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

1] THE CONCEPTION AND IDEALS OF EDUCATION 13
a few Vedic hymns necessary for their daily use, and
devoted their main energy to the study of the subjects
of their own choice like logic, philosophy, literature,
poetics or law. The educational curriculum of the
Smṛitis represents the Utopian idealism of the Brahmana
theologian and not the actual reality in society.
Development of Personality: The development of
personality was in fact the third aim of the educational
system. This was sought to be realised by eulogising the
feeling of self-respect, by encouraging the sense of self-
confidence, by inculcating the virtue of self-restraint and
by fostering the powers of discrimination and judgment.
The student was always to remember that he was the
custodian and the torch-bearer of the culture of the race.
Its welfare depended upon his proper discharge of his
duties. If the warrior shines on the battlefield, or if the
king is successful as a governor, it is all due to their proper
training and education (A. V., XI. 15. 17.). To support
the poor student was the sacred duty of society, the non-
performance of which would lead to dire spiritual cala-
mities. A well trained youth, who had finished his
education, was to be honoured more than the king himself.
It is but natural that such an atmosphere should develop
the student's self-respect in a remarkable manner.
Influence of Self-confidence: Self-confidence
was also fostered equally well. The Upanayana ritual,
as we shall see in Appendix I. B, used to foster self-
confidence by pointing out that divine powers would co-
operate with the student and help him on to the achieve-
ment of his goal, if he on his part did his duty well.
Poverty need not depress him; he was the ideal student
who would subsist by begging his daily food. If he was
willing to work in his spare time, he could demand and
get free education from any teacher or institution. Self-

14 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
reliance is the mother of self-confidence, and the Hindu
educational system seeks to develop it in a variety of
ways, as we shall see in the following pages. Uncertainty
of the future prospect did not damp the student's self-con-
fidence. If he was following a professional course, his
career was already determined. There was no overcrowd-
ing or cut-throat competition in professions. If he
was taking religious and liberal education, poverty was
to be the ideal of his life. His needs ought to be, and
as a matter of fact were, few, and the state and society
supplied them well.
Influence of Self-restraint: The element of
self-restraint, that was emphasised by the educational
system, further served to enrich the student's personality.
Self-restraint that was emphasised was distinctly different
from self-repression. Simplicity in life and habits was
all that was insisted upon. The student was to have a
full meal, only it was to be a simple one. The student
was to have sufficient clothing, only it was not to be
foppish. The student was to have his recreations, only
they were not to be frivolous. He was to lead a life of
perfect chastity, but that was only to enable him to be an
efficient and healthy householder when he married. It will
be thus seen that what the educationalists aimed at did not
result in self-repression, but only promoted self-restraint
that was so essential for the development of a proper
personality. Nor was this self-restraint enforced by
Spartan ways of correction and punishment. The teacher
was required to use persuasion and spare the rod as far
as possible. He was liable to be prosecuted if he used
undue force. Self-discipline was developed mainly by
the formation of proper habits during the educational
course.
Discrimination and Judgment Developed: It may

1] THE CONCEPTION AND IDEALS OF EDUCATION 15
be further pointed out that the powers of discrimination and
judgment, so necessary for the development of proper
personality, were well developed in students taking liberal
education and specialising in logic, law, philosophy,
poetics or literature. These branches of study bristled
with controversies and the student had to understand both
the sides, form his own judgment and defend his position
in literary debates. It was only with the Vedic students
that education became mechanical training of memory.
This became inevitable in later times when the literature
to be preserved became very extensive and the modern
means for its preservation in the form of paper and print-
ing were unavailable. In earlier days even Vedic students
were trained in interpreting the hymns they used to
commit to memory.
Stress on Social Duties: The inculcation of civic
and social duties, which was the fourth aim of the
educational system, was particularly emphasised. The
graduate was not to lead a self-centred life. He must
teach his lore to the rising generation even when there
was no prospect of a fee. He was enjoined perpetuation
of race and culture by raising and educating progeny.
He was to perform his duties as a son, a husband, and
a father conscientiously and efficiently. His wealth was
not to be utilised solely for his own or his family's wants ;
he must be hospitable and charitable. Particularly
emphatic are the words in the convocation address,
emphasising these duties.¹ Professions had their own
codes of honour. which laid stress on the civic responsi-
bilities of their members. The physician was required to
relieve disease and distress even at the cost of his life.
The warrior had his own high code of honour, and could
Tai. Up., I, 11.

