ANCIENT INDIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM

By SVS Usha Sri

Translation: Ramya M

What is education's purpose? Is it to be better than others or to be the best version of ourselves? Is it to eternally pursue a good life or to make a good life at every step? Is it to seek comfort or to seek knowledge? Is it to be productive, no matter or to be sustainable mentally and socially? Is it to outpace the community for individual desires or make the community we live in better together?

SAMSKRUTI

Samskruti means the way of life. Bharatiya Samskruti emphasizes an altruistic, socially conscientious way of living and has always given prominence to raising every individual to the heights of their personal & spiritual development. In ancient India, education's role was to inculcate the qualities and skills to achieve the above. Many aspects of the ancient system of Indian education were crafted meticulously to uphold this essence.

But somehow, here we are, where the role of education is more tightly bound to employment and economy, sometimes even at the cost of personal development and betterment of the community. The meaning of potential has changed over the years. Higher productivity has become synonymous with success, and personal values are relegated to a corner.

PROGRESS NEVERTHELESS

In the Gurukul system, even though productivity was not the ultimate goal, the progress had been phenomenal in a wide range of aspects. The concept of 'anuvu' (atom), 'paramanuvu,' in-depth understanding of five elements of nature could be found in Vedas. In the 5th century, Aryabhatta's 'Aryabhattiyam' and 'Arya Sidhantam' expound upon astronomy and mathematics in exquisite detail, followed by many great astronomers and mathematicians like Varahamihira, Bhaskara, Brahmagupta, etc. who developed the concept of zero, algebra, trigonometry.

Remarkable work in medicine could be found in 'Susrutam,' 'Charaka Samhita,' Nagarjuna's and Surananda's work in Ayurveda. Very sophisticated work on literature and grammar in 'Paniniyam,' 'Tolkapiyam' & Bhartrihari's Sanskrit texts. Advancements in philosophy and Tarka sastra, architecture, water management, metallurgy ('rasa ratnakaram'), chemistry, alcohol, cosmetics and fragrance production, war strategies, engineering marvels in ships and other war vehicle designs, etc. immensely glorify what we had achieved. This makes one more curious to look closely at how the education system was back then, through which such knowledge flowed, and see what we can learn from it.

Under the ancient education system, the acquisition of knowledge was not just done for the purpose of mere acquisition but towards an end goal of raising a human to be their best version both mentally and spiritually (balancing both boutika and adhyatmika jeevanam).

GURU-SISHYA DHARMA

The system's most outstanding feature was the Guru-Sishya relationship and the explicit description of each's dharma (or duty). The Guru's position was revered as high as God's. Just like there is no one medicine for all the ailments, each student was considered individually, and an adequate form of teaching was employed by the teacher.

The Guru's duty was to consistently knock down the student's ego, hence making him/her more receptive before learning anything new. The Guru had the responsibility to not only transfer knowledge selflessly but also to train students on how to keep the community's development always before individual desires and opinions. Teaching was individualistic, but education was collective. These were partly made possible by conducting education in a natural, neutral environment in gurukuls or kuteeras, usually the teachers' humble abodes, far away from students' homes.

A Guru would humbly become a student if he/she realizes there is a need to master something. A Guru is expected to be unbiased, selfless, and not profit-oriented. A Guru is expected to always strive to be worthy of that position.

Teaching was individualistic, but education was collective.

The student's dharma included taking brahmacharya for the time of their study. This included not only being unmarried but also uphold a plethora of niyamas (duties).These included various community and housework, to dress neutrally, to stick to a schedule and not show any laziness, to go for Bhikshatana and humbly ask for food from the society (this was the society's contribution) giving half of what they procure to less-able and poor people, to train one's mind to be emotionally stable (no learning was done when they were not), to completely surrender to the teacher and learn with curiosity in which the student's role was major. Learning was predominantly seminar/debate type, besides laying importance on memorising.

Importance of BhikshAtana

HARMONY

Education was not just a part of life but that which teaches how to conduct one's entire life. An educated person shouldn't have conflicts between: 1) one's philosophy and its implementation, 2)one's present thoughts and one's way of leading life 3)one's imagination and one's actions. The student that emerges back into society should be independent, physically and mentally resilient, and possess the attitude of contributing back to the community.

The goal was to make a person 'Vishwa-manava' whose identity is the universe itself.

Despite the misconception that education was only for a class of people, it was not disallowed based on unacademic reasons like gender, caste, or creed in the very ancient past. However, the teacher had the authority to selectively teach different things based on three markers: interest/curiosity, merit/qualification, and the student's potential; everyone had a chance to try. Women too were encouraged to pursue various fields of study, including taking brahmacharya and studying the Vedas and holding teaching positions. So, one could infer that such discriminations might have emerged later on.

The Indian system had distinguished between four subdivisions through which one could acquire different kinds of knowledge: prathmika (primary) vidya which is a pre-requisite for any other, vruthi (professional) vidya which is usually imparted through family lineage, sastra (science) vidya which is taught by a specific teacher away from home the student must go to, adhyatmika (spiritual) vidya where the focus is towards seeking spiritual enlightenment. A balance among the four meant that society is striving towards becoming a self-sufficient one.

Take Away

The purpose of travelling into the past is not to entirely change the system at hand, which might be both foolish and impractical. But we, as a community, do recognise a certain need for change towards a more meaningful, value-based education, harmony between individual and society, sustainability in the system, and avoid excess migration of talent to elsewhere. In the end, the ultimate choice is upon us. We have to ask ourselves whether we want to produce merely employable people or truly educated people in the society.

Reference: Bharateeya Vidya by Dr. D Chandrasekhara Reddy

The Gurukul Environment