Education in Ancient India c13.19

c13.19

Civic Responsibility and Social Efficiency and Happiness : The success of the educational system in infusing a sense of civic responsibility and promoting social efficiency and happiness, which were two of its important aims, was also remarkable. It was but natural that the educational system should have taken the help of the religious feeling and the caste discipline for infusing the sense of civic responsibility. The average man in ancient India was always loyal to the interests of his guild, village and caste. It was the success of the educational system in promoting social efficiency, which enabled Hindu society to be in the vanguard of the march of civilisation for several centuries. It is true that this ceased to be the case from about the 10th century A.D.; but the failure during the last millennium in this connection should not blind us to the success in the preceding long period of more than two thousand years. We shall now proceed to discuss the causes of the decline in the educational system and point out its limitations and defects.