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

242 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. masses. In the sphere of higher education specialisation was carried to too great an extreme ; the logician, the mathematician and the rhetorist, for instance, did not possess much knowledge of the problems and achi- evements of one another. The preservation of ancient literature and culture was the main concern of the educational system ; it was unable to produce many scholars who could substantially enrich it. The creative vein in the Hindu intellect could still be seen in the realm of poetics. and to a less extent, in those of philosophy, literature and astronomy. It was how- ever quite feeble, compared to its strength and achieve- ments in the preceding ages. The situation deteriorat- ed further by the growing self-conceitedness of the scholars of the age and their refusal to benefit by the knowledge and experience of outsiders. They had no longer a free, open and enquiring mind ; they would refuse to accept what was not in consonance with the views of sacred scriptures. This stood in the way of progress in sciences like astronomy and medicine, history and geography. During the medieval times great importance was attached by Indian Pandits, as by Jesuitical scholars, to the cleverness and skill in mere wordy warfare ; a person was hailed as a great scholar if he could perceive distinctions where none existed and silence his opponent by a brilliant display of the resources of a well trained memory. Depth of scholarship thus often went unrecognised and shallow and unscrupulous debators could often pose as great scholars. The general state of affairs regarding education further deteriorated during the period 1200-1800 A. D. owing to the growing impoverishment of Hindu society and the withdrawal of active state encouragement to its educational system during the period of Muslim ascendancy.

Chapter XI. ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES. ACHIEVEMENTS—The aims of infusion of piety and formation of character fully achieved—Testimony of foreign writers and travel- lers—Success in developing personality, preserving and spreading culture and literature and promoting social efficiency and happiness. DEFECTS & LIMITATIONS: Hold of religion leads to the neglect of secular studies and discouragement of rationalism in later times— The case in Europe the same—Hindu intellect ceases to be creative and assimilative and becomes receptive and imitative in later times— consequent adverse effect on education—Arts and crafts regarded plebian in later times—Education of masses neglected—Neglect of vernaculars in later times—Depth at the cost of breadth—No broad- based course including grammar, literature, mathematics, history and geography for the average student—Most defects arise in medieval times—A general estimate of Ancient Indian Education. Introduction : We shall devote this concluding chapter to the purpose of giving a critical estimate of ancient Indian educational system by discussing its achievements and failures. We have already made some general observations in this connection in the preceding pages ; we shall here discuss the subject in a connected and comprehensive manner. We shall first proceed to ascertain how far the aims and ideals of the educational system, referred to in Chap. I, were actually realised in practice. This will to a great extent enable us to form its just estimate. Infusion of Piety and Formation of Character : We have seen already how infusion of a spirit of piety and the formation of character were the first two important aims of the educational system. There can be no doubt that piety and religiousness are more characteristic of Hindu society than of any other community. The success of the educational system

244 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. in moulding and forming character was also very remarkable, as proved by the testimony of a number of foreign observers, belonging to different centuries, creeds and countries, who had no particular reason to pass flattering remarks about Indian character. Testimony of Greeks : Among these foreign observers, the Greeks are chronologically the earliest (c. 300 B. C.). Politically they were not the allies but the opponents of the Hindus. They have made a few caustic remarks about some aspects of their culture, but they have candidly noted the high impression that the Hindu character and veracity produced on their mind. 'Indians have never been convicted of lying. Truth and virtue they hold in high esteem' says Megasthenes in one place$^1$. This state- ment could not have been literally true, but it shows that the cases of cheating and swindling must have been comparatively few in society. Strabo and Megasthenes have further pointed out that law suits among the Indians were rare owing to their frank dealing. "They are not litigous. Witnesses and seals are not necessary when a man makes a deposit, he acts in trust. Their houses are usually unguarded$^2$." A Chinese Tribute : Yuan Chwang pays an equally high compliment to the Indian character during the 7th century A.D. He has carefully noted the weak and strong points in the character of the peoples of different districts ; but while summing up his impressions of the Indian character as a whole, he says "They (i.e. Indians) are of hasty and irresolute temperament, but of pure moral principles. They will not take anything wrongfully and they yield more than fairness

