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Education in Ancient India c12.s1: Section A. Buddhism and Ancient Indian Education

Education in Ancient India c12.s1

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Section A. Buddhism and Ancient Indian Education

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No Fundamental Difference : There was no fundamental difference between Hindus and Buddhists as far as the general educational theory or practice was concerned. It was the fundamental tenet of Buddhism that the world is full of sorrow and that the salvation can be obtained only by renouncing it. In the beginning therefore it naturally concerned itself only with the education of novices and monks. When however in the course of time it took up the education of the laity also, its educational system did not present any important points of difference from those of Hinduism. Both systems had similar ideals and followed similar methods. This must have become quite clear to the reader from the previous chapters and will become clearer still from this section. We shall first however say a few words about the ordination ceremony.

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Ordination Ceremony : The wise injunction of the Buddha, that every novice should be properly trained in the discipline and doctrine of the religion, was primarily responsible for the educational developments in and activities of Buddhist monasteries. Two ceremonies were laid down for those who desired to enter the Order, the *Pabbajjā* and the *Upasampadā*. The *Pabbajjā* marked the beginning of the noviciate period and could be given when a person was not less than eight years old. The permission of the guardian was necessary. The *Upasampadā* was given after the end of the noviciate period, and the recepient had to be not less than twenty years old. If he was a debtor, an invalid or a government servant, he was refused admission. The ordination could take place only with the consent of the whole chapter. There were no caste restrictions for admission (*ante*, p.), The novice had to affirm his faith in the Buddha, his *Dharma* (gospel) and *Saṅgha* (the Order), and select a learned person as his preceptor. He was to follow strictly the rules and discipline of the Order; if he was guilty of any serious breach of discipline, he could be expelled by a meeting of the chapter. Like the Hindu *Brahmachāri* (student), he was expected to beg his daily food; but he was also permitted to accept invitations for meals from laymen. He was to do all manual and menial work connected with the monastic life, e. g. cleansing its floor and utensils, bringing water, supervising its stores, etc.

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The Relation between the Novice and his Teacher were filial in character; they were united together by mutual reverence, confidence and affection. Like the Hindu *Brahmachārin*, the Buddhist novice was to help his teacher by doing a variety of manual work for him; he was to carry his seat and robes, supply him water and tooth stick, cleanse his begging bowl and utensils and accompany him as an attendant when he proceeded to the town or village for begging or preaching. The teacher was to teach the student the rules of etiquette and discipline, draw his particular attention to the vow of chastity, poverty and abstinence from pleasures and help him in his intellectual and spiritual progress by suitable discourses and lessons in the morning and afternoon. He was also to help him in getting food and robes, and even to nurse him if he was sick. His own life was to be exemplary and the novice was permitted to act as a check on him if he was wavering in his faith or about to commit a breach of monastic discipline. The needs of the teacher were to be the minimum; the famous teachers at Nālandā used to receive an allowance only three times larger than the amount given to an ordinary student. This would give a very clear idea as to how Buddhist teachers led a very simple life and cost next to nothing to society. They were lifelong students of their different subjects; for marriage did not intervene to put an end to or an obstacle in their studies.

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¹ Like *Upanayana*, it has been compared to a spiritual birth; Cf. अरियाय जातितो जातो *Majhima Nikāya*, II. p. 103; *Therigāthā*, No. 17.

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The Education of the Laity : As observed already, in the beginning Buddhist education was purely monastic and was intended only for those who entered, or intended to enter, the Order. This was but natural. Buddhism held that the worldly life was full of sorrow and that the salvation could be possible only by renouncing it. It could therefore naturally evince no interest in the education of those who intended to follow secular life and pursuits. In the course of time however it was realised that it was necessary to win public sympathy and support for the spread of the gospel; this could be more successfully done if the Buddhist monk could help the cause of education as was done by his theological opponent, the Brāhmana priest. It was also realised that the best way to spread the gospel was to undertake the education of the rising generation. This was calculated to enable the Order to mould and influence the minds of the younger section of the society, when they were very pliable. There was thus a better chance of both recruiting proper types of persons for the Order and of getting a larger number of lay sympathisers, if the educational effort was not confined to novices but was also extended to the whole community. Buddhism therefore threw itself heart and soul into the cause of the general education of the whole community from about the beginning of the Christian era. It may be pointed out that lay students were admitted in ‘external’ monastic schools of Christianity, ‘internal’ schools being reserved for those who intended to join the order. Jesuits also used to admit lay pupils, when space permitted the step.¹

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¹ H. Staunton, Great Schools, Intro. p. xv., Quick, Essays, p. 39.

