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

254 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
It is, however, but fair to observe that in Europe too,
reason had to beat a hasty and precipitate retreat
when in conflict with the dicta of scriptures down to
the beginning of the modern age. Galileo had to
suffer for his astronomical discoveries. Throughout
the Middle Ages, educationalists were more anxious
to impart traditional theories and formulæ than to
train minds, capable of forming their own conclusions.
Medieval philosophers and commentators were utilising
reason only to prove that the scriptural hypotheses were
correct. It was Lüther who first vindicated the cause
of reason by declaring that what is contrary to reason
must be certainly much more contrary to God. But
Lüther too became a renegade towards the end of his
life and declared, 'The more subtle and accurate is
the reason, the more poisonous is the beast, with many
Dragon's heads is it against God and all his work.'
The truth was that the Reformers were unwilling to
concede to others the right to interpret scriptures, which
they claimed for themselves. If therefore reason was
at a discount in India from the beginning of Middle
Ages, (c. 500 A.D.) we must also note that the same
was the case in Europe down to the beginning of the
modern age. We should not further forget that reason
was given full scope by the Hindu scholars and thinkers
for more than about 1500 years, when it was superseded
by the exigencies of the religious situation. The his-
torian, however, cannot help regretting that supersession
of reason should have taken place among a people, who
had given full scope to it for several centuries.
Intellect Creative in the earlier Period : Enrich-
ment of the culture of the past along with its preservation
continued to be the goal of the Indian educational system
for several centuries. Intellect and reason were for a
long time given full scope, originality was encouraged,

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 255
and as a result we find remarkable creative activity in
the domain of theology, philosophy, philology, grammar,
logic, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, etc., down to
about 500 A.D. Indian achievements in many of these
fields were remarkable, judged either by the contem-
porary or by the absolute standard Scholars from
China, Korea, Tibet and Arabia used to visit India in
order to learn what she had to teach in the realms of
religion, medicine, mathematics and astronomy.
It Becomes Receptive and Imitative later : To-
wards the beginning of the 9th century A.D., the
creative vein in the Indian intellect got fatigued after
an intense activity of more than 2,000 years.¹ Hindu
intellect had probably become old and no longer possess-
ed the energy necessary to open out new paths of
thought and action. Probably the heritage of the past
became so great that all the ability of scholars was
engrossed in preserving it. As also was the case in
Europe down to the 16th century A.D., the habit of
looking back to the past for inspiration and guidance
became quite common ; it began to be instinctively felt
that not much could be expected from the present. The
golden age of inspiration had gone, no new achieve-
ments were possible, the best that the age could do was
to preserve, expound or comment upon the masterpieces
of the past. Hindu educational system was unable to
create minds powerful enough to rise above the influence
of these theories. For the last one thousand years and
more, the Hindus have been writing only digests and
commentaries on the works of earlier periods. Creative
activity has come to a practical standstill.
Similar Condition in Europe : Here also we have
to add that the spirit of the times was unfavourable for
the formation of independent minds and intellects both

1. The creative phase of the Greek or the Roman intellect
   lasted for about 1,000 years only.

256 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
in the West and in the East. In Europe too the Middle
Ages were a period of intellectual repression. Jesuitical
education also produced not creative or original but
receptive and imitative minds. The Renaissance and
Reformation movements, however, eventually succeed-
ed in establishing an era of intellectual independence
and originality in Europe; in India, on the other hand
the foreign rule and its natural consequences continued
the spirit of the Middle Ages down to the time of the na-
tional reawakening towards the end of the 19th century.
Intellect ceases to be assimilative :—Owing to its
excessive reverence for the past, the Hindu intellect
ceased to be assimilative from about 800 A. D. Hindu
sculptors assimilated Greek methods and enriched
Indian art. Early astronomers like Āryabhaṭa and
Varāhamihira were keeping themselves in touch with the
activities and achievements of the workers in the same
field outside India. Varāhamihira (c. 500 A. D.) pays
even a handsome compliment to Greek astronomers and
observes “The Greeks are no doubt Mlechhas (impure),
but they are well grounded in astronomy and are
therefore worshipped and honoured like the Ṛishis.”¹
A remarkable change for the worse took place in the
Hindu attitude towards foreign scholarship within a
couple of centuries or so after Varāhamihira’s death.
Implicit faith in the past and in the correctness of its
canonised tradition made the Hindu scholar narrow,
bigotted and conceited. Of the Hindu men of letters
of the 11th century A. D., Alberuni observes, “They
are haughty, foolish, vain, stolid and self-conceited.
According to their belief, there is no country on the
earth but theirs, no other race of men but theirs, and no
created beings beside them that have any knowledge

1. म्लेच्छा हि यवनास्तेषु सम्यक्शास्त्रमिदं स्थितम् । ऋषिवत्तेऽपि
   पूज्यन्ते······॥ Brihatsamhitā, II 14.

