[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Science, technology and education](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science) › [Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918) › c4 # Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c4: Chapter I Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c4 - **Language:** English ## Contents - [c4.130](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.130) — 3 parts ### Chapter I ### [c4.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.1) WITHIN the boundaries of the modern Indian Empire there dwells a population of over three hundred millions, derived from different sources and speaking many different languages. Among the races four main types have been distinguished, namely, Dravidian, Aryan, Scythian, and Mongolian, and besides these, other races, in smaller numbers, have been introduced into India at different periods of the history, such as Parsees, Arabs, Turks, Afghans, Moguls, and, at a later date, some of the European races like the Portuguese and the English. The main types have not been kept distinct, but there has been a fusion of races on a large scale. The Dravidians represent the earliest known inhabitants of India; but it is the Aryan race that has had the greatest influence in controlling its destiny. ### [c4.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.2) The Aryans entered India by the defiles of the north-west at some unknown date before 1000 B.C. There were probably several waves of invasion, and each tribe pushed its predecessor farther east or south. The influence of this race is not, however, to be judged by its numbers, or the extent of territory which was occupied. Not only did Aryan princes establish dynasties in many parts of India, but it was the Aryans, and especially the priestly class, the Brāhmans, who moulded the religion, philosophy, science, and art, as well as the social organization which is spread all over India. At the time when they entered the Panjāb they were divided into many tribes or clans governed by chieftains. The father had great power as head of the family. There were different classes amongst the Aryans, but these had not yet hardened into castes. These classes were the nobles or chieftains and their families, the priestly families, and the mass of the people who were chiefly employed in agriculture and cattle-rearing. The Dravidians were their common foes, but those captured in war became domestic slaves. The religion of the Aryans was a form of nature worship. The vault of heaven, the dawn, the winds, the lightning are considered the activities of personal gods to whom sacrifice and praise are offered. Worship is carried on in the open without temples or idols. Indra, Agni, and Soma are the deities to whom hymns are most often addressed. ### [c4.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.3) Our knowledge of this period is derived from the \*Saṃhitās\* (collections of verses) of the \*Vedas\*, which form the oldest strata of Indian literature. The \*Rigveda\* was the earliest of these collections. It contains 1017 hymns divided into ten different books or \*maṇḍalas\*. The composition of these hymns took place at some time previous to 1000 B.C., while the Aryan race still occupied territories on both sides of the Indus.¹ Of the collection of ten books, it is considered by scholars that Books ii. to vii. formed the original nucleus.² Each of these seven is ascribed to a different seer (\*rishi\*), and was probably the work of himself and his descendants. They were thus family collections handed down from generation to generation, and no doubt guarded jealously as a family inheritance. It had become the custom for chieftains or nobles to appoint \*purohitas\*, or domestic priests, to bring them prosperity by sacrifice, and it was probably in such priestly families of high standing that the collections of hymns were formed and preserved, and the competition among these families to possess the best hymns led to the formation of a dignified and expressive literary dialect. As the influence of the priests increased, the ritual of the sacrifice became more complex. The technical lore of language and of hymns was handed down from father to son, and this was no doubt the beginning of Brāhmanic education. In a hymn¹ belonging to one of these early books there is a reference to what was probably the earliest form of the Brāhmanic school in India. It is a poem which compares the meeting together of the Brāhmans with the gathering of frogs in the rainy season :— ### [c4.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.4) ¹ Macdonell, \*Sans. Lit.\*, p. 40. ### [c4.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.5) ² \*Ibid.\*, p. 43. ### [c4.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.6) ¹ \*Rigveda\*, vii. 103, Griffith’s trans. ### [c4.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.7) ‘Each of these twain receives the other kindly, while they are revelling in the flow of waters. When the frog moistened by the rain springs forward, and Green and Spotty both combine their voices. When one of these repeats the other’s language, as he who learns the lesson of the teacher, Your every limb seems to be growing larger, as ye converse with eloquence on the waters.’ ### [c4.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.8) Each experienced priest probably taught his sons or nephews the ritual lore and hymns which were traditional in the family, by letting them repeat them over and over again after him until all had been committed to memory, and probably each family guarded the secrecy of its own sacred tradition. ### [c4.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.9) At some time and in some way unknown these family collections came to be amalgamated and taught together. This may have been due to the action of some powerful chieftain who wished to gather for his own benefit all the sacrificial literature. The first and eighth books were then added at some time, and also the ninth, which consists of hymns used for the Soma sacrifice. The tenth book was added last of all, and although it contains some old material, some of it was written later. One hymn² in it refers to caste, and it is evident that by this time social distinctions had increased and society become more complex. In a hymn¹ of this last book there is reference to the learned Brāhmans meeting together for debate:— ### [c4.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.10) ² \*Ibid.\*, x. 90. ### [c4.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.11) ¹ \*Ṛigveda\*, x. 71. ### [c4.