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XV. 3 Maun VIII— 299*300. ORGANIZATION. @L rules laid down by Chanakya 1 correspond more or less to those laid down by the modern educators : ‘%T*Rc[ rtTftfT 1 mrag facr^RTcT h* or “the son is to be brought up till the 5th year, he should be governed the next ten years; as soon as he attains the 16th year, he should be treated as a friend.” * References :—1. Vishnu Purana. 2 . The Laws of Manu. 3. Lectures on the Origin of Religion— Maxmuller. 4. Civilisation in Ancient India by R. C. Dutta. 5. Rig Veda— Pratisakhaya. 6 . Lectures on Hindu Philosophy-Mabamoko- padhaya Chandra Kanta Tarkalankara. 7. History of Education by Graves. 8 . Kainandaki. 9. Buhler’s Introduction to the Laws of Manu. 10 . Lalita Vistara —R. L. Mifcra. 1 Chanakya or Kautilya, the author of Artha-Sa&tra and the adept in 'statecraft and minister of Chandra Gupta, the grand- farther of Asoka the great-. VI HINDU EDUCATION. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 1. The modern educators recognize two factors in education : (i) internal and (ii) external. The first includes all the congeni¬ tal tendencies and innate capacities or in one word, the potentialities of the child. These determine his future possibilities • for, the teacher cannot develop in him that which is not there in the child potentially. The second is the child’s environment. This includes not only his social heritage which through the forces of suggestion and imitation operates on him and unconeiously tends to shape his language, manners, customs and beliefs, but also those influences which are consciously and designedly brought to bear upon him by the adult portion of the community. These external influences, therefore, chiefly deter¬ mine the amount and direction of his develop- MINIS/*,. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. SI went. We have seen that in imparting ins¬ truction the early Hindu teachers took into consideration the tastes and innate ten¬ dencies of the individual. They, also, clearly saw the far-reaching effect the second factor lias on the child in his education. Hence as soon as mind began to form, the child was translated from his home to an atmosphere where he could breathe freely moral health and strength and which was, therefore, most favourable to the development of a spiritual life which concerned the Hindus more than anything else. Indeed the cheerfulness and calmness of the school environment, the peace that reigned there and the orderly and pure life lived by every one there, were stimulating to a healthy and pure life in the student. In fact, the principle underlying the system that was thus inaugurated by the Hindus about 3000 years ago is the same as that which iyges the modern educators to advocate the system of Residential Universities. But as the student lived in the house of his pre¬ ceptor as one of his family and breathed there the atmosphere of his own home, the ancient 6 MiN/sr^ Residential system was free from most of the defects and artificialities which take from the value of modern Boarding Schools and Residential Universities. Hence to the credit of the early Hindus it must be said that the idea of the Residential system in its more or less perfect form, was conceived and realized in India long before it was conceived in the outside world. The system still survives in our tols. The pandit or teacher keeping a tol not only teaches the students gratis but allows them free board and lodging. 2. Social efficiency has from time imme¬ morial been set up as the aim of education. The term, however, has not always been used in the same sense. From the modern point of view a socially efficient man is he who is not a drag on his society and who far from interfering with the efforts of others, contributes to the progress and deve¬ lopment of the society from which he has freely received nourishment for his body and soul. Thus this aim now includes not only the bread and butter aim but the moral one as well. Let us see how far the ancient Hindu . GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. stem of education realized this aim. To A understand this we need first to know what the daily duties of a householder then w^re: They were (i) the study and teaching of the Vedas, (ii) offering oblations to the manes or spirits of his ancestors, (iii) offering obla¬ tions to the gods, (iv) offering food to living creatures and (v) receiving guests. We have seen that the Hindu religious student receiv¬ ed at school a thorough and practical training in the study of the Vedas, in performing sacrifices and in every other duty connected therewith. Besides, he received education and training in the various sciences and fine and mechanical arts. Thus in the Hindu system the life outside was reproduced in miniature in the school —a fact emphasized by modern educators, specially by Prof. Dewey of Chicago; and it may be said that the pupil was made fit for ‘a practical, successful, efficient, useful and happy life of action’. 