Education in Ancient India c6.18

c6.18

Payment of Fees: No Stipulation:—Stipulation for fees was vehemently condemned in ancient India. No student could be refused admission even by a private teacher simply because he was too poor to pay any fees. A teacher guilty of this misdemeaner was declared to be unfit to officiate at religious ceremonies and was held to obloquy as a mere trafficker in learning.¹ It was held that the cause of education was a sacred one; every teacher qualified to teach must teach as a matter of duty. The relations between the teacher and the student should be based upon mutual affection and regard, and not on any mercenary consideration.² There is ample evidence to show that this theory was acted upon in all public educational institutions in ancient India. Evidence of indisputable character shows that the Buddhist Universities, temple colleges, Agrahāra institutions, and Maṭhas were all imparting free education to their students. When they used to receive sufficient endowments, they would also arrange to provide free boarding, lodging, clothing and medicine to the students admitted by them. Education therefore was free in a much wider sense in ancient India than is ever dreamt possible in modern times.