1. Megasthenes, Fragment 35.
2. Ibid.

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 245 requires. They fear for retribution for sins in other lives and make light of what conduct produces in this life. They do not practice deceit and they keep their sworn obligations."¹ Vast majority of Indians in Yuan Chwang's time did not share his religious beliefs and practices and yet they receive the above high compliment from the Chinese pilgrim. Arab and Italian Testimony : Al Idrisi's im- pressions of the Hindu character in western India during the 10th century A.D. are similar to those of Yuan Chwang's. Though a Muslim, he says of the Hindus, 'The Indians are naturally inclined to justice and never depart from it in their actions. Their good faith, honesty and fidelity to engagements are well known and they are so famous for these qualities that people flock to their country from every side ; hence the country is flourishing and their conditon pros- perous.² "In the thirteenth century Marco Polo also was impressed very highly by the character of the Brahmanas of Western India. "You must know" says he, "that these Brahmanas are the best merchants in the world and the most truthful, for they would never tell a lie for anything on the earth. If a foreign merchant, who does not know the ways of the country, applies to them and entrusts his goods to them, they would take charge of these and sell them in the most zealous manner, seeking zealously the profit of the foreigner and asking no commission except what he pleases to give."³ When the morality of the trading classes is so high, the character of the average man must have been very noble. Ibn Batuta, another Muslim observer, describes the Marathas of Deogiri

1. Watters, I, p. 171.
2. Elliot, History, Vol. I, p. 88.
3. Yule, Marco Polo, Vol. II, p. 363 (Third edition).

246 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. and Nándurbar of the 14th century as 'upright, religious and trustworthy.¹ The same was the view of Abul Fazl, the minister of Akbar. Conclusion : Travellers, pilgrims and merchants are usually disposed to make caustic remarks about the culture and character of the foreigners among whom they have moved ; when so many of them belonging to different times and climes and professing different faiths agree in paying a high tribute to Indian character, we may well conclude that there is no exaggeration and that the educational system of the country had succeeded remarkably in its ideal of raising the national character to a high level. It is only after the 17th and 18th centuries A.D. that we come across some foreign travellers, traders, missionaries and ex-governors passing strictures upon the Hindu character. Some of them were probably misled by their prejudices, as we find their testimony contradicted by others.² It is also possible that the Hindu character may have suffered deterioration during the long spell of foreign rule in medieval times ; for successful falsehood is usually the best defence of a slave. It is however worth observing that not a single foreign observer is found passing hostile remarks about Hindu character and honesty during the ancient period of Indian history. Success in developing Personality : The deve- lopment of personality was the third aim of the educational system and let us see how far it was able to

1. Ibna Batuta, p. 228.
2. Col Sleeman, for instance, says : 'Lying between members of the same village is almost unknown.' I have had hundreds of cases before me in which a man's property, liberty and life depended upon his telling a lie, and he has refused to tell it.' Quoted by M. Muller in India, What It can teach Us, p. 50.

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES. 247 accomplish it. The available evidence is rather meagre to form a definite judgment in this connection. We come across several masterful personalities, in different walks of life in ancient India, but how far they were typical of their age we do not know. Hindu achieve- ments, however, in the different walks of life and branches of knowledge were fairly of a high order in ancient India down to the 6th century A.D., and this would hardly have been possible if the products of the educational system were not masterful personalities. Things however changed for the worse from the 6th century A. D.; Brahmacharya discipline became nominal when a vast majority of students began to marry at a very early age; growth of independent judgment became stunted with the growing veneration for the past and its time-hallowed traditions. Self- confidence and self-respect disappeared in a great measure when society suffered from the convulsions of sudden foreign invasions and long alien rule, frequently imposing a hated religion and strange culture with the aid of the sword. We must not judge the success of the ancient Indian educational system in building personality of students by the conclusions based upon its products at the advent of the British rule. Success in the Preservation and Spread of Culture and Literature : Friends and foes have alike admitted that the ancient Indian system of education has been eminently successful in its aim of the preservation of ancient literary and cultural heritage. Very few of the Vedic works have been lost. It is indeed a wonder how so vast a literature could have been preserved without the help of the art of writing for the task. Among post-Vedic works too, the number of valuable books lost is not considerable. And here also the losses would have been practically insignificant if the destruc-

