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

I] THE CONCEPTION AND IDEALS OF EDUCATION 17 hereditary families naturally heightened the efficiency of trades and professions, and thus contributed to social efflciency. By thus promoting the progress of the different branches of knowledge, arts and professions, and by emphasising civic duties and responsibilities on the mind of the rising generation, the educational system contributed materially to the general efficiency and happiness of society. Preservation and Spread of Culture: The preservation and spread of national heritage and culture was the sixth and one of the most important aims of the Ancient Indian System of Education. It is well recognised that education is the chief means of social and cultural continuity and that it will fail in its purpose if it did not teach the rising generation to accept and maintain the best traditions of thought and action and transmit the heritage of the past to the future generations. Any one who takes even a cursory view of Hindu writings on the subject is impressed by the deep concern that was felt for the preservation and transmission of the entire literary, cultural and professional heritage of the race. Members of the professions were to train their children in their own lines, rendering available to the rising generation at the outset of its career all the skill and processess that were acquired after painful efforts of the bygone generations. The services of the whole Aryan community were conscripted for the purpose of the pre- servation of the Vedic literature. Every Aryan must learn at least a portion of his sacred literary heritage. It was an incumbent duty on the priestly class to commit the whole of the Vedic literature to memory in order to ensure its transmission to unborn generations. It is true that not all the Brahmanas obeyed this injunction, but that was because they had the commonsense to realise that 2

18 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. the services of their entire class were not necessary for the task. A section of the Brahmana community, however, was always available to sacrifice its life and talents in order to ensure the preservation of the sacred texts. Theirs was a life-long and almost a tragic devotion to the cause of learning. For, they consented to spend their life in committing to memory what others and not they could interpret. Secular benefits that they could expect were few and not at all commensurate with the labour involved. Remaining sections of the Brahmana commu- nity were fostering the studies of the different branches of liberal education, like grammar, literature, poetics, law, philosophy and logic. They were not only preserving the knowledge of the ancients in these branches, but constantly increasing its boundaries by their own contri- butions, which were being made down to the medieval times. Specialisation became a natural consequence of this tendency and it tended to make education deep rather than broad. The Theory of Three Debts : The interesting theory of three debts, which has been advocated since the Vedic age, has effectively served the purpose of inducing the rising generation to accept and maintain the best traditions of thought and action of the past generations The theory maintains that the moment an individual is born in this world, he incurs three debts, which he can discharge only by performing certain duties. First of all, he owes a debt to gods, and he can liquidate it only by learning how to perform proper sacrifices and by regularly offering them. Religious traditions of the race were thus preserved. Secondly, he owes a debt to the rishis or savants of the bygone ages and can discharge it only by studying their works and continuing their literary and professional traditions. The rising generation was

I] THE CONCEPTION AND IDEALS OF EDUCATION 19 thus enabled to master and maintain the best literary and professional traditions. The third debt was the debt to the ancestors, which can be repaid only by raising progeny and by imparting proper education to it₁ Steps were thus take to see that the rising generation became an efficient torch-bearer of the culture and traditions of the past. Other Methods to Preserve Cultural Traditions: The emphasis laid on obedience to parents, respect to elders and teachers and gratitude to savants of the bygone ages also helped to preserve the best traditions of the past. Especially significant in this connection are the rules about svādhyāya and ṛishitarpaṇa; the former enjoin a daily recapitulation of at least a portion of what was learnt during the student life and the latter require a daily tribute of gratitude to be paid to the literary giants of the past at the time of morning prayers. In later times, when archaic Sanskrit ceased to be understood and abstract and abstruse philosophy failed to appeal to masses, a new type of literature, the Purāṇas, was composed to popularise national culture and traditions among the masses. It was daily expounded to the masses in vernaculars, and as a consequence the best cultural traditions of the past filtered down to and were preserved by even illiterate' population. Devotional literature in vernacular also served the same function. Conclusion : Body, mind, intellect and spirit consti- tute a human being; the aims and ideals of ancient Indian education were to promote their simultaneous and Harmonious development. Men are social beings ; ancient Indian education not only emphasised social duties but also promoted social happiness. No nation can be called ¹ जायमानो वै ब्राह्मणस्त्रिभिरृणैऋणवाञ्जायते । यज्ञेन देवेभ्यो ब्रह्मचर्येण ऋषिभ्यः प्रजया पितृभ्यः। T.S., see also S.Br., 1:5.5

