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

234 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
powers of this period. and so the age may be con-
veniently described as the age of the Nandas and
Mauryas. The third period will extend from c. 200
B.C. to c. 500 A.D. It may be described as the age
of the Dharmaśāstra, as most of the leading works on
this subject were written during this period. It can
also be described as the age of the Śuṅgas and the
Sātavāhanas, the Vākāṭakas and the Guptas, as these
were the leading political powers of the period. The
fourth period will extend from c. 500 A.D, to c. 1200
A.D. It may be described as the age of the Purāṇas
and digests (Nibandhas), as society was guided mainly
by the theories and practices recommended in these
works. Politically India was divided into many
small kingdoms during this age. Kings Harsha and
Bhoja were the most prominent rulers during this
period. The age therefore may be described as the
age of Harsha and Bhoja. We shall now proceed to
describe the condition of education as a whole in each
of these four periods.
THE VEDIC PERIOD :
(upto c. 1,000 B.C.)
Condition of Culture and Education : This age
marked the beginning of Indian culture, literature and
science and so naturally not much progress was made in
the different departments of knowledge. Its literary and
scientific achievements were naturally less dazzling
and comprehensive than those of the succeeding age.
People of this period however had a very keen desire
to make progress in the realm of knowledge. They
had realised that it was intellectual efficiency and
equipment that was most essential for progress in
culture and knowledge. It was emphasised that gods

X] PERIOD-WISE SURVEY 235
would be friends of only those who are wise and learned.
Those only were regarded as learned who could not
only recite the texts but also understand and interpret
them. Every householder of the age therefore natu-
rally regarded the education of his children as a sacred
duty. No distinction was made in this connection
between boys and girls; the education of both received
the same attention at least upto the higher stage.
Ordinarily the guardian discharged his duty to teach
his wards so regularly and successfully that no necessity
was felt for a long time either for the professional
teacher or for the public school. Secular literature was
yet to be developed and so the literary course was
predominently religious. People however had an open,
free and enquiring mind and were eager to explore
new realms of knowledge. Great emphasis was laid
on the proper development of debating powers ; boys
and girls who were successful in debates were highly
honoured. Education however did not produce mere
talkers but transformed its recepients into man of
action as well. This would become quite clear from
the successful manner in which the Aryans of the age
spread their culture and extended their political influ-
ence. The Aryan community was a compact and
homogenous one during this period, and there was not
much difference in the educational level of the diffe-
rent classes. Priests however generally used to speci-
alise in literary and religious education. Warriors and
agriculturists also received some literary education,
but it was naturally not so deep or wide as that of the
priests or the poets. They used to devote the greater
part of their educational course in mastering the art
of war, or the processes of agriculture or the methods
of arts and crafts. The followers of the latter were
held in high esteem : some of them like Aśvins and

236 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
Ribhus were even deified. The educational system of
the age was successful in forming character, developing
personality, promoting the progress of different
branches of knowledge and achieving social efficiency
and happiness.
THE UPANISHAD-SŪTRA PERIOD.
(c. 1000 B.C. to c. 200 B.C.)
General Condition of the Age : This period can
justly be regarded as the most creative period of Hindu
culture and literature, arts and sciences. The founda-
tions of whatever is the best in Hindu culture and
glorious in Hindu achievements were laid down during
this period. Metaphysics made remarkable progress,
as is evidenced by the Upanishadic, Jain and Bauddha
works ; the foundations of almost all the later systems
of philosophy were also laid down. Philology and
grammar were well developed and the literary acti-
vity in the legal literature commenced. Speculations in
the sphere of political thought were original and fruit-
ful. Astronomy and mathematics, medicine and sur-
gery, mining and metallurgy began to be cultivated and
sculpture and architecture recorded remarkable pro-
gress, especially towards the end of the period. Effort
was also made to popularise culture and knowledge by
transforming the epic of the Bhārata war into an
encyclopædia of religion and ethics.
The Condition of Education : These manifold
achievements in different spheres became possible be-
cause Indians had still a free open and enquiring
mind and were making strenuous efforts to extend the
bounds of knowledge and to ensure its transmission
to posterity. With a view to enlist the help of the whole
society for this work, Upanayana ritual was made