3'. Again, as the development of the 'spiritual side concerned the Hindus more '•'ban anything else, the moral purpose com- MIN/Sr^ EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA. pletely dominated the school life of the Hindu student. The Hindu teacher also, therefore, took the greatest possible care to train the will of his disciple. Hence the Hindu boy had to go through a course of discipline which helped to form his mind and to make his body fit to carry out its orders. Through abstinence and forbearance the student developed in himself the virtues of fortitude and control of temper and pas¬ sions ; through attendance on the preceptor and doing everything that contributed to his happiness, he was taught self-abnegation, patience, endurance, loyalty and devotion. In short, the system helped the boys to form habits, of courtesy, of temperance in thought and action, and of giving expression by deed to the ideas of harmonious and virtuous conduct in life. Further, we have seen that the Hindu boy received at school the preliminary train¬ ing in religious practices and principles. In this respect his training was in accordance with the principles laid down by modern miSTfiy thinkers. A modern writer 1 has said that as the child is incapable of forming abstract religious conceptions, the training during this period “should be of the heart rather than of the head and perhaps even more of the hand i.e, a training in doing, or, in other words, taking part in religious forms”. So 1,1 initiating the child early to religious forms and practices the Hindu system met the demands of the nature of the child in this direction most effectively. Again during the adolescent period when '-he sex and other allied instincts manifest themselves and when the dawning parental instinct impels the youth to act not merely for self but for the good of the world, the Hindu student received a thorough training in self-control and self-sacrifice. It is this training which stands in marked contrast with the secular education given in most of our modern" Indian schools and which enabled the Hindu in ancient times to lead a purer and more self-controlled life than his brethren of Kirkpatrick—Fundamentals of Child Study. Of course it i in just this training that the “Public S cW> in England excels. the present day. Besides, this training made a Hindu feel, quite unlike his modern succes¬ sor, that a day without a few guests in the house was a day spent in vain. Indeed, the Hindu system fulfilled most successfully its mission in giving a religious and moral train¬ ing to the Hindu student at a period of his life which ‘is the time of all others for the development of genuine religion 7 . 4. The peculiar merit of the Hindu system was that the precepts were not taught only but reduced to 'practice . This made the system more practical and effective. Further, the teacher in the Hindu System ‘authenticated* and ‘illustrated 7 in his own life the theme of all the sacred writings, and thus used to hold up before his disciple a living model which he could easily imitate consciously or ^unconsciously through cons¬ tant association. This fact made the teacher a prominent figure in the Hindu System — a feature greatly emphasised but not always realized in the present system. The teachers influence on the disciple was enhanced a thousand-fold by the fact that the Hindu GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. student and his preceptor were bound not by any economic ties, but by those ot friend¬ ship and affection. Hence the Hindu teacher’s personality exerted a far-reaching influence upon his disciple in moulding his mind and character. 5. Again, it must be said that the Hindu System presented one more aspect which is emphasised by the upholders of education in a Democratic Society viz. that education should be as far as practicable free and compulsory (vide p. 29). G. Further, it may be said that like Froebel the Hindus urged that religion, industry and temperance should mark their system of Education. Lastly, it must be said that the condition of things has since changed so considerably that to pursue the system at present in detail will be neither possible nor desirable, though by embracing its spirit we shall surely exalt our life and character. 1 1 It ia a good sign that in certain quarters e.g, at the Qurukul (in TIardw.ir) arid Satyabddi (in Orissa) some atten^t is being •nade to corn bine the traditions of the ancient Itishis with most m dlern scientific methods. Sir James Meeton References :—1. 2 . 3. 4* 5. 6 . 7. 8 . 9. 10 . The Institutes of Manu. Vishnu Purana. Srimat Bliagvatgita. C. K. Tarkalankara : Lectures on Hindu Philosophy. W. B. Pillsbury : Essentials of Psychology.