16 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
attack his opponent only when the latter was ready.
Social structure in ancient India was to a great extent
independent of government. Governments may come and
go, but social and village life and national culture were
not much affected by these changes. It was probably this
circumstance that was responsible for the non-inclusion of
patriotism among the civic duties, inculcated by the
Educational System.
Promotion of Social Efficiency and Happiness:
The promotion of social efficiency and happiness was the
fifth aim of the educational system. It was sought to be
realised by the proper training of the rising generation in
the different branches of knowledge, professions and
industries. Education was not imparted merely for the
sake of culture or for the purpose of developing mental
and intellectual powers and faculties. Indirectly, though
effectively, it no doubt promoted these aims, but primarily
it was imparted for the purpose of training every indivi-
dual for the calling which he was expected to follow.
Society had accepted the theory of division of work,
which was mainly governed in later times by the principle
of heredity. Exceptional talent could always select the
profession it liked; Brahmanas and Vaishyas as kings
and fighters, Kshatriyas and even Shudras as philosophers
and religious teachers, make their appearance throughout
the Indian history. It was however deemed to be in the
interest of the average man that he should follow his
family's calling. The educational system sought to
qualify the members of the rising generation for their
more or less pre-determined spheres of life. Each trade,
guild and family trained its children in its own profession.
This system may have sacrificed the individual inclinations
of a few, but it was undoubtedly in the interest of many.
Differentiation of functions and their specialisation in

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
2

18 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
the services of their entire class were not necessary for
the task. A section of the Brahmana community, however,
was always available to sacrifice its life and talents in
order to ensure the preservation of the sacred texts.
Theirs was a life-long and almost a tragic devotion to the
cause of learning. For, they consented to spend their life
in committing to memory what others and not they
could interpret. Secular benefits that they could expect
were few and not at all commensurate with the labour
involved. Remaining sections of the Brahmana commu-
nity were fostering the studies of the different branches
of liberal education, like grammar, literature, poetics,
law, philosophy and logic. They were not only preserving
the knowledge of the ancients in these branches, but
constantly increasing its boundaries by their own contri-
butions, which were being made down to the medieval
times. Specialisation became a natural consequence of
this tendency and it tended to make education deep rather
than broad.
The Theory of Three Debts : The interesting
theory of three debts, which has been advocated since the
Vedic age, has effectively served the purpose of inducing
the rising generation to accept and maintain the best
traditions of thought and action of the past generations
The theory maintains that the moment an individual is
born in this world, he incurs three debts, which he can
discharge only by performing certain duties. First of
all, he owes a debt to gods, and he can liquidate it only
by learning how to perform proper sacrifices and by
regularly offering them. Religious traditions of the race
were thus preserved. Secondly, he owes a debt to the
rishis or savants of the bygone ages and can discharge it
only by studying their works and continuing their literary
and professional traditions. The rising generation was