X] PERIOD-WISE SURVEY 237
obligatory for the whole Aryan community at about
the beginning of this period. This gave a great
impetus to the spread both of literacy and higher
education. As learning became more and more exten-
sive in course of time, education in the family became
impracticable, and society began to encourage distin-
guished scholars to become regular teachers. They
used to organise private schools for higher studies,
relying mainly on the voluntary contributions of
students taking their advantage. Brahmacharya dis-
cipline was still rigorous, but towards the end of the
period the marriageable age of girls began to be gra-
dually lowered, which adversely affected female
education. During the earlier part of this period,
however, there was no dearth of women philosophers
and scholars, some of whom used to organise schools
and hostels for girls. Co-education was however not
unknown. Majority of girls received their education
at home, as was the case with boys also during the
earlier period. The educational system paid as much
attention to the cultivation of the Vedic studies as
to that of grammar and philology, mathematics and
astronomy, epic and legal literature. Professions be-
came specialised towards the end of this period and
society began to feel it advantageous that they should
become hereditary in order to encourage further effi-
ciency. The ordinary soldier or agriculturist used
however to receive a fair amount of cultural education.
The training imparted to the doctor and the sculptor
was fairly practical and efficient, and the average in-
telligence of the artisan class was fairly high. The
killed worker was respected by society. Education
vas regarded as a serious proposition and society was
anxious that its benefits should be extended to as large
a class as possible. Various steps were being proposed

238 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
and adopted to see that students did not stop their
studies at the end of their courses. Educational sys-
tem continued to be successful in forming character,
building up personality, extending the bounds of know-
ledge and preserving the heritage of the past. It
undoubtedly promoted social happiness and efficiency ;
it enabled India to be at the vanguard of progress in
the contemporary world and repel and subjugate the
powerful Greek enemy.
THE AGE OF THE DHARMAŚĀSTRA
(c. 200 B. C. to c. 500 A. D.)
Characteristics of the Age: This period may
be described as the age of critical reflection and
specialisation. The achievements of the preceding
creative period were critically examined and special
systems like the Sāṁkhya and the Yoga, the Nyāya
and the Vaiśeshika, the Vedānta and the Mahāyāna
Buddhism were evolved; this undoubtedly marked
considerable progress in critical thought. The creative
vein however was still active, though in a less marked
degree than before. Its activity was particularly
noteworthy in the realm of classical literature and
sacred law, painting and sculpture, mathematics and
astronomy. A considerable part of the religious
literature was now canonised, but Hindus still had an
open, free and enquiring mind. Philosophical systems
continued to be called orthodox, though they had no
place in them even for God. Heterodox systems like the
Jainism and the Buddhism were studied by the Hindus
and the theories and dogmas of Hinduism were
analysed and examined by the Jains and the Buddhists;
this led to considerable progress in logic and meta-
physics. Greeks were no doubt regarded as unholy

X] PERIOD-WISE SURVEY 239
foreigners (Mlechchhas), but nevertheless their achieve-
ments in the realm of sculpture, coinage and astronomy
were carefully studied and assimilated, which led to
considerable progress in all these sciences.
The Condition of Education : There was however
a distinctive setback to the cause of education as a
whole during this period. Child marriages became
the order of the day towards the end of the period,
and so female education suffered very considerably.
Only daughters of high class families used to receive
education during this period. The lowering of the
marriageable age of girls naturally involved the
corresponding lowering of the marriageable age of
boys. Brahmacharya discipline consequently became
slack and nominal and towards the end of this period ;
the educational system could produce only a limited
number of young men possessing a developed person-
ality, characterised by self-confidence and self
reliance. During this period Upanayana of Kshatriyas
and Vaishyas first became a mere formality. This
development gave a severe blow to the general and
cultural education of the warrior and the farmer, the
trader and the artisan, and this reduced their general
efficiency. Their education gradually began to become
too much specialised and narrow. The same defect
arose in the course of time in liberal education also.
There was too much of specialisation in logic and
philosophy, astronomy and mathematics ; there was
no broad-based secondary course of education. The
educational system was still able to promote social
efficiency and happiness and secure the preservation
and spread of national culture ; it enabled society to
absorb and assimilate a number of foreign tribes whom
it could not drive out by military force. Towards