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.12) ‘All friends are joyful in the friend who cometh in triumph, having conquered in assembly. He is their blame averter, food provider; prepared is he and fit for deed of vigour. One plies his constant task reciting verses; one sings the holy psalm in Sakvari measures. One more, the Brāhman, tells the lore of being, and one lays down the rules of sacrificing.’ ### [c4.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.13) It is possible that the success in debate may refer to the passing of some test required before a young Brāhman was considered eligible to take part in the sacrificial ritual.² ### [c4.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.14) ² Compare the ‘Responsio’ of the Middle Ages in Europe. ### [c4.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.15) The gathering together of all the hymns into one collection took place probably before 1000 B.C. When this was done it is likely that the schools where the priestly lore was learnt were no longer always family schools, though in many cases no doubt the boy was pupil to his own father. This indeed was often so in much later times.³ ### [c4.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.16) ³ Cf. e.g. \*Chhānd. Up.\*, v. 3, 5; \*Bṛih. Ār. Up.\*, vi. 2, 4. ### [c4.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.17) The word \*Veda\* really means ‘knowledge’, from the root \*vid\*, ‘to know’, and so was used to designate the sacred lore or collection of sacred literature. The \*Ṛigveda\* means the ‘Veda of hymns’, from \*ṛich\*, ‘a laudatory stanza’. This collection of sacred poems was probably made not so much to preserve them as literature, but because they were needed for sacrificial use. ### [c4.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.18) There were three functions which the priest might perform in the ritual, and to those who performed them different names were given. The \*hotṛi\* was the leading priest, and while the sacrifice was being made he recited poems or hymns of praise in honour of the particular god he was worshipping (Indra, Agni, etc.). Another part of the ritual was concerned with the soma sacrifice. Soma¹ was really a juice pressed out from a certain plant, which on account of its exhilarating and invigorating action came to be regarded as a divine drink which bestowed everlasting life. It was afterwards hypostatized and regarded as a god, and a special ritual grew up in connection with which hymns were sung. The priest who sang these sāmans was called an udgātṛi. Another priest was concerned with the manual acts of sacrificing, and he was called an adhvaryu. There was at first, however, no distinct order, and each priest might perform any of these functions. There was but one education for all, and each priestly student received a triple training so that he might perform any one of these three duties. Gradually, however, the ritual of the sacrifices became elaborated, and with its growing complexity some division of priestly labour became unavoidable. No one priest could become an expert in the three branches of ritual, and specialist training became necessary. Probably at first it consisted in a priestly student first learning the ritual of all three branches and then specializing in one of them. The collection of Soma hymns into the ninth book of the Rigveda seems to show traces of this. But eventually something more than this was needed, and there came to be three orders of priests, each possessing its own particular Veda, and having its own training schools. This probably took place at some time between 1000 and 800 B.C. ### [c4.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.19) ¹ Macdonell, Sans. Lit., pp. 98 ff. ### [c4.20](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.20) The udgātṛi had to learn to sing all the tunes required for the Soma ritual, and to know which particular strophe was required for each sacrifice. All the stanzas to be chanted at the Soma sacrifice were gathered into a separate collection called the Sāmaveda. All its verses except seventy-five were taken from the Rigveda, and form a special musical collection, or sacrificial liturgy, for the Soma ritual.¹ It consists of two parts called \*ārchikas\*. The first \*ārchika\* consists of stanzas, each of which was associated with a separate tune, of which there were no less than 585. The second part, or \*uttarārchika\*, contains the strophes which were required for use in the ritual. The complicated work of the \*udgātṛi\* priest thus led to the creation of a special school for young Brāhmans who wished to specialize in this branch of study. At a later date, when writing began to be used, tune books called \*gānas\* were prepared. ### [c4.21](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.21) ¹ Macdonell, \*Sans. Lit.\*, pp. 171 ff. ### [c4.22](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.22) Although the recitation of the appropriate hymns of praise at the ordinary sacrifices was the special duty of the \*hotṛi\* priest, the \*adhvaryu\*, who performed the manual acts of the sacrifice, was required to utter certain ritual formulas (\*yajūṃshi\*), and at different points of the ritual had also to utter certain prayers and praises. For the training of the \*adhvaryu\* priests also, special schools arose, and their particular Veda was the \*Yajurveda\*.² This collection consists of prose formulas or \*mantras\*, among which many verses, mostly taken from the \*Ṛigveda\*, are also interpolated. When these special schools were formed for the \*udgātṛi\* and \*adhvaryu\* priests, the older schools connected with the \*Ṛigveda\* came to be regarded as special schools for the \*hotṛi\* priests. Up to this time it would seem that only young Brāhmans were admitted to these schools, but there seems to have been no hard-and-fast distinction between the three orders of priests, and a priest might exercise any or all of the three functions if only he had received the necessary training. These three Vedas alone were originally recognized as canonical collections. But somewhat later there came to be recognized a fourth Veda known as the \*Atharvaveda\*.³ It took a long time to establish its position, and even to this day in certain parts of South India it is almost unknown. ### [c4.23](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.23) ² \*Ibid.\*, pp. 174 ff. ### [c4.24](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.24) ³ \*Ibid.