I] THE CONCEPTION AND IDEALS OF EDUCATION 19
thus enabled to master and maintain the best literary and
professional traditions. The third debt was the debt to
the ancestors, which can be repaid only by raising progeny
and by imparting proper education to it₁ Steps were thus
take to see that the rising generation became an efficient
torch-bearer of the culture and traditions of the past.
Other Methods to Preserve Cultural Traditions:
The emphasis laid on obedience to parents, respect to
elders and teachers and gratitude to savants of the bygone
ages also helped to preserve the best traditions of the
past. Especially significant in this connection are the
rules about svādhyāya and ṛishitarpaṇa; the former
enjoin a daily recapitulation of at least a portion of what
was learnt during the student life and the latter require a
daily tribute of gratitude to be paid to the literary giants
of the past at the time of morning prayers. In later
times, when archaic Sanskrit ceased to be understood and
abstract and abstruse philosophy failed to appeal to
masses, a new type of literature, the Purāṇas, was
composed to popularise national culture and traditions
among the masses. It was daily expounded to the masses
in vernaculars, and as a consequence the best cultural
traditions of the past filtered down to and were preserved
by even illiterate' population. Devotional literature in
vernacular also served the same function.
Conclusion : Body, mind, intellect and spirit consti-
tute a human being; the aims and ideals of ancient
Indian education were to promote their simultaneous and
Harmonious development. Men are social beings ; ancient
Indian education not only emphasised social duties but
also promoted social happiness. No nation can be called
¹ जायमानो वै ब्राह्मणस्त्रिभिरृणैऋणवाञ्जायते ।
यज्ञेन देवेभ्यो ब्रह्मचर्येण ऋषिभ्यः प्रजया पितृभ्यः। T.S., see also S.Br., 1:5.5

20 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
educated which cannot preserve and expand its cultural
heritage. Our education enabled us to do this for
several centuries.
Aims of Education: Some Comparative Observa-
tions: It would be interesting to compare the aims and
ideals of ancient Indian education with those of some other
systems, both ancient and modern, both eastern and
western. We therefore now proceed to do so. In ANCIENT
CHINA, Confucian preached that the purpose of education
should be to train each individual in his path of duty,
wherein is to be prescribed most minutely every deatil of
life’s occupations and relationships. If we understand
duty in a sufficiently wide sense, this definition of the aim
of education would appear to be very similar to that of
ancient Indian educationalists. In ANCIENT GREECE as
well as in REFORMATION EUROPE, the ideal of personal
culture loomed large in the educational system. Ancient
Indians held that the individual exists more for society
than vice versa; it was therefore the function of education
to acquaint the individual with the culture of the race.
Personal culture was promoted by the educational system
only to the extent it was possible to do so by imparting
national culture. Music, painting and fine arts thus did
not become subjects of general education in ancient India
as they became in ancient Greece. THE SPARTAN EDUCA-
TION aimed at providing the state with as many faithful
and capable soldiers as possible, who would defend it
with the armed hand. The existence of the Aryans in
India was not a precarious one; they were not like the
Spartans threatened with a slave population about ten
times their own number; so their education was not
naturally dominated by the military ideal in any degree.
MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN EDUCATIONALISTS held that education
should be primarily for piety and wisdom; some writers

I] THE CONCEPTION AND IDEALS OF EDUCATION 21
like Montaigne also have advocated that it should develop
virtue, wisdom, good manners and learning. Ancient
Indians agree with this view but add that education must
also fit an individual for a useful profession. JESUITICAL
EDUCATION aimed at creating an army of faithful and
resolute servants of the Catholic Church. Brahmana
priests, who controlled and guided education in ancient
India did not have so narrow an aim; the youths they
trained very often questioned their traditional beliefs and
started new theories of religion and philosophy. The
system also provided for the needs of the laity. MILTON
held that educational system should qualify a youth to
perform skilfully, justly and magnanimously all the
offices, both private and public, of peace and war.
Ancient Indians held that all persons are not versatile
enough to be trained for this ideal; they believed in the
differentiation of functions and trained different classes
for their different duties. SOME MODERN AMERICAN
EDUCATIONALISTS hold that moral character and social
efficiency, and not mere erudition and culture, should be
the aims of education. Ancient Indians accept this view,
but add that the preservation of the ancient national
culture, which naturally does not loom large before a
young nation like America, must also figure prominently
as an aim of education. SOVIET EDUCATION concentrates
its activities on the training and upliftment of the
proletariate. There was no class war in ancient India;
educationalists therefore tried to provide education to
each class, suitable for its own needs and traditions.
MODERN INDIAN EDUCATION is dominated by the aim of
passing examinations with highest honours; this aim was
practically non-existent in ancient India. It will be
shown in Chapter VI how examinations played quite a
negligible part in ancient Indian education.

