The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c7.s7.82

v1.c7.s7.82

A correct appreciation of the culture of the age, however, will not be complete without some reference to the contemporary system of education and literary development. It goes without saying that the Āryan teachers and missionaries brought with them into the Deccan their own literature and methods of instruction.⁴ By the third century B.C. the peoples of the Deccan had become so far familiar with the Brāhmi script and the Prākṛit language that Aśoka used them freely in his edicts which were intended to be read by them. Almost all the documents of the Sātavāhanas and the Western Kṣatrapas are recorded in Prākṛit.⁵ The elaborate sacrifices performed by Sātakarṇi II show that the contemporary priests of the Deccan were well-versed in the Vedic literature. The Buddhist monks who commanded the devotion of the kings and peoples alike must have been equally learned in the law of the Buddha. The sculptures of Amarāvati and the paintings at Ajaṇṭā depicting *jātaka* stories and episodes from the life of the Great Buddha bear testimony to the spread of Buddhistic lore among the artisan classes of people. Such achievements point to the existence of some agency for the spread of knowledge among the various strata of society. From the evidence of a somewhat later date it may be inferred that instruction in secular and sacred learning was imparted to the pupils in the āśramas of the Brāhmans or the vihāras of the Buddhists and the Jains. It was mostly oral and the pupils had to memorize the lessons repeated by their teachers. These teachers received grants of land for their maintenance and other munificent gifts from the rulers and well-to-do citizens; and the pupils repaid them by services of a domestic nature. Professions were normally hereditary, and so in most cases the boy was instructed by his father or some close relative who was himself an experienced artisan. A number of crafts and trades were organized into guilds and these too must have served the cause of education by maintaining some standard of rectitude and good workmanship.