Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c4.190

c4.190

At the present time the spread of education on Western lines has meant that the majority even of Brāhman youths who wish for an education that will give them the opportunity of obtaining good employment have forsaken the old system of learning; but it is still to be found, although the extent of its operations has been considerably curtailed. It is rare indeed to find those who pass through all the four stages of student, householder, hermit, and wandering ascetic; but it is interesting to find that not only does the rite of initiation still take place, but that it preserves some at least of the features of early times in its outward ceremonies. Thus¹ in the performance of the ceremony in some parts of India to-day, it is the custom to light a sacred fire which is kept alight during the days that the ceremony lasts and is fed with the twigs of certain trees. The father of the youth takes the place of the teacher, and when the sacred cord is put on, it has attached to it a bit of skin of a deer, if procurable. This seems to be a relic of the old custom of Brāhmanic students wearing certain skins as part of their dress. After the initiation the father at once proceeds to teach the boy the *gāyatrī* prayer, and after initiation the novice begins to ask alms of those present. He is also instructed during these days in the morning, midday, and evening prayers and other ceremonies. Thus the initiation of the *brahmachārī* is still carried out very much as it was in India more than two thousand five hundred years ago, though it is not, except in a few cases, followed by the actual study of the Vedas and the accompanying sciences.