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 257
or science whatever. Their haughtiness is such that if
you tell them of any science or scholar in Khūrāsān or
Persia, they will think you to be both an ignoramus
and a liar. If they travelled and mixed with other
nations, they would soon change their mind, for their
ancestors were not so narrow-minded as the present
generation is¹". In proof of the last assertion Alberuni
quotes the tribute of Varāhamihira to Greek astronomers,
quoted above. Hindus in Alberuni's time had very
good reason to feel a very deep prejudice against
Muslim scholarship; Alberuni's picture may have been
to some extent overdrawn. But the contemporary
Hindu attitude towards the Śrutis, Smṛitis and Purānas
and other works of the past, which has been discussed
above, would show that Alberuni's account of the
mentality of the contemporary Hindu scholar is
substantially true. Hindu education had ceased to
remove prejudices, explode superstitions and broaden
the mind, so as to keep it capable of receiving instruc-
tions from all quarters by the beginning of the 9th
century A. D. Hindu colonising activity, necessitating
travel abroad, had also come to an end by this time.
Some Hindu doctors are no doubt known to have
proceeded to Baghdad at the invitation of Khalifa Harun
(786 A.D.—808 A.D.) to act as chief physicians in his
hospitals²; we however do not know whether public
opinion approved of their conduct, whether they returned
home and were readmitted to Hindu society. Foreign
travel for the purpose of education and the broadening
of views became impossible when the sea voyage was
prohibited. Whether it was undertaken in earlier days
also for these objects is doubtful. There are no books
in Sanskrit literature descriptive of geography, manners
and climate of the countries adjacent to India. Nor do
the Pauranic geographers seem to have been in touch with

1. Sachau, Alberuni, I, pp. 22-23. 2. Idid, Introduction, p. 81.
   17

238 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
the traders and colonisers, who were familiar with
Babylon, Arabia. Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, Burma and
Borneo.
Arts and Crafts become plebian Professions :
Skill in manual training and industrial arts was highly
appreciated in early times. Liberal and useful
education was usually combined among high class
workers. Brahmanas used to be skilled in mining and
metallurgy, medical and military sciences. Weavers
were often amateur students of literature, folk lore,
astronomy and the art of war. This combination of
liberal and useful education began to become
progressively rare after the Gupta age. The status of
the Vaishya became assimilated to that of the Śūdra
as early as the 1st century A.D. and talented persons
among the intellectual classes began to think it below
their dignity to follow useful and industrial arts. Like
European classical scholars of the Renaissance period,
Indian scholars became fascinated by the charms of
the classical literature. Absorbed in the beauty of
words and ideas, they neglected the world of Nature.
Mathematics and astronomy, sculpture and architecture
ceased to attract them. The level of intelligence
among the industrial classes therefore became lowered
down when their education became rigidly confined
to the technique and processes of their own professions
from about the 9th century A. D. As a natural
consequence of such a state of affairs, the growth and
development of the fine, useful and industrial arts
became arrested in India from about the 8th century
A.D. No advance is to be seen after that date in the
realms of sculpture, painting, mining, surgery, etc. The
old type of learning became stereotyped and it soon
began to degenerate. It is true that India continued
to retain her dominating position in the weaving
industry down to the beginning of the last century; but

