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

VI] HIGHER LITERARY EDUCATION 153
Chwang and Alberuni. The demand for experts in
grammar was as keen during this age as the demand
for the teachers trained in English is today. Every
school for higher education had to engage several
grammarians in order to give the necessary instructions
in Sanskrit language, which was the key subject.
The age believed in astrology and astrologers were
in great demand throughout the country for preparing
and interpreting almanacs and prognosticating future
events. The royal courts also used to engage the
services of several astrologers.
The Course in Sanskrit Literature. The
students of this subject were naturally required first
to complete their course in grammar and kosha
(vocabulary) and then enjoined a study of some
famous authors like Kālidāsa, Bhartṛihari or Bāṇa.
Particular attention was paid to prosody and poetics,
and students were expected not only to understand
the classical authors, but also to compose fairly good
poems imitating their style. In order to get a general
knowledge of the culture of the race, they were
also required to study the epics, the Purāṇas and
traditional stories. They were further trained to be
good debators; the ability to defend one's own
position in learned assemblies and the capacity to
compose a good poem in a very short time were
regarded as the most important criteria of good
scholarship.
The Courses in Smritis and Puranas : Almost as
popular as the courses in grammar and astrology
were the courses in Purāṇas and Smṛitis whose hold
over the popular mind during this age was almost
as great as that of the Vedic literature in the
earlier periods. Popular Hindu religion had greatly
changed its complexion during this period and its

154 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch
theories and practices could be ascertained only from
Smṛitis and Purāṇas, which therefore had to be
mastered even by the village priest. The courses in
these subjects prescribed a good mastery of Sanskrit
grammar and classical Sanskrit literature and a special
study of select Sūtras, Smṛitis and Purāṇas. More
emphasis was laid on understanding the meaning of the
works concerned than on committing them to memory.
Usually the students of Smṛitis and Purāṇas took the
help of a manuscript when expounding their contents ;
there was no prejudice against utilising the art of
writing for preserving them.
Courses in Logic and Philosophy : The age we
are reviewing was reverberating with controversies
among the followers of Hinduism, Buddhism and
Jainism. Within the fold of Hinduism itself, the
followers of Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Mīmāṁsā and
Vedānta were contending for supremacy. It was but
natural that these controversies should have given an
impetus to the study of metaphysics. After getting a
preliminary grounding in grammar and literature, the
students of the subject used to select one of the systems
of philosophy for specialisation and master its most
advanced and difficult works. The study of philo-
sophy presupposed a study of logic during this period ;
so students of philosophy used to devote considerable
time to the study of logic also. The young graduate
in philosophy was however expected not only to
expound and defend his own system but also to
attack and refute those of his opponents. The course
therefore included a comparative study of the
contending systems of metaphysics. Hindu philo-
sophers like Gauḍapāda and Śaṅkarāchārya and

1. Kāvyamīmāṁsā, pp. 49-50.

VI] HIGHER LITERARY EDUCATION 155
Buddhist scholars like Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu
used to master the systems of their opponents as
well. In a famous philosophical college situated in a
sylvan retreat in the Vindhya mountain presided
over by Divākarasena, a Brahmana convert to
Buddhism, students of Hinduism, Buddhism and
Śvetāmbara and Digambara Jainism studied together
side by side under the same principal.¹ Such an
arrangement naturally presupposes a comparative
study of the rival systems leading to the broadening
of the outlook and the deepening of the scholarship of
the average student of the institution.
Courses for Laymen in Buddhist Colleges : For
reasons already explained at p. 72, Buddhist monastic
colleges began to take up the education of the laymen
also from about the beginning of the Christian era. The
courses prescribed for them were not radically different
from those obtaining under sister institutions working
under the aegis of Hinduism. Students started with a
study of Sanskrit grammar and literature, which lasted
for seven or eight years. They were also given some
grounding in Pāli ; as pious Buddhists, they had to
master some passages from the Pāli canon. At about
the age of 15 or 16, their higher education commenced
Those who wanted to specialise in Sanskrit literature
Dharmaśāstra, astrology-cum-astronomy, medicine
or works on polity and administration used to follow
practically the same course as was in vogue in the
Hindu colleges of the period. Those however who
wanted to specialise in logic or philosophy used to
select works by Buddhist authors on these subject
like Hetuvidyā, Abhidharmaśāstra, Nyāyānusāraśāstra
etc. The followers of the Hīnayāna school used to

