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

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.

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 33
hundreds of students in subjects like philology, grammar,
astronomy and civics, in addition to Veda, religion and
philosophy (Mbh., I: 91). In the Jātakas (e. g. No. 438)
we sometimes come across the stories of teachers leaving
cities like Benares and retreating to Himalayan forests
with a view to be free from the disturbances from the
city life. They were confident that the villagers around
would supply their few and simple wants. But in the
majority of cases Gurukulas were located in villages or
towns. It will be seen that such was the case with most
of the educational centres that would be described in
Chapter V. This was but natural, for teachers were
usually householders. Care however was taken to locate
Gurukula in a secluded place or garden¹, and in holy
surroundings. The case of Buddhist Universities like
Nālandā or Vikramaśīlā and of Hindu _agrahāra_² settle-
ments was peculiar; they were like modern University
towns of Oxford, Cambridge or Benares Hindu Univer-
sity, independent educational settlements, where arrange-
ments were made for the lodging and boarding of
students who flocked in hundreds and thousands. They
combined the advantages both of the town and forest life.
The Importance of the Family, Pre-birth Period:
Association and imitation begin to influence the student
not only from the time of his joining a school or Guru-
1 At Benares during the 17th century, students and teachers used
to repair to adjoining gardens and orchards for the purpose of
study. This practice is presupposed by the Go. Br., I. 2. 1-8
where it states that students should enter the village only for
necessary work like begging alms, etc.
2 This word denotes village consisting only of Brahmana scholars,
who were assigned its entire revenues for the purpose of their
maintenance. It may therefore be compared to a settlement of
teachers, each of them being engaged in teaching some students
free of charge.
3

34 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
kula, but from his early childhood; ancient Indians
therefore attached great importance to the family in their
scheme of education. They held that the child begins to
receive influences that mould its character and determine
its efficiency right from the time of its conception. If
Prahlāda became a deep devotee and Abhimanyu a skilful
warrior, the reason was the influence indirectly exercised
upon them by Nārada and Kṛishṇa respectively, when
they were still to be heralded in this world. It was
believed that the impressions, which would be conveyed
on the mind of the expectant mother, would be automati-
cally transmitted to the mind of the child to be born. The
mother therefore was advised to devote herself to the
study and contemplation of the achievements and biogra-
phies of great national heroes and heroines, so that she
may herself get a child that may be a worthy successor of
theirs.
Family and the Pre-School Period: We have
seen already that the preservation of the national culture
was one of the important aims of education and the family
was expected to cooperate with the school in its realisation.
The ambition of the child was first fired and its imagina-
tion set aglow not by the lessons it received in the school
but by the stories it heard from its mother and grand-
mother. Well known is the part which the home influence
played in shaping the career and firing the imagination of
heroes and saints like Shivājī and Rāmadāsa. Multiplica-
tion tables, noun declensions and some metrical rules
about grammar were taught at home to the child during
its early childhood in all cultured families. The home
thus not only prepared the child for the school, but also
supplemented its work.
The Role of the Family in the Pre-Historic Times:
In pre-historic times, i. e. before about 1000 B. C., the

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 35
family played a still greater part in the educational
system. At that early period, the professional teacher
was yet rather rare; so generally the father was the usual
teacher and the home the usual school. Several examples
are preserved in Vedic and Upanishadic literature of
fathers themselves teaching their own sons.¹ Nay, the
father himself was to begin the Vedic education, because
it was he and he alone who was regarded as eligible for
teaching the Gāyatrī Mantra to the boy; recourse was had
to another teacher only if he was unavailable for the
purpose. In course of time, owing to greater specialisa-
tion that became inevitable, home education became
possible only in the case of a few cultured families.
Remaining families were however expected to take prompt
steps to send the children to a teacher or a school at the
proper time and supervise their lessons at home if neces-
sary. Supervision of the education of the family wards
was one of the most important duties of its head.²
Family and the Female Education: In the case
of the education of girls, the family played an important
part. We do come across rare cases of girls being educat-
ed at boarding schools or colleges; for instance, we read
in the drama Mālatīmādhava how Kāmandakī was educated
at a college along with Bhūrivasu and Devarāta (Act I).
These cases were however exceptional, for there was a
general prejudice against sending girls outside for their
education. Dharmasūtras insist that they should be taught
at home by their male guardians like the father, the
brother or the uncle. This was of course possible only in

1. Prajāpati was the teacher of his sons, Devas, Asuras and Men,
   Br. Up. V. 2.1. Āruni had initiated his son Śvetaketu in the
   study of philosophy. Br. Up., VI. 2. 1; Ch. Up., V. 3.
2. Rv., I, 24

