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

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 25
his school and college days, cannot become a good
scholar¹.
Marriage Incompatible with Studentship: Natu-
rally therefore ancient Indians held that a student ought
not to marry during his course. The term Brahmachārī,
which is used to denote a student, primarily refers to a
person leading a celibate life in order to realise his
educational ideals and ambitions. Our authorities insist
that the student should observe celibacy both in thought
and deed. He can marry only at the end of his course,
when permitted by his preceptor to do so.
Lapse from this Ideal: Owing to several causes,
which cannot be discussed here, the marriageable age of
girls began to fall down gradually from c. 600 B. C.
From 16 it came down to 14, then to 12 and then to 11
or 10. The last mentioned limit was reached during the
early centuries of the Christian era. The lowering of
the marriageable age of girls naturally brought down the
marriageable age of boys to about 16 or 18; marriage
thus became inevitable before the end of education. As
early as the 3rd century B.C. we find occasional references
to the cases of husbands staying away from their wives for
some years during their educational course;² these cases
later became common. We may safely conclude that
from about the beginning of the Christian era, more than
50 percent students used to marry before their education
was completed.
¹ सुखार्थिनः कुतो विद्या नास्ति विद्यार्थिनः सुखम् ॥'
नान्योद्योगवता न चाप्रवसता नात्मानमुत्कर्षता।
नालस्योपहतेन नामयवता नाचार्यविद्वेषिणा ॥
लज्जाशीलविनम्रसुन्दरमुखीं सीमन्तिनीं नेच्छता।
लोके ख्यातिकरः सतामभिमतो विद्यागुणः प्राप्यते ॥ Subhāshitas.
² ब्राह्मणमधीयानं दशवर्षाणि (प्रतीक्षेत)। A. S. III, 4.