1. Harshacharit, Chap. VIII.

156 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
specialise in Tripiṭakas and other early works of
orthodox Buddism, whereas those of the Mahāyāna
school used to study the works of their famous
scholars like Nāgārjuna, Vasubandhu and Dharmakīrti.
Besides mastering their own works on philosophy, the
Buddhist scholars used to study Hindu works on
metaphysics as well.
Courses for Monks : The curriculum prescribed
for the monk scholar was naturally somewhat different.
It did not include any special study of secular sciences
like poetics, literature or astrology, but was concerned
principally with theological subjects. For ten years
after his admission as a novice, the monk-student was
under the direct guidance and control of his preceptor,
who used to initiate him in the study of Pāli and
Sanskrit. When these languages were properly
mastered, a thorough study of the sacred texts, (the
Tripiṭakas,) was started. When this was over, relatively
recent works on Buddhist religion and philosophy
were mastered. Hindu systems of religion, logic and
philosophy were then carefully studied in order to meet
the Hindu opponent on his own ground. It is
interesting to note that Yuan Chwang, who had under-
taken the arduous and perilous journey to India
primarily for studying Buddhist scriptures, spent two
fifth the period of his stay in India in studying Sanskrit
works on Hinduism. The education of the novice
did not terminate with his admission to the Order as
a full-fledged monk. For, the Buddhist monk was
expected to be a lifelong student like the Hindu
Naishṭhika Brahmachārin.
Selection of Text-books : We have no definite
information about the text-books prescribed for the
various courses in different institutions during different

VI] HIGHER LITERARY EDUCATION 157
centuries. These must have gone on changing in
course of time when better and more up-to-date books
written by competent authorities became available.
The selection of text books was usually governed by
considerations of merit alone. An author had to submit
his work to a synod of scholars at a famous centre of
learning like Pāṭalīputra or Benares¹, and if it was
found to be a work of merit by that body, it received
its imprimateur, which helped its acceptance and
spread in provincial towns. It should be however
noted that no pecuniary gain was likely to accrue to
an author by his book being prescribed in several
institutions; for there was no press and copyright in
ancient India. The adoption of a work as a text
book in the schools of a province however increased
the reputation of its author, and we sometimes come
across writers adopting rather questionable means to
get their books accepted. Ugrabhūti, the teacher of
king Anaṅgapāla of the Punjab (c. 1010–c. 1020) is said
to have induced his royal pupil to distribute two lakhs
of dirhams (= about Rs. 60,000) among the Pandits of
Kashmir in order to overcome successfully their
reluctance to accept his new work on grammar called
Śishya-hitā-vṛitti². Such cases however were probably
few. Usually books prescribed in a particular school
were those in vogue at the centre where the principal
and teachers of the school were educated. Hindus,
Buddhists and Jains would often prefer works written
by authors of their own persuasion in the case of
a subject like logic, which was cultivated by all schools.

1. Pāṇini is reported to have come all the way to Pāṭalīputra
   from Śalātura in N. W. F. P, in order to get his famous grammar
   approved by the synod at that famous capital. Śaṅkarāchārya came
   to Benares from Malabar in order to seek the imprimateur of the
   Pandits of that place over his philosophical works.
2. Sachau, Alberuni, Vol. I, pp. 185-6.

158 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
METHOD OF TEACHING AND STUDY
General Conditions of the Times : Before des-
cribing and commenting upon the method of teaching
and study current in ancient India, it is necessary that
we should familiarise ourselves with the general
conditions of the age. In the beginning the art of
writing was unknown, and even when it was invented,
it was not utilised for preserving and transmitting the
Vedic literature, which for several centuries was
the main topic of study. It was further held as
imperatively necessary that the canonical literature
should be memorised in the most meticulous way ;
there should be no possibility of the mistake even
of a single accent. The service of the art of writing
was no doubt utilised for preserving and teaching
non-Vedic literature, but owing to the absence of
paper and printing, books could be within the reach
of the rich only. Being written on birch leaves,
they were fragile as well as costly. The average
student could therefore not have his own copy of the
text-book ;¹ even the desire to possess one was regarded
as a symptom of indolence.² Under such circum-
stances, extensive use of a library was altogether
impracticable, nor could the help of visual instruction
through the help of charts and pictures be possible.
Oral instruction was the only available method of
teaching and it was the cheapest and the most
accurate.