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 259
it is doubtful whether any progress was made in the
technique or processes of manufacture during the last
one thousand years.
Education of Masses neglected in later Times: At
the time when India was making rapid strides in the
different domains of knowledge, her education was
broad-based. In ancient Athens one in ten and in
ancient Sparta one in twenty five received education,¹
and women's education was altogether neglected. The
case was much different in India down to the com-
mencement of the Christian era. Literacy among the
Aryans was probably as high as 60 per cent in the days
of Aśoka. Anxious thought and care were also bestowed
on female education. Things, however, gradually
changed for the worse in the first millennium of the
Christian era. The education of women began to be
neglected. Kshatriyas and Vaishyas began to become
progressively illiterate. It is true that in Europe also
the masses were little more than barbarous and took
more naturally to warfare than to schooling down to
the end of the Middle Ages.² We can, however, hardly
derive any consolation from this comparison, for the
prevalent illiteracy in India was due to degeneration
from a more creditable condition, obtaining in earlier
centuries.
The neglect of Vernaculars : Hindu educational
system was unable to promote the education of the masses,
probably because of its concentration on Sanskrit and
the neglect of the vernaculars. The revival of Sanskrit
that took place early in the first millennium was un-
doubtedly productive of much good; it immensely
enriched the different branches of Sanskrit literature
which began to reflect the ideals and ideas of the
individual and the race. But owing to the deep fascina-
1 Monroe, A Text Book, pp. 26, 29.
2 Ibid, p. 261.

260 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
tion for Sanskrit, society began to identify the educated
man with the classical scholar as was the case in the
Europe of the Renaissance period. But when the best
minds became engaged in expressing their thoughts in
Sanskrit, Prakrits were naturally neglected. As long as
Sanskrit was intelligible to the ordinary individual, this
was not productive of much harm. But from about
the 8th century A.D. Prakrits and vernaculars became
widely differentiated from Sanskrit, and those who were
using them began to find it difficult to understand
the latter language. Hindu educationalists did not
realise the importance of developing vernacular litera-
tures in the interest of the man in the street. Alberuni
observes, “The language in India is divided into a
neglected vernacular one, only in use among the common
people, and a classical one, only in use among the upper
and educated classes, which is much cultivated.” 1
We no doubt come across a few cases from the 13th
century onwards where provision was made for the
teaching of Telugu, Canarese and Marathi in some of
of the schools and colleges of South India, but the
general impression produced by a survey of the edu-
cational system and institutions is that society was not
alive to the importance of the teaching and development
of vernaculars in the interest of the spread of education
among the masses. Things in India were however quite
on a par with what they were in contemporary Europe,
where Latin continued to be the medium of instruction
down to the 17th century A.D. The classics dominated
the curriculum of the Public Schools in England down
to c. 1850 A.D., boys could write better Latin than
English. In the 16th century school boys were
punished for using the mother tongue, and its study
could be started in Jesuitical schools only with the
1 Sachau, I, p. 18. Some poems and dramas were written in
Prakrit, but their number was very small.

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 261
special permission of the Provincial.¹ India however
could have been much in advance of the world ideas in
this matter if the impetus that was given to the cultiva-
tion of vernaculars by the two gifted Seers, Mahāvīra
and the Buddha, had not died down owing to the
revival of Sanskrit.
Depth at the cost of Breadth : Hindu education
was thorough, but it was not sufficiently broad. Each
branch was thinking of its own problems. Education-
alists do not seem to have bestowed much thought on
the relative utility of the study of the different branches
like grammar, literature, logic, philosophy, mathematics
and fine arts for the development of the intellect, the
mind and the imagination. Specialisation was started
too early. A broad-based secondary course embracing
a study of grammar, literature, mathematics,
astronomy and history did not exist.² Subjects of
æsthetic value like music and painting did not form part
of the general course, as they did in ancient Greece.
An undue emphasis was laid on grammar, literature
and logic at the cost of history, mathematics and
astronomy. Here again the impartial historian has to
point out that this defect of the Hindu educational
system was not peculiar to India, but was to be seen
all over the civilised world. In Europe all the energies
of teachers and students were concentrated on
grammar, rhetoric and dialectics down to the 13th
century ; only that much knowledge of arithmetic was
given which was necessary to calculate Church
festivals. Geography was ignored altogether till an
incentive to its study was given by the discoveries
of Columbus and Vasco de Gama. Natural sciences
1 Quick : The Essays, p. 81.
2. Many sided interests were not created probably because it
was difficult to maintain them in after life in an age when cheap
books were unknown. Crowded curriculum also has its own evils as
. the Matriculation student knows to his cost.