Chapter II.
SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND
POSTULATES.
Education for all—Education a serious proposition and marriage
incompatible with it—Education to begin in childhood and not to stop
with graduation—Student’s cooperation important—Rod to be used very
sparingly—Importance of habits, routine, association and imitation—
The Gurukula system—The role and importance of the family—Various
theories about Nature vs, Nurture—Influence of the caste system—The
system once flexible, Brahmanas and non-Brahmanas teaching each
others’ subjects—Its influence on the curriculum of Brahmanas,
Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras in later times—Caste system and
Buddhism.
Introduction: It is desirable to discuss now
important educational principles and postulates accepted
and assumed by ancient Indian thinkers. This would
facilitate the proper understanding of the evolution and
history of the different aspects of education that would
be described later on in the book. It has to be observed
at the outset that principles and postulates have not been
systematically and comprehensively discussed in any
ancient work; they have to be gathered from diverse and
scattered sources and inferred from educational practice.
Education should be thorough : We have seen
already how education was regarded as a source of
illumination and was expected to enable its recepients to
meet successfully the difficulties and problems of life.
It was therefore insisted that it should be thorough and
efficient. The educational system did not aim at imparting
a general knowledge of a number of subjects; its ideal
was to train experts in different branches. Printing and
paper being unknown, books were very costly and libraries

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 23
practically non-existent; the educational system therefore
took particular care to train and develop memory in order
to ensure that what students had learnt during their
college days should stand them in good stead throughout
their life. Personal attention to each student was insisted
upon to ensure a high degree of proficiency. In pro-
fessional education the necessity of practical training was
emphasised for the same reason.
Education for all: Since education was regarded
as the best agency for improving society, it was naturally
insisted that it should be available to all those who were
qualified to receive it. It was not regarded, as was the
case in Ancient Greece, as the priviledge of those
lucky few who had the necessary leisure to devote to its
acquisition. To ensure literary education to the largest
possible number, Upanayana ritual, which marked the
beginning of religious and literary education, was made
obligatory for all the Aryans, both males and females. It
was further declared that a man can discharge his debt
to ancestors not merely by procreating sons but by pro-
viding for their proper education.¹ Every Aryan, i. e.
every Brahmana, Kshatriya and Vaishya, thus received
at least the rudiments of literary and religious education.
Things however changed for the worse during the first
millennium of the Christian era, when Kshatriyas and
Vaishyas gradually ceased to perform Upanayana and
sank to the level of the Shudras. This gave a great set-
back to their literary education. As far as the professional
education was concerned, it was ensured to almost all
persons anxious to receive it, when the caste system became
hereditary; every family was expected to train its children
and bring them up in the traditions of its profession.
¹ तस्मात्पुत्रमनुशिष्टं लोक्यमाहुस्तस्मादेनमनुशास्ति । B. Up., 1.5.7.

24 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
Steps Taken to Realise the Ideal: Society also
took several other important steps to realise this ideal.
To ensure an adequate supply of teachers, it enjoined
that teaching was a holy duty which a Brahmana was
bound to discharge irrespective of the consideration as to
whether any fee was likely to be received or not. It
made education free and held to public opprobrium any
teacher who would stipulate for fees. In order to bring
education within the reach of the poorest, it not only
permitted students to beg, but elevated begging into the
highest duty of the student life. In order to ensure a
reasonable maintenance to teachers, who were expected to
devote their lives to the cause of teaching in the missionary
spirit of self-sacrifice, society laid down that both the
public and the state should help learned teachers
and educational institutions very liberally. How these
arrangements worked in practice will be explained in
Chapter IV.
Education a serious Proposition: Though ancient
Indians held that all should normally receive the benefits
of education, they have also laid down that persons who
were morally and intellectually unfit to receive it should
be excluded from its benefit (Nirukta, II. 4); this was a
necessary precaution to avoid waste. They further point
out that real scholarship cannot be obtained by dilettanish
or perfunctory studies; impatience is as great an enemy
of learning as self-complaceney¹. The rich and the poor
have both to submit to stern discipline in order to become
learned. Long continued and laborious preparation is
necessary to aquire real grounding and efficiency in a
subject. One who is lazy or anxious to dabble in several
matters, or one who wants to have a merry time during

1. अशुश्रूषा त्वरा श्लाघा विद्यायाः शत्रवस्त्रयः। Mbh., V. 40.4.