1. गीती शीघ्री शिरःकंपी तथा लिखितपाठकः ।
   अनर्थज्ञोऽल्पकण्ठश्च षडेते पाठकाधमाः ॥
   Pāṇinīya-śikshā, 32.
2. द्यूतं पुस्तकशुश्रूषा नाटकासक्तिरेव च ।
   स्त्रियस्तन्द्री च निद्रा च विद्याविघ्नकराणि षट् ॥
   Nārada in S. C. S. p. 52.

VI] HIGHER LITERARY EDUCATION 159
Method of Teaching in the Vedic Schools :
Education therefore was for a long time imparted
through the oral lesson, without the medium of a
book. This method persisted in the Vedic schools
down to recent times. The teacher used to pronounce
only two words of the Vedic stanza at a time, which
the student was asked to recite with exact intonation
and accent. The number of words was reduced to
one, if the expression happened to be a compound
one.¹ If the student had any difficulty in the
matter, it was explained to him. When a whole
verse was thus taught to one student, he was dis-
missed and the same process was repeated with the
next one. Necessarily every student used to
receive individual attention under this system. The
method of teaching was direct and personal and
not even a text-book intervened between the teacher
and the student.
Method of Teaching in non-Vedic Schools : The
above method of teaching was extensively followed
in other branches of learning also, no doubt with
suitable modifications, when it was deemed necessary
that certain texts should be memorised by the student.
Small portions of the text were recited and explained
by the teacher to the students; when they had
understood them, each one was required to commit
them to memory. It was in this way that students
used to learn important books like the grammar of
Pāṇini, the dictionary of Amara, the law-book of
Manu or the work on poetics by Mammaṭa, which had
to be committed to memory. Books being both
costly and fragile, there was no other efficient
alternative method of study, if it was desired that

1. Ṛik-prātiśākhya, Paṭala, XV.

160 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch..
students should aquire a mastery in their subjects,
which should stand them in good stead throughout
their lives. Learning in ancient times had to be at
the tip of the tongue ; a scholar asking for time to
consult his notes or books could carry no prestige.¹
The highest ambition of an author of even the 12th
century A. D. was, not that his work may adorn the
shelves of the libraries of the learned, but that it
may shine as an ornament on their neck, i. e. it should
be memorised by them.²
Importance of Recitation and Recapitulation :
Recitation and recapitulation therefore formed an
important part in the daily routine of the student life.
The home-work, which the student did in his spare
time, did not consist of written exercises ; it merely
amounted to the recitation and recapitulation of lessons
learnt already. Every day students were required to
spend a part of their time in the school in jointly
reciting a portion of the work they had committed to
memory. As a result of this training, the memory
of the average student in ancient India was very
highly developed ; he could perform feats of memor-
ising which now we may regard as impossible. I-tsing
rather obscurely refers to certain interesting aids to
memory owing to which, after the practice of ten or
fifteen days, the student felt ‘his thoughts rising
like a fountain and could commit to memory whatever
he had but once heard’. ‘This is far from a myth,’
१. पुस्तकस्था तु या विद्या परहस्तगतं धनम् ।
कार्यकाले समुत्पन्ने न सा बिद्या न तद्धनम् ॥
S. R. B., p. 168 v. 413.
२. तेन प्रीत्या विरचितमिदं काव्यमव्याजकान्तं ।
कर्णाटेन्दोर्जगति विदुषां कण्ठभूषात्वमेयात् ॥
Vikramānkadevacharit, XVIII 102.

VI] HIGHER LITERARY EDUCATION 161
says the Chinese traveller, 'for I have myself met
such men.¹ In an age when books were very rare,
it was but meet that great emphasis should have
been laid on the development of memory.
Special devices to help the memory : Though
the memory of the average student was much better
trained and developed than is the case now, the
authors and educationalists left no stone unturned to
lighten its burden. Ancient Indian educationalists
had realised that rhime makes an appeal to æsthetic
sensibility and facilitates the task of memorising.
They therefore decided to utilise its help in the teaching
work by composing text books in verse. Even
dictionaries and elementary books on grammar were
composed in verse. The development of the Sūtra
style, where conclusions are stated in short and pithy
sentences, is also due to the exigencies of the schools
and colleges, the students of which had to rely more
on their memory than on books and notes for recalling
the contents of the works once studied by them.
Erroneous Impression about Cramming : The fact
that the modern Vedic Pandit does not know the
meaning of the hymns he recites with flawless accuracy,
has led to an erroneous impression that mere cramming
was encouraged by the ancient Indian educational
system. Such however was not the case. We have
already shown how for many centuries even Vedic
scholars could expound the meaning of the hymns
they had committed to memory ; it was owing to
the growth of the Vedic literature and the imperative
necessity of committing the whole of it to memory,
that it was reluctantly decided to assign the memo-