262 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
were introduced very reluctantly only by the middle of
the last century.¹
An unfair Comparison : Some of the defects
noted above like the neglect of the education of
women and the masses crept into the Hindu
Educational System only in later times; others like
the non-existence of a broad-based secondary course
and the neglect of the vernaculars were common to all
the contemporary systems. The twentieth century
critic often forgets that the West has gone on
progressing rapidly during the last 300 years owing to
the impetus it has received from the Renaissance, the
Reformation and the Scientific Movement, while India
has gone on deteriorating ever since 1000 A.D. owing
to the almost continuous foreign rule and its natural
consequences. The Muslim conquerors no doubt became
domiciled in India, but they were on the whole unable
to appreciate and encourage Hindu culture and
education to any appreciable extent. The effects of the
Muslim rule on the learning and scholarship of the
Hindus can be described in the words of a Muslim
himself. While describing the state of Hindu learning
after the invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni, Alberuni
observes, ‘The present times are not of this kind ; they
are the very opposite, (because there is no royal support
or encouragement to learning), and therefore it is quite
impossible that a new science or any new kind of research
should arise in our days. What we have of sciences is but
the scanty remains of byegone better times'² Bernier, while
describing the state of Hindu education in Benares

1. In Germany, science was introduced in secondary education
   in 1816 A.D. When the Royal Commission on Education apologeti-
   cally pleaded for the inclusion of science in the secondary courses in
   1856, 10 or 12 lectures began to be given annually in some of the
   Public Schools in England. The Faculty of Science was established
   in the London University only in 1860.
2. Sachau, I, p. 252.

XI] ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES 263
towards the middle of the 17th century, observes,¹
"Students stay for ten or twelve years during which the
work of instruction proceeds but slowly. Feeling no
spirit of emulation and entertaining no hope that honour
or emoluments may be the reward of extraordinary
attainments as with us, the scholars pursue the studies
slowly, without much to distract their attention." The
Report of the Bengal Provincial Committee, Education
Commission, 1882, observes, 'The Mahomaden conquest
proved disastrous to all indigenous educational institu-
tions. The proprietary rights in land changed hands.
The language of the court was changed. Indigenous
learning lost most of its support ; and after the classes
had settled down, the well-to-do classes of the Hindus
took gradually to the cultivation of foreign language,
literature and manners. The tols were more and more
deserted and left to those only, who wanted to learn
the Hindu rituals. In course of time the Musalman
teachers and schools drew off the largest portion of the
upper and the middle classes of the community and
the tols and the pathaśālās either died or barely managed
to survive.'²
A general Estimate : It is therefore hardly fair
to compare 'the scanty remains of bye-gone better
times' with the tremenodus advance the West has
made during the last century and half under very
favourable circumstances³. The impartial historian
will have to note that in the heyday of her glorv.
education in India was broad-based, women and a large
section of the masses being admitted to its privileges and

1. Bernier, Travels in Moghul Empire, p. 334.
2. P. 2.
3. The historically correct procedure would be to compare
   Hindu Sanskrit learning at the advent of the British rule with the
   scholarship of the Christian monks who kept the lamp of learning
   burning during the Dark Ages. If such a comparison is instituted,
   India will have nothing to be afraid of.

264 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA
advantages. It was able to develop character and
personality, to inculcate civic virtues, and to turn out
citizens well qualified to follow their professions and
discharge their duties in life. It introduced a high
standard of culture and emphasised the necessity of
self-imposed discipline and stern regard for duty. It was
not only able to preserve the heritage of the past, but
also to enrich it from generation to generation. It
produced a galaxy of able scholars and thinkers from
age to age, who made important contributions to the
advancement of knowledge in the spheres of philosophy,
logic, mathematics, astronomy, medicine and chemistry.
It enabled India to achieve high material prosperity
by the excellent arrangements it made for training
young men in commerce, industry and fine and useful
arts. The general principles, which underlay the
system,—e. g. intellectual freedom, individual attention
to students, the monitorial system, gurukula ideal, plain
living and high thinking, mass education, combination of
useful and liberal education, the locating of educational
institutions away from the din and dust of the city-life,
etc.—are inherently sound and capable of yielding
excellent results even in modern times, if applied with
due regard to changed circumtances

