some Bengali Zemindars were usually able to read and write down

1. II, 28; cf. याश्चानिष्कासिन्यः प्रोषितविधवा न्यङ्गाः कन्यका वाऽऽ- त्मानं बिभृयुः ताः स्वदासीभिरनुसार्य सोपग्रहं कर्म कारयितव्याः ।
2. मृतपतिकाया अनपत्याया असति भर्तृधनादौ दायिके च कर्तनादिना केनचिदुपायेन जीवन्त्याः.........। Medhātithi on Manu V, 157.

224 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. to the 19th century; some of them, if unfortunately widowed, would devote themselves to learning and even become teachers.¹ Jain widows too were sometimes taught reading and writing by the monks with a view to enable them to read their scriptures.² These were, however, exceptional cases. Society as a whole had become prejudiced against female education. It was believed that a girl taught to read and write aym become a widow soon after her marriage.³ The decline in literacy after the 13th century was so rapid that by the beginning of the 19th century hardly one woman in hundred could read. Such was the state of affairs in Malva and also in Madras presidency. In the latter province in 1826 only 4023 girls were attending schools as against 1,57,664 boys.⁴ According to the then population of the presidency, 16 percent of the boys of the school going age were receiving primary education; the percentage of girls receiving the same was therefore less than one half. In certain sections of Hindu population as among the Nāyars, literacy was much higher, but such groups were few and exceptional. All the available evidence shows that by the beginning of the 19th century, about 99 per cent of women population had grown illiterate.

1. Ward refers to one such case of a Kulina widow, Hati Vidyalamkāra, who removed from Bengal to Benares and obtained some pupils there. A View of Hindus, II p. 508.
2. Malcolm, Memoirs, II, 159.
3. Spark: Vernaculur Education in Bengal, pp. 43-44.
4. Report of the Madras Prov. Committee, p. 5.

Chapter X A GENERAL RESUME. CONTRIBUTIONS OF BUDDHISM TO EDUCATION—Ordination ceremony—Relations between the novice and the teacher—Education of the laity—Rise of public educational institutions due to Buddhism— Non-sectarian courses also provided for in them—Buddhism and primary education—Estimate of the contributions of the Buddhism. PERIOD-WISE SURVEY: History divided into four periods—Educa- tion in the Vedic period—The Upanishad-Sūtra age (1000 B.C. to c. 200 B.C.) a creative period—Education in this period—The period of the Dharmaśāstra (c. 200 B.C.—500 A.D.) an age of reflection and specia- lisation—The general condition of education in it—The age of the Purāṇas and Nibandhas, (c. 500-1200 A.D.)—Its achievements and limitations. Introduction : In the course of our narrative so far we have finished the history of the origin and development of the different branches of education in ancient India. We devoted separate chapters to topics like primary education, professional education, educational institutions, etc., and the treatment in each of them must have enabled the reader to visualise clearly the development and vicissitudes that took place in their connection from age to age. We also indicated at each place the contribution that Buddhism made to the development of education in ancient India. For a proper understanding of the subject it is however desirable that the reader should get a clear picture of the educational conditions as a whole in the successive periods of ancient Indian history, as also of the contribution which the Buddhism made to educa- tional theory and practice. We therefore propose to devote the present chapter for this purpose. Its first section will give a general resume of the contribution of the Buddhism to ancient Indian education and the

226 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. second section will provide a bird's eye view of the general condition of education in the successive periods of Indian history. SECTION A. BUDDHISM AND ANCIENT INDIAN EDUCATION No Fundamental Difference : There was no fundamental difference between Hindus and Buddhists as far as the general educational theory or practice was concerned. It was the fundamental tenet of Buddhism that the world is full of sorrow and that the salvation can be obtained only by renouncing it. In the beginning therefore it naturally concerned itself only with the education of novices and monks. When however in the course of time it took up the education of the laity also, its educational system did not present any important points of difference from those of Hinduism. Both systems had similar ideals and followed similar methods. This must have become quite clear to the reader from the previous chapters and will become clearer still from this section. We shall first however say a few words about the ordination ceremony. Ordination Ceremony : The wise injunction of the Buddha, that every novice should be properly trained in the discipline and doctrine of the religion, was primarily responsible for the educational developments in and activities of Buddhist monasteries. Two ceremonies were laid down for those who desired to enter the Order, the Pabbajjā and the Upasampadā. The Pabbajjā marked the beginning of the noviciate period and could be given when a person was not