248 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. tion of temples and monasteries had not taken place on a wide scale at the time of the invasions of the Mahomedans and during their subsequent long rule. The surprising amount of cultural uniformity that is to be seen even now over the length and breadth of India is mainly due to the successful preservation and spread of ancient culture and civilisation. If there are several features, common to Hindu life, all over the country, contributing to Hindu unity, the credit has to be largely given to the educational system, which has produced uniformity in the culture and outlook on life of the Hindu community. The remarkable success of Indian missionaries in spreading Indian culture in Indian Archipelago, Siam, China, Japan, Tibet, and Central Asia must be attributed to the success of the educational system in enkindling a strong zest in the minds of students for spreading the national culture and heritage far and wide, both in India and outside. Civic Responsibility and Social Efficiency and Happiness : The success of the educational system in infusing a sense of civic responsibility and promoting social efficiency and happiness, which were two of its important aims, was also remarkable. It was but natural that the educational system should have taken the help of the religious feeling and the caste discipline for infusing the sense of civic responsibility. The average man in ancient India was always loyal to the interests of his guild, village and caste. It was the success of the educational system in promoting social efficiency, which enabled Hindu society to be in the vanguard of the march of civilisation for several centuries. It is true that this ceased to be the case from about the 10th century A.D. ; but the failure during the last millennium in this connection should not blind us to the success in the preceding long period of

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 249 more than two thousand years. We shall now proceed to discuss the causes of the decline in the educational system and point out its limitations and defects. DEFECTS AND LIMITATIONS Introduction : We shall now proceed to point out the main defects and limitations of the educational system along with their causes. The period-wise survey of the educational system, which was taken in the second section of the last chapter, must have already indicated to the reader what these defects were and how most of them arose during the latter half of the first millennium A. D. We shall discuss them in greater details now. Attention will also be drawn to some other limitations of the system, which were more or less common to almost all systems of education in ancient times and for which, therefore, the ancient Indian system alone cannot be blamed. The Hold of Religion :—Religion had an immense hold over the Hindu mind and many of the admirable features of the educational system have to be attribut- ed to this circumstance, as shown already. It did not make the educational outlook ‘otherworldly’, as is supposed in certain quarters. The ideals of the Vānaprastha and the Sanyāsa were no doubt purely spiritual, but such was not the case with the ideals of the educational system. It aimed at producing youths eminently fit to perform their civic and social duties ; if any spiritual merit for the life to come was to result from Brahmacharya, it was to be through the proper performance of duties, which however were principally determined with a view to make the student an efficient and God-fearing citizen. Secular Studies tend to be neglected :—The majority of teachers in ancient India were priests, as was the case all over the ancient world. They did

250 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. not exploit their position for promoting any selfish ends of their own, but they had the natural limitations of their class. When the even balance that was for a long time successfully held in Hindu society between the claims of religious and secular life (Dharma-Moksha versus Artha-Kāma) was disturbed, religious and semi- religious studies got undue predominance in the educational system. Secular sciences like history, economics, politics, mathematics and astronomy did not receive as much attention as theology, philosophy, ritualism and sacred law. Commerce and industry and fine and useful arts made no appreciable progress during the last 1500 years or so, because those in charge of education showed no keen interest in them. It may however be pointed out that down to the 18th century, educationalists in Europe also regarded religious studies as the most important constituents of the educa- tional course ; many of them like Franke and Comenius held that all children should be instructed above all things in the vital knowledge of God and Christ.¹ Reason not held at a Discount in early Times :— A greater defect produced by the hold of religion over the Hindu mind was the tendency to hold reason at a discount, which became prominent a few centuries after the Christian era. Such was not the case in earlier times, when society used to value intellectual freedom highly. Upanishadic thinkers have, for example, advocated bold and original theories of philosophy without showing any anxiety whatever to prove that their views were in consonance with those of the Vedic sages. In the days of the Buddha there were as many as sixty three systems of philosophy, very few of which cared to rely on Vedic authority for their premises or conclusions. Systems of philosophy like 1 Greaves, Educators, pp 72—3,