APPENDIX I.
EDUCATIONAL RITUALS.
Religion has deeply saturated Hindu life in almost
all its phases and the sphere of education is no
exception. Rituals connected with the student’s life are
many, and several aspects of educational theory and
practice are illustrated by their study. For the benefit
of advanced students of the subject, it is therefore
proposed to devote this appendix to a critical survey
and rationalistic interpretation of the important rituals
connected with education.
SECTION A.
VIDYĀRAMBHA RITUAL (SAṄSKĀRA).¹
Its Time and Nature: Vidyārambha Saṁskāra,
which is described by some authorities also as
Aksharasvīkaraṇa, was performed, as the name would
suggest, at the commencement of the primary
education. Fifth year, which is usually regarded as
suitable for the beginning of the primary education,
was the time prescribed for it.² If the ritual had to be
postponed on account of unavoidable difficulties, it had
to be performed at least before the Upanayana
(Initiation or Thread Ceremony).³ An auspicious day
was selected for the purpose. The ritual was a simple

1. The original authorities for the information given in this
   section are the following:—Viramitrodaya, Saṁskāraprakāśa, pp. 321 ff;
   Aparārka on Yājñavalkya-smṛti, I, 13; Smṛtichandrikā, Saṁskārakāṇḍa,
   pp. 67 ff; Saṁskāra-ratna-mālā of Gopīnāthabhaṭṭa.
2. The Bismilla Khani ceremony, which the Muslims perform
   at the beginning of the primary education, is also performed in the
   5th year, or to be more correct, on the 4th day of the fourth month
   of the fifth year. It was performed on this day in the case of
   Humayun; J.A.S.B., 1935, p. 249.
3. द्वितीयजन्मनः पूर्वमारभेताक्षरासुन्धीः । Brihaspati in VMS.

266 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [App.
one, requiring the young boy to worship Sarasvatī, the
goddess of learning, Vināyaka, the god of learning,
and the tutelary deities of his family. Some authorities
prescribe a sacrifice, but probably it was not performed
everywhere. The worship of the deities was followed
by that of the primary teacher and the boy was then
handed over to him. The teacher used to make the
boy write on rice all the alphabets with the help of a
specially prepared golden or silver pen. Suitable
presents made to the teacher and the Brahmanas
invited for the ceremony marked the termination of
the ritual.
The Ritual non-existent in early Times : Why :
Vidyārambha is thus the earliest Sanskāra in the student's
life, but is does not, like Upanayana, go back to hoary
antiquity. The authorities, which prescribe and des-
cribe this ritual, are as late as the second millenium of
of the Christian era.¹ It appears indeed very strange
that the earlier works like the Grihya-sūtras and the
Dharma-sūtras, which have laid down rituals for such
relatively insignificant occasions like Grihya-nishkramaṇa
(when the child is first taken out from the house), and
anna-prāśana (when it is first given food), should have
failed to associate the commencement of the primary
education with any religious ceremony. The reason,
however, is not far to seek. Upanayana Sanskāra,
which existed even in the Vedic age, marked the begin-
ning of education in pre-historic times. There was thus
no necessity to prescribe a different Sanskāra like
aksharasvīkaraṇa (learning of the alphabet) for the simple
reason that the alphabet was then probably unknown.²

1. Viśvāmitra, Bṛhaspati, Mārkaṇḍeya, etc., who are quoted by
   these authorities, cannot be much earlier, as would be clear from
   the astronomical details mentioned by them. Such details make their
   appearance only after the 7th or the 8th century A.D.
2. The view of Dr. Bühler and others that alphabet was un-
   known in India before c. 800 B.C. has now to be abandoned in view of
   P. T. O.

I, A] VIDYĀRAMBHA SAṄSKĀRA 267
The education of children therefore naturally commenc-
ed not with the learning of the alphabets, but with the
memorising of the sacred hymns, which were the most
valued possession of the Aryans and constituted almost
their entire literature. Under these circumstances, the
Upanayana, which was prescribed at the commence-
ment of the Vedic studies, could be the only ritual to
be performed at the commencement of education.
When and Why Evolved : In the course of time
the Vedic Sanskrit ceased to be the spoken language,
the sciences of exegesis and grammar were developed,
and the art of writing was invented or became known.
Even the memorising of the Vedic hymns required
some previous elementary education. Upanayana
could therefore no longer mark the beginning of educa-
tion and a different ritual called Vidyārambha began
to be recommended for the commencement of primary
education. This must have taken place at a fairly
early date; the fact that the ritual is recommended
only by very late authorities is probably to be explained
by the circumstance that it was for a long time combined
with chaula or tonsure ceremony,¹ This combination was
(Continued from the last page)
the Indus Valley discoveries. There is clear cultural evidence to
show that the art of writing was known in the later Saṁhitā period
(c. 1600-1200 B.C.); see Ojha, Prāchīna-lipi-mālā, pp. 1-16. There is
no evidence to show that the art of writing was known in the early
Vedic period (2500-2000 B.C.). The Aryans were probably ignorant of
that art when they entered India and it may be eventually proved
that they learnt it from the "Indus people."