\*, pp. 185 ff. ### [c4.25](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.25) It is a book of magic and sorcery, and consists of spells, which were used by the incantation priest. Most of these spells are to be used against hostile agencies such as diseases, animals, demons, wizards, and foes; but some are of an auspicious nature and intended to bring prosperity and good luck. In connection with this Veda another kind of specialist school arose. ### [c4.26](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.26) By the time these various types of priestly schools had been formed the centre of the Aryan civilization had shifted eastwards and lay somewhere between the Sutlej and the Jumna rivers. There came to be slight differences in the Vedic texts, and each recension was called a \*śākhā\*. Those who followed a particular \*śākhā\* of a Veda were said to form a \*charana\*, or school, of that Veda. At some time, however, precautions were taken for the preservation of the sacred text, and this led to the constitution of the \*padapātha\*¹ and other forms of the sacred texts. ### [c4.27](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.27) ¹ See below, pp. 38 f., and Macdonell, \*Sans. Lit.\*, p. 51. ### [c4.28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.28) The different kinds of priestly schools had now become well developed, and were learned associations with a growing reputation, and a priest was proud of the school in which he had received his training, and he could not perform his duties as priest without having passed through one of these schools. The first duty of the student was to learn by heart the particular Veda of his school. This he did by repeating it after his teacher until perfect accuracy was secured. The method was entirely oral, and it was not till much later times that writing was introduced. He would also receive a great deal of instruction on his duties as a priest of the particular school in which he was studying, and also explanations of the meaning of the hymns and ritual acts. The instruction was called \*vidhi\*, the explanation \*arthavāda\*. For a long time these lectures were given by the teacher as he willed in his own language, but in each school this didactic material tended to become more and more in accordance with precedent, and finally became stereotyped in the \*Brāhmaṇas\*.¹ These works are in prose, and were composed somewhere between 800 and 500 B.C. The \*Brāhmaṇas\* are connected with the different Vedic schools, and contain such material as the students of each Veda required, but their general characteristics are the same. Besides instruction and explanation relating to the sacrificial ritual, they contain mythological stories and legends, speculation, and argument, and we can find in them the first beginnings of grammar, astronomy, etymology, philosophy, and law. Their intellectual activity was centred, however, on the sacrifice, and much of the matter contained in them seems meaningless and puerile to the modern mind. They exhibit an arrogant sacerdotalism, but at the same time signs of considerable intellectual vigour. The language of the old hymns had now become archaic, and unintelligible to the multitude. This is referred to in the \*Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa\*,² and was no doubt one of the reasons why the power of the priesthood increased. ### [c4.29](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.29) ¹ Macdonell, \*Sans. Lit.\*, p. 202. ### [c4.30](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.30) ² \*Śatap. Br.\*, iii. 2, 1, 24. ### [c4.31](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.31) The Aryans had now advanced further into India, and it is perhaps to this period that we are to ascribe the events which form the historical basis of the two great epics, the \*Mahābhārata\* and the \*Rāmāyaṇa\*. During this period there was a growth of luxury. The power of the king has become greater, and he employs an army of hired soldiers. The supremacy of the priesthood is being established, and the priest is coming to be regarded no longer as a servant or companion of the king, but as his superior. The classes were becoming hardened into caste divisions, and besides the Brāhmans (priests), Kshatriyas (nobles and warriors), and Vaiśyas (agriculturists and traders), who were of Aryan descent, though probably by this time mixed with non-Aryans, the great mass of non-Aryan peoples were classed as Śūdras. In course of time these castes became divided into many more, and every social distinction created by occupation, or race, or language tended to produce a separate caste. ### [c4.32](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.32) In the \*Atharvaveda\*¹ there is a mystic hymn which describes the sun, or the primeval principle, under the figure of a Brāhman student (\*brahmachārī\*), who brings firewood and alms for his teacher. This offering of firewood to a teacher became the regular way by which a youth sought to be recognized as his pupil, and implied a desire to partake in his domestic sacrifice and to accept the duty of helping to maintain it. It also came to be a duty for students to collect alms for their own support and that of their teacher. From the \*Brāhmaṇas\* we can get some idea of the early development of the educational system of the Brāhmans. In the \*Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa\*, for instance, we are given a line of succession of teachers who have transmitted the sacrificial science.² This line is traced back to Prajāpati, and Brāhman students are spoken of as guarding their teacher, his house and cattle, lest he should be taken from them.³ There are references also to a lad going to a teacher with firewood in his hand and asking to become his pupil,⁴ and to students collecting alms and fuel for their teacher.⁵ This \*Brāhmaṇa\* also contains an account of the Upanayana, or initiation, of the Brāhmanical student.⁶ ‘He says, “I have come for \*brahmacharya\*” (studentship); he thereby reports himself to the Brāhman. He says, “Let me be a \*brahmachārī\*” (student); he thereby makes himself over to the Brāhman. He (the teacher) then says, “What is thy name?” . . . He then takes his (right) hand with, “Indra’s disciple thou art; Agni is thy teacher; I am thy teacher, O N. N.!” He then commits him to the beings: “To Prajāpati I commit thee; to the god Savitṛi I commit thee. . . . To the waters, to the plants I commit thee. . . . To Heaven and Earth I commit thee. . . . To all beings I commit thee for security from injury. Thou art a \*brahmachārī\* . . . sip water . . . do thy work . . . put on fuel . . . do not sleep . . . sip water.’” ‘Sip water’ is explained as meaning ‘sip ambrosia’. ‘He thus encloses him on both sides with ambrosia.’ ‘He then recites to him (teaches him) the \*sāvitrī\*.’ ### [c4.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.33) ¹ \*Atharvaveda\*, xi. 5. ² \*Śatap. Br.\*, x. 6, 5, 9. ³ \*Ibid.