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 251 the Sāṁkhya and the Mīmāṁsā, which did not recognise a Creator-God, were admitted within the fold of orthodoxy. Buddhism and Jainism were not summarily dismissed as athiestic or heterodox ; their scriptures were carefully studied in order to prove that their theories were unsound. For a long time society was successful in reconciling its reverence for the past with its regard for the advance of knowledge ; it used to silently abandon exploded views and quietly accept new theories and doctrines. The changed Attitude of later Times : Unfortu- nately for the progress of learning and scholarship Vedic literature was canonised some time about 600 B.C. An almost equally high reverence came to be paid to the Smṛitis and Purāṇas in course of time. The authorship of these works came to be attributed to divine or inspired agency, and it was averred that what they contained could not be false, what they opposed could not be true. Theories began to be accepted or rejected according as they were in conformity with or opposed to the statements of thesacred books on the point. Intellectual giants like Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja had to spend a disproportionate amount of time and energy to prove that their systems of philosophy were in conformity with and the natural outcomes of the Upa- nishadic hypotheses. If the hold of the Srutis and Smṛitis were not so exacting, there would have been freer development of philosophy. At any rate many of the remarkable intellects of the Middle Ages would have found it possible to write independent works on their own systems of philosophy instead of being compelled to present it unsystematically, while engaged in the ostensible task of writing commentaries on the revealed literature. Instead of Nibandha compilations, we would have possessed original Smṛitis of the later times.

252 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. A concrete Instance and its Moral: Under such circumstances, there was not much scope left for research and originality in those matters where opinions were expressed in sacred texts. A concrete case may be given to illustrate the point. In the infancy of astronomy, the eclipses were explained by the mytho- logical stories about Rāhu and Ketu attacking and temporarily overpowering the moon and the sun. It was an evil day for the advance of astronomy when this mythological version got a canonical sanction by its inclusion in the Purāṇas. Hindu astronomers like Āryabhaṭa, Brahmagupta, Varāhamihira and Bhāskarā- chārya knew the true causes of eclipses, but felt powerless to carry vigorous propaganda to explode their popular and mythological explanation canonised by the Purāṇas. Nay, Brahmagupta, with a view to win cheap popularity, went to the extent of advocating that the popular view was correct, when he knew full well that such was not the case. In Chapter I of his Brahma-siddhānta, he gives both the popular and scientific theories about the eclipses, but advocates the cause of the former. "Some people think that the eclipse is not caused by the Head (of Rāhu or Ketu). This, however, is a foolish idea. The Veda, which is the word of God from the mouth of Brahman, says that the Head eclipses, likewise Manusmṛiti and Garga- saṁhitā".¹ What is, however, most lamentable is that Brahmagupta, who knew full well the real cause of eclipses, should have proceeded to condemn Āryabhaṭa, Varāhamihira, Śrīsheṇa and Vishṇuchandra for expounding the unorthodox but scientific theory that eclipses are caused by the shadow of the earth. It is important to note that Brahmagupta becomes guilty of intellectual and moral dishonesty because he was

1. As quoted by Alberuni, Vol. II, pp. 110-1. The original work has been lost.

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 253 anxious to win cheap popularity by supporting the popular view that what was contained in the Vedas and Manusmṛiti could not be untrue. It is interesting to note that Varāhamihira first combats the Rāhu-Ketu theory,¹ but then immediately succumbs to it.² Āryabhaṭa alone has perhaps the moral courage to be consistent with his intellectual convictions. But he also only hints that the popular theory is wrong, but does not dare to attack it openly.³ If the Rāhu-Ketu theory of eclipses has continued to retain its hold over the popular Hindu mind for the last 1500 years and more, inspite of the scientific discovery of the true cause of eclipses, the reason is that Hindu scholarship of later times was too much in the leading strings of religion to carry on active propaganda against its hypothses. Similarly astronomers continued to subscribe to the view that the constellation of the Great Bear moves from one lunar mansion to another in a hundred years, even when they had discovered that such was not the case. The discontinuance of dissection in the medical training and the abandonment of agriculture by the Brahmanas, Buddhists and Jains are also to be attributed to the hold of the progressively puritanical notions over the popular mind.⁴ Similar Hostility to Rationalism in Europe also :

