Education in India during Vedic Period

     The most important contribution of ancient India not only for India but also for the world is in the field of education. It may also be remembered that education is not an abstract term. It is manifested in the cultural economic, individual, philosophical, scientific, social and spiritual advancement. In other words, education is the means for developing the mind for the betterment of the individual and society. Seen from this perspective, it is worthwhile, to have a look regarding  the views of great scholars like:

Max Muller: Vedic education is mirror of all education.

Albert Einstein: “We owe a lot to the Indians who taught us how to count without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have made.”

Mark Twain, an American Writer: “India is the cradle of the human race. Most valuable and the most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.”

Lancelot Hagen, in his publication Mathematics for the Millions: “There has been no more revolutionary contribution than the one which the Hindus made when they invented zero.”

Sources of the Vedic Age education and Vedic Literature: No study of the source of Indian culture, education, philosophy and thought is complete without an adequate acquaintance and understanding of the ‘Vedic Literature’. The Vedic literature represents the most important and intrinsic part of life of the India people.

The Vedic literature consists of the following:

·         Four Vedas

·         Six Vedangas

·         Four Upvedas

·         Four Brahmanas

·         One hundred and eighty Upanishads

·         Six systems of philosophy

·         Bhagwad Gita

·         Three Smritis

Main features of the Vedic Education

Free Education in Ancient India: In ancient India teaching was considered to be holy duty which a Brahman was bound to discharge irrespective of consideration of the fee teacher were expected to devote their lives to the cause of teaching in the missionary spirit of self-sacrifice, and the society laid down the principal that both the public and state should help the learned teachers & educational institutions very liberally. Society realized that “Vidyadana” or the gift in the cause of education was to be the best of gifts, possessing a higher religious merit than even the gift of land. On the occasion of religious feats, students and teachers were invited and donations were given liberally.

1.  No state control on education: Rulers of the country had very little directly to do   with education. It was a private affairs of the people managed entirely by Brahmans.

2. High status of Teachers: Teachers were a highly honoured class-honoured by even by kings. Kings rose from thrones to receive great teachers such as Narada, Vashishtha and Vishwamitra.

3. Teachers as Parents: Teachers behaved as parent to their pupils and pupils behaved as members of the teachers’ family. The attitude of the pupil was to be one of complete submission.

4. Residential Schools: Teachers and pupils lived together and so identified themselves with one another.

5. Immediate aim: The immediate aim of education, however, was to prepare the different casts of people for their actual needs of life.

6. Curriculum: The subjects of instruction varied according to the vocational needs of the different castes from the Vedas and Vedangas in case of Brahmanas, to the art of warfare in the case of Kshatriyas, and to agriculture and trade, arts & crafts in the case of Vaishyas.

7. Methods of Instruction: The methods of instruction generally consisted of recitation by the teachers and repetition by pupil, followed by explanation by the teacher , questioning by the pupil, and discussion between the teacher and the pupil.

8. Individual teaching: Pupils were tough individually not en masse by the class method.

9. Method of study:- The method of study consisted in listening to the teacher, reflection on what has been listened to and its constant revision and discussion.

10. Role of Travel in Education:- Travel was regarded as necessary to give a finish tough to education.

11. Sanskrit as the Medium of Instruction: The medium of instruction was Sanskrit.

12. Self-control & Self–Discipline: It was considered to be the best discipline. However Corporal punishment was not altogether ruled out.

13. Wide spread education of women: In the earlier Vedic, and Upanishad times, girls were free to go through the “Upanayana’ ceremony , live a life of celibacy, studied Vedas, vedangas and other subjects along with their brother pupils.

14. Ultimate aim of education-self-Realization: The ultimate aim of education in ancient India was not knowledge as preparation of life in this world or for life beyond but for complete realization of self-for liberatin of the soul from fetters of life, both present and future. That knowledge was real, which led to emancipation-led from unreality to reality, from darkness to light, from death to immortality.

Aims, Ideals and Objectives of Vedic Education:

·         Ultimate objective as moksha or self-realisation:- Ancient Indians believed that education should prepare and individual in such a way as to prepare him to attain the objective of liberation, i.e. to be one with the almighty and to be free from the cycle of births & deaths.

·         Infusion of Piety & Religiousness: In ancient India religion played a prominent part. Education aimed at the infusion of piety and religiousness in the minds of the pupils.

·         Education for worldliness: Vocational aim : Happiness in other world was given more stress than the happiness in this world. This world according to them, was unreal & full of fetters. The highest wisdom was a release from these betters.

·         Character formation: Education must from character. Mere intellect was not of worth if the person was devoid of not much morality. Morality or the right behavior was the higher “Dharma”. Education was regarded as a means of inculcating values such as strict obedience to elders, truthfulness, honesty and temperance.