140 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
the end of this period the higher education of the
cultured classes received a great impetus and en-
couragement by the rise of organised public schools
and colleges. On account of the liberal support which
these institutions received from the state and society,
they were able to impart free education. Several
colleges for higher education became famous centres of
education, which in the course of time began to artract
students from abroad as well. The training in
practical sciences like sculpture and architecture,
medicine and matallurgy was still very efficient, if
somewhat narrow.
THE AGE OF THE PURĀṆAS AND NIBANDHAS.
(C. 500 A. D.—1200 A. D )
Educational Achievements of the Age :—India
continued to enjoy the reputation of an international
centre of education during this period also. Down to
c. 900 A. D. Tibetan and Chinese students continued
to flock in her eastern Universities, and her doctors
used to be summoned in Western Asia for curing royal
patients and organising state hospitals. Education
had not become mere book learning ; Indian teachers
excited admiration of foreign students by their remark-
able powers of explanation and exposition. Graduates
of this period were remarkable for their logical acumen
and mastery in Sanskrit, though the latter was no
longer the spoken tongue. Facilities for free higher
education continued to be ample ; if with the decline
of Buddhism the number of monastic colleges decreas-
ed, the loss was more than compensated by the rise of
numerous temple colleges. Brahmacharya discipline no
doubt became nominal owing to early marriages ; even
married students, however, showed commendable per-
severance in pursuing protracted courses of studies. Poor

X] PERIOD-WISE SURVEY 241
students continued to maintain themselves by begging
if necessary ; the number of teachers eager to follow
the high code of the profession, which enjoined free
tuition, still continued to be very large. Society's
earnestness for education was thus remarkable.
**Educational Defects of the Age :-**Though thus
higher education continued to prosper, the education
of the masses suffered during this period. Upanayana
now completely disappeared from Kshatriyas and
Vaishyas ; this gave a serious blow to their cultural
and literary education, reduced the percentage of
literacy among them and made their education very
narrow. Useful arts and professions began to be
regarded as plebian and were boycotted by the higher
sections of Brahmanas ; as the services of the best
intellect in society were no longer available for the
development of arts and crafts, they ceased to make
any progress worth the name. Growing orthodoxy of
the age disapproved of dissection and condemned the
pursuit of agriculture on the ground that it involved
killing of insects at the time of ploughing. Medical
education in the course of time became less efficient ;
surgery went out of vogue and agriculture became a neg-
lected and plebian profession. The marriageable age of
girls was further lowered during this period ; girls were
ordinarily married at the age of 10 or 11. This natural-
ly gave a death blow to the female education. A few
ladies no doubt appear as poetesses during this period ;
they were however exceptions rather than the rule.
Education could not reach the masses as the medium
of higher instruction was Sanskrit, which was no
longer the spoken tongue. No serious or concerted
effort was made to develop literature in vernaculars in
order to facilitate the infiltration of knowledge to the
16

242 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
masses. In the sphere of higher education specialisation
was carried to too great an extreme ; the logician, the
mathematician and the rhetorist, for instance, did not
possess much knowledge of the problems and achi-
evements of one another. The preservation of ancient
literature and culture was the main concern of the
educational system ; it was unable to produce many
scholars who could substantially enrich it. The
creative vein in the Hindu intellect could still be seen
in the realm of poetics. and to a less extent, in those
of philosophy, literature and astronomy. It was how-
ever quite feeble, compared to its strength and achieve-
ments in the preceding ages. The situation deteriorat-
ed further by the growing self-conceitedness of the
scholars of the age and their refusal to benefit by the
knowledge and experience of outsiders. They had no
longer a free, open and enquiring mind ; they would
refuse to accept what was not in consonance with the
views of sacred scriptures. This stood in the way of
progress in sciences like astronomy and medicine,
history and geography. During the medieval times
great importance was attached by Indian Pandits, as
by Jesuitical scholars, to the cleverness and skill in
mere wordy warfare ; a person was hailed as a great
scholar if he could perceive distinctions where none
existed and silence his opponent by a brilliant display
of the resources of a well trained memory. Depth of
scholarship thus often went unrecognised and shallow
and unscrupulous debators could often pose as great
scholars. The general state of affairs regarding education
further deteriorated during the period 1200-1800 A. D.
owing to the growing impoverishment of Hindu society
and the withdrawal of active state encouragement to
its educational system during the period of Muslim
ascendancy.