1. Bṛihat-saṁhitā, V. 4 ff. यदि मूर्तो भविचारी शिरोथवा भवति मंडली राहुः । भगणार्धेनान्तरिते गृह्णाति कथं नियतचारः ॥ ४ ॥ अथ भुजगेन्द्ररूपः पुच्छेन मुखेन वा स गृह्णाति । मुखपुच्छान्तःसंस्थं स्थगयति कस्मान्न भगणार्धम् ।
2. Ibid, v. 13 एवमुपरागकारणमुक्तमिदं दिव्यदृग्भिराचार्यैः । राहुः कारणमस्मिन्नित्युक्तः शास्त्रसद्भावः ॥
3. Golabhāga, v. 49 यदसज्ज्ञानसमुद्रात्समुद्धृतं देवताप्रसादेन । सज्ज्ञानोत्तमरत्नं मया निमग्नं स्वमतिना वा ।
4. I-tsing, p. 62.

254 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. It is, however, but fair to observe that in Europe too, reason had to beat a hasty and precipitate retreat when in conflict with the dicta of scriptures down to the beginning of the modern age. Galileo had to suffer for his astronomical discoveries. Throughout the Middle Ages, educationalists were more anxious to impart traditional theories and formulæ than to train minds, capable of forming their own conclusions. Medieval philosophers and commentators were utilising reason only to prove that the scriptural hypotheses were correct. It was Lüther who first vindicated the cause of reason by declaring that what is contrary to reason must be certainly much more contrary to God. But Lüther too became a renegade towards the end of his life and declared, 'The more subtle and accurate is the reason, the more poisonous is the beast, with many Dragon's heads is it against God and all his work.' The truth was that the Reformers were unwilling to concede to others the right to interpret scriptures, which they claimed for themselves. If therefore reason was at a discount in India from the beginning of Middle Ages, (c. 500 A.D.) we must also note that the same was the case in Europe down to the beginning of the modern age. We should not further forget that reason was given full scope by the Hindu scholars and thinkers for more than about 1500 years, when it was superseded by the exigencies of the religious situation. The his- torian, however, cannot help regretting that supersession of reason should have taken place among a people, who had given full scope to it for several centuries. Intellect Creative in the earlier Period : Enrich- ment of the culture of the past along with its preservation continued to be the goal of the Indian educational system for several centuries. Intellect and reason were for a long time given full scope, originality was encouraged,

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 255 and as a result we find remarkable creative activity in the domain of theology, philosophy, philology, grammar, logic, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, etc., down to about 500 A.D. Indian achievements in many of these fields were remarkable, judged either by the contem- porary or by the absolute standard Scholars from China, Korea, Tibet and Arabia used to visit India in order to learn what she had to teach in the realms of religion, medicine, mathematics and astronomy. It Becomes Receptive and Imitative later : To- wards the beginning of the 9th century A.D., the creative vein in the Indian intellect got fatigued after an intense activity of more than 2,000 years.¹ Hindu intellect had probably become old and no longer possess- ed the energy necessary to open out new paths of thought and action. Probably the heritage of the past became so great that all the ability of scholars was engrossed in preserving it. As also was the case in Europe down to the 16th century A.D., the habit of looking back to the past for inspiration and guidance became quite common ; it began to be instinctively felt that not much could be expected from the present. The golden age of inspiration had gone, no new achieve- ments were possible, the best that the age could do was to preserve, expound or comment upon the masterpieces of the past. Hindu educational system was unable to create minds powerful enough to rise above the influence of these theories. For the last one thousand years and more, the Hindus have been writing only digests and commentaries on the works of earlier periods. Creative activity has come to a practical standstill. Similar Condition in Europe : Here also we have to add that the spirit of the times was unfavourable for the formation of independent minds and intellects both