\*, iii. 2, 6, 15. ⁴ \*Ibid.\*, xi. 4, 1, 9. ⁵ \*Ibid.\*, xi. 3, 3. ### [c4.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.34) It was already becoming recognized that for the study of the Vedic learning a long period of studentship was necessary. In the \*Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa\* we read¹— ### [c4.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.35) ¹ \*Taitt. Br.\*, iii. 10, 11, 3. ### [c4.36](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.36) ‘Bharadvāja lived through three lives in the state of a religious student. Indra approached him when he was lying old and decrepit, and said to him, “Bharadvāja, if I give thee a fourth life, how wilt thou employ it?” “I will lead the life of a religious student,” he replied. He (Indra) showed him three mountain-like objects, as it were unknown. From each of them he took a handful, and, calling to him, “Bharadvāja”, said, “These are the three Vedas. The Vedas are infinite. This is what thou hast studied during these three lives. Now there is another thing which thou hast not studied; come and learn it. This is the universal science. . . . He who knows this (\*ya evam veda\*) conquers a world as great as he would gain by the triple Vedic science.”’ ### [c4.37](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.37) We have already seen how the influence of the priesthood had been growing and the ritual of the sacrifice enormously developed. But there must always have been some earnest seekers after truth who were not satisfied with sacrificial ritual. Already in some of the latest hymns of the \*Ṛigveda\* there are traces of philosophical speculation. Men were asking what the universe is and how it came into being, what the soul of man is, and what law governs birth and death. These and other great questions were troubling the minds of thoughtful persons, and those who sought an answer to them often forsook home and family and worldly duties and retired to the forests, where they spent their time in asceticism and meditation. This religious ferment was contributed to not only by Brāhmans, but by many religious laymen. At the end of the \*Brāhmaṇas\* are certain treatises known as \*Āraṇyakas\*,¹ or ‘forest-books’. They are allegorical expositions of the sacrificial ritual, and are considered to be the \*Brāhmaṇas\* of the \*Vānaprasthas\*, an order of forest hermits that appeared about this time, who no longer performed the actual sacrifices, but only meditated on them. Some, however, have considered them to be treatises which, on account of their mystic sanctity, were only to be communicated in the solitude of the forest. They form a transition to the \*Upanishads\*, which are often embedded in them. These are treatises wholly given up to philosophical speculation, and represent the last stage of the \*Brāhmaṇa\* literature. The higher philosophical knowledge which they set forth came to be recognized as the \*Vedānta\* (end of the Veda)—the completion and crown of Vedic learning. These treatises were composed some time between 800 and 500 B.C. The leading ideas of this philosophical speculation are that the world has been evolved from the \*Ātman\*, or Universal Soul, and that this is also the Self within us. The inequalities of human life are explained by the doctrines of \*karma\* and transmigration. ### [c4.38](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.38) ¹ Macdonell, \*Sans. Lit.\*, p. 204. ### [c4.39](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.39) From the \*Upanishads\* we get many more sidelights on the ancient Brāhmanic education. The meaning of the word ‘Upanishad’ has been the matter of discussion. Max Müller² says that ‘Upanishad,’ besides being the recognized title of certain philosophical treatises, occurs also in the sense of doctrine and of secret doctrine, and that it seems to have assumed this meaning from having been used originally in the sense of session or assembly, in which one or more pupils receive instruction from a teacher. These treatises profess to give a kind of esoteric doctrine, or higher enlightenment, and refer to pupils as having studied all the Vedas and sacrificial ritual, and yet without the knowledge of the answers to the deeper philosophical speculations which troubled earnest seekers after truth. Śvetaketu Aruṇeya was a Brāhman youth who was sent to school by his father. ‘Having¹ begun his apprenticeship (with a teacher) when he was twelve years of age, Śvetaketu returned to his father when he was twenty-four, having then studied all the Vedas—conceited, considering himself well-read, and stern. ### [c4.40](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.40) ² \*S.B.E.\*, vol. i. p. lxxx. ### [c4.41](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.41) ¹ \*Chhānd. Up.\*, vi. 1, 2, 3. ### [c4.42](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.42) ‘His father said to him: “Śvetaketu, as you are so conceited, considering yourself well-read, and so stern, my dear, have you ever asked for that instruction by which we hear what cannot be perceived, which we know what cannot be known?”’ ### [c4.43](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.43) Śvetaketu having expressed his ignorance of this deep teaching, his father proceeds to instruct him. ### [c4.44](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.44) It would seem that at this period it was not the universal custom for a Brāhman youth to enter upon a life of studentship. Thus Śvetaketu’s father said to him,² ‘Śvetaketu, go to school, for there is none belonging to our race, darling, who, not having studied (the Veda), is, as it were, a Brāhman by birth only’. So also the entrance³ of Satyakāma, son of Jabālā, upon studentship seems to be his own voluntary choice. It was still often the custom for a son to receive instruction at the hands of his father, as in the case of Śvetaketu,⁴ but he often went to other teachers.⁵ When a student wished to become a pupil of any teacher, the recognized way of making application to him was to approach him with fuel in the hands as a sign that the pupil wished to serve him and help to maintain his sacred fire. ‘Let¹ him, in order to understand this, take fuel in his hand and approach a \*guru\* who is learned and dwells entirely in \*Brahman\*.’ It seems to have been usual for the teacher to make an inquiry into the birth and family of the applicant before receiving him as a pupil, as in the case of Satyakāma.² In this case the inquiry was made in a very indulgent manner, but it seems to show that it was still the rule only for Brāhmans to be received as students. One instance is given where instruction was granted without any formal reception.