Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c12.s14.1

c12.s14.1

Teachers were highly respected in those early days. The Rāyapaseniya mentions three kinds of teachers: the teacher of arts (kalāyariya), the teacher of crafts (sippāyariya) and the teacher of religion (dhammāyariya). It is stated that the body of the first two teachers should be anointed with oil, flowers should be offered to them, they should be given a bath, dressed and decorated, they should be invited for feast and should be offered gifts and adequate wages that might reach their descendants. Similarly, religious teachers should be worshipped, fed and should be furnished with the necessary religious paraphernalia² It is stated that a teacher must be fully qualified to teach his pupils. He must answer questions raised by his pupils without maintaining his relative superiority and he must not give irrelevant answers.³