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

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 37
supremacy among the gods not to any penance or previous
merit, but to his proper training during his studenthood.¹
A few centuries later we find a patriarch praying that
some of his sons should become good priests, others brave
warriors and the rest successful merchants (S. Br., X.4.1.10).
Obviously he did not much believe in heredity and held
that a good deal depended upon proper training and
education.
Karman Theory; Growing Faith in Nature: In
the course of time, however, the supreme confidence that
was placed in nurture began to weaken to a great
extent. When the Aryans settled down in a less
spectacular and more peaceful life and began to
investigate more carefully the phenomena of life around
them, they began to feel that man is not entirely an
architect of his own fortune, and that the powers and
capacities with which he is born determine the scope of
his prospects and activity to a considerable extent. The
doctrines of Karman and Rebirth, which were unknown
in the Vedic age, became universally accepted in the course
of time, swinging the pendulum considerably in favour of
nature as against nurture. It began to be averred that the
deeds (Karman) in previous lives, rather than the training
in the present one, will determine whether our intellect is to
be bright² and moral propensities strong. The development
of the caste system on hereditary lines did not strengthen
the hands of the advocates of nurture; it began to be
argued that the efficiency of a person as a priest or a
warrior does not so much depend upon the training he
receives in this life as upon the inherent qualities with
which he is born as a consequence of his Karman in

1. इन्द्रो ह ब्रह्मचर्येण देवेभ्यः स्वराभवत् । V. 1. 19.
   2, बुद्धिः कर्मानुसारिणी ।

38 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
previous births. The Karman determines the qualities
and characteristics, and God assigns birth in that particu-
lar caste in which they would be most needed. As a
natural consequence of these theories, educationalists
began to aver that nature is more important than nurture;
a bamboo tree cannot blossom into a sandal one simply
because it is assiduously watered and manured and planted
upon the Malaya mountain.¹ If you have no natural
capacity, education cannot create it; a mirror can show
reflection only to one who has the eyesight.² A conscientious
teacher imparts education as assiduously to a brilliant as
to a dull student; there is however a world of difference
as to the results. One shines forth in the world of scholars,
while the other hardly succeeds in making any appreciable
progress. Glass alone can reflect solar rays, not a piece
of earth, howsoever polished.³ This view is similar to
that of Plato who has pointed out that education is not
like putting sight into blind eyes; it is only turning the
eyes to light.
The Function of Nurture: Though natural en-
dowments thus play a great part, it was realised that they
exist only in a potential condition in our childhood and
would not flower into perfection unless they are properly
¹ अंतःसारविहीनस्य सहायः किं करिष्यति ।
मलयेपि स्थितो वेणुर्वेणुरेव न चंदनः । S R.B, p. 41.7.
² यस्य नास्ति स्वयं प्रज्ञा शास्त्रोक्तं किं करिष्यति ।
लोचनाभ्यां विहीनस्य दर्पणः किं करिष्यति । Ibid, p. 40.1.
³ वितरति गुरुः प्राज्ञे विद्यां यथैव तथा जडे
न च खलु तयोर्ज्ञाने शक्तिं करोत्यपहन्ति वा ।
⸰ भवति च पुनर्भूयान्भेदः फलं प्रति तद्यथा
प्रभवति मणिर्बिम्बोद्ग्राहे न चैव मृदां चयः ॥ II.
Uttararāmacharit, II. 4.

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 39
developed by training and education. One may be born
in a Brahmana family on account of his past good Karman;
one may be also endowed by nature with the qualities of
a Brahmana like self-control and love of learning. Still
he will be not a whit higher than a Shudra if he does not
receive proper sacraments (Sanskāras) and gets the neces-
sary education.¹ Past Karman may determine the mental
and intellectual qualities of an individual. But they will
deteriorate if he does not receive proper education, and
improve, though within a limited degree, if he gets the
benefit of good training under a competent teacher. That
nature can thus be considerably modified by nurture seems
to have been the considered opinion of ancient Indian
educationalists from about the beginning of the Christian
era. This view is similar to the theory of Stern who
sought to effect a compromise between the extreme posi-
tions of Galton and Locke by maintaining that man is born
with tendencies, which are conditioned by heredity but
which are transformed into the qualities of human
personality through a process of development and training.
The Influence of the Caste System: The caste
system has been an important feature of Hindu society
for a long time and has naturally exercised considerable
influence on the theory and practice of education in ancient
India. Let us try to find out its extent. It is usually
held that it had rigidly determined the professions and
made the teaching line a monopoly of the Brahmanas.
We shall however find that Kshatriya teachers of Vedic
and philosophical subjects existed down the 6th century
B. C. and that the keen intellect of the Brahmana com-
munity was for a long time utilised to further the bounds
¹ जन्मना जायते शूद्रः संस्काराद्द्विज उच्यते ।
विद्यया याति विप्रत्वं त्रिभिः श्रोत्रिय उच्यते ॥