20 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. educated which cannot preserve and expand its cultural heritage. Our education enabled us to do this for several centuries. Aims of Education: Some Comparative Observa- tions: It would be interesting to compare the aims and ideals of ancient Indian education with those of some other systems, both ancient and modern, both eastern and western. We therefore now proceed to do so. In ANCIENT CHINA, Confucian preached that the purpose of education should be to train each individual in his path of duty, wherein is to be prescribed most minutely every deatil of life’s occupations and relationships. If we understand duty in a sufficiently wide sense, this definition of the aim of education would appear to be very similar to that of ancient Indian educationalists. In ANCIENT GREECE as well as in REFORMATION EUROPE, the ideal of personal culture loomed large in the educational system. Ancient Indians held that the individual exists more for society than vice versa; it was therefore the function of education to acquaint the individual with the culture of the race. Personal culture was promoted by the educational system only to the extent it was possible to do so by imparting national culture. Music, painting and fine arts thus did not become subjects of general education in ancient India as they became in ancient Greece. THE SPARTAN EDUCA- TION aimed at providing the state with as many faithful and capable soldiers as possible, who would defend it with the armed hand. The existence of the Aryans in India was not a precarious one; they were not like the Spartans threatened with a slave population about ten times their own number; so their education was not naturally dominated by the military ideal in any degree. MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN EDUCATIONALISTS held that education should be primarily for piety and wisdom; some writers

I] THE CONCEPTION AND IDEALS OF EDUCATION 21 like Montaigne also have advocated that it should develop virtue, wisdom, good manners and learning. Ancient Indians agree with this view but add that education must also fit an individual for a useful profession. JESUITICAL EDUCATION aimed at creating an army of faithful and resolute servants of the Catholic Church. Brahmana priests, who controlled and guided education in ancient India did not have so narrow an aim; the youths they trained very often questioned their traditional beliefs and started new theories of religion and philosophy. The system also provided for the needs of the laity. MILTON held that educational system should qualify a youth to perform skilfully, justly and magnanimously all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war. Ancient Indians held that all persons are not versatile enough to be trained for this ideal; they believed in the differentiation of functions and trained different classes for their different duties. SOME MODERN AMERICAN EDUCATIONALISTS hold that moral character and social efficiency, and not mere erudition and culture, should be the aims of education. Ancient Indians accept this view, but add that the preservation of the ancient national culture, which naturally does not loom large before a young nation like America, must also figure prominently as an aim of education. SOVIET EDUCATION concentrates its activities on the training and upliftment of the proletariate. There was no class war in ancient India; educationalists therefore tried to provide education to each class, suitable for its own needs and traditions. MODERN INDIAN EDUCATION is dominated by the aim of passing examinations with highest honours; this aim was practically non-existent in ancient India. It will be shown in Chapter VI how examinations played quite a negligible part in ancient Indian education.

Chapter II. SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES. Education for all—Education a serious proposition and marriage incompatible with it—Education to begin in childhood and not to stop with graduation—Student’s cooperation important—Rod to be used very sparingly—Importance of habits, routine, association and imitation— The Gurukula system—The role and importance of the family—Various theories about Nature vs, Nurture—Influence of the caste system—The system once flexible, Brahmanas and non-Brahmanas teaching each others’ subjects—Its influence on the curriculum of Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras in later times—Caste system and Buddhism. Introduction: It is desirable to discuss now important educational principles and postulates accepted and assumed by ancient Indian thinkers. This would facilitate the proper understanding of the evolution and history of the different aspects of education that would be described later on in the book. It has to be observed at the outset that principles and postulates have not been systematically and comprehensively discussed in any ancient work; they have to be gathered from diverse and scattered sources and inferred from educational practice. Education should be thorough : We have seen already how education was regarded as a source of illumination and was expected to enable its recepients to meet successfully the difficulties and problems of life. It was therefore insisted that it should be thorough and efficient. The educational system did not aim at imparting a general knowledge of a number of subjects; its ideal was to train experts in different branches. Printing and paper being unknown, books were very costly and libraries

