Education in Ancient India
Indian Perspectives on Education
India
has a rich tradition of learning and education since antiquity. This is passed
on from generation to generation through oral/written medium. The Vedas are an
excellent example of this. They existed nearly 2000 years before they were
known to India. Knowledge of acoustics helped in transmission. Institutional
form of imparting learning came into existence in the early century of
Christian era. Approach to study was based on Logic/epistemology. Intuition is
considered important in the Indian thought of learning. It was a contribution
of the Vedant school.
Education in antient India was a matter of
individual concern, not mass production (as in industry). The making of man was
considered an artistic, not a mechanical, process.
Aim: to develop pupil’s personality, his
innate and latent capacities. This view of education as a process of one’s
inner growth and self-fulfillment evolved its own techniques, its rules,
methods and practices. The thinking principle, Manan Shakti was considered
higher than the subject of thinking. So the primary subject of education was
the mind itself. According to the ancient Indian
theory of education, the training of the mind and the process of thinking are
essential for the acquisition of knowledge. So the pupil had to mainly educate
himself and achieve his own mental growth. Education was reduced to 3 simple
processes: Shravan (श्रवन), Manan (मनन), Niddhyasan (निध्यासन).
Shravan
-Listening to the truths from the teacher. Knowledge was technically called
Shruti (श्रुति) or what was heard by the ear (and not what
was seen in writing)
Manan -The pupil had to think
for himself the meaning of the lessons imparted to him orally by the teacher so
that they may be assimilated fully.
Niddhyasan – Complete
comprehension by the pupil of the truth so that he may live the truth, not
merely explain it by word. Knowledge must result in realization.
The
admission was made by a formal ceremony (Upanayan), initiation by which the
pupil left the home of his natural parents for that of the preceptor. This was
said to be the second birth à Dwij / twice – born.
Besides,
there were special institutions for promotion of advanced study and research.
These were called in the Rig Ved as Brahman Sangh (ब्राह्मन संघ). Academies of the learned hammered
discussions into the very language of the country, the refined language of
Sanskrit as the Vehicle of highest thought. These Academics were called
Parishads. There is a reference to the pancala parishad (पंचाल परिषद)
in the Upnishads, in whose proceedings even kings participated. Learning was
also prompted by discussions at public meetings which were a regular feature of
rural life and were addressed by wandering scholars known as Charakas (चरक). These scholars toured the country to
deliver public discourses and invite discussion.
The
earliest literary congress of the world was the congress of philosophers which
was codification of Brahminical philosophy under the direction of the master
philosopher, Yagnavalkya (याग्नवलक्य).
In these deliberations at the highest level, a lady philosopher named Gargi (गार्गी) was a prominent participant besides men
like Uddalak Arni. In those days, women were admitted to the highest knowledge.
There was equality in the field of education. The Rig Ved mentions women Rais
called Brahmanvadinis.
The
main subject was study of the Veds. The teacher would instruct a handful of
students seated on the ground.
Repetition of verses of the Vedas took place until mastery was attained
(of at least 1 per day). To ensure correctness of memory, the hymns were taught
in more than one way. Soon the curriculum was expanded. The limbs of the Vedas/
the 6 Vedang (वेदांग) were taught:
1. Performance of sacrifice
2. Correct pronunciation
3. Knowledge of prosody
4. Etymology
5. Grammar
6. Jyotisha / the science of calendar.
In
the past, during the Vedic era, teachers often instructed their students in the
6 schools of philosophy.
Smritis
(स्म्रिति) maintain that young women of upper class
underwent this kind of training. Princes and other leading Kshtriyas were
trained in all the major sciences to make them fit for governance. Most boys of
the lower orders learnt their trade from their father. Some cities became
renowned because of their teachers. Varanasi, Takshashila from the day of
Buddha and Kanchi in the beginning of the Christian era were famous. Varanasi (વારાનસી)
was famous for its religious teachers. Tashashashila (तक्षशिला) for its
secular studies: Panini (पाणिनि),
the grammarian of the 5th/4th BC; Kautilya, the Brahmin
minister of Chandragupta Mourya (चन्द्रगुप्त मौर्य) was known for his wisdom. Charaka was a leading authority of Indian
medical sciences. The institutions imparting Vedic knowledge exist even today.
There were also universities like Takshashila and Ujjain for medicine and
learning including mathematics and astronomy, respectively. In the south,
Kanchi became an important centre of learning. Hiuen Tsang remarks that
Vallabhi (વલ્લભિ) in Gujarat was as great as Nalanda and
Vikramashila.
Although
the Smrities maintain that a small number of students studied under a single
teacher, university-turned-towns came into existence such as Varansi,
Takshashila.
Varansi:
500 students and number of teachers were maintained by charitable people.
Ideally, teachers asked no fee. But the students repaid their debt by their
service to the teacher. A Jataka story tells of how a teacher of Tashashila
treated well the students who paid him money while keeping others waiting. In
Tashashila, even married people were admitted as students.
Of
all the universities, Nalanda had imposing structures. 8 colleges were built by
different patterns. One college had 4 storeys. Every facility existed. Great libraries
existed as per Tibetan records. Nalanda attracted students from India, Tibet
and China. A difficult test was prescribed by the dvarpandita (watchman) to be passed for admission.
