Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c6.s2.13

c6.s2.13

ADMISSION. While dealing with the education of Princes we have, by reproducing a long and characteristic passage from the *Tilamuṭṭhi Jātaka*,¹ noticed practically all the principal features of the educational system and organization of the times, specially at Takkasilā. We saw, there, how the student, coming from abroad for learning, was admitted into the University. Usually the students paid the entire tuition fees—the teacher's fees (*ācariyabhāgaṃ*)—in advance, which was 1000 pieces of money (a favourite figure).² In lieu of paying fees in cash, a student was allowed to pay them in the shape of services to his teacher. Such students attended on their teacher by day and received instruction by night³ and were called *dhammantevāsikā*, as against those feepayers—*ācariyabhāgadāyakā*—who only learnt the arts. The duties of 500 Brāhmaṇa pupils of a school were, among others, to gather firewood from the forests for their master.⁴ If however a student wanted to devote his whole time to studies, without sparing any time for such services, and at the same time was not able to pay the fees in advance, he may be trusted to pay them after the completion of his education. We read of one such Brāhmaṇa student paying off the fees by begging after completing his studies.⁵ It may also happen, that poor students were provided a free education by some charitable community. For instance, once the "Benares folk" used to give day by day commons of food to the poor lads, and had them taught free.⁶ Then again the cost of education was, to some extent, taken over from the teachers, and the pupils, by the occasional invitations to dinner extended to them by philanthropic householders or by the latter themselves bringing to the former presents in oxen and rice and milk.⁷ Another class of students was formed by those who were sent as companions of the princes of their respective countries at State expenses.⁸ Looking to the length of time a student took to finish his education, and to the necessary expenses which the teacher had to incur, the amount of fee charged does not seem to have been very heavy.