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 23 practically non-existent; the educational system therefore took particular care to train and develop memory in order to ensure that what students had learnt during their college days should stand them in good stead throughout their life. Personal attention to each student was insisted upon to ensure a high degree of proficiency. In pro- fessional education the necessity of practical training was emphasised for the same reason. Education for all: Since education was regarded as the best agency for improving society, it was naturally insisted that it should be available to all those who were qualified to receive it. It was not regarded, as was the case in Ancient Greece, as the priviledge of those lucky few who had the necessary leisure to devote to its acquisition. To ensure literary education to the largest possible number, Upanayana ritual, which marked the beginning of religious and literary education, was made obligatory for all the Aryans, both males and females. It was further declared that a man can discharge his debt to ancestors not merely by procreating sons but by pro- viding for their proper education.¹ Every Aryan, i. e. every Brahmana, Kshatriya and Vaishya, thus received at least the rudiments of literary and religious education. Things however changed for the worse during the first millennium of the Christian era, when Kshatriyas and Vaishyas gradually ceased to perform Upanayana and sank to the level of the Shudras. This gave a great set- back to their literary education. As far as the professional education was concerned, it was ensured to almost all persons anxious to receive it, when the caste system became hereditary; every family was expected to train its children and bring them up in the traditions of its profession. ¹ तस्मात्पुत्रमनुशिष्टं लोक्यमाहुस्तस्मादेनमनुशास्ति । B. Up., 1.5.7.

24 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. Steps Taken to Realise the Ideal: Society also took several other important steps to realise this ideal. To ensure an adequate supply of teachers, it enjoined that teaching was a holy duty which a Brahmana was bound to discharge irrespective of the consideration as to whether any fee was likely to be received or not. It made education free and held to public opprobrium any teacher who would stipulate for fees. In order to bring education within the reach of the poorest, it not only permitted students to beg, but elevated begging into the highest duty of the student life. In order to ensure a reasonable maintenance to teachers, who were expected to devote their lives to the cause of teaching in the missionary spirit of self-sacrifice, society laid down that both the public and the state should help learned teachers and educational institutions very liberally. How these arrangements worked in practice will be explained in Chapter IV. Education a serious Proposition: Though ancient Indians held that all should normally receive the benefits of education, they have also laid down that persons who were morally and intellectually unfit to receive it should be excluded from its benefit (Nirukta, II. 4); this was a necessary precaution to avoid waste. They further point out that real scholarship cannot be obtained by dilettanish or perfunctory studies; impatience is as great an enemy of learning as self-complaceney¹. The rich and the poor have both to submit to stern discipline in order to become learned. Long continued and laborious preparation is necessary to aquire real grounding and efficiency in a subject. One who is lazy or anxious to dabble in several matters, or one who wants to have a merry time during

1. अशुश्रूषा त्वरा श्लाघा विद्यायाः शत्रवस्त्रयः। Mbh., V. 40.4.

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 25 his school and college days, cannot become a good scholar¹. Marriage Incompatible with Studentship: Natu- rally therefore ancient Indians held that a student ought not to marry during his course. The term Brahmachārī, which is used to denote a student, primarily refers to a person leading a celibate life in order to realise his educational ideals and ambitions. Our authorities insist that the student should observe celibacy both in thought and deed. He can marry only at the end of his course, when permitted by his preceptor to do so. Lapse from this Ideal: Owing to several causes, which cannot be discussed here, the marriageable age of girls began to fall down gradually from c. 600 B. C. From 16 it came down to 14, then to 12 and then to 11 or 10. The last mentioned limit was reached during the early centuries of the Christian era. The lowering of the marriageable age of girls naturally brought down the marriageable age of boys to about 16 or 18; marriage thus became inevitable before the end of education. As early as the 3rd century B.C. we find occasional references to the cases of husbands staying away from their wives for some years during their educational course;² these cases later became common. We may safely conclude that from about the beginning of the Christian era, more than 50 percent students used to marry before their education was completed. ¹ सुखार्थिनः कुतो विद्या नास्ति विद्यार्थिनः सुखम् ॥' नान्योद्योगवता न चाप्रवसता नात्मानमुत्कर्षता। नालस्योपहतेन नामयवता नाचार्यविद्वेषिणा ॥ लज्जाशीलविनम्रसुन्दरमुखीं सीमन्तिनीं नेच्छता। लोके ख्यातिकरः सतामभिमतो विद्यागुणः प्राप्यते ॥ Subhāshitas. ² ब्राह्मणमधीयानं दशवर्षाणि (प्रतीक्षेत)। A. S. III, 4.