1. P. 183.
   11

162 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
rising of the Vedic texts to one section of Brahmanas
and their exposition to another. It had become
humanly impossible to expect both the tasks to be
done by the same individual.
The Place of Exposition in Teaching : It is no
doubt true that some Sūtra works like those on
grammar and philosophy, which were committed to
memory, are so cryptic as to be mostly unintelligible
by themselves. They were written in that style
merely to lighten the burden on the student's memory.
Their teaching was accompanied by extensive lectures,
some of which used to be later embodied in com-
mentaries. The teaching of the important works on
philosophy, logic and poetics was hardly possible
without exhaustive discussions pertaining to the views
expounded and controverted. In these discussions
there was an unravelling of the subject matter,
distinctions and contra-distinctions were drawn, and
an effort was made to show the reasonableness of one's
position and the errors of the opponent¹. The
students of the various schools of orthodox and
heterodox systems of religion and philosophy reading
under Divākarasena used to listen to the exposition
of their respective systems, deliberate on their natures,
discuss their features, raise doubts on obscure themes,
determine for themselves the main outlines and enter
into discussion with the opponents². The same
procedure must have been followed in other colleges
of philosophy. Reasoning and analysis formed the
crux of the method of study and teaching. The
medium of instruction in higher studies was naturally

1. Mil. Pan. Vol. I, p. 46.
2. Harshacharit, Chap. VIII.

VI] HIGHER LITERARY EDUCATION 163
Sanskrit; when however Prakrits and vernaculars
developed, their help was also occasionally taken¹.
Testimony of Chinese Pilgrims: Indian teachers
were past masters in the art of explanation and
exposition; students from distant countries like Korea
and China used to brave the dangers of the perilous
journey to India, not because they wanted to learn by
rote the scriptures of their religion, but because they
were anxious to hear the exposition of obscure
metaphysical passages which could be heard nowhere
else. What Yuan Chwang valued in his Indian
teachers was not their capacity to recite the sacred
texts, but their remarkable ability in explaining obscure
passages and offering illuminative suggestions on
doubtful points.² About his Indian gurus, I-tsing says,
'I have been always very glad that I had an opportunity
of aquiring knowledge from them personally, which I
*should otherwise have never possessed.'*³
The Place of Debates: Since early times, debates
and discussions have always played an important part
in the literary training of students. The Vedic
literature refers to such literary combats and describes
how the victors were suitably honoured (R. V., X. 71).
This Vedic tradition continued throughout the later
history. Śāstrārthas or learned debates were constantly
held in colleges where students of literature, poetics,
philosophy and logic were called upon to defend their
own propositions and attack those of their opponents.
The training in debates made students ready-witted
and developed their powers of speech.

1. संस्कृतैः प्राकृतैर्वाक्यैर्यः शिष्यमनुरूपतः ।
   देशभाषायुपायैश्च बोधयेत्स गुरुः स्मृतः ॥
   Vishnudharma quoted by V.M.S., p. 72 (Jivanand's editio
2. Beal, Life, pp. 76, 154, 160
3. P. 185

164 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
Other Devices in Teaching : The use of parables
was often made in expounding obscure principles, as
would appear from the plot of the Hitopadeśa and the
Pañchatantra, where principles of politics are taught
under the guise of telling stories about animals. The
dialogue method was followed by many a philosopher,
as would appear from the evidence of the Upanishads
and the Buddhist Sūtras.¹ It enabled the teacher to
ascertain the reactions in the student's mind to his
own observations. The value of comparison and
observation was also realised by many teachers who
used to develop the power of understanding of dull
students by asking them to carefully observe new facts
and compare them with those already known.²
Individual Attention : We have already shown
at pp. 82-3 how the classes in ancient India were
usually small ones, consisting of not more than 15
or 20 students. It was therefore possible to give
individual attention to each student. This was one
of the strongest points in the ancient Indian system
of education. Lectures to large classes of 100 or
200 students, which are unintelligible to some,
superfluous to others and partially useful to the rest,
were unknown in ancient India. Students could not
afford to go to the class room without thorough
preparation. There was a daily examination of every
student and no new lesson was given until the old
one was thoroughly mastered.³ There were no annual
examinations and mass promotions at fixed intervals.