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.

26 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
Education to begin at Proper Time: Ancient Indians
were convinced that no good results would follow if
education is begun late, in life. A boy who begins his
education at 16 is not likely to bring any credit to his
teachers¹. During our childhood, mind is pliable, memory
keen and intellect receptive; it is only at this period of
life, that it is possible to form good habits that may be
of life-long use to us. Ancient Indians have therefore
insisted that education ought to commence in childhood.
One thinker observes that parents themselves would
become the greatest enemies of a child, whose education
has been neglected during the childhood². It was held
that the 5th year and the 8th year would be the proper
time for the beginning of the primary and the secondary
education respectively. Our educationalists had however
recognised that it would be necessary to vary these years
in accordance with the cultural traditions of the family.³
Studies not to stop with the Course: Even in
modern times, when books are cheap and library facilities
fairly good, students forget a good deal of what they
learn within a few years after leaving the school or the
college. The danger was much greater in ancient times
when books were rare, costly and fragile. Our educa-
tionalists therefore emphasise that every graduate should
recapitulate daily a portion of what he had learnt in the
school or the college. At the time of his convocation,
the chancellor particularly exhorted him not to neglect
his duty of daily revision⁴. To forget what had once
been learnt was pronounced to be a sin as grave as the
¹ नातिषोडशवर्षमुपनयीत प्रसृष्टवृषणो ह्येष वृषलीभूतो भवति ॥ J.Gr.S.,I.12
² माता शत्रुः पिता वैरी बालों येन न पाठितः । Subhāshita.
³ See Appendix I, sections A and B.
⁴ स्वाध्यायप्रवचनाभ्यां न प्रमदितव्यम् । T.U ., I.

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 27
murder of a friend or Brahmana (Yáj., III. 228). During
the rainy season, every graduate was expected to devote
extra time to his studies 'in order to remove their staleness'.
Some thinkers like Śvetaketu even recommended an annual
stay of two months at the college for this purpose
[A. D. S., X. 1. 2. 12].
Importance of Student's Cooperation : Ancient
Indians held that education was not a passive or one
sided process and that it will be productive of the
greatest results only when full and voluntary coopera-
tion is coming forth from students. They must feel the
urge to acquire more knowledge; then there would be
pleasure in teaching them. If there is no real desire for
learning and improvement, it would be useless to waste time
and labour over the education of insincere students (Manu,
II, 113-4, 191). But what was to be done if a student
entrusted to the charge and care of a teacher begins to
show a continuous indifference to duty ? How was he to
be induced to do his work? Was the teacher merely to
remonstrate, or was he to inflict physical punishment ?
Views about Physical Punishment : As may be
expected, there was no unanimity of views among ancient
Indian educationalists about the advisability of physical
punishment. Āpastamba recommends that a teacher
should try to improve refractory students by banishing
them from his presence or by imposing a fast (1.2.8.30).
He seems to be opposed to physical chastisement. Manu
grows eloquent over the virtues of gentle persuasion
(II. 159-61), but eventually permits the imposition of
mild physical punishment by a thin rod or rope. Gautama
agrees with him, but adds that a teacher giving a severer
punishment would be liable for legal prosecution.¹ A
१ शिष्यशिष्टिरवधेन । अशक्तौ रज्जुवेणुविदलाभ्याम् । अन्येन घ्नन् राज्ञा
शास्यः । I. 2.48.53