26 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. Education to begin at Proper Time: Ancient Indians were convinced that no good results would follow if education is begun late, in life. A boy who begins his education at 16 is not likely to bring any credit to his teachers¹. During our childhood, mind is pliable, memory keen and intellect receptive; it is only at this period of life, that it is possible to form good habits that may be of life-long use to us. Ancient Indians have therefore insisted that education ought to commence in childhood. One thinker observes that parents themselves would become the greatest enemies of a child, whose education has been neglected during the childhood². It was held that the 5th year and the 8th year would be the proper time for the beginning of the primary and the secondary education respectively. Our educationalists had however recognised that it would be necessary to vary these years in accordance with the cultural traditions of the family.³ Studies not to stop with the Course: Even in modern times, when books are cheap and library facilities fairly good, students forget a good deal of what they learn within a few years after leaving the school or the college. The danger was much greater in ancient times when books were rare, costly and fragile. Our educa- tionalists therefore emphasise that every graduate should recapitulate daily a portion of what he had learnt in the school or the college. At the time of his convocation, the chancellor particularly exhorted him not to neglect his duty of daily revision⁴. To forget what had once been learnt was pronounced to be a sin as grave as the ¹ नातिषोडशवर्षमुपनयीत प्रसृष्टवृषणो ह्येष वृषलीभूतो भवति ॥ J.Gr.S.,I.12 ² माता शत्रुः पिता वैरी बालों येन न पाठितः । Subhāshita. ³ See Appendix I, sections A and B. ⁴ स्वाध्यायप्रवचनाभ्यां न प्रमदितव्यम् । T.U ., I.

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 27 murder of a friend or Brahmana (Yáj., III. 228). During the rainy season, every graduate was expected to devote extra time to his studies 'in order to remove their staleness'. Some thinkers like Śvetaketu even recommended an annual stay of two months at the college for this purpose [A. D. S., X. 1. 2. 12]. Importance of Student's Cooperation : Ancient Indians held that education was not a passive or one sided process and that it will be productive of the greatest results only when full and voluntary coopera- tion is coming forth from students. They must feel the urge to acquire more knowledge; then there would be pleasure in teaching them. If there is no real desire for learning and improvement, it would be useless to waste time and labour over the education of insincere students (Manu, II, 113-4, 191). But what was to be done if a student entrusted to the charge and care of a teacher begins to show a continuous indifference to duty ? How was he to be induced to do his work? Was the teacher merely to remonstrate, or was he to inflict physical punishment ? Views about Physical Punishment : As may be expected, there was no unanimity of views among ancient Indian educationalists about the advisability of physical punishment. Āpastamba recommends that a teacher should try to improve refractory students by banishing them from his presence or by imposing a fast (1.2.8.30). He seems to be opposed to physical chastisement. Manu grows eloquent over the virtues of gentle persuasion (II. 159-61), but eventually permits the imposition of mild physical punishment by a thin rod or rope. Gautama agrees with him, but adds that a teacher giving a severer punishment would be liable for legal prosecution.¹ A १ शिष्यशिष्टिरवधेन । अशक्तौ रज्जुवेणुविदलाभ्याम् । अन्येन घ्नन् राज्ञा शास्यः । I. 2.48.53

28 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. teacher in Taxila, when giving physical punishment to a royal student from Benares, who would not give up his stealing habits in spite of repeated exhortations, exclaims that the use of the rod cannot be altogether given up by a teacher (Jā., No. 252). He takes up the position of Manu and Gautama, which represents the via media, and seems to have been generally followed in ancient India.¹ The Taxila teacher seems to have held views similar to those of Locke, who permits corporal punishment for moral remissness. Corporal Punishment Elsewhere: In ancient times corporal punishment was the order of the day. It was given in Sparta not only as a corrective, but also as a means of making students hardier. In the schools of this city, there were rather whipping exercises than the imposition of corporal punishment. Other schools in ancient times did not go to the extreme length of Sparta, but permitted a liberal use of the rod. The same was the case with the Europe of the Middle Ages and it was but natural. At a time when man was regarded as a vessel of sin, and when he hoped to become fit for heaven only through a bitter struggle with the flesh, extreme views about the place of punishment naturally prevailed among educationalists. The reaction started only with Rousseau. Importance of Habits: One of the best ways to secure ready cooperation from students was to encourage proper habits; great importance was therefore attached to the formation of proper habits by the student during his education course. It was realised that habits consti- tuted a second nature and those formed during the pliable

¹ 1. In Medieval India, as in Medieval Europe, corporal punishment was liberally administered in village schools. The old ideals were for- gotten by this time.