1. The creative phase of the Greek or the Roman intellect lasted for about 1,000 years only.

256 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. in the West and in the East. In Europe too the Middle Ages were a period of intellectual repression. Jesuitical education also produced not creative or original but receptive and imitative minds. The Renaissance and Reformation movements, however, eventually succeed- ed in establishing an era of intellectual independence and originality in Europe; in India, on the other hand the foreign rule and its natural consequences continued the spirit of the Middle Ages down to the time of the na- tional reawakening towards the end of the 19th century. Intellect ceases to be assimilative :—Owing to its excessive reverence for the past, the Hindu intellect ceased to be assimilative from about 800 A. D. Hindu sculptors assimilated Greek methods and enriched Indian art. Early astronomers like Āryabhaṭa and Varāhamihira were keeping themselves in touch with the activities and achievements of the workers in the same field outside India. Varāhamihira (c. 500 A. D.) pays even a handsome compliment to Greek astronomers and observes “The Greeks are no doubt Mlechhas (impure), but they are well grounded in astronomy and are therefore worshipped and honoured like the Ṛishis.”¹ A remarkable change for the worse took place in the Hindu attitude towards foreign scholarship within a couple of centuries or so after Varāhamihira’s death. Implicit faith in the past and in the correctness of its canonised tradition made the Hindu scholar narrow, bigotted and conceited. Of the Hindu men of letters of the 11th century A. D., Alberuni observes, “They are haughty, foolish, vain, stolid and self-conceited. According to their belief, there is no country on the earth but theirs, no other race of men but theirs, and no created beings beside them that have any knowledge

1. म्लेच्छा हि यवनास्तेषु सम्यक्शास्त्रमिदं स्थितम् । ऋषिवत्तेऽपि पूज्यन्ते······॥ Brihatsamhitā, II 14.

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 257 or science whatever. Their haughtiness is such that if you tell them of any science or scholar in Khūrāsān or Persia, they will think you to be both an ignoramus and a liar. If they travelled and mixed with other nations, they would soon change their mind, for their ancestors were not so narrow-minded as the present generation is¹". In proof of the last assertion Alberuni quotes the tribute of Varāhamihira to Greek astronomers, quoted above. Hindus in Alberuni's time had very good reason to feel a very deep prejudice against Muslim scholarship; Alberuni's picture may have been to some extent overdrawn. But the contemporary Hindu attitude towards the Śrutis, Smṛitis and Purānas and other works of the past, which has been discussed above, would show that Alberuni's account of the mentality of the contemporary Hindu scholar is substantially true. Hindu education had ceased to remove prejudices, explode superstitions and broaden the mind, so as to keep it capable of receiving instruc- tions from all quarters by the beginning of the 9th century A. D. Hindu colonising activity, necessitating travel abroad, had also come to an end by this time. Some Hindu doctors are no doubt known to have proceeded to Baghdad at the invitation of Khalifa Harun (786 A.D.—808 A.D.) to act as chief physicians in his hospitals²; we however do not know whether public opinion approved of their conduct, whether they returned home and were readmitted to Hindu society. Foreign travel for the purpose of education and the broadening of views became impossible when the sea voyage was prohibited. Whether it was undertaken in earlier days also for these objects is doubtful. There are no books in Sanskrit literature descriptive of geography, manners and climate of the countries adjacent to India. Nor do the Pauranic geographers seem to have been in touch with

1. Sachau, Alberuni, I, pp. 22-23. 2. Idid, Introduction, p. 81. 17

238 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. the traders and colonisers, who were familiar with Babylon, Arabia. Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, Burma and Borneo. Arts and Crafts become plebian Professions : Skill in manual training and industrial arts was highly appreciated in early times. Liberal and useful education was usually combined among high class workers. Brahmanas used to be skilled in mining and metallurgy, medical and military sciences. Weavers were often amateur students of literature, folk lore, astronomy and the art of war. This combination of liberal and useful education began to become progressively rare after the Gupta age. The status of the Vaishya became assimilated to that of the Śūdra as early as the 1st century A.D. and talented persons among the intellectual classes began to think it below their dignity to follow useful and industrial arts. Like European classical scholars of the Renaissance period, Indian scholars became fascinated by the charms of the classical literature. Absorbed in the beauty of words and ideas, they neglected the world of Nature. Mathematics and astronomy, sculpture and architecture ceased to attract them. The level of intelligence among the industrial classes therefore became lowered down when their education became rigidly confined to the technique and processes of their own professions from about the 9th century A. D. As a natural consequence of such a state of affairs, the growth and development of the fine, useful and industrial arts became arrested in India from about the 8th century A.D. No advance is to be seen after that date in the realms of sculpture, painting, mining, surgery, etc. The old type of learning became stereotyped and it soon began to degenerate. It is true that India continued to retain her dominating position in the weaving industry down to the beginning of the last century; but

