Education in Ancient India c17.15

c17.15

Owing to want of space it is not possible to explain the meaning of each of the 64 kalās enumerated above. It would suffice to say that Nos. 23-4 refer to the art of cooking, Nos. 5, 8, 15 and 44 to personal toilette of women requiring skill in the use of ointments for the body, paints for the teeth, etc. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 27 enumerate fine arts like music, dancing and painting. Arts necessary for home and personal decorations are mentioned in Nos. 6, 7, 9, 10 14-19, 48 and 58 and they include garland making, decoration of the floor, the preparation of the bed, proper use and care of dress and ornaments etc. Women, who were usually fond of ornaments, were expected to be able to appreciate correctly the value and quality of the different varieties of gold, etc, and Nos. 38-40 refer to the capacity in this connection. Arts useful for the housewife like sewing, patching, elementary carpentry, repairs of household tools and articles are mentioned in Nos. 25,33,35-6,37,41,44, and 49. Literary efficiency and skill of different variety is presupposed by Nos. 28-31,33,45-47 and 51-57. They require women to be skilled in reading, writing, understanding different languages, composing poems, understanding dramas, etc. Nos. 12 and 64 refer to different physical exercises and Nos. 11,20,22,26,42, 43,57,59,60 mention recreations for utilising leisure hours. The latter include magic, sleights of hand, dyūta etc. No. 61 requires every woman to know how to prepare toys for children.