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 29 and impressionable period of childhood would stand a person in good stead throughout his life. Rules of discipline, that are prescribed for the student, have been laid down not so much for the purpose of prohibiting him from doing undesirable acts as with the object of forming good and valuable habits. The habit of rising early was found to be good; it was therefore laid down that the student must daily get up at the dawn. Plain living and high thinking was recognised to be a desideratum; in order to develop a liking for it the use of costly food and gorgeous dress was prohibited. Life is a hard and long struggle against circumstances; in order to prepare, students for it, rules were laid down calculated to develop them into strong and hardy men with determined will and great enduring power. Importance of Routine: It was recognised that routine also will play a great part in the formation of habits. The daily routine was carefully determined with a view to enable students to form good habits and master their subjects at the end of their course. Students of poetics and literature were constantly engaged in practising composition and versification. Students of theology had to take part daily in the performance of sacrifices, which they would be called upon to conduct in their after life. Apprentices in sculpture and painting had to go through a long course of routine practice before they could finish their course. Students in primary and secondary schools went through the daily routine of recitation and recapitulation, which enabled them to master their subjects. The routine was made interesting by making several children take part in the recitation simultaneously. Association and Imitation: Ancient Indians had realised that association and imitation play a great part

30 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. in moulding the character and improving the calibre of a student. Even a dull student, they point out, will improve his intellect if he is in close association with a brilliant boy and imitates his methods of study¹. One should therefore be very careful in choosing one's company. One can now understand why our educationalists have attached a great importance to sending a student to live under the direct care of a teacher, or better still, in a gurukula (boarding) of established reputation. The Gurukula System: The Gurukula system, which necessitated the stay of the student away from his home at the house of a teacher or in a boarding house of established reputation, was one of the most important features of ancient Indian education. Smṛitis recommend that the student should begin to live under the supervision of his teacher after his Upanayana; etymologically _antevāsin_², the word for the student, denotes one who stays near his teacher and samāvartana, the word for convocation, means the occasion of returning home from the boarding or the teacher's house. The rules which require the student to rise earlier and sleep later than his teacher, to show him alms gathered at midday and to attend to the night service of his Agnihotra (sacrificial fire) also show that the student was normally living at the house of his teacher³. Ancient literature contains several stories like ¹ बुद्धिश्च हीयते पुंसां नीचैः सह समागमात् । मध्यमैर्मध्यतां याति श्रेष्ठतां याति चोत्तमैः ॥ Mbh., VI.1.30 2 अन्तेवासी is an abbreviation of आचार्यकुलवासी Ch. Up, 11.23. uses this expression in the case of the general student; cf. द्वितीयो ब्रह्मचारी आचार्यकुलवासी । 3 Stories like those of Upakośala, where we find the wife of the ' teacher coming forward to induce the student to give up his fast, also show incidentally that students must be living with their teachers; see Ch. Up, IV, 10 8. P.T.O.

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 31 those of Nābhānedishṭa and Kṛishṇa showing that students were being actually sent to reside with their preceptors. Of course this was recommended only in the case of students of higher education. The evidence of the Jātakas shows that they used to leave their homes, not perhaps immediately after their Upanayana, but at about the age of 14 or 15 when they were old enough to look after themselves in a distant place. It is also likely that parents living in the same locality with the teacher, or belonging to the same place where the educational institute was located, may not have always sent their wards to stay with their preceptors or in boarding houses. But such cases could not have been many. On the other hand there is evidence to show that rich persons used to deliberately send their children to distant places, even when there were famous teachers in their own towns, because they were anxious that they should reap the benefits of the Gurukula system. Gurukula System why Recommended: The recognition of the importance of association and imitation was one of the main reasons for the great emphasis laid on the Gurukula system. Direct, personal and continuous con- tact with a teacher of noble character naturally produces great effect on the mind of the scholar during the pliable period of childhood and adolescence. The close associa- tion with elderly scholars, who had made progress in education and won the applause of their teachers, naturally (Continued from the last page) It is interesting to note that the Law of Limitation was relaxed in favour of students staying away from their homes at Guru- kulas; cf. ब्रह्मचारी चरेत्कश्चिद्व्रतं षट्त्रिंशदाब्दिकम् । समावृत्तो व्रती कुर्यात्स्वधनान्वेषणं ततः ॥ पंचाशदाब्दिको भोगस्तद्धनस्यापहारकः ॥ Kātyāyana in Pa. M. Vol. III, i, p. 148.

