Education in Ancient India c14.s2.4

c14.s2.4

Upanayana literally means taking a student to a teacher in order to hand him over to the latter for his education. The ritual was originally performed when a student commenced his Vedic education under the supervision of a teacher, with whom he usually lived. It was not an obligatory ritual; if a student was unfit by character or calibre to receive the Vedic education, he was not admitted to its privilege.³ If, on the other hand, during the course of his education, he had to go to a different teacher, the ritual had to be repeated. Nay, it was felt that it should be performed again even in the case of married men, if they wanted to prosecute further studies under a new teacher.¹ It was thus essentially an educational ritual and bore some resemblance to the formality of the admission procedure in modern schools and colleges. In the course of time, however its significance changed. It was felt necessary that the services of the whole Aryan community should be conscripted for the preservation of the Vedic literature which had grown to considerable dimensions in the course of centuries ; Upanayana and Vedic studies were therefore made obligatory for all. If it was not performed in time, it was declared that the person would lose his Aryan status and become unfit for marriage and social intercourse. This threat no doubt helped the spread of Vedic learning and gave an impetus to primary education, which was in later times presupposed by Vedic studies; but it also tended to transform this educational function into a bodily (*śārīrika*) ritual. It began to be argued that it should be performed even in the case of dumb and deaf persons in order to render them eligible for marriage.² Some late Smṛti writers felt that the ritual was primarily for the purification of the body; they have therefore recommended that it should be repeated in case the body is defiled by the bite of a