·         Development of all round personality: Ancient Indians believed that personality should be developed through education. Personality was developed through the following methods:

o    Self-restraint

o    Self-confidence

o    Self-respect

o    Discrimination and judgement

·         Stress on Social duties: A student was not to lead self-centered life. He was to perform his duties as a son, as a husband, as a father & many other capacities conscientiously and efficiently in the society. His wealth was not for his own sake as for his family, he must be hospitable and charitable. All professions laid stress on civil responsibilities.

·         Promotion of Social Efficiency and Welfare: The promotion of social efficiency & welfare was an equally important aim of education. Education was not imported simply for the sake of culture or for the purpose of developing mental powers but for the purpose of training every member of society in the profession which he expected to follow. Society had accepted the theory of division of work which was later on governed by the principle of heredity. Each family trained its children in its own profession. The purpose was to make each individual society efficient.

·         Preservation and promotion of culture: The preservation and promotion of national culture and heritage was also stressed. “The services of the whole community were conscripted for the purpose of the preservation of the Vedic literature. Every person had to learn at least a portion of his sacred literacy heritage.” A section of Brahman as had to devote the whole of their life to the cause of learning to commit the Vedas to memory in order to ensure preservation.

Education of Women: The Vedas give a very honorable & respectable status to women. They were eligible for higher education for the study of the Vedas and the performance of administrative and other important jobs mostly performed by men even today.

Boys should go to the schools meant for boys and girls should go to the schools where there are women teachers. The women should have opportunity to attain knowledge of the Vedas from all the four concerns.

Role of Mother in Education: A mother should impart education to her children so as to broaden their horizon. At this stage good manners are to be taught so that the children behave properly with the elders and in assemblies.

                                                                                                                  

Teachers as Spiritual as well as Intellectual Guide: Teacher occupied a pivotal position in the Vedic System of education. The teacher was a parent surrogate (Parent Substitute), a facilitator of learning, exemplar and inspirer, confident, detector friend and philosopher moral educator, reformer, evaluator, character and personality builder, importer if knowledge & wisdom and above all a guru, religious & spiritual guide. The relationship between the teachers and pupil was regarded as filial in character. Teacher was the spiritual father of his pupils. In addition to imparting intellectual knowledge to them, he was also morally responsible. He was always to keep a guard over the conduct of his pupils. He must let them know what to cultivate and what to avoid. He must instruct them as how to sleep and as to what food they may take and what they may reject. He should advise them as to the people whose company they should keep and as to which of the villages and localities they should frequent. During the Vedic period learning was transmitted orally from one generation to another. Great importance was attached to the proper accent and pronunciation in the Vedic recitation & these could be correctly learnt only from the lips of a properly qualified teacher. The spiritual solution depended almost entirely upon the proper guidance of a competent teacher.

Process of Instruction

There were three steps in instruction:

 1. Sravana       2. Manana        3. Nididhyasana.

Sravana is listening to words texts as they uttered by the teacher.

Manana is the process of deliberation or reflection of the topic taught.

Nididhyasana represents the highest stage.

Admission and Evaluation System: There seems to be no direct reference available to spell out the methodology followed by the Acharya to judge the adequacy of knowledge of his pupils. Yaskas and Sayana, famous commentators on the Vedas, have inferred from the Rig Veda hymn that the students were given three grades as under:

1.      Maha Prazanan grade:- Students of very high ability.

2.      Madhyama Prazanan grade:- Students of high ability.

3.      Alpa Prazanan grade:- Students of low ability.

Autonomy of Educational Institutions: Teachers in the Vedic period were autonomous in their work and they followed various methods of admission and assessment. A teacher was the sole pedagogic authority to decide whether the student was fit for admission & also to decide whether he had completed his studies.

Studentship: There is a long hymn in the ‘Atharva Veda’ describing the ceremony pertaining to studentship. The initiation ceremony was called Upanayana which lasted three days. It laid down the foundation of a planned life. The pupil owed his first birth-physical to his parents & the second birth spiritual to his teacher. The rite of Upanayana was meant to purify body and mind and to make one fit for receiving education.

After ‘Upanayana’ the pupil entered into a state of ‘Brahmacharya’ indicating that it was a mode of life, and a system of education. The ‘Brahmachari’ as the aspirant for education was now called lived according to prescribed regulations, i.e., physical discipline as well as spiritual discipline.

Curriculum: According to recent researches, following disciplines were included in the curriculum in the graded forms in accordance with the stages of education.

1.      Anthropology

2.      Astronomy

3.      Economics

4.      Epistemology

5.      Eschatology

6.      Ethnology

7.      Geology

8.      Human eugenics

9.      Mathematics

10.  Military Science

          To conclude, the system of education was well-organized. It was suited to the needs of the society education was considered as the greatest gift in ancient India. It was aimed at the development of personality of an individual to his maximum extent. Education helped in the realization of spiritual & moral values, besides preparing for worldly pursuits. It was freely available to all those who wanted the relations between teachers and the pupils were based on love and affection. They were very cordial and intimate.