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Education in Ancient India c14.s3: Section C. Rituals during the College Session

Education in Ancient India c14.s3

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Section C. Rituals during the College Session

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Introduction :—Rituals were naturally prescribed at the beginning and at the end of the annual school session, as they were at the beginning and at the end of the educational course. In pre-historic times the annual session of schools and colleges began soon after the commencement of the rainy season, when the sowing operations were over and crops had began to sprout. This usually happened by the full moon day of Śrāvaṇa¹ (August); so the ritual of Chhandasām-upākarman i. e. of ‘gathering the Vedic knowledge’, was performed on that day. Later on it began to be described as Śrāvaṇī². In pre-historic times Vedic literature was not extensive; so a college term of about five or six months was found to be sufficient for mastering it. The ritual of *Chhandasām-utsarjana*, i. e. the cessation of Vedic studies, was therefore performed on the full moon day of Pausha or Māgha (February-March). In later times when the Vedic literature became very extensive, and more branches of learning were developed like grammar, philology, logic, philosophy and Dharmaśāstra, the duration of the annual term was extended over practically the whole year. Curiously enough, owing to the force of the established tradition, the Utsarjana ceremony still continued to be performed in February or March, though the college studies did not cease at that time. At present the ritual is not performed at its proper time but combined with the Upākarma ritual. This practice goes back to medieval times.

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¹ The full moon days of Āṣādha, Śrāvaṇa and Bhādrapada are mentioned by different authorities as appropriate days for Upākarma. (Cf. Bau. Gr. S., III. 1. 2-3; Kh. Gr. S., III, 2, 14; Hi. Gr. S., II, 18, 1). Rainy season is receding back every century and it commences in different months in different provinces of India. Hence this divergence about the appropriate season for Upākarma.

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² Śrāvaṇī is a relatively modern name for the ritual. In early times it denoted the Nāga worship ritual performed on the full moon day of Śrāvaṇa; when this ritual went out of vogue, the name was transferred to the Chhandasām-Upākarma ritual, because that too was usually performed on the same day.

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Upakarma or Sravani; its Significance :—The statement that Śrāvaṇī denotes a ritual performed at the beginning of the college session may appear fanciful to the modern Hindu, who is accustomed to associate it with the annual replacement of the sacred thread, but there is ample and clear evidence to justify it. Our authorities declare that the ritual was to be performed only by the teacher along with his students when they had reassembled at the beginning of the session¹. It was believed that the presiding teacher would get in the course of time as many students as was the number of sesasums offered as oblations in this ritual²; some texts lay down special formulas to be performed by teachers ambitious to have a large number of scholars¹. In some places there was the custom requiring the teacher to give a feast to his students on the day of Śrāvaṇī². It would thus be clear that the ritual of Śrāvaṇī was originally confined only to teachers and students and was performed on the opening day of the annual session.

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¹ अध्येष्यमाणः अध्याप्यैरन्वारब्ध········। *Āś. Gr. S.*, 3.4.10. समारब्धेऽन्तेवासिषु·······उपाकर्म कुर्वीत। सहान्तेवासिभिः प्रामाद्‌विनिष्क्रम्य·······उत्सर्जनविधिः। *Bau. Gr. S.*, III. 1. 3. ff.

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² स सावन्तं गणमिच्छेतान्‌सतिलाताण्डुलफलकेन जुहुयात्‌। *P. Gr. S.*, II. 10.

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¹ अन्तेवासिनां योगमिच्छन्नथ जपति....। Vā. Gr. S., 7.

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² सब्रह्मचारिणश्च उपसमेतान्भोजयेदाचार्यः J. Gr. S., I. 14.