28 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
teacher in Taxila, when giving physical punishment
to a royal student from Benares, who would not give up
his stealing habits in spite of repeated exhortations,
exclaims that the use of the rod cannot be altogether
given up by a teacher (Jā., No. 252). He takes up the
position of Manu and Gautama, which represents the
via media, and seems to have been generally followed in
ancient India.¹ The Taxila teacher seems to have held
views similar to those of Locke, who permits corporal
punishment for moral remissness.
Corporal Punishment Elsewhere: In ancient times
corporal punishment was the order of the day. It was
given in Sparta not only as a corrective, but also as a
means of making students hardier. In the schools of
this city, there were rather whipping exercises than the
imposition of corporal punishment. Other schools in
ancient times did not go to the extreme length of Sparta,
but permitted a liberal use of the rod. The same was
the case with the Europe of the Middle Ages and it was
but natural. At a time when man was regarded as a
vessel of sin, and when he hoped to become fit for heaven
only through a bitter struggle with the flesh, extreme
views about the place of punishment naturally prevailed
among educationalists. The reaction started only with
Rousseau.
Importance of Habits: One of the best ways to
secure ready cooperation from students was to encourage
proper habits; great importance was therefore attached
to the formation of proper habits by the student during
his education course. It was realised that habits consti-
tuted a second nature and those formed during the pliable

¹ 1. In Medieval India, as in Medieval Europe, corporal punishment
was liberally administered in village schools. The old ideals were for-
gotten by this time.

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 29
and impressionable period of childhood would stand a
person in good stead throughout his life. Rules of
discipline, that are prescribed for the student, have been
laid down not so much for the purpose of prohibiting him
from doing undesirable acts as with the object of forming
good and valuable habits. The habit of rising early was
found to be good; it was therefore laid down that the
student must daily get up at the dawn. Plain living and
high thinking was recognised to be a desideratum; in
order to develop a liking for it the use of costly food and
gorgeous dress was prohibited. Life is a hard and long
struggle against circumstances; in order to prepare,
students for it, rules were laid down calculated to develop
them into strong and hardy men with determined will
and great enduring power.
Importance of Routine: It was recognised that
routine also will play a great part in the formation of
habits. The daily routine was carefully determined with
a view to enable students to form good habits and
master their subjects at the end of their course. Students
of poetics and literature were constantly engaged in
practising composition and versification. Students of
theology had to take part daily in the performance of
sacrifices, which they would be called upon to conduct in
their after life. Apprentices in sculpture and painting
had to go through a long course of routine practice before
they could finish their course. Students in primary and
secondary schools went through the daily routine of
recitation and recapitulation, which enabled them to
master their subjects. The routine was made interesting
by making several children take part in the recitation
simultaneously.
Association and Imitation: Ancient Indians had
realised that association and imitation play a great part

30 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
in moulding the character and improving the calibre of a
student. Even a dull student, they point out, will improve
his intellect if he is in close association with a brilliant
boy and imitates his methods of study¹. One should
therefore be very careful in choosing one's company. One
can now understand why our educationalists have attached
a great importance to sending a student to live under the
direct care of a teacher, or better still, in a gurukula
(boarding) of established reputation.
The Gurukula System: The Gurukula system,
which necessitated the stay of the student away from his
home at the house of a teacher or in a boarding house of
established reputation, was one of the most important
features of ancient Indian education. Smṛitis recommend
that the student should begin to live under the supervision
of his teacher after his Upanayana; etymologically
_antevāsin_², the word for the student, denotes one who
stays near his teacher and samāvartana, the word for
convocation, means the occasion of returning home from the
boarding or the teacher's house. The rules which require
the student to rise earlier and sleep later than his teacher,
to show him alms gathered at midday and to attend to the
night service of his Agnihotra (sacrificial fire) also show
that the student was normally living at the house of his
teacher³. Ancient literature contains several stories like
¹ बुद्धिश्च हीयते पुंसां नीचैः सह समागमात् ।
मध्यमैर्मध्यतां याति श्रेष्ठतां याति चोत्तमैः ॥ Mbh., VI.1.30
2 अन्तेवासी is an abbreviation of आचार्यकुलवासी Ch. Up, 11.23.
uses this expression in the case of the general student; cf.
द्वितीयो ब्रह्मचारी आचार्यकुलवासी ।
3 Stories like those of Upakośala, where we find the wife of the
' teacher coming forward to induce the student to give up his fast,
also show incidentally that students must be living with their
teachers; see Ch. Up, IV, 10 8. P.T.O.