1. Cf. i वृत्तचौलकर्मा लिपिं संख्यानं चोपयुञ्जीत । Arthaśāstra,
   I. 2 [On prince's education].
   ii स वृत्तचौलश्चलकाकपक्षकैरमात्यपुत्रैः सवयोभिरन्वितः ।
   लिपेर्यथावद्ग्रहणेन वाङ्मयं नदीमुखेनेव समुद्रमाविशत् ॥
   Raghu. III. 7.
   iii [ लवकुशयोः ] निवृत्तचौलकर्मणोश्च तयोस्त्रयीवर्जमितरास्त्रिसो
   विद्याःसावधानेन मनसा परिनिष्ठापिताः ।
   Uttararāmacharit, Act II.

268 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [App.
facilitated by the fact that the time for the ritual, the
4th to the 7th year, was suitable also for the com-
mencement of primary education. The number and
nature of the locks of hair to be kept at the time of
the tonsure ceremony had close connection with the
Vedic sages with whom the family was believed to be
connected¹; this may also have suggested a synchroni-
sation of the commencement of primary education
with the celebration of the chaula-karma.
SECTION B.
UPANAYANA (INITIATION²) RITUAL
Upanayana, its Meaning and Significance
Upanayana literally means taking a student to a teacher
in order to hand him over to the latter for his education:
The ritual was originally performed when a student
commenced his Vedic education under the supervision
of a teacher, with whom he usually lived. It was not
an obligatory ritual ; if a student was unfit by character
or calibre to receive the Vedic education, he was not
admitted to its privillege.³ If, on the other hand, during
the course of his education, he had to go to a different
teacher, the ritual had to be repeated. Nay, it was felt
that it should be performed again even in the case of

1. Cf. यथर्षि शिखां विदधाति । A. G. S., XVI, 6:
   दक्षिणेन कपर्दो वसिष्ठानां उभयतोऽत्रिभार्गवकाश्यपानां
   पंचचूडा आंगिरसाम् । V.G.S., section 4.
   2 The popular English translation of the name of the ritual
   by 'Thread Ceremony' does not convey its real meaning at all. The
   wearing of the sacred thread was quite a minor element in the ritual.
2. अशूद्राणामदुष्टकर्मणामुपानयनम् । Ap. Gr. S., 1.1.5.
   विद्या ह वै ब्राह्मणमाजगाम गोपाय मां शेवधिष्टेऽहमस्मि ।
   असूयकायानुजवेऽयताय न मा ब्रूया वीर्यवती तथा स्याम् ॥
   Nirukta, II. 4.1.

I, B] UPANAYANA RITUAL 269
married men, if they wanted to prosecute further
studies under a new teacher.¹ It was thus essentially
an educational ritual and bore some resemblance to the
formality of the admission procedure in modern schools
and colleges. In the course of time, however its signi-
ficance changed. It was felt necessary that the services
of the whole Aryan community should be conscripted for
the preservation of the Vedic literature which had grown
to considerable dimensions in the course of centuries;
Upanayana and Vedic studies were therefore made
obligatory for all. If it was not performed in time, it
was declared that the person would lose his Aryan status
and become unfit for marriage and social intercourse.
This threat no doubt helped the spread of Vedic learning
and gave an impetus to primary education, which was
in later times presupposed by Vedic studies; but it
also tended to transform this educational function into
a bodily (śārīrika) ritual. It began to be argued that it
should be performed even in the case of dumb and
deaf persons in order to render them eligible for
marriage.² Some late Smṛiti writers felt that the
ritual was primarily for the purification of the body;
they have therefore recommended that it should be
repeated in case the body is defiled by the bite of a
1 Ch. Up. V. II. Here, as a special case, King Aśvapati excu
the formality of Upanayana before beginning to teach his distin-
guished Brāhmaṇa pupils. The latter, however, had come ready for
the Upanayana. Cf. :—
ते ह समित्पाणयः पूर्वाह्णे प्रतिचक्रमिरे । तान्हानुपनीयैव एतदुवाच ।
2. See VMS, p. 361. The difficulty created by the impossibility
of the recitation of Vedic hymns by a deaf and dumb person was got
over by the theory that they may be recited by the teacher on behalf
of the dumb student. बटुपठनीयानां मंत्राणामाचार्य प्रत्येकं पाठो विधीयते ।
Ibid. Some writers like Śaṅkha-Likhita however did not agree with
this view ; cf. नोन्मत्तमूकान्संस्कुर्यात् । Quoted in VMS., p. 406

