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

36 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
well-to-do and cultured families. Home, of course, was
the main centre of the education of girls in the domestic
science.
Nature vs. Nurture ; some Western Views: What
is the relative importance of nature and nurture in the
scheme of education has been a question of great contro-
versy since early times. Are human beings born with
their mental, moral and intellectual characters and faculties
rigidly predetermined, or can these be modified by educa-
tion, and if so, to what extent ? As is well known,
different answers are given to this question by different
educationalists in the west also. Plato, for instance, held
that human mind is like a skein, that has to be only
unravelled in this world ; all knowledge is contained in a
man, he has only to be reminded of it. Darwin, Galton
and Ribot attach great importance to the role which here-
dity plays in our nature and Shopenhauer held that human
character is inborn and unalterable. Herbert and Locke
on the other hand maintain that it is not nature but nurture
that determine our destiny. We come into this world with
minds as empty as our bodies are naked ; it is the training
which we receive and the environments in which we live
that determine our character and capacities.
Vedic Age believed more in Nurture: As may
be expected, there is no unanimity of views among ancient
Indian thinkers also about the relative importance of
nature and nurture. A young people, fortunate to have
a series of successes, naturally feel that there is nothing
impossible or difficult for man. Vedic Aryans belonged
to this category and their age therefore did not much
believe in heredity or natural endowments. This is em-
phatically expressed in one of the hymns of the Atharva-
veda, where we are told that given proper education,
everything can be accomplished. Even Indra owes his