X] CONTRIBUTION OF THE BUDDHISM 227 less than eight years old. The permission of the guardian was necessary. The Upasampadā was given after the end of the noviciate period, and the recepient had to be not less than twenty years old. ¹If he was a debtor, an invalid or a government servant, he was refused admission. The ordination could take place only with the consent of the whole chapter. There were no caste restrictions for admission (ante, p.), The novice had to affirm his faith in the Buddha, his Dhamma (gospel) and Saṅgha (the Order), and select a learned person as his preceptor. He was to follow strictly the rules and discipline of the Order ; if he was guilty of any serious breach of discipline, he could be expelled by a meeting of the chapter. Like the Hindu Brahmachārī (student), he was expected to beg his daily food ; but he was also permitted to accept invitations for meals from laymen. He was to do all manual and menial work connected with the monastic life, e. g. cleansing its floor and utensils, bringing water, supervising its stores, etc. The Relation between the Novice and his Teacher were filial in character ; they were united together by mutual reverence, confidence and affection. Like the Hindu Brahmachārin, the Buddhist novice was to help his teacher by doing a variety of manual work for him ; he was to carry his seat and robes, supply him water and tooth stick, cleanse his begging bowl and utensils and accompany him as an attendant when he proceeded to the town or village for begging or preaching. The teacher was to teach the student the rules of etiquette and discipline, draw his

1. Like Upanayana, it has been compared to a spiritual birth ; Cf. अरियाय जातितो जातो Majjhima Nikāya, II. p. 108 ; Therīgāthā, No. 17.

228 : EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. particular attention to the vow of chastity, poverty and abstinence from pleasures and help him in his intellectual and spiritual progress by suitable discourses and lessons in the morning and afternoon. He was also to help him in getting food and robes, and even to nurse him if he was sick. His own life was to be exemplary and the novice was permitted to act as a check on him if he was wavering in his faith or about to commit a breach of monastic discipline. The needs of the teacher were to be the minimum ; the famous teachers at Nālandā used to receive an allowance only three times larger than the amount given to an ordinary student. This would give a very clear idea as to how Buddhist teachers led a very simple life and cost next to nothing to society. They were lifelong students of their different subjects ; for marriage did not intervene to put an end to or an obstacle in their studies. The Education of the Laity : As observed already, in the beginning Buddhist education was purely monastic and was intended only for those who entered, or intended to enter, the Order. This was but natural. Buddhism held that the worldly life was full of sorrow and that the salvation could be possible only by renouncing it. It could therefore naturally evince no interest in the education of those who intended to follow secular life and pursuits. In the course of time however it was realised that it was necessary to win public sympathy and support for the spread of the gospel ; this could be more successfully done if the Buddhist monk could help the cause of education as was done by his theological opponent, the Brāhmaṇa priest. It was also realised that the best way to spread the gospel was to undertake the

X] CONTRIBUTION OF THE BUDDHISM 229 education of the rising generation. This was calculated to enable the Order to mould and influence the minds of the younger section of the society, when they were very pliable. There was thus a better chance of both recruiting proper types of persons for the Order and of getting a larger number of lay sympathisers, if the educational effort was not confined to novices but was also extended to the whole community. Buddhism therefore threw itself heart and soul into the cause of the general education of the whole community from about the beginning of the Christian era. It may be pointed out that lay students were admitted in ‘external’ monastic schools of Christianity, ‘internal’ schools being reserved for those who intended to join the order. Jesuits also used to admit lay pupils, when space permitted the step.¹ The Rise of Public Educational Institutes :— For a long time education was imparted by individual teachers in ancient India on their own private initiative and responsibility. The rise of organised public educational institutions may be justly attributed to the influence of Buddhism. This was but natural ; Buddhist monasteries already existed as corporate bodies : when they developed into educational centres, they naturally became corporate educational institu- tions. Temple colleges of Hinduism probably owed their inspiration to the monastic colleges of Buddhism. In the heyday of Buddhism India was studded with monasteries, and about 10 per cent of them at least used to impart higher education. An account of the more important of these institutions has already been given in Chapter V. Some of these monastic colleges H. Staunton, Great Schools, Intro. p. xv., Quick, Essays, p. 39.