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 31
those of Nābhānedishṭa and Kṛishṇa showing that students
were being actually sent to reside with their preceptors.
Of course this was recommended only in the case of
students of higher education. The evidence of the Jātakas
shows that they used to leave their homes, not perhaps
immediately after their Upanayana, but at about the age
of 14 or 15 when they were old enough to look after
themselves in a distant place. It is also likely that parents
living in the same locality with the teacher, or belonging
to the same place where the educational institute was
located, may not have always sent their wards to stay with
their preceptors or in boarding houses. But such cases
could not have been many. On the other hand there is
evidence to show that rich persons used to deliberately
send their children to distant places, even when there were
famous teachers in their own towns, because they were
anxious that they should reap the benefits of the Gurukula
system.
Gurukula System why Recommended: The
recognition of the importance of association and imitation
was one of the main reasons for the great emphasis laid on
the Gurukula system. Direct, personal and continuous con-
tact with a teacher of noble character naturally produces
great effect on the mind of the scholar during the pliable
period of childhood and adolescence. The close associa-
tion with elderly scholars, who had made progress in
education and won the applause of their teachers, naturally
(Continued from the last page)
It is interesting to note that the Law of Limitation was relaxed
in favour of students staying away from their homes at Guru-
kulas; cf.
ब्रह्मचारी चरेत्कश्चिद्व्रतं षट्त्रिंशदाब्दिकम् ।
समावृत्तो व्रती कुर्यात्स्वधनान्वेषणं ततः ॥
पंचाशदाब्दिको भोगस्तद्धनस्यापहारकः ॥ Kātyāyana in Pa. M.
Vol. III, i, p. 148.

32 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
induces the new entrants to imitate their example. The
invisible yet all-pervading influence of established tradi-
tions of the institution naturally spurs the student to
identify himself with them. The system eliminated the
factors in home life prejudicial to the educational atmos-
phere and facilitated better studies; it however did not
altogether eliminate the refining influence of the family
life, because students used to come into indirect contact
with it when living under the guardianship of their
teachers, who were usually householders. It also served
to tone down personal angularities of pampered children
and made all students more resourceful and self-reliant
and better acquainted with the ways of the world¹. It was
felt that students trained at home would lack the benefit
of school discipline and suffer from desultoriness and
want of application and would thus normally compare
very unfavourably with those trained in a Gurukula.²
Gurukulas not always in Forests: The general
belief that Gurukulas were located in forests away from
the din of city life is but partly correct.³ There is no
doubt that the majority of the teachers of philosophy in
ancient India lived, thought out and taught their spiritual
theories in sylvan solitudes. The same was the case with
celebrated teachers like Vālmīki, Kaṇva and Sāndīpani;
who used to stay in forests, though they had made
arrangements in their Āśramas (forest retreats) to teach

¹ Cf. पोराणिकराजानो अत्तने पुत्ते 'एवं एते निहतमानदप्पा सीतण्हक्खमा
लोकचरितञ्ञू भविस्संति' अत्तनो नगरे दीसापामोक्खे आचरिये विज्जमानेपि
सिप्पुग्गहणत्थाय दूरे तिरोरट्ठं पेसंति । Jā. No. 252.
² अपि च ज्ञानसंपन्नः सर्वान्वेदान्पितुर्गृहे ।
श्लाघमान इवाधीयादग्राम्य इत्येव तं विदुः ॥ Mbh., XIII. 36.15
³ Rules prescribing a holiday when there was a death or robbers'
raid in the village (Manu, IV. 108, 113) presuppose that the
school was not situated in a forest.