Chapter XI.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES.
ACHIEVEMENTS—The aims of infusion of piety and formation
of character fully achieved—Testimony of foreign writers and travel-
lers—Success in developing personality, preserving and spreading
culture and literature and promoting social efficiency and happiness.
DEFECTS & LIMITATIONS: Hold of religion leads to the neglect
of secular studies and discouragement of rationalism in later times—
The case in Europe the same—Hindu intellect ceases to be creative
and assimilative and becomes receptive and imitative in later times—
consequent adverse effect on education—Arts and crafts regarded
plebian in later times—Education of masses neglected—Neglect of
vernaculars in later times—Depth at the cost of breadth—No broad-
based course including grammar, literature, mathematics, history
and geography for the average student—Most defects arise in
medieval times—A general estimate of Ancient Indian Education.
Introduction : We shall devote this concluding
chapter to the purpose of giving a critical estimate of
ancient Indian educational system by discussing its
achievements and failures. We have already made
some general observations in this connection in the
preceding pages ; we shall here discuss the subject in
a connected and comprehensive manner. We shall
first proceed to ascertain how far the aims and ideals
of the educational system, referred to in Chap. I,
were actually realised in practice. This will to a
great extent enable us to form its just estimate.
Infusion of Piety and Formation of Character :
We have seen already how infusion of a spirit of piety
and the formation of character were the first two
important aims of the educational system. There
can be no doubt that piety and religiousness are more
characteristic of Hindu society than of any other
community. The success of the educational system

244 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
in moulding and forming character was also very
remarkable, as proved by the testimony of a number
of foreign observers, belonging to different centuries,
creeds and countries, who had no particular reason to
pass flattering remarks about Indian character.
Testimony of Greeks : Among these foreign
observers, the Greeks are chronologically the earliest
(c. 300 B. C.). Politically they were not the allies
but the opponents of the Hindus. They have made
a few caustic remarks about some aspects of their
culture, but they have candidly noted the high
impression that the Hindu character and veracity
produced on their mind. 'Indians have never been
convicted of lying. Truth and virtue they hold in high
esteem' says Megasthenes in one place$^1$. This state-
ment could not have been literally true, but it shows
that the cases of cheating and swindling must have
been comparatively few in society. Strabo and
Megasthenes have further pointed out that law suits
among the Indians were rare owing to their frank
dealing. "They are not litigous. Witnesses and
seals are not necessary when a man makes a deposit,
he acts in trust. Their houses are usually unguarded$^2$."
A Chinese Tribute : Yuan Chwang pays an equally
high compliment to the Indian character during the
7th century A.D. He has carefully noted the weak
and strong points in the character of the peoples of
different districts ; but while summing up his impressions
of the Indian character as a whole, he says "They
(i.e. Indians) are of hasty and irresolute temperament,
but of pure moral principles. They will not take
anything wrongfully and they yield more than fairness

1. Megasthenes, Fragment 35.
2. Ibid.

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 245
requires. They fear for retribution for sins in other
lives and make light of what conduct produces in this
life. They do not practice deceit and they keep their
sworn obligations."¹ Vast majority of Indians in
Yuan Chwang's time did not share his religious beliefs
and practices and yet they receive the above high
compliment from the Chinese pilgrim.
Arab and Italian Testimony : Al Idrisi's im-
pressions of the Hindu character in western India
during the 10th century A.D. are similar to those of
Yuan Chwang's. Though a Muslim, he says of the
Hindus, 'The Indians are naturally inclined to justice
and never depart from it in their actions. Their good
faith, honesty and fidelity to engagements are well
known and they are so famous for these qualities that
people flock to their country from every side ; hence
the country is flourishing and their conditon pros-
perous.² "In the thirteenth century Marco Polo also
was impressed very highly by the character of the
Brahmanas of Western India. "You must know" says
he, "that these Brahmanas are the best merchants in
the world and the most truthful, for they would never
tell a lie for anything on the earth. If a foreign
merchant, who does not know the ways of the country,
applies to them and entrusts his goods to them, they
would take charge of these and sell them in the most
zealous manner, seeking zealously the profit of the
foreigner and asking no commission except what he
pleases to give."³ When the morality of the trading
classes is so high, the character of the average man
must have been very noble. Ibn Batuta, another
Muslim observer, describes the Marathas of Deogiri