32 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. induces the new entrants to imitate their example. The invisible yet all-pervading influence of established tradi- tions of the institution naturally spurs the student to identify himself with them. The system eliminated the factors in home life prejudicial to the educational atmos- phere and facilitated better studies; it however did not altogether eliminate the refining influence of the family life, because students used to come into indirect contact with it when living under the guardianship of their teachers, who were usually householders. It also served to tone down personal angularities of pampered children and made all students more resourceful and self-reliant and better acquainted with the ways of the world¹. It was felt that students trained at home would lack the benefit of school discipline and suffer from desultoriness and want of application and would thus normally compare very unfavourably with those trained in a Gurukula.² Gurukulas not always in Forests: The general belief that Gurukulas were located in forests away from the din of city life is but partly correct.³ There is no doubt that the majority of the teachers of philosophy in ancient India lived, thought out and taught their spiritual theories in sylvan solitudes. The same was the case with celebrated teachers like Vālmīki, Kaṇva and Sāndīpani; who used to stay in forests, though they had made arrangements in their Āśramas (forest retreats) to teach

¹ Cf. पोराणिकराजानो अत्तने पुत्ते 'एवं एते निहतमानदप्पा सीतण्हक्खमा लोकचरितञ्ञू भविस्संति' अत्तनो नगरे दीसापामोक्खे आचरिये विज्जमानेपि सिप्पुग्गहणत्थाय दूरे तिरोरट्ठं पेसंति । Jā. No. 252. ² अपि च ज्ञानसंपन्नः सर्वान्वेदान्पितुर्गृहे । श्लाघमान इवाधीयादग्राम्य इत्येव तं विदुः ॥ Mbh., XIII. 36.15 ³ Rules prescribing a holiday when there was a death or robbers' raid in the village (Manu, IV. 108, 113) presuppose that the school was not situated in a forest.

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

34 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. kula, but from his early childhood; ancient Indians therefore attached great importance to the family in their scheme of education. They held that the child begins to receive influences that mould its character and determine its efficiency right from the time of its conception. If Prahlāda became a deep devotee and Abhimanyu a skilful warrior, the reason was the influence indirectly exercised upon them by Nārada and Kṛishṇa respectively, when they were still to be heralded in this world. It was believed that the impressions, which would be conveyed on the mind of the expectant mother, would be automati- cally transmitted to the mind of the child to be born. The mother therefore was advised to devote herself to the study and contemplation of the achievements and biogra- phies of great national heroes and heroines, so that she may herself get a child that may be a worthy successor of theirs. Family and the Pre-School Period: We have seen already that the preservation of the national culture was one of the important aims of education and the family was expected to cooperate with the school in its realisation. The ambition of the child was first fired and its imagina- tion set aglow not by the lessons it received in the school but by the stories it heard from its mother and grand- mother. Well known is the part which the home influence played in shaping the career and firing the imagination of heroes and saints like Shivājī and Rāmadāsa. Multiplica- tion tables, noun declensions and some metrical rules about grammar were taught at home to the child during its early childhood in all cultured families. The home thus not only prepared the child for the school, but also supplemented its work. The Role of the Family in the Pre-Historic Times: In pre-historic times, i. e. before about 1000 B. C., the

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 35 family played a still greater part in the educational system. At that early period, the professional teacher was yet rather rare; so generally the father was the usual teacher and the home the usual school. Several examples are preserved in Vedic and Upanishadic literature of fathers themselves teaching their own sons.¹ Nay, the father himself was to begin the Vedic education, because it was he and he alone who was regarded as eligible for teaching the Gāyatrī Mantra to the boy; recourse was had to another teacher only if he was unavailable for the purpose. In course of time, owing to greater specialisa- tion that became inevitable, home education became possible only in the case of a few cultured families. Remaining families were however expected to take prompt steps to send the children to a teacher or a school at the proper time and supervise their lessons at home if neces- sary. Supervision of the education of the family wards was one of the most important duties of its head.² Family and the Female Education: In the case of the education of girls, the family played an important part. We do come across rare cases of girls being educat- ed at boarding schools or colleges; for instance, we read in the drama Mālatīmādhava how Kāmandakī was educated at a college along with Bhūrivasu and Devarāta (Act I). These cases were however exceptional, for there was a general prejudice against sending girls outside for their education. Dharmasūtras insist that they should be taught at home by their male guardians like the father, the brother or the uncle. This was of course possible only in

1. Prajāpati was the teacher of his sons, Devas, Asuras and Men, Br. Up. V. 2.1. Āruni had initiated his son Śvetaketu in the study of philosophy. Br. Up., VI. 2. 1; Ch. Up., V. 3.
2. Rv., I, 24

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