270 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
dog or a jackal.¹ And if the holy Brahmana can be
rendered holier by this Saṁskāra, why should it fail
to perform a similar miracle in the case of other
inanimate objects ? In medieval times the custom
therefore arose of performing this ceremony over the
holy Pippal tree in order to make it holier.² All these,
however, are later anomalies that crept into society
when the original purpose of Upanayana was being
gradually forgotten.
Its Antiquity : The antiquity of this ritual goes
back to prehistoric times. It existed in the Indo-
Iranian period and is clearly presupposed by the
Ṛigveda [X. 109, 5; III. 8. 4 and 5]. The Atharva-
veda describes it in detail and attributes the
proper functioning of society and nature to its
mysterious efficacy.³ Details about the student's
life and paraphernalia, more or less similar to those
given in Smṛitis, are to be seen in several passages of
the Brāhmaṇa literature.⁴ In the early period, the
ritual was a simple one ; even a verbal acceptance by
the teacher was sufficient.⁵ For a long time the father
himself acted as the teacher (Br. Up., V. 2.1 ; VI. 2.9).

1. Cf. Śātātapa, Paiṭhīnasi and Yama quoted in VMS.,
   p. 545-7.
2. An inscription from Karnatak refers to a Brahmana, per-
   forming this ceremony on the four Aśvatha trees planted by him in
   a temple garden in 1358 A.D. E.C., III, Malavalli No. 28.
3. ब्रह्मचर्येणं तपसा राजा राष्ट्रं विरक्षति । XI. 5. 17.
   ब्रह्मचर्येण कन्या युवानं विन्दते पतिम् । XI. 5. 18.
   ब्रह्मचर्येण तपसा देवा मृत्युमपाघ्नत । XI. 5. 19.
   स दाधार पृथिवीं दिवं च ॥ XI. 5. 1.
   See also, VI. 138.
4. Tai. S., VI, 3, 10, 5; Sat. Br., XI, 5, 4, (here we have a
   detailed description of the Upanayana); Go. Br., I. 2, 1-8 (here we have
   several interesting reasons for the different rules of Brahmacharya).
5. वाचा ह स्मैव पूर्वमुपयति । Br. Up., VI. 2.7.

I, B] UPANAYANA RITUAL 271
Who were eligible for it ? Brahmanas, Kshatriyas
and Vaishyas were eligible for the Upanayana and Vedic
study. They are collectively called Dvijas, because
they were all believed to get a second birth, a spiritual
one, at the time of the Upanayana. When the ritual
became obligatory, it seems to have been regularly
performed by all these castes for several centuries.
Smritis give detailed rules about the different kinds
of girdles, staffs, sacred threads, etc. which were
prescribed for the members of the various castes.
Details about these minor variations would not have been
evolved if the ritual had not been a general one among
the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas. In the course of
time, however, Vedic studies fell into background, partly
owing to the setback which the Vedic religion received
by the rise of the Upanishadic, Jain and Buddhist
movements, and partly by the development of other
branches of knowledge in the Hindu community itself.
Upanayana then began to fall into disuetitude among
the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas, with whose professions
in subsequent life Vedic studies were but remotely
connected. This happened at about the beginning of
the Christian era, when the theory that only the
Brahmanas and Shudras exist in the Kali age seems to
have gained ascendancy¹. Kshatriyas and Vaishyas

1. Bhāsa (3rd century A. D.) and Daṇḍin (7th century A. D.)
   regarded the sacred thread as an insignia of a Brahmana and not of a
   Dvija. Cf :—
   यज्ञोपवीतेन ब्राह्मणश्चीवरेण रक्तपटः । Avimāraka, Act V.
   भवदंसोपनीतं यज्ञोपवीतं भूसुरभावं द्योतयति ।
   Daśakumāracharit, 2nd Chap.
   Cf also Raghuvamśa, XI, 64.
   An inscription however shows that the Upanayana of the Hoysala
   King Narasimha III, who was a Kshatriya, took place in his 9th year
   on 25-2-1255. It appears that even when the ritual had gone out of .
   vogue among the Kshatriyas in general, it continued among the royal
   families.

