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

96 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
mosque, a temple or a Dharmashālā that had not a
school attached to it, to which the youths flocked chiefly
for religious education. There were few wealthy men
who did not entertain a Maulavi, a Pandit or a Guru to
teach their sons, and along with them, the sons of their
friends and dependents. There were hundreds of religious
men who gratuitously taught their coreligionists, and
sometimes all comers, for the sake of God. There was
not a single villager who did not take pride in devoting
a portion of his produce to a respected teacher." For
obvious reasons the reverence for education in other
parts of India in the ancient period could not have been
less sincere and deep than it was in the Punjab at the
advent of the British rule.
Government’s Contribution, Direct Form : Let
us now see how the governments used to help the cause
of education in ancient India. Governments usually
reflect the views of society and cannot much lag behind
it in helping the causes cherished by it. This happened
in ancient India also. There is no Smṛiti which does not
recognise patronage of education as one of the most
important duties of kings ;¹ and as a general rule, rulers
in ancient times used to vie with one another in dis-
charging it. This they did both directly and indirectly.
Sometimes they used to found or endow colleges, as was,
for instance, done by the Guptas at Nālandā. On auspi-
cious occasions like coronation they used to invite learned
1 See Manu, VII, 82 ; Yāj. I, 130 ; Sukra, I, 369 ; Arathasāstra, II, 1
and 20. Bhishma pointedly draws the attention of Dharma to this
duty ; see Mbh. XIII, chaps. 59 and 60.
Though extending patronage, kings were not to assume a patroni-
sing attitude to learned men. King Raghu treats Kautsa very
courteously ; Dushyanta leaves behind his army when approaching
the hermitage of Kaṇva.