40 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.

of human knowledge in several branches of non-Vedic
studies. It was only in later times that religious and
literary education came to be confined to the Brahmanas
and professional and industrial training to non-Brahmanas.
Caste System once Flexible: The caste system
has got a long history and has undergone many changes
and vicissitudes during the last three thousand years. It
was formerly much less rigid than now. Interdining is an
anathema to an orthodox Hindu today. Dharmaśāstra
writers like Manu (IV. 253) and Āpastamba (II. 1.3-4)
however permit a Brahmana to take his meals in the house
of a barber, a milkman and a tenant and employ a Shudra
cook even for preparing the sacred sacrificial food. Inter-
caste marriages, which are still not permissible under the
Hindu law, were allowed by the majority of Smṛitis,
provided the bridegroom belonged to a higher caste. In
the realm of educational theory and practice also, we
should therefore not be surprised if we find that some of
the later theories were not subscribed to or followed in
earlier times.
Non-Brahmanas as Vedic Teachers: It is well-
known that the Smṛitis have laid down that Brahmanas
alone should impart Vedic education. In the earlier period
however such was not the case. There is evidence to
show that non-Brāhmanas also sometimes used to become
Vedic teachers; rituals have been prescribed to enable
them to shine in that line.¹ This need not cause any
surprise, for some Kshatriyas figure among the composers
of Vedic hymns also; the whole of the third book of the
Rig-veda is a composition of the various members of the
•¹ Cf. योऽब्राह्मणो विद्यामनूच्य नैव रोचेत स एतांश्चतुर्होतॄन् व्याचक्षीत ।
एतद्वै देवा'नां ब्रह्म निरुक्तं यच्चतुर्होतारस्तदेनं निरुच्यमानं प्रकाशं गमयति ॥
K S., IX. 16

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 41
Kshatriya Viśvāmitra family. In the Upanishadic period
Kshatriyas took an important part in the development of
philosophy and were the exclusive custodians of many
esoteric doctrines, which Brahmanas could learn only from
them and not without some difficulty.¹ There are several
cases of Brahmanas approaching renowned Kshatriya
teachers like Aśvapati, Janaka and Pravāhaṇa Jaivali as
humble students of philosophy and religion.² We should
therefore note that the caste system succeeded in making
Vedic and religious education a monopoly for the Brah-
manas only at about 300 B. C. Nor was it a lucrative
monopoly in practice; it was a monopoly to beg.
The income of even the most famous Vedic teachers was
a precarious one and compared very poorly with the gains
of a successful merchant or a captain.
Brahmanas as Teachers of Non-Vedic Subjects :
Smṛitis lay down that Brahmanas should not follow the
professions of Kshatriyas and Vaishyas except in times
of difficulties. This would naturally imply that Brahmanas
did not figure as teachers in military or commercial lines.
How could one become a teacher in a profession which
one was not expected to follow ? For a long time, how-
ever, Brahmanas were following a number of non-Vedic
pursuits and professions and also figuring as their teachers.
What can be more incompatible with the Brahmanical ideal
of piety and religiousness than the military profession ?
And yet we find Brahmanas figuring as teachers of the
military science. The Pāṇḍava and Kaurava heroes, who
fought so bravely in the Mahābhārata war, were not
trained by any Kshatriya teacher; their preceptor, Droṇā-
chārya was a Brahmana. Brahmanas, who were trainers

1 Ch. Up., V. 3. 7; Br. Up. II. 1.15
2 Br. Up. II. 1.14, IV.1.1, Ch. Up. IV. 4.1, etc

42 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
of horses and elephants, are mentioned in Smṛitis (Manu,
III. 162). Jātakas also show that at Taxila, Brahmanas
used to impart education in several practical professions
like the military art, medicine and snake charming etc.
both to Brahmanas and Kshatriyas.¹ Dhanurveda lays
down that Brahmanas are as eligible to be the teachers of
the military science as Kshatriyas (1.4). Being as a rule
more intelligent than members of other castes, they must
have shone in these lines also, as for instance was the
case with Droṇāchārya. It was only in later times, from
c. 500 A.D. onwards, that Brahmanas ceased to be teachers
of useful arts and professions owing to the growing rigour
of the caste system. This was rather unfortunate, for it
prevented the utilisation of the intellect of one of the most
intelligent classes in society for expanding the boundaries
of knowledge in the domain of practical sciences.
Caste System and Curriculum, Domination of
Vedic Studies: Let us now find out the influence the caste
system exercised on the curriculum. A perusal of the
relevant rules of the Smṛitis produces the impression that
Vedic studies must have dominated the course prescribed
for the Brahmanas. It has been emphatically laid down
that all Brahmanas should devote twelve years to Vedic
studies after their Upanayana. Such, however, was not
the case in actual practice. Only a small section of the
Brahmana community,—possibly not more than its one-
fifth,—used to devote itself to Vedic 'studies, when new
branches of knowledge like grammar, philosophy, law and
classical Sanskrit literature came to be developed. For the
preservation of the Vedic literature, the services of only
a small section of the community were necessary; the rest

