द ब्यूटीफुल ट्री: १८वीं सदी में भारत की स्वदेशी गुरुकुल शिक्षा (धर्मपाल)

VI. Modesty becomes every one, but is a particular ornament to the learned and rich. VII. The state of a married pair, who never deviate from the path of honour, virtue, and mutual duty, is as difficult as that of those who impose on themselves the several penances. In the gardens, or sacred enclosures, in which children are taught, the Lingam, or Priapus, represented under the form of a cylinder, is generally found. It is, however, not worshipped by all the Indians, but only by the Shivanites. These are a particular sect, who pay divine honour to Fire, under the form of the god Shiva, as the principle or creative power by which everything was produced. Besides the above idol, there are two other statues, which, for the most part, are placed before the entrance of the school. One of them represents Ganesha, the protector of the sciences, and of learned men; and the other the goddess Sarasvadi, the goddess of eloquence and history. Every student, as he enters the school, always directs his eyes to these two idols; raises his hands to his head, and shows his respect for them by repeating certain forms of prayer. That with which he salutes Ganesha is commonly in the following words: Sal Guruve nama: Adoration to thee, thou true master. Or, Ganabadaye name: Adoration to thee, O Ganabadi. This is real idolatry; but these practices at any rate prove that the Indians accustom their children early to honour the gods, and to consider them as their protectors and benefactors. “Those who are desirous of knowing the power of religion, and the influence of religious opinions,” said the Marquis of Kergariou, who commanded the Calypso frigate, “need only go to India”. This observation is indeed just; for among 2000 Indians you will scarcely find one who is not convinced of the necessity of supplicating the gods. Education, and the nature of the climate, are the strongest incitements to the natives to worship the deity, and to submit themselves to his will. The other sciences and branches of learning taught to the Indian youth are: Poetry, Gavya; Fencing, Payatta; Botany and medicine, Vaydyassastra, or Bheszagiashastra: Navigation, Naushastra: The use of the spear on foot (Hastiludium), Cundera: The art of playing at ball, Pandacali: Chess, Ciudarangam: Tennis, Coladi: Logic, Tarkashastra: Astrology, Giodisha: Law, Svadhyaya: Silence, Mauna.(Youth destined to be Brahmans, must spend ten years within the precincts of the temple at Trichur, and avoid all intercourse with the female sex. They are obliged also to observe the strictest silence, which continues for five years. This is the first degree of philosophy. A. It thence appears, that Phythagoras must have borrowed his philosophy in part from the Indian Philosophers, or others whose doctrine was similar, for his scholars were subjected to silence for the same number of years. See Diogenes Lacrtus, lib.viii.10, and Aul. Gollius, Noct, Att, 1-ib. i.9F.) The reader will have already 257