1. Watters, I, p. 171.
2. Elliot, History, Vol. I, p. 88.
3. Yule, Marco Polo, Vol. II, p. 363 (Third edition).

246 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
and Nándurbar of the 14th century as 'upright, religious
and trustworthy.¹ The same was the view of
Abul Fazl, the minister of Akbar.
Conclusion : Travellers, pilgrims and merchants
are usually disposed to make caustic remarks about the
culture and character of the foreigners among whom
they have moved ; when so many of them belonging
to different times and climes and professing different
faiths agree in paying a high tribute to Indian
character, we may well conclude that there is no
exaggeration and that the educational system of the
country had succeeded remarkably in its ideal of
raising the national character to a high level. It is
only after the 17th and 18th centuries A.D. that we
come across some foreign travellers, traders,
missionaries and ex-governors passing strictures upon
the Hindu character. Some of them were probably
misled by their prejudices, as we find their testimony
contradicted by others.² It is also possible that the
Hindu character may have suffered deterioration
during the long spell of foreign rule in medieval times ;
for successful falsehood is usually the best defence of
a slave. It is however worth observing that not a
single foreign observer is found passing hostile remarks
about Hindu character and honesty during the ancient
period of Indian history.
Success in developing Personality : The deve-
lopment of personality was the third aim of the
educational system and let us see how far it was able to

1. Ibna Batuta, p. 228.
2. Col Sleeman, for instance, says : 'Lying between members of
   the same village is almost unknown.' I have had hundreds of cases
   before me in which a man's property, liberty and life depended upon
   his telling a lie, and he has refused to tell it.'
   Quoted by M. Muller in India, What It can teach Us, p. 50.

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES. 247
accomplish it. The available evidence is rather meagre
to form a definite judgment in this connection. We
come across several masterful personalities, in different
walks of life in ancient India, but how far they were
typical of their age we do not know. Hindu achieve-
ments, however, in the different walks of life and
branches of knowledge were fairly of a high order in
ancient India down to the 6th century A.D., and this
would hardly have been possible if the products of the
educational system were not masterful personalities.
Things however changed for the worse from the 6th
century A. D.; Brahmacharya discipline became
nominal when a vast majority of students began to
marry at a very early age; growth of independent
judgment became stunted with the growing veneration
for the past and its time-hallowed traditions. Self-
confidence and self-respect disappeared in a great
measure when society suffered from the convulsions of
sudden foreign invasions and long alien rule, frequently
imposing a hated religion and strange culture with the
aid of the sword. We must not judge the success of the
ancient Indian educational system in building personality
of students by the conclusions based upon its products
at the advent of the British rule.
Success in the Preservation and Spread of Culture
and Literature : Friends and foes have alike admitted
that the ancient Indian system of education has been
eminently successful in its aim of the preservation of
ancient literary and cultural heritage. Very few of the
Vedic works have been lost. It is indeed a wonder
how so vast a literature could have been preserved
without the help of the art of writing for the task.
Among post-Vedic works too, the number of valuable
books lost is not considerable. And here also the losses
would have been practically insignificant if the destruc-

248 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
tion of temples and monasteries had not taken place on
a wide scale at the time of the invasions of the
Mahomedans and during their subsequent long rule.
The surprising amount of cultural uniformity that is to
be seen even now over the length and breadth of India
is mainly due to the successful preservation and spread
of ancient culture and civilisation. If there are several
features, common to Hindu life, all over the country,
contributing to Hindu unity, the credit has to be largely
given to the educational system, which has produced
uniformity in the culture and outlook on life of the
Hindu community. The remarkable success of Indian
missionaries in spreading Indian culture in Indian
Archipelago, Siam, China, Japan, Tibet, and Central
Asia must be attributed to the success of the educational
system in enkindling a strong zest in the minds of
students for spreading the national culture and heritage
far and wide, both in India and outside.
Civic Responsibility and Social Efficiency and
Happiness : The success of the educational system in
infusing a sense of civic responsibility and promoting
social efficiency and happiness, which were two of its
important aims, was also remarkable. It was but
natural that the educational system should have taken
the help of the religious feeling and the caste discipline
for infusing the sense of civic responsibility. The
average man in ancient India was always loyal to the
interests of his guild, village and caste. It was the
success of the educational system in promoting social
efficiency, which enabled Hindu society to be in the
vanguard of the march of civilisation for several
centuries. It is true that this ceased to be the case
from about the 10th century A.D. ; but the failure
during the last millennium in this connection should not
blind us to the success in the preceding long period of