Students were required to be familiar with old and new books. Nalanda (नालन्दा) was one of the earliest examples of residential cum teaching
institution with 1000s of monks devoted to learning, philosophy and meditation.
Over 10,000 students including teachers lived and studied at the university.
They came from India, Central Asia, China, Korea, etc.
Nalanda (नालन्दा) was
primarily a Buddhist university. However, its curricula included Hindu
scriptures, philosophy and meditation (as recorded by Hiuen-Tsang. Study of
logic was preeminent because these students were expected to enter into
dialogues with visiting doctors of all schools. This compulsion of public
debate made both the teacher and students familiar with all systems of thought
in accurate summary.
The
university had also succession of brilliant teachers. Dharmpala was a Tamil
noble from Kanchi in the South. Janamitra was from abroad. Shilabhadra, the
saintly guru of Hiuen-Tsang, came from Assam. A great achievement of this
university was that it was able to continuously rejuvenate Buddhism in far off
countries. Tibetan records mention a succession of learned monks who visited
their country. It is also said that Sudhakara Simha (સુધાકર
સિંહ) went to China and worked there on the
translation of Buddhist texts.
Higher
Education
Since
ancient times India has been a centre of excellence in the field of higher
education. Nalanda (नालन्दा), Takshashila (तक्षशिला) and Vikramshila (विक्रमशिला)
were some of the oldest universities in the world and renowned seats of higher
education during their time.
Education
of Women in Ancient and Medieval India
In
Vedic times there was no discrimination of gender in the field of education. A
particular Mantra was prescribed to beget a learned daughter in Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad (ब्रुहदरण्यक
उपनिशद). In the same upnishad,
we find Gargi and Maitreyi execelling in Brahmavidya (ब्रह्मविद्या), the highest knowledge. In the
Grihyasutras (ग्रुह्यसूत्र) are found several mantras to be recited by
women and the commentary on Gobhilagrihyasutras, states that the female folk
should be taught, for without studies, they cannot perform Agnihotra sacrifice.
Both Panini and Patanjli refer to women being admitted to Vedic study. Thus, a
woman student of the Katha school was called a Kathi, and the Rigvedic
Bahvricha School, Bahvrichi. Female students were also admitted to the study of
mimamsa, and the one who studied mimamsa Sutra of the sage Kasakritsna is
called Kasakritsna. There were Chaatri and Upadhyayi (Female Students & Lady
teachers)
This trend of liberal female education declined in the period
that followed. The right of women for initiation to Vedic studies by way of
Upanayana seems to have receded slowly, though there is mention of learned
women in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. By the time of the Smritis, their
education came to be limited to domestic and vocational studies only, by which
they could become good housewives.
This was probably due to contact with foreign cultures which were inferior.
India, being an assimilating country, assimilated this vice of inferior
cultures.
However,
the study of fine arts like dance, music, painting and practice of crafts
continued. Vatsyayena enumerates the duties of a housewife which included
painting in her garden, rows of trees, flower and fruit plants, cooking,
spinning, pounding, grinding, knowledge of wages of servants and their
disbursement, the care and welfare of cattle and domestic pets, knowledge of
constructing conveyances, reckoning of daily income and expenditure and careful
supervision of purchase and sales. Other 64 arts: reading of books, preparing
medicines, recitation of difficult shlokas (दुर्वाचकायोग:),
knowledge of dramas and stories, languages of different countries (देश भाषा -
विज्ञानम्) and knowledge of
physical exercise and development of body (व्यायामिकानम् विज्ञानम् - ज्ञानम्).
Vatsyayan
makes it clear that these accomplishments could also be vocational. This was to
make women independent, especially in the absence of the husband / other made
members of the family. Widow remarriage (पुनर्भु
remarried widow) was in practice.
Vijjhika
Vikatanitamba enriched
Sanskrit Poetry
Avantisundari
Women
of Buddhistic and Jain faiths had comparatively more freedom to pursue the path
of knowledge because womanhood was no bar to salvation as per their respective
precepts. From the time of King Ashok we find women becoming priests and nuns
and even going outside India for teaching Buddhism. Among the women authors of
Therigatha (Stories of Nuns) 32 were unmarried women and 18 were married nuns.
Hiuen
Tsang has observed that Rajyasri, the sister of Harshavardhna was of great
intelligence and distinguished for her knowledge of sammatiya school of
Buddhism. Women used to be dressed in men’s attire equipped with weapons. In
Gujarat, the university of Tapogachha conferred various degrees on women like
Ganini, Pravartini, Mahattara etc. These titles/degrees meant a leader of a
Gana, a worker, and a great lady respectively. In Karnataka, queens and
princesses distinguished themselves in fine arts and administration. Patrons of
learning were Attimabbe, Sovaladevi. The following were the areas of
specialization.
- Use of words: Vakya Chatur
- Learned: Vidagdha
- Witty and Humorous: Parihasvinodi
- Who could appreciate the import of and
sentimate of literature : Sahityarasabhavajna
- Expert raconteurs: Kathana-kovida