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 259 it is doubtful whether any progress was made in the technique or processes of manufacture during the last one thousand years. Education of Masses neglected in later Times: At the time when India was making rapid strides in the different domains of knowledge, her education was broad-based. In ancient Athens one in ten and in ancient Sparta one in twenty five received education,¹ and women's education was altogether neglected. The case was much different in India down to the com- mencement of the Christian era. Literacy among the Aryans was probably as high as 60 per cent in the days of Aśoka. Anxious thought and care were also bestowed on female education. Things, however, gradually changed for the worse in the first millennium of the Christian era. The education of women began to be neglected. Kshatriyas and Vaishyas began to become progressively illiterate. It is true that in Europe also the masses were little more than barbarous and took more naturally to warfare than to schooling down to the end of the Middle Ages.² We can, however, hardly derive any consolation from this comparison, for the prevalent illiteracy in India was due to degeneration from a more creditable condition, obtaining in earlier centuries. The neglect of Vernaculars : Hindu educational system was unable to promote the education of the masses, probably because of its concentration on Sanskrit and the neglect of the vernaculars. The revival of Sanskrit that took place early in the first millennium was un- doubtedly productive of much good; it immensely enriched the different branches of Sanskrit literature which began to reflect the ideals and ideas of the individual and the race. But owing to the deep fascina- 1 Monroe, A Text Book, pp. 26, 29. 2 Ibid, p. 261.

260 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. tion for Sanskrit, society began to identify the educated man with the classical scholar as was the case in the Europe of the Renaissance period. But when the best minds became engaged in expressing their thoughts in Sanskrit, Prakrits were naturally neglected. As long as Sanskrit was intelligible to the ordinary individual, this was not productive of much harm. But from about the 8th century A.D. Prakrits and vernaculars became widely differentiated from Sanskrit, and those who were using them began to find it difficult to understand the latter language. Hindu educationalists did not realise the importance of developing vernacular litera- tures in the interest of the man in the street. Alberuni observes, “The language in India is divided into a neglected vernacular one, only in use among the common people, and a classical one, only in use among the upper and educated classes, which is much cultivated.” 1 We no doubt come across a few cases from the 13th century onwards where provision was made for the teaching of Telugu, Canarese and Marathi in some of of the schools and colleges of South India, but the general impression produced by a survey of the edu- cational system and institutions is that society was not alive to the importance of the teaching and development of vernaculars in the interest of the spread of education among the masses. Things in India were however quite on a par with what they were in contemporary Europe, where Latin continued to be the medium of instruction down to the 17th century A.D. The classics dominated the curriculum of the Public Schools in England down to c. 1850 A.D., boys could write better Latin than English. In the 16th century school boys were punished for using the mother tongue, and its study could be started in Jesuitical schools only with the 1 Sachau, I, p. 18. Some poems and dramas were written in Prakrit, but their number was very small.

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 261 special permission of the Provincial.¹ India however could have been much in advance of the world ideas in this matter if the impetus that was given to the cultiva- tion of vernaculars by the two gifted Seers, Mahāvīra and the Buddha, had not died down owing to the revival of Sanskrit. Depth at the cost of Breadth : Hindu education was thorough, but it was not sufficiently broad. Each branch was thinking of its own problems. Education- alists do not seem to have bestowed much thought on the relative utility of the study of the different branches like grammar, literature, logic, philosophy, mathematics and fine arts for the development of the intellect, the mind and the imagination. Specialisation was started too early. A broad-based secondary course embracing a study of grammar, literature, mathematics, astronomy and history did not exist.² Subjects of æsthetic value like music and painting did not form part of the general course, as they did in ancient Greece. An undue emphasis was laid on grammar, literature and logic at the cost of history, mathematics and astronomy. Here again the impartial historian has to point out that this defect of the Hindu educational system was not peculiar to India, but was to be seen all over the civilised world. In Europe all the energies of teachers and students were concentrated on grammar, rhetoric and dialectics down to the 13th century ; only that much knowledge of arithmetic was given which was necessary to calculate Church festivals. Geography was ignored altogether till an incentive to its study was given by the discoveries of Columbus and Vasco de Gama. Natural sciences 1 Quick : The Essays, p. 81. 2. Many sided interests were not created probably because it was difficult to maintain them in after life in an age when cheap books were unknown. Crowded curriculum also has its own evils as . the Matriculation student knows to his cost.