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 249
more than two thousand years. We shall now proceed
to discuss the causes of the decline in the educational
system and point out its limitations and defects.
DEFECTS AND LIMITATIONS
Introduction : We shall now proceed to point
out the main defects and limitations of the educational
system along with their causes. The period-wise survey
of the educational system, which was taken in the
second section of the last chapter, must have already
indicated to the reader what these defects were and how
most of them arose during the latter half of the first
millennium A. D. We shall discuss them in greater
details now. Attention will also be drawn to some other
limitations of the system, which were more or less
common to almost all systems of education in ancient
times and for which, therefore, the ancient Indian
system alone cannot be blamed.
The Hold of Religion :—Religion had an immense
hold over the Hindu mind and many of the admirable
features of the educational system have to be attribut-
ed to this circumstance, as shown already. It did not
make the educational outlook ‘otherworldly’, as is
supposed in certain quarters. The ideals of the
Vānaprastha and the Sanyāsa were no doubt purely
spiritual, but such was not the case with the ideals of
the educational system. It aimed at producing youths
eminently fit to perform their civic and social duties ; if
any spiritual merit for the life to come was to result from
Brahmacharya, it was to be through the proper
performance of duties, which however were principally
determined with a view to make the student an efficient
and God-fearing citizen.
Secular Studies tend to be neglected :—The
majority of teachers in ancient India were priests, as
was the case all over the ancient world. They did

250 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
not exploit their position for promoting any selfish ends
of their own, but they had the natural limitations of
their class. When the even balance that was for a
long time successfully held in Hindu society between
the claims of religious and secular life (Dharma-Moksha
versus Artha-Kāma) was disturbed, religious and semi-
religious studies got undue predominance in the
educational system. Secular sciences like history,
economics, politics, mathematics and astronomy did not
receive as much attention as theology, philosophy,
ritualism and sacred law. Commerce and industry
and fine and useful arts made no appreciable progress
during the last 1500 years or so, because those in
charge of education showed no keen interest in them.
It may however be pointed out that down to the 18th
century, educationalists in Europe also regarded religious
studies as the most important constituents of the educa-
tional course ; many of them like Franke and Comenius
held that all children should be instructed above all
things in the vital knowledge of God and Christ.¹
Reason not held at a Discount in early Times :—
A greater defect produced by the hold of religion over
the Hindu mind was the tendency to hold reason at a
discount, which became prominent a few centuries after
the Christian era. Such was not the case in earlier
times, when society used to value intellectual freedom
highly. Upanishadic thinkers have, for example,
advocated bold and original theories of philosophy
without showing any anxiety whatever to prove that
their views were in consonance with those of the
Vedic sages. In the days of the Buddha there were as
many as sixty three systems of philosophy, very few of
which cared to rely on Vedic authority for their
premises or conclusions. Systems of philosophy like
1 Greaves, Educators, pp 72—3,

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 251
the Sāṁkhya and the Mīmāṁsā, which did not recognise
a Creator-God, were admitted within the fold of
orthodoxy. Buddhism and Jainism were not summarily
dismissed as athiestic or heterodox ; their scriptures
were carefully studied in order to prove that their
theories were unsound. For a long time society was
successful in reconciling its reverence for the past with
its regard for the advance of knowledge ; it used to
silently abandon exploded views and quietly accept new
theories and doctrines.
The changed Attitude of later Times : Unfortu-
nately for the progress of learning and scholarship
Vedic literature was canonised some time about
600 B.C. An almost equally high reverence came to
be paid to the Smṛitis and Purāṇas in course of time.
The authorship of these works came to be attributed to
divine or inspired agency, and it was averred that what
they contained could not be false, what they opposed
could not be true. Theories began to be accepted or
rejected according as they were in conformity with or
opposed to the statements of thesacred books on the
point. Intellectual giants like Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja had
to spend a disproportionate amount of time and energy
to prove that their systems of philosophy were in
conformity with and the natural outcomes of the Upa-
nishadic hypotheses. If the hold of the Srutis and Smṛitis
were not so exacting, there would have been freer
development of philosophy. At any rate many of the
remarkable intellects of the Middle Ages would have
found it possible to write independent works on their
own systems of philosophy instead of being compelled
to present it unsystematically, while engaged in the
ostensible task of writing commentaries on the revealed
literature. Instead of Nibandha compilations, we
would have possessed original Smṛitis of the later times.