1. It is interesting to note that many of the commentaries are
   in the form of a dialogue between the teacher and the student. The
   earlier part advances a view such as a student may be expected to hold
   as plausible, the later part contains its correction or refutation, as
   may be done by a teacher in his lecture.
2. Jātaka No. 124.
3. Mil Pan., I, p. 18.

VI] HIGHER LITERARY EDUCATION 165
Clever students were not compelled to mark time for
their dull companions as under the modern system
of education. The educational system ministered to
the needs and individual capactity of each student.
If a student was intelligent and industrious, he could
finish his education much earlier than is possible in
modern times. The idle and careless student had not
as pleasant a prospect of a merry college life as he
has in the present age. Yuan Chwang says, ‘When
disciples, intelligent and accute, are addicted to idle
shirking, teachers doggedly persevere in repeating
instructions until their training is finished’.¹ The
Chinese traveller was very favourably impressed by
the capacity of Indian teachers to rouse their students
to activity and urge them to progress.
Monitorial System: In order to make personal
supervision effective, the cooperation and help of
advanced students were enlisted in the cause of
education. They used to guide the studies of the
juniors under the general supervision of their teachers.
About the Valabhi college students, I-tsing observes
that they used to pass two or three years, ‘instructed
by their teachers and instructing others’.² This
system also obtained at Taxila; for instance, the
Kuru prince Sutasoma, who aquired proficiency
earlier, was entrusted with the teaching of his brother
prince, the heir apparent of Benares.³ Senior
students at Taxila were often put in charge of their
schools during the temporary absence of their
teachers.⁴ This method of entrusting teaching work
to brilliant students had a great educational value.

1. Watters, I, p. 160.
2. P. 177.
3. Sutasoma-Jātaka, No. 537.
4. E. g., Sukha-vihārī Jātaka, No. 10.

166 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
It placed a high incentive before the student world.
It afforded opportunities to intelligent students to
learn the art of teaching, and thus indirectly per-
formed the same function as the Teachers' Training
Colleges discharge today. It increased the efficiency
and decreased the cost of the school by affording
intelligent and free assistance to the teacher. It is
well known that Bell and Lancaster had based
their Monitorial System on what one of them had
observed in contemporary Indian schools.
Conclusion : It will be seen from the above
discussion that the method of teaching followed in
ancient India was on the whole the best suited for
an age, which did not enjoy the advantages of paper
and printing. It developed the powers of memory,
a faculty which is being sadly neglected in modern
times. It did not however encourage cramming,
bacause the texts that were memorised were well
understood by students. Reflection and analysis was
also encouraged especially in the case of those
students who had taken logic, philosophy, poetics or
literature. Lucid exposition was a forte of Indian
teachers, for which they were well known all over Asia
during the first millennium of the Christian era.
Debates were a normal feature of higher education.
Individual attention was paid to the needs of
students, which naturally ensured good results.
The student must however have intelligence.¹
Hindu educationalists have pointed out that the best

1. वितरति गुरुः प्राज्ञे विद्यां यथैव तथा जडे ।
   न च खलु तयोर्ज्ञाने शक्तिं करोत्यपहन्ति वा ॥
   भवति च तयोर्भूयान्भेदः फलं प्रति तद्यथा ।
   प्रभवति मणिर्बिम्बोद्ग्राहे मणिर्न मृदां चयः ॥
   Uttararāmachairt, Act, II.

