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

282 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [App.
surely reach his goal. For, divine help and co-operation
were enlisted on his behalf; even death could not touch
him if he properly followed the rules of his order
(S. Br., XI. 2. 6; B. D. S., I. 3). His personality will
develop like that of Indra and his intelligence will
glow up like the refulgent flame of God Fire. He will
find nothing relating to his literary goal impossible if
he worked with faith, assiduousness and determination.
What better ideas can be conveyed to a young scholar
at the beginning of his education?
SECTION C
RITUALS DURING THE COLLEGE SESSION
Introduction :—Rituals were naturally prescribed
at the beginning and at the end of the annual school
session, as they were at the beginning and at the end of
the educational course. In pre-historic times the annual
session of schools and colleges began soon after the
commencement of the rainy season. when the sowing
operations were over and crops had began to sprout.
This usually happened by the full moon day of
Śrāvaṇa¹ (August); so the ritual of Chhandasām-
upākarman i. e. of 'gathering the Vedic knowledge',
was performed on that day. Later on it began to be
described as Śrāvaṇī². In pre-historic times Vedic
literature was not extensive; so a college term of

1. The full moon days of Āshāḍha, Śrāvaṇa and Bhādrapada
   are mentioned by different authorities as appropriate days for
   Upākarma. (Cf. Bau. Gr. S., III. 1. 2-3; Kh. Gr. S., III, 2, 14; Hi.
   Gr. S., II, 18, 1). Rainy season is receding back every century and
   it commences in different months in different provinces of India.
   Hence this divergence about the appropriate season for Upākarma.
2. Śrāvaṇī is a relatively modern name for the ritual. In early
   times it denoted the Nāga worship ritual performed on the full moon
   day of Śrāvaṇa; when this ritual went out of vogue, the name was
   transferred to the Chhandasām-Upākarma ritual, because that too
   was usually performed on the same day.