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Prevention of Wastage in Education :—Later on, however, it came to be prescribed for the whole community primarily to prevent wastage in education. We are all aware how a large number of students lose their study habits and forget a good deal of what they had learnt in their schools and colleges, when they settle down as householders pursuing their own professions. The same thing happened in the past. It was however regarded as a serious disaster in ancient times, as the modern facilities of books and libraries were then non-existent. In the course of time therefore educationalists began to feel that steps must be taken to ensure that even householders would set apart some time in the year for revising their studies. Some of them, like Śvetaketu, advocated that they should be asked to spend two months every year in their old colleges for this purpose. The majority however felt that it is impracticable to suggest to householders that they should give up their professions for two months every year in order to keep themselves in touch with their studies³. They therefore proposed that the monsoon time should be devoted to the task of revising their studies. They could easily do this at home, if they only would set apart a little time for the work every day. It was therefore decided to lay it down that householders also should join the students in the Śrāvaṇī ritual and take a vow to revise their studies. Students performing the Śrāvaṇī were to prosecute their studies at their schools and colleges; householders taking part in it were to revise them at home, devoting special time for the purpose and observing the rules of the student-life as far as practicable¹.

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³ निवेशे वृत्ते संवत्सरे द्वौ द्वौ मासौ समाहितः आचार्यकुले वसेद्वयः श्रुतमिच्छन्निति श्वेतकेतुः । एतेन ह्यहं योगेन भूयः पूर्वस्माच्छ्रुत मकरवमिति । तच्छास्त्रैर्विप्रतिषिद्धम् । निवेशे हि वृत्ते नैयामिकानि श्रूयन्ते । Ā. D. S., I. 1. 2. 12.

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¹ न मांसमश्रीयाच्च श्राद्धम् । न लोमानि संहारयेत् । न स्त्रियमुपेयात्तौ जायामुपेयात् । J. Gr. S., Upākarma section.

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Sravani Ritual; Its Critical Survey:—When it is remembered that Śrāvaṇī was a ritual performed by teachers and students at the beginning of the college session, and by others at the onset of the monsoon when the annual period of revision of studies commenced, we can well anticipate its nature and details. The ritual differed with different Vedic schools,² but there is one central idea common to them all, viz., on the opening day, Vedic and sacrificial deities should be offered oblations, presiding deities over intellect, memory and imagination should be propitiated, and a tribute of gratefulness should be paid to the intellectual giants of the past, who have enriched the national literature. It was a very happy idea indeed to remind the students of the deep debt of gratitude they all owed to the literary celebrities of the past on the very opening day of the session. When they paid tribute to them, their ambition was naturally fired into imitating their glorious example. They thus commenced the annual studies with zest, vigour and ambition, hoping one day to equal the ancients in their achievements. When the ritual was extended to householders in later times, it reminded them of their duty to be up-to-date in their own branches of learning. It is a pity indeed that the modern educational system has not got a ceremony of similar import.

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² Thus the followers of the Rigveda used to recite the opening and concluding verses of each of the ten books of their Veda. The followers of the Yajurveda used to offer oblations to all the Vedas, Itihāsa and Purāṇa and pay tribute to the celebrated scholars of their own school like Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana, Vaiśampāyana, and Tittiri (the authors of the Veda), Ātreya, the author of the Pada-pātha, Kauṇḍinya, the vṛttikāra, Baudhāyana, the pravachanakāra, Āpastamba the Sūtrakāra and to other celebrities like Satyāṣādha, Hiraṇyakeśin, Vājasaneya, Yājñavalkya, Bhāradvāja and Agnives'ya [Bau. Gr. S., III. 1]. The followers of the Sāmaveda invoked the memory of their own doctors like Jaimini, Tālavakāra, Rānāyani, Bhāguri, etc.

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Sravani and the Sacred Thread :—The critical reader may now naturally enquire as to the causes that have led to the close association of Śrāvaṇī with the change of the sacred thread. The renewal of the sacred thread was a minor element in the ritual; most of our authorities do not even refer to it. At the time of most of the Vratas (vows) and Saṃskāras, a new sacred thread, staff, girdle, etc., were to be worn by students. Śrāvaṇī was no exception; on this occasion also they discarded their old sacred threads, staffs, girdles, etc., and substituted them by new ones,—a procedure somewhat similar to that of the modern student, who usually gets new clothes prepared when he leaves home for joining his college. By a strange irony of fate, the most insignificant element in this ritual has now assumed an altogether disproportionate importance and its real nature and significance have been forgotten altogether.

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Utsarjana Ritual : This was performed at the end of the college term sometime in February or March.

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The procedure was more or less the same as that on the opening day. Respectful homage was once more paid to the Vedic deities, mental and intellectual powers and the literary giants of the past before the students dispersed home from their schools or colleges.

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