³ ### [c4.45](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.45) ² \*Ibid.\*, vi. 1, 1. For education as reflected in the \*Upanishads\*, see art. on \*āsrama\* by Deussen in \*E.R.E.\* ### [c4.46](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.46) ³ \*Chhānd. Up.\*, iv. 4, 1. ### [c4.47](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.47) ⁴ \*Ibid.\*, v. 3, 1; \*Brih. Ār. Up.\*, vi. 2, 1; \*Kaush. Up.\*, i. 1. ### [c4.48](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.48) ⁵ \*Chhānd. Up.\*, vi. 1, 1. ### [c4.49](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.49) ¹ \*Muṇḍ. Up.\*, 1, 2, 12. There are several other references in the \*Upanishads\*. ² \*Chhānd. Up.\*, iv. 4, 4. ³ \*Ibid.\*, v. 11, 7. ⁴ \*Ibid.\*, viii. ii. 3. ⁵ \*Ibid.\*, iv. 10, 1 ; vi. 1, 2. ⁶ \*Ibid.\*, vi. 7, 2. ⁷ \*Ibid.\*, vii. 1, 1, 2. ### [c4.50](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.50) As in the \*Brāhmaṇas\*, the necessity for a long period of studentship is recognized. Thus Indra is said to have lived with Prajāpati as a pupil no less than one hundred and five years.⁴ The actual duration of studentship was coming to be recognized as twelve years.⁵ During this period of twelve years we are told that Śvetaketu studied all the Vedas, which differs from the later regulation of twelve years for each Veda. In the case of Śvetaketu, however, it may have been only the hymns of the three Vedas that he learned, as this is what his father expected from him.⁶ In the same \*Upanishad\*, however, we have what seems to be an exhaustive list of all that was studied in those days, and which includes a good deal more than a knowledge of the hymns of the three Vedas.⁷ ### [c4.51](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.51) ‘Nārada approached Sanatkumāra and said, “Teach me, Sir!” Sanatkumāra said to him: “Please to tell me what you know; afterwards I shall tell you what is beyond.” ### [c4.52](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.52) ‘Nārada said: “I know the Ṛigveda, Sir, the Yajurveda, the Sāmaveda, as the fourth the Ārtharvana, as the fifth the Itihāsa-purāṇa (the Bhārata); the Veda of the Vedas (grammar); the Pitrya (the rules for the sacrifices for the ancestors); the Rāśi (the science of numbers); the Daiva (the science of portents); the Nidhi (the science of time); the Vākovākya (logic); the Ekāyana (ethics); the Devavidyā (etymology); the Brahmavidyā (pronunciation, \*śikshā\*, ceremonial, \*kalpa\*, prosody, \*chhandas\*); the Bhūtavidyā (the science of demons); the Kshatravidyā (the science of weapons); the Nakshatravidyā (astronomy); the Sarpa- and Devajanavidyā (the science of serpents or poisons, and the sciences of the genii, such as the making of perfumes, dancing, singing, playing, and other fine arts). All this I know, Sir. . . .’” ### [c4.53](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.53) The Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upanishad gives a somewhat similar list,¹ namely, ‘Ṛigveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, Atharvāngirasas,² Itihāsa (legends), Purāṇa (cosmogonies), Vidyā (knowledge), the Upanishads, Ślokas (verses), Sūtras (prose rules), Anuvyākhyānas (glosses), Vyākhyānas (commentaries)’. ### [c4.54](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.54) ¹ \*Bṛih. Ār. Up.\*, ii. 4, 10. ² \*I.e.\* the \*Atharvaveda\*. ³ Upakosala in \*Chhānd. Up.\*, iv. 10, 1, 2; Satyakāma in \*Chhānd. Up.\*, iv. 4, 5. ⁴ \*Chhānd. Up.\*, iv. 10, 1. ⁵ \*Ibid.\*, iv. 4, 5. ### [c4.55](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.55) These extracts show how the curriculum of the Brāhmanic schools was developing. ### [c4.56](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.56) The period of studentship was, however, looked upon not only as a time of learning, but as a time of vigorous discipline. There are some instances in the Upanishads where no teaching was given for several years after studentship had begun,³ but these seem to be exceptional cases. Pupils had to work for their teacher in house and field, attending to his sacred fires,⁴ looking after his cattle,⁵ and collecting alms for him.⁶ The pupil also accompanied his teacher and awaited his commands.¹ ‘In the leisure time left from the duties to be performed for the \*guru\*’² the Veda was studied. ### [c4.57](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.57) ¹ \*Bṛh. Ār. Up.\*, iii. 1, 2. ### [c4.58](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.58) ² \*Chhānd. Up.\*, viii. 15, 1. ### [c4.59](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.59) It seems to have been the custom in those days for students sometimes to travel far and wide³ in order to attach themselves to celebrated teachers. Renowned teachers also itinerated from place to place,⁴ and there were those to whom pupils came from all sides ‘as waters run downwards, as the months go to the year’.⁵ As a rule, however, a student remained in the house of his teacher till the conclusion of his studies, when he entered upon married life. On his dismissal the pupil received admonition from his teacher. ‘After⁶ having taught the Veda, the teacher instructs the pupil: “Say what is true! Do thy duty! Do not neglect the study of the Veda! After having brought to thy teacher his proper reward, do not cut off the line of children! Do not swerve from the truth! Do not swerve from duty! Do not neglect what is useful! Do not neglect greatness! Do not neglect the learning and teaching of the Veda!”’ etc. ### [c4.60](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.60) ³ \*Bṛh. Ār. Up.\*, iii. 3, 1; iii. 7, 1. ### [c4.61](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.61) ⁴ \*Kaush. Up.\*, iv. 1. ### [c4.62](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.62) ⁵ \*Taitt. Up.\*, i, 4, 3. ### [c4.63](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.63) ⁶ \*Ibid.\*, i, 11. ### [c4.64](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.64) In some cases, however, the student might choose to become a life-long pupil of his teacher,⁷ and in others to retire to the woods as a forest hermit, or \*vānaprastha\*.⁸ ### [c4.65](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.65) ⁷ \*Bṛh. Ār. Up.\*, ii. 23, 2. ### [c4.66](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.66) ⁸ \*Chhānd. Up.