Education in Ancient India c5.4

c5.4

**Importance of the Teacher :** The importance which in modern times is attached to the Institution or the *Alma Mater* was in ancient days attached to the teacher in India. This was but natural, for organised educational institutions came rather late into existence in this country, as was also the case in the West. The person who takes charge of immature children and makes them worthy and useful citizens in society was naturally held in high reverence. It was the function of the teacher to lead the student from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge. The lamp of learning is concealed under a cover, says one thinker; the teacher removes it and lets out the light.¹ The student therefore must be very grateful to him and show him the highest possible reverence. He is to be revered even more than parents; to the latter, we owe our physical birth, to the former our intellectual regeneration. From the Vedic age downwards the teacher has been all along designated as the spiritual and intellectual father of the student.¹ Without his help and guidance, no education is possible. He is in fact indispensable. This is graphically illustrated by the story of Ekalavya, who when refused admission to his school by Droṇa, prepared an image of the teacher under whom he longed to learn, and successfully finished his studies in archery under the inspiration that he received from the inanimate representation of his animate preceptor. Buddhists and Jains also attached equally great importance to the teacher. This importance attached to the teacher need not surprise us, for it is now admitted on all hands that neither buildings nor equipment exercise such influence on students as is exercised by cultured and competent teachers, who instruct as well as inspire.