230 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. like those of Nālandā, Valabhi and Vikramaśilā became international centres of learning and spread the fame of Indian education in Central and Eastern Asia. Nālandā could get an endowment even from a king of distant Java. Kings and merchant-princes in India vied with each other in giving rich endowments to these famous centres of education, and they in turn used to give not only free tuition but also free food and clothing, certainly to monks and probably to lay students also. How these institutions were organsied and managed has been already explained in connection with the account of the Nālandā Univer- sity (pp. 114-123). Buddhist monasteries were either independent and self-sufficient townships or situated on the outskirts of towns and villages. They therefore enjoyed the advantage of a quiet atmosphere. Non-sectarian and comprehensive Courses :— Though organised and managed by Buddhists, monastic colleges were neither sectarian in their outlook nor purely theological in their courses. Buddhist philo- sophy naturally played an important part in their scheme of education, but adequate attention was also given to the study of the religion and philosophy of the different sects in Hinduism and Jainism. More than two fifth of the time of Yuan Chwang was spent in studying Hindu religion and philosophy in Buddhist monasteries in India. ( Nor was the education confined only to theology, philosophy and logic. Sanskrit literature, astronomy-cum-astrology, medicine and works on law, polity and administration were also taught for the benefit of lay students in order to enable them to get government service or follow useful and learned professions in society. 1 Books being fragile and costly, students were naturally encouraged to commit

X] CONTRIBUTION OF THE BUDDHISM 231 important texts to memory ; this stood them in good stead in debates and controversies. But Buddhist education was far from being mere cramming of texts. Reasoning and analysis formed an important part in the method of teaching ; what critical foreign students like Yuan Chwang and I-tsing admired in their Indian teachers was not their keen memory, which stored numberless texts, but their remarkable powers of ex- planation and exposition. Individual attention was paid to students ; at Nālandā each teacher had not more than ten students under his charge. Female Education : Buddhist nunneries went out of vogue from about the 4th century A. D.; so at the time when Buddhist monasteries had developed into colleges of international reputation, women were not receiving any advantages of the education imparted in them. Their marriages were at that time taking place very early. In the early history of Buddhism however, the permission given to women to enter the Order gave a fairly good impetus to the cause of female education, especially in aristo- cratic and commercial sections of society. A large number of ladies from these circles joined the Order and became life-long students of religion and philosophy. Their example must have given an indirect encouragement to the spread of education among lay women as well. Buddhism and Primary Education: It is well known that in modern Burma Buddhist monasteries afford valuable help in spreading literacy, as a result of which the percentage of male literate population in that country was as high as 38 even in 1902. It is therefore not improbable that what Buddhist monasteries are doing in modern Burma

232 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. may have been done by them in ancient India as well. In its early history, however, there is no evidence to show that Buddhism was interesting itself in education of laymen. With the rise of the Mahāyāna school in the early centuries of the Christian era a great change took place, and Buddhist monasteries began to undertake systematically the education of laymen as well. The accounts of the Chinese travellers, however, leave the impression that Buddhist monasteries were mainly concerned with higher education. It is however not improbable that the Chinese travellers may not have referred to their work in the sphere of primary education, because they were not interested in it. We must further remember that primary education was a more integral part of higher education than is the case now, and so could not have been altogether neglected by the teachers engaged in higher education. Secular students, who used to serve their monk teachers as pages giving them water, food, etc., appear from I-tsing's account to have been students of primary rather than secondary education.¹ We may therefore conclude that in smaller monasteries where higher education was not imparted, monks may have engaged themselves in primary education. There is however no definite evidence on the point. Conclusion :—It will thus be seen that Buddhism may well be proud of its contribution to the cause of education in ancient India. Its colleges threw their doors open to all, irrespective of any considerations of caste or country. The rise of organised public educational institutions may be justly attributed to its influence. It raised the international status of

1. Takakusu, pp. 105-6.