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
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