VI] HIGHER LITERARY EDUCATION 167
method would not produce the ideal scholar at the
end of the course automatically. Time also was
an important factor. Maturity of intellect and
scholarship would become possible only by the lapse
of years properly utilised in reading and reflection
by an intelligent student.¹
EXAMINATIONS
No Annual or Final Examinations : We have
already seen that there were no annual or periodical
examinations in ancient India. New lessons were
given to students only when the teacher was satisfied
after a searching oral examination that the old one
was thoroughly mastered. The end of the education
course was not marked by any lengthy and exhaustive
examination, but by the pupil reciting and explaining
the last lesson.² The modern practice to submit the
student to what is known as Śulākā-parīkṣā, where
he is asked to explain the problems discussed on a page
opened at random, is not mentioned in ancient books.
Even if it goes back to ancient times, it can hardly be
compared to the modern system of examination. At
the end of his education the scholar was presented
to the local learned assembly, where occasionally some
questions were asked.³ This presentation took place
when the Samāvartana (convocation) ceremony was
over.⁴ It is therefore clear that the eligibility of a
student for Samāvartana or receiving the degree did
not depend upon the opinion of the assembly, but
upon the opinion of his teacher.

1. आचार्यात्पादमादत्ते पादं शिष्यः स्वमेधया ।
   पादं सब्रह्मचारिभ्यः पादं कालक्रमेण तु ॥ Subhāshitam.
2. Mil. Pan.. I, p. 18.
3. Br. U., VI, 2, 1 and 2.
4. Dr. Gr. S., III 1, 26; Āp. Gr. S., I, 11, 5.

168 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
Literary Tournaments: Rājaśekhara describes
the examinations held in the royal court¹, and Charaka
refers to heated discussions held in learned assemblies
to test the relative merits of the contending physicians.²
These examinations were, however, fundamentally
different from modern degree examinations. Each
participant in these literary affrays was anxious to
prove, not that he possessed certain minimum quali-
fications, but that he was the best poet or physician in
the land, entitled to precedence, honour and annuities
from the royal court What Charaka or Rājaśekhara
have in contemplation is not a routine examination,
but an intellectual combat among the distinguished
physicians and scholars of the age.
No Degrees or Diplomas : Since there were no
degree examinations, there were naturally no degrees
or diplomas. From Tārānātha we learn that the Pāla
kings of Bengal, who were patrons and chancellors of
the Vikramaśīlā University, used to grant diplomas
to students in a convocation held at the end of their
education.³ In medieval Bengal also learned bodies
used to confer degrees like Tarkachakravartī and
Tarkālaṅkāra on very distinguished scholars like
Gadādhara and Jagadīśa. This practice of giving
degrees and titles seems to be a new innovation of
medieval times. Yuan Chwang informs us that
unscrupulous scholars in the seventh century used to
'steal the name of Nālandā' in order to gain more
respect⁴. This would not have been possible if the
Nālandā University were in the habit of granting
regular diplomas to those who had finished their
1 Kāvya-mīmāṁsā, p. 55.
2 Vimānasthāna, 8.
3 Bose, Indian Teachers of Buddhist Universities, p. 61
4 Watters, II, p. 165.

VI] HIGHER LITERARY EDUCATION 169
courses there. Passing examinations and getting
degrees, which dominate the present system of educa-
tion, played hardly any part in ancient India. It was
not the allurement of the degrees or the prizes but the
thirst of knowledge or the desire to preserve the
national heritage which was the main spring of the
educational effort and activity.
Competition kept within Limits : The absence
of annual examinations with prizes and scholarships
for the top boys naturally kept the element of competi-
tion within proper limits. Bright and promising
students were however selected as monitors and
entrusted with the teaching of lower classes. So they
also got their reward. The absence of alluring prizes
and scholarships however naturaly did not make them
burn midnight oil, often to the great detriment of
their health.
No Degree to serve as a Shield : Students in
ancient India had not to pass through the fiery ordeal
of examinations ; their lot, however, was by no means
more enviable than that of the modern students. Armed
with his irrevocable degree, the modern graduate can
afford to forget all that he had learnt, and no one can
question his competence. The scholar in ancient India
could not take shelter behind the buttress of a degree.
He had to keep his scholarship fresh and up-to-date,
for he was liable to be challenged at any moment for
a literary affray (Śāstrārtha), and society used to
judge his merit by the way in which he aquitted
himself in such discussions. All that he had learnt,
he had to keep ready at the tip of his tongue ; he
could neither point to his diploma nor ask for time to
refer to his note-books.