272 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [App.
were levelled down to the position of the Shudras,
primarily because they were not performing the Upa-
nayana ceremony and wearing the Sacred Thread.
Probably in respectable Kshatriya ruling families, the
ritual continued to be performed down to the 13th
century, but their number was very small. The testi-
mony of Alberuni (I, p. 125) shows that the Vedic
education had practically died down among the
Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas before the 11th century
A.D. In the earlier centuries of the Christian era, the
ritual was performed by these castes as an unmeaning
formality, as is the case with the Brahmanas now.
Later on it was discontinued. It may be noted in this
connection that it was not without difficulty that
Shivaji could succeed in getting a Brahmana Pandit
from Benares, ready to perform the Upanayana for
him at the age of 44.
The Age at the Upanayana : The Upanayana
marks the beginning of the Vedic education, which in
several respects resembled the secondary education of
modern times. Naturally therefore some age between
8 and 12 was regarded as suitable for it. Usually our
texts prescribe that the Upanayana should be performed
in the 8th year in the case of a Brahmana, in the 11th
year in the case of a Kshatriya and in the 12th year in
the case of a Vaishya. No particular sanctity was
attached to these ages¹ ; for, some writers like
Baudhāyana regard any age between 8 and 16 as
suitable for the Upanayana². There was no idea of

1. The selection of these particular ages seems to have been due
   to the rather fortuitous circumstance of the syllables of each line of
   the Sāvitrī Mantras of these castes being 8, 11 and 12 respectively. Cf.
   ब्राह्मणादिवर्णसंबंधिनां छंदसां पादाक्षरसंख्यैरब्दैरुपनयनस्य विधेः ( कार्य-
   वात् ) । Medhātithi on Manu, II. 38. Cf. also VMS., p. 344.
2. अष्टमे आयुष्कामं नवमे तेजस्कामं••••त्रयोदशे मेधाकामं चतुर्दशे
   पुष्टिकामं••••षोडशे सर्वकामम् । Bau. Gr. S., II. 5. 5.

I, B] UPANAYANA RITUAL 273
emphasising the intellectual superiority of the
Brahmanas¹, when a lower age was prescribed for their
Upanayana. Family traditions in Brahmanical circles
facilitated Vedic educatiou at an early age ; such was
not the case with Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. Brahmana
boys could very often begin their Vedic education at
home ; Kshatriya and Vaishya boys had necessarily to
leave their families and go to a Brahmana teacher for
that purpose ; the age of 11 or 12, when boys are to
some extent able to look after themselves, was there-
fore found convenient for them. It is interesting to
note that the Brahmana boy Śvetaketu also performed
his Upanayana at the age 12 and immediately went
to stay with his preceptor for prosecuting his education
(Ch. Up. VI. 1-2). It would therefore appear that
even in Brahmanical families, the Upanayana was post-
poned to a later age when it was to be followed by the
separation of the boy from his family. It is the similar
necessity of sending the boys outside to a town or a
city that compels villagers of our time to begin their
wards' secondary education at about the age of 11 or
12. In cultured Brahmana families, which were very
keen about the quick progress of their sons, the
tradition was to perform the Upanayana and begin the
Vedic studies even earlier than the 8th year². This
practice is similar to that of many well-to-do and
cultured city families, which begin the secondary or
English education of their wards at about the age of
6 or 7. Smṛitis have therefore naturally given much
latitude about the age at the Upanayana in order to
suit the circumstances and convenience of the different

1. As supposed by Keay (p. 29) and Das (p. 72).
2. सप्तमे ब्राह्मणमुपनयीत पंचमे ब्रह्मवर्चसकामम् । J. Gr., S., I. 12.
   Cf. also G. D. S., 1. 1. 7; M. Gr. S., 1. 22. 1; Vâ. Gr. S., 6.
   18