Education in Ancient India c13.s1.16

c13.s1.16

? It Becomes Receptive and Imitative later : Towards the beginning of the 9th century A.D., the creative vein in the Indian intellect got fatigued after an intense activity of more than 2,000 years.¹ Hindu intellect had probably become old and no longer possessed the energy necessary to open out new paths of thought and action. Probably the heritage of the past became so great that all the ability of scholars was engrossed in preserving it. As also was the case in Europe down to the 16th century A.D., the habit of looking back to the past for inspiration and guidance became quite common ; it began to be instinctively felt that not much could be expected from the present. The golden age of inspiration had gone, no new achievements were possible, the best that the age could do was to preserve, expound or comment upon the masterpieces of the past. Hindu educational system was unable to create minds powerful enough to rise above the influence of these theories. For the last one thousand years and more, the Hindus have been writing only digests and commentaries on the works of earlier periods. Creative activity has come to a practical standstill.