252 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
A concrete Instance and its Moral: Under such
circumstances, there was not much scope left for
research and originality in those matters where opinions
were expressed in sacred texts. A concrete case may
be given to illustrate the point. In the infancy of
astronomy, the eclipses were explained by the mytho-
logical stories about Rāhu and Ketu attacking and
temporarily overpowering the moon and the sun. It
was an evil day for the advance of astronomy when
this mythological version got a canonical sanction by
its inclusion in the Purāṇas. Hindu astronomers like
Āryabhaṭa, Brahmagupta, Varāhamihira and Bhāskarā-
chārya knew the true causes of eclipses, but felt powerless
to carry vigorous propaganda to explode their popular
and mythological explanation canonised by the Purāṇas.
Nay, Brahmagupta, with a view to win cheap
popularity, went to the extent of advocating that the
popular view was correct, when he knew full well
that such was not the case. In Chapter I of his
Brahma-siddhānta, he gives both the popular and
scientific theories about the eclipses, but advocates
the cause of the former. "Some people think that the
eclipse is not caused by the Head (of Rāhu or Ketu).
This, however, is a foolish idea. The Veda, which
is the word of God from the mouth of Brahman, says
that the Head eclipses, likewise Manusmṛiti and Garga-
saṁhitā".¹ What is, however, most lamentable is that
Brahmagupta, who knew full well the real cause of
eclipses, should have proceeded to condemn Āryabhaṭa,
Varāhamihira, Śrīsheṇa and Vishṇuchandra for
expounding the unorthodox but scientific theory that
eclipses are caused by the shadow of the earth. It
is important to note that Brahmagupta becomes guilty
of intellectual and moral dishonesty because he was

1. As quoted by Alberuni, Vol. II, pp. 110-1. The original work
   has been lost.

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 253
anxious to win cheap popularity by supporting the
popular view that what was contained in the Vedas
and Manusmṛiti could not be untrue. It is interesting
to note that Varāhamihira first combats the Rāhu-Ketu
theory,¹ but then immediately succumbs to it.²
Āryabhaṭa alone has perhaps the moral courage to be
consistent with his intellectual convictions. But he
also only hints that the popular theory is wrong, but
does not dare to attack it openly.³ If the Rāhu-Ketu
theory of eclipses has continued to retain its hold over
the popular Hindu mind for the last 1500 years and
more, inspite of the scientific discovery of the true
cause of eclipses, the reason is that Hindu scholarship
of later times was too much in the leading strings of
religion to carry on active propaganda against its
hypothses. Similarly astronomers continued to
subscribe to the view that the constellation of the Great
Bear moves from one lunar mansion to another in
a hundred years, even when they had discovered that
such was not the case. The discontinuance of dissection
in the medical training and the abandonment of
agriculture by the Brahmanas, Buddhists and Jains
are also to be attributed to the hold of the progressively
puritanical notions over the popular mind.⁴
Similar Hostility to Rationalism in Europe also :

1. Bṛihat-saṁhitā, V. 4 ff. यदि मूर्तो भविचारी शिरोथवा भवति
   मंडली राहुः । भगणार्धेनान्तरिते गृह्णाति कथं नियतचारः ॥ ४ ॥
   अथ भुजगेन्द्ररूपः पुच्छेन मुखेन वा स गृह्णाति । मुखपुच्छान्तःसंस्थं
   स्थगयति कस्मान्न भगणार्धम् ।
2. Ibid, v. 13 एवमुपरागकारणमुक्तमिदं दिव्यदृग्भिराचार्यैः । राहुः
   कारणमस्मिन्नित्युक्तः शास्त्रसद्भावः ॥
3. Golabhāga, v. 49 यदसज्ज्ञानसमुद्रात्समुद्धृतं देवताप्रसादेन ।
   सज्ज्ञानोत्तमरत्नं मया निमग्नं स्वमतिना वा ।
4. I-tsing, p. 62.