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The Rise of Public Educational Institutes :— For a long time education was imparted by individual teachers in ancient India on their own private initiative and responsibility. The rise of organised public educational institutions may be justly attributed to the influence of Buddhism. This was but natural; Buddhist monasteries already existed as corporate bodies: when they developed into educational centres, they naturally became corporate educational institutions. Temple colleges of Hinduism probably owed their inspiration to the monastic colleges of Buddhism. In the heyday of Buddhism India was studded with monasteries, and about 10 per cent of them at least used to impart higher education. An account of the more important of these institutions has already been given in Chapter V. Some of these monastic colleges like those of Nālandā, Valabhi and Vikramaśilā became international centres of learning and spread the fame of Indian education in Central and Eastern Asia. Nālandā could get an endowment even from a king of distant Java. Kings and merchant-princes in India vied with each other in giving rich endowments to these famous centres of education, and they in turn used to give not only free tuition but also free food and clothing, certainly to monks and probably to lay students also. How these institutions were organsied and managed been already explained in connection with the account of the Nālandā University (pp. 114-123). Buddhist monasteries were either independent and self-sufficient townships or situated on the outskirts of towns and villages. They therefore enjoyed the advantage of a quiet atmosphere.

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Non-sectarian and comprehensive Courses :— Though organised and managed by Buddhists, monastic colleges were neither sectarian in their outlook nor purely theological in their courses. Buddhist philosophy naturally played an important part in their scheme of education, but adequate attention was also given to the study of the religion and philosophy of the different sects in Hinduism and Jainism. More than two fifth of the time of Yuan Chwang was spent in studying Hindu religion and philosophy in Buddhist monasteries in India. Nor was the education confined only to theology, philosophy and logic. Sanskrit literature, astronomy-cum-astrology, medicine and works on law, polity and administration were also taught for the benefit of lay students in order to enable them to get government service or follow useful and learned professions in society. Books being fragile and costly, students were naturally encouraged to commit important texts to memory; this stood them in good stead in debates and controversies. But Buddhist education was far from being mere cramming of texts. Reasoning and analysis formed an important part in the method of teaching; what critical foreign students like Yuan Chwang and I-tsing admired in their Indian teachers was not their keen memory, which stored numberless texts, but their remarkable powers of explanation and exposition. Individual attention was paid to students; at Nālandā each teacher had not more than ten students under his charge.

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Female Education: Buddhist nunneries went out of vogue from about the 4th century A. D.; so at the time when Buddhist monasteries had developed into colleges of international reputation, women were not receiving any advantages of the education imparted in them. Their marriages were at that time taking place very early. In the early history of Buddhism however, the permission given to women to enter the Order gave a fairly good impetus to the cause of female education, especially in aristocratic and commercial sections of society. A large number of ladies from these circles joined the Order and became life-long students of religion and philosophy. Their example must have given an indirect encouragement to the spread of education among lay women as well.

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Buddhism and Primary Education: It is well known that in modern Burma Buddhist monasteries afford valuable help in spreading literacy, as a result of which the percentage of male literate population in that country was as high as 38 even in 1902. It is therefore not improbable that what Buddhist monasteries are doing in modern Burma may have been done by them in ancient India as well. In its early history, however, there is no evidence to show that Buddhism was interesting itself in education of laymen. With the rise of the Mahāyāna school in the early centuries of the Christian era a great change took place, and Buddhist monasteries began to undertake systematically the education of laymen as well. The accounts of the Chinese travellers, however, leave the impression that Buddhist monasteries were mainly concerned with higher education. It is however not improbable that the Chinese travellers may not have referred to their work in the sphere of primary education, because they were not interested in it. We must further remember that primary education was a more integral part of higher education than is the case now, and so could not have been altogether neglected by the teachers engaged in higher education. Secular students, who used to serve their monk teachers as pages giving them water, food, etc., appear from I-tsing's account to have been students of primary rather than secondary education.¹ We may therefore conclude that in smaller monasteries where higher education was not imparted, monks may have engaged themselves in primary education. There is however no definite evidence on the point.

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¹ Takakusu, pp. 105-6.

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Conclusion :—It will thus be seen that Buddhism may well be proud of its contribution to the cause of education in ancient India. Its colleges threw their doors open to all, irrespective of any considerations of caste or country. The rise of organised public educational institutions may be justly attributed to its influence. It raised the international status of India by the efficiency of its higher education, which attracted students from distant countries like Korea, China, Tibet and Java. The cultural sympathy which the countries in eastern Asia feel for India even today is entirely due to the work of the famous Buddhist colleges of ancient India. If some of the important lost texts can be reconstructed with the help of their Chinese translations, the credit must be given to Buddhist colleges, which enabled Chinese students to get their copies. Buddhist education also helped the development of Hindu logic and philosophy by initiating and encouraging comparative study. In the period of its early history, it championed the cause of education through the mother tongue; later on however it could not resist the charm and influence of Sanskrit and began to impart education through that language.

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