\*, ii. 23, 1. ### [c4.67](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.67) The \*Upanishads\* show us the theory of the four \*āśramas\*, or stages of life, in process of formation. The word \*āśrama\* (from the root \*śram\*, to exert oneself, or to perform austerities) means first of all a place where austerities are performed, or a hermitage, and secondly, the action of performing austerities. So the period of studentship of the \*brahmachārī\* was regarded as a time of discipline, or an \*āśrama\*. But the Brāhmanical system tended to extend the idea of \*āśrama\* over the whole life. Thus after the period of studentship a young man might enter upon the second stage, that of a \*gṛihastha\*, or householder. Then after having brought up a family and done his duty in the world he could enter upon the life of a \*vānaprastha\*, or forest hermit, and later became a \*sannyāsī\*, or wandering ascetic, who had separated himself from all attachment to the world, and having attained the knowledge of the \*Ātman\*, waited only for death to bring about his final emancipation. But this complete theory of four \*āśramas\* was not worked out all at once. In the \*Upanishads\* we see only its beginnings. Thus in one passage in the \*Chhāndogya Upanishad\* there is mention of only the student and the householder, while in another² passage the asceticism (\*tapas\*) of the hermit is mentioned along with these as a third branch of duty. They are not, however, regarded so much as a progressive series as alternatives.³ These passages also refer only to three \*āśramas\*, and contrast with them the man who knows the \*Ātman\*. The position of the latter came in course of time to be regarded as a fourth \*āśrama\*. It was not, however, till much later times that the third and fourth were clearly separated, and the complete theory of the four stages worked out. When this was done the whole of life was looked upon as an education for the life beyond with four distinct stages, of which the life of studentship was only the first, though we cannot tell to what extent the practice corresponded to the theory, and it would seem likely that the ideal was never fully attained except by the few. ### [c4.68](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.68) ² \*Ibid.\*, ii. 23, 2. ### [c4.69](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.69) ³ See also passages in \*Bṛih. Ār. Up.\*, iv. 4, 22; iii. 5, 1; iii. 8, 10. ### [c4.70](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.70) In the early Vedic schools it seems that instruction was confined to young Brāhmans, and was regarded mainly as a preparation for their future vocation as priests, but at some time before 500 B.C. the education of the young Kshatriyas and Vaiśyas had also come under Brāhman control, and in their case was an opportunity of inculcating in their minds the necessary directions for all their future life. It became also the exclusive privilege of the Brāhmans to give this instruction, and this marks the growing influence of the priesthood. The ceremony of initiation and investiture with the sacred thread came to be regarded for all the Aryan youth as the preliminary to school life. The three castes which had this privilege, namely, the Brāhmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaiśyas, were called dvija, or ‘twice-born’, because the ceremony of initiation was looked upon as a second birth. ### [c4.71](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.71) ¹ \*Chhānd. Up.\*, viii. 15, 1. ### [c4.72](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.72) By the time, then, that the various portions of the Veda had been completed, Brāhmanic education was not only of long standing, but was highly organized, and the literature of the next period shows elaborate rules formed for its regulation. This literature is known as the Sūtras, and came into being from about 600 to 200 B.C. The sacred books which had to be mastered by the student had increased to a huge bulk, and it was necessary to condense their teaching into some convenient form. Sūtras, or ‘threads’, consist of aphorisms, or pithy phrases, in which condensation and brevity have been carried out to such an extent that the result is often an obscurity which can only be explained by a commentary. There was a saying that the saving of one syllable in a Sūtra gave more pleasure than the birth of a son, the force of which can only be understood when we remember how important it was considered that every Hindu should have a son to succeed him and perform the sacrificial rites after his death. The rules which applied to education are contained in the Dharma¹ Sūtras. Dharma is ‘one² of the most comprehensive and important terms in the whole of Sanskrit literature’. It includes the ideas of sacred law and duty, justice, religious merit, religion, and morality. It is applied to the established practice or custom of any caste or community. That which a man is expected to do because of his position in life or his caste is his \*dharma\*. During the early centuries of Brāhmanic education the \*dharma\* relating to education as well as to other matters had been gradually formed, and we have already seen something of this process going on. The composition of the Sūtras helped to fix the \*dharma\* and so to stereotype a great deal of the social system, including the educational theory and practice of the schools. The oldest existing \*Dharma Sūtras\* are considered by scholars to be those of Gautama, and their date is supposed to be about 500 B.C.¹ The \*Dharma Sūtras\* contain regulations relating to social life, and amongst other things have many rules dealing with the duties of teachers and students. It must be remembered, of course, that these rules, though composed about 500 B.C., give an account of practice which must have been still more ancient. There are other extant \*Dharma Sūtras\*, besides those of Gautama, \*e.g.\* those of Āpastamba, Vasistha, and Baudhāyana, which probably come a little later, and the great Law Book of India, the Code of Manu, is a metrical work, supposed by scholars to date from about 200 A.D., but to be based upon a much older \*Mānava Dharma Sūtra\*,² which is no longer extant. ### [c4.73](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.73) ¹ Also in the Gṛihya Sūtras. ### [c4.74](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.74) ² See E.R.E., vol. iv., p. 702, article on ‘Dharma’, by J. Jolly. ### [c4.75](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.75) ¹ Macdonell, \*Sans. Lit.\*, p. 260. ### [c4.76](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.76) ² \*Ibid.