CHAPTER VII.
PRIMARY EDUCATION.
Primary education why not important in early times—It did
not include the 3 R's before c. 1000 B. C.—Reading and writing
included in it in the first millennium B. C.—Obligatory Upanayana
helps the spread of literacy—The curriculum and agencies of
primary education—The time of its commencement—Methods of
teaching—Primary schools and teachers—Extent of literacy—
Vernacular education—Literacy at c. 1800 A. D.
Primary Education not important in Ancient
Times :—Having finished our survey of higher literary
education in the last chapter, let us now turn to
primary education. Primary education in the sense of
the knowledge of the 3 R's has become important only
in the modern age. At a time when paper and
printing were unknown, the ability to read and write
was not a very valuable or useful attainment for the
smith, the carpenter or the agriculturist. Today it
is rightly held that even the ordinary labourer or
the artisan should receive primary education, for it
enables him to utilise his spare time in reading useful
literature which increases his knowledge, widens his
outlook and makes him a more useful and intelligent
member of society. Literacy however did not serve
this purpose in ancient times both in the East and the
West. Paper and printing being both unknown,
books were fragile, costly and beyond the means of
the average workman or the agriculturist. The
ability to read and write did not thus afford the means
of a wider intercourse with the thoughts and ideals of
the best minds of the race, as far as the ordinary man
was concerned. He could obtain access to the best
wisdom of his nation rather by attending Kathās and

VII] PRIMARY EDUCATION 171
Kīrtanas (popular religious sermons) delivered by
religious preachers, than by trying to reach the doors
of a library, which was a rather rare institution.
Primary education as an end in itself therefore did not
appeal to ancient Indians ; they could look upon it
only as a step to higher education. It therefere natur-
ally does not much occupy their thoughts ; Sṛmitis
say next to nothing about it.
Kindergarten Stage : Problems connected with
the Kindergarten stage of education did hardly
engage the attention of ancient Indian thinkers. This
need not surprise us, for in the West too they have
been only recently tackled by educationalists. Our
educationalists held that education was a serious
affair and they were not very enthusiastic about com-
bining it with play and games. They felt that a
skilful teacher can make his lesson interesting by
taking the help of the story and held that the use of
the rhime was quite sufficient to make uninteresting
things like multiplication tables quite attractive to the
child. Like ancient thinkers in all other lands, they
have not proposed any devices of the kindergarten
type to make lessons attractive to the young child.
PRIMARY EDUCATION IN EARLY TIMES
(Upto c. 1000 B. C.)
Modern Primary Education Non-existent :—
It is a moot point whether the art of writing was
known in the early Vedic period. Even if it was
known, we must remember that its use for the
preservation of sacred literature was tabooed for a
long time. The latter continued to live only in the
memory of scholars for several centuries. Secular
literature had not yet come into existence, grammar
and arithmetic were yet to be developed and

172 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
commerce was in a primitive condition not requiring
any account keeping. Primary education in the sense
of the knowledge of the 3 R's was thus impossible.
It is significant to note that early times knew of no
ritual to mark its commencement.¹
**The Nature of preliminary Training :—**What the
boys and girls were taught in their early school stage,
was not how to read and write the Vedic Mantras
(verses), but how to pronounce them properly. During
this period they were trained to realise the difference
between short and long vowels, study the varieties
of accents and to master the rules about the
conjunction and coalescence of vowels and
consonants. At a slightly later stage they were
enlightened about the changes that took place in
original words when they were combined together
in Vedic stanzas.² This was the nature of ‘primary
education’ imparted to students in the Vedic period.
Such education will appear to us in modern times as
rather strange, but we should remember that students
could, when equipped with it, successfully prosecute
their Vedic studies, which then constituted the higher
·1. Appindix I. A.
2. Cf गुरुत्वं लघुता साम्यं ह्रस्वदीर्घप्लुतानि च ।
लोपागमावकाराश्च प्रकृतिर्विकृतिः क्रमः ॥ ४ ॥
स्वरितोदात्तनीचत्वं श्वासो नादोऽगमेव च ।
एतत्सर्वं तु विज्ञेयं छंदोभाषामधीयता ॥ ५ ॥
पदक्रमविशेषज्ञो वर्णक्रमविचक्षणः ।
स्वरमात्राविभागज्ञो गच्छेदाचार्यसंसदम् ॥ ६ ॥
Taittirīya Pratiśākhya, Chap. 24.
The view of Sāyaṇa, that the last verse refers to the approach
of the Vedic scholar to heaven is untenable. The student's departure
to the preceptor's house, and not to heaven, is referred to in the verse.