History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.202.1

v2.c24.s1.202.1

The pivot of the whole educational system of ancient India was the teacher (variously called ācārya, guru, upādhyāya). The instruction was oral. Ṛg. VII. 103. 5 (speaking of frogs) says 'when one of these frogs follows another in making noise just as a learner repeats the words of the teacher'. Vide the quotations from the Atharvaveda and the Śat. Br. cited above (*f. n.* 622 and 625). In the beginning the father alone may have taught his son. The story narrated in the Bṛ. Up. V. 2. 1 and the story of Śvetaketu Āruṇeya who was taught by his father everything he knew (Bṛ. Up. VI. 2. 1 and 4) illustrate this (*vide f. n.* 633). But even from very ancient times the practice of sending⁷⁶⁶ boys to learn from an ācārya had become usual. The Chān. Up. itself says in one passage (VI. 1) that Śvetaketus Āruṇeya was placed by his father for twelve years as a student with a teacher. The same upaniṣad (III. 11. 5) says that the father should impart the 'madhuvidyā' to his eldest son or to a worthy pupil only. As the boy stayed with the teacher in the latter's house and all instruction was oral, the teacher's position assumed the greatest importance. Satyakāma Jābāla⁷⁶⁷ says to his teacher (in Chān. IV. 9. 3) 'I have heard from persons like your revered self that knowledge when learnt from an ācārya reaches the highest excellence'. The Śvetāśvataropaniṣad⁷⁶⁸ (VI. 23) places the guru almost on a level with God and inculcates the highest devotion to him. The Āp. Dh. S. I. 2. 6.