¹ खत्तियमानवा ब्राह्मणमानवा च तस्सेव संतिके सिप्पं उग्गण्हितुं गच्छंति ।
Asadisa J. No. 181; see also Thusa J. No 338.

II] SOME EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES 43
were required to memorise the few Vedic Mantras neces-
sary for daily religious purposes and encouraged to devote
their main energy to the development of new branches of
knowledge like philosophy, grammar, and classical Sanskrit
literature, where they were able to make substantial
contributions, which still continue to be highly valued both
in India and abroad.
Vedic Studies of the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas;
According to the Smṛiti rules, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas
also had to pursue Vedic studies after their Upanayana.
These however were never deep or prolonged. In some
Jātaka stories, we no doubt read that some princes used
to study all the three Vedas as well as eighteen practical
sciences¹; in the Mahābhārata also we find that the
Kaurava princes are represented as experts in Veda,
Vedānta and the various branches of the military science
(I. 118 and 133). A perusal of the relevant passages shows
that the writers of the above works were more anxious
to enumerate all the known branches of knowledge and
represent them as being mastered by their heroes, than in
narrating the actual state of affairs in their contemporary
times. We have seen already that the Brāhmaṇas, who
did not intend to follow the theological career, contented
themselves with the knowledge of only a few Vedic hymns;
Kshatriyas and Vaishyas must have done the same; in
later life they had no prospect of becoming Vedic teachers,
and for their military or commercial career Vedic educa-
tion was not useful or necessary. Vedic and philosophical
studies were included in early times in the curriculum of
the prince, but they were left out in the course of time.
From about the beginning of the Christian era, the

¹ Cf. सोळसवस्सपदेसिको हुत्वा तकसिलायां सिप्पंउग्गण्हित्वा तिण्णं वेदानं पारं
गत्वा अट्ठारसानं विज्जट्ठानं निष्फत्तिं पापुनाति । Dummedha J. No. 50.

44 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
Upanayana ritual began to fall into disuse in the case
of the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas and this naturally gave
a great set back to their Vedic education.¹ Gradually they
were reduced to the position of the Shudras and completely
debarred from the Vedic education by about 1000 A. D.
(Alberuni, II. p. 136)
Vedic Education and the Shudras: Sacred texts
have laid down in very emphatic terms that the Shudra
should be rigorously excluded from the Vedic education
and rituals. This injunction has been always carried out
in practice.² The carpenter no doubt is declared to be
eligible for Upanayana and Vedic studies in some early-
texts. He however was at that early period a member of
the Aryan and not the Shudra community. The exclusion
of the Shudras from the Vedic studies undoubtedly ap-
pears as unjustifiable to us at present, but there were
peculiar circumstances that necessitated this step in early
times. The art of writing was not utilised for the purpose
of preserving the Vedic texts for a long time. The Aryan
theologians believed that if there was the slightest mistake
in the accent or the pronunciation of the Vedic Mantras,
a disaster would inevitably issue.³ As the Vedic Sanskrit
1 Hence the observation of Dalhana, a medieval writer at,
Suśruta, Śārīra, X, 52, यथावर्णमिति ब्राह्मणात्त्रयीं राजन्यो दण्डनीतिं वैश्यो
वार्तामिति ।
2 यथेमां वाचं कल्याणीमावदानि जनेभ्यः । ब्रह्मराजन्याभ्यां शूद्राय चार्याय
च स्वाय चारणाय च ॥ Vaj. Sam. XXVI, 2 is taken by some as referring
to the admission of the Shudras to the Vedic education. This, how-
ever, is very questionable interpretation; कल्याणी वाक् refers to the
preceding stanza, which it is prayed here, may be applicable to the
whole of humanity.
3 Cf मंत्रो हीनः स्वरतो वर्णतो वा मिथ्याप्रयुक्तो न तमर्थमाह ।
स वाग्वज्रो यजमानं हिनस्ति यथेन्द्रशत्रुः स्वरतोऽपराधात् ॥
Pāṇinisikshā, v. 52.