\*, p. 428. ### [c4.77](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.77) There were many sacred rites or sacraments (\*saṃskāras\*) to be performed from the time of conception onwards. The \*upanayana\*, or initiation ceremony, was that sacrament by which a lad of the three ‘twice-born’ castes entered upon studentship. Gautama says,³ ‘The initiation of a Brāhman shall ordinarily take place in his eighth year. (It may also be performed) in the ninth or fifth (years) for the fulfilment of (some particular) wish. The number of years (is to be calculated) from conception. That (initiation) is the second birth. . . . The initiation of a Kshatriya (shall ordinarily take place) in the eleventh (year after conception), and that of a Vaiśya in the twelfth. Up to the sixteenth year the time for the sāvitrī (initiation) of a Brāhman has not passed. Nor (for the initation) of a Kshatriya up to the twentieth (year). (And the limit for that) of a Vaiśya (extends) two years beyond (the latter term).’ The other Sūtras contain similar regulations. The age fixed was no doubt regarded as the ideal to be aimed at, though we see that considerable latitude was provided for. A young Brāhman was thus about seven years of age (according to our reckoning) when he entered upon the obligations of studentship, and this age is that which has been considered a suitable one by many educationists. It was expressly provided in a later verse that a child should not be made to recite Vedic verses before initiation ;¹ but whether this excluded all study cannot be said. Why a later age was provided for Kshatriyas and Vaiśyas to commence their studies is not quite clear. They were, of course, not expected to attain to the same proficiency in the Vedic sciences as the young Brāhman, as he alone could perform the sacrificial ritual, and certain portions of the sacred knowledge were reserved for him, and their course was therefore, it may be supposed, not expected to last as long as his. But in this case we should have expected them to have started at the same time and to have left their studentship at an earlier age, especially as they had also to learn their own particular crafts. It seems probable, however, that the difference in age was to emphasize the supposed intellectual superiority of the Brāhman, who was thus ready to begin the study at a younger age than his non-Brāhman fellows. ### [c4.78](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.78) ³ Gautama, i. 5-14. ### [c4.79](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.79) ¹ Gautama, ii. 5. ### [c4.80](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.80) There were regulations for the clothing of those who had become students.² The girdle or sacred cord worn after initiation varied in material according to the caste. For the Brāhman it was to be of munja grass; for the Kshatriya, a bowstring; and for the Vaiśya, a woollen or hempen thread. The upper garments were to be skins of animals, again varying according to caste, and respectively, the skin of a black buck, a spotted deer, or a he-goat. For lower garments hemp, flax, or wool, or the inner bark of a certain tree were prescribed. Gautama says that these under-garments might also be of undyed cotton cloth, but if dyed the garment of a Brāhman should be dyed with red dye from a tree, and those of the other two castes with madder and turmeric respectively. The staves carried also varied according to caste, reaching, in the case of the Brāhman, to the crown of the head; in the case of the Kshatriya, to the forehead; and in the case of the Vaiśya, to the tip of the nose. The hair might be shaved or worn braided on the top, or there might be merely one lock left on the crown. The arrangement of hair was probably regulated by the custom of the family, school, or country. ### [c4.81](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.81) ² Ibid., i. 15-27. ### [c4.82](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.82) Having accepted the position of student by the rite of initiation, to which we have already referred, the pupil was received into the household of his teacher. Sometimes, of course, the teacher might be his own father. But although he was thus made, as it were, a member of his teacher's family, and the teacher was bidden to love him as his own son, the pupil was subjected to a rigid discipline during his course of study. The length of the course varied according to the number of Vedas studied. ‘He shall remain a student for twelve years in order to study one Veda. Or if he studies all the Vedas, twelve years for each. Or during as long a period as he requires for learning them.’¹ Thus, if all four Vedas were studied, the length of the course might be forty-eight years! Some of the authorities only recognize three Vedas (excluding the Atharvaveda), but even thirty-six years seems a long enough course even for the most enthusiastic. A great part of the work consisted of the committal to memory of the sacred texts and other writings, and the enormous bulk of these must have necessitated a long period of study. It seems hardly possible to believe that more than a few students continued their studies as long as even thirty-six years. Probably most were satisfied with the twelve years required for studying one Veda, and the twelve years prescribed for each of the Vedas may have been intended to emphasize their importance. Megasthenes, the Greek who visited India about 300 B.C., refers, however, to the Indian student spending thirty-seven years in study. The length of the annual term to be spent in Veda study was four and a half or five and a half months each year, and began usually at the full moon of the month Śrāvaṇa (July-Aug.)¹ It thus came during the rainy and cold seasons when the heat is less intense. Numerous holidays were also allowed, such as the new-moon and full-moon, days of certain months and other days which were set apart for various religious ceremonies. The authorities have also a long list of restrictions,² which prohibit the reading of the Veda when certain occurrences take place, as, for instance, when the wind whirls up dust in the daytime, or when the wind is audible at night, when the sound of a drum or of a chariot or of a person in pain is heard, when there is the barking of dogs and jackals, or the chattering of monkeys, when the sky was a brilliant red, or there was a rainbow, etc., etc. Some of these restrictions were no doubt dictated by superstition, others because the various sounds or phenomena betokened impending danger or discomfort, or because their distraction was not conducive to study. But all these possible hindrances must have reduced the actual time spent in learning. ### [c4.83](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.83) ¹ Gautama, ii. 45-47. ### [c4.84](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.84) ¹ Gautama, xvi. i, 2 ### [c4.85](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.85) ² \*Ibid.\*, xvi. ### [c4.86](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.86) The pupil was under certain obligations towards the teacher. In the first place, he was to remain with the teacher so long as his course lasted, and not to dwell with anybody else.¹ From the \*Upanishads\* one gets the impression that students sometimes wandered from teacher to teacher, but if that were so it must either have been irregular, or else was found to be attended with abuses, and afterwards restricted. ### [c4.87](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.87) ¹ Gautama, iii. 5. ### [c4.88](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.88) Certain menial services had to be performed by the pupil for his teacher. This included the fetching of water and collecting fuel, and sweeping the place round the fire. Begging for his food was also a duty which the student had to perform.² Food might be accepted from men of all castes except ‘Abhiśastas and outcastes’. ³ It was to be demanded if possible from strangers, but if no alms were to be obtained in that way the student might beg in the houses of his relations or even of his teacher.⁴ When he returned from his begging tour the student had to announce to his teacher what he had received, and after receiving his permission he might eat according to the prescribed rules, ‘in silence, contented, and without greed’.⁵ In the Middle Ages in Europe we read of some students in the universities subsisting by means of begging; but India far surpassed that by making it a rule for all students, and even under modern conditions it is not at all uncommon for students to find their support in this way. ### [c4.89](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.89) ² Āpastamba, i. 1. ### [c4.90](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.90) ³ Gautama, ii. 35. ### [c4.91](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.91) ⁴ \*Ibid.\*, ii 37. ### [c4.92](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.92) ⁵ \*Ibid.\*, ii. 39-41. ### [c4.93](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.93) Rigid rules were laid down for the conduct of pupils. These included hygienic, moral, and religious precepts and the regulation of good manners. It was his duty to bathe daily, and to avoid ⁶ ‘honey, meat, perfumes, garlands, sleep in the daytime, ointments, collyrium, a carriage, shoes, a parasol, love, anger, covetousness, perplexity, garrulity, playing musical instruments, bathing (for mere pleasure), cleaning the teeth, elation, dancing, singing, calumny, and terror’, and all pungent foods. In the presence of his teacher he must not cover his throat, cross his legs, or lean against a wall, or stretch out his feet.¹ ‘Tongue, arms, and stomach’ were to be kept in subjection.² Spitting, laughing, yawning, and cracking the joints of the fingers were also forbidden.³ He was enjoined always to speak the truth, and to avoid bitter speeches.⁴ He was always to speak in a respectful manner of superiors.⁵ Gambling, ‘low service’ (perhaps menial service other than that prescribed), taking things not offered, and injuring animate beings were also unlawful for a student.⁶ All Brāhmans were forbidden to use spirituous liquors.⁷ Chastity was strictly enjoined, and the student was not even to gaze at or touch women.⁸ In the morning and evening the pupil was bidden to perform his devotions outside the village. ‘Silent he shall stand during the former, and sit during the latter, from (the time when one) light (is still visible) until (the other) light (appears).’⁹ Oblations were also to be offered morning and evening to the sacred fire.¹⁰ ### [c4.94](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.94) ⁶ \*Ibid.\*, ii. 13; Manu, ii. 177, 178. ### [c4.95](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.95) ¹ Gautama, ii. 14. ### [c4.96](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.96) ² \*Ibid.\*, ii. 22. ### [c4.97](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.97) ³ \*Ibid.\*, ii. 15. ### [c4.98](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.98) ⁴ \*Ibid.\*, ii. 19 ; Manu, ii. 179. ### [c4.99](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.99) ⁵ Gautama, ii. 24. ### [c4.100](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.100) ⁶ \*Ibid.\*, ii. 17. ### [c4.101](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.101) ⁷ \*Ibid.\*, ii. 20. ### [c4.102](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.102) ⁸ \*Ibid.\*, ii. 16. ### [c4.103](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.103) ⁹ \*Ibid.\*, ii. 11. ### [c4.104](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.104) ¹⁰ \*Ibid.\*, ii. 8. ### [c4.105](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.105) There were rules also for the respect due from pupil to teacher. Strict obedience was enjoined unless the teacher ordered the pupil to commit crimes which involved loss of caste.¹¹ The pupil was on no account to contradict the teacher, and was always to occupy a seat or couch lower than the teacher.¹² He was always to rise in the morning before his teacher was up, and retire to rest at night after him.¹³ If spoken to by the teacher he must, if lying or sitting, rise from his couch or seat before he answered, and when called by the teacher was to approach him even though he could not see him. If he saw the teacher standing or sitting in a lower place, or to the leeward or to the windward, he was to rise and change his position.¹ If the teacher walked, the student was to walk after him.² The teacher’s name was not to be pronounced by the pupil, but if it was necessary to indicate it the pupil must do so by using a synonymous term.³ Every morning the feet of the teacher were to be embraced by the pupil.⁴ There were also rules enjoining respect for the sons and wives and other relatives of the teacher. In Manu these rules are even further elaborated.⁵ ### [c4.106](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.106) ¹¹ Āpastamba, i. 1. ### [c4.107](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.107) ¹² \*Ibid.\* ### [c4.108](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.108) ¹³ Gautama, ii. 21. ### [c4.109](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.109) ¹ Gautama, ii. 25-27. ### [c4.110](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.110) ² \*Ibid.\*, ii. 28. ### [c4.111](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.111) ³ \*Ibid.\*, ii. 18, 23. ### [c4.112](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.112) ⁴ \*Ibid.\*, i. 52. ### [c4.113](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.113) ⁵ See Manu, ch. ii. ### [c4.114](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.114) The teacher was also under obligation to fulfil his duty towards the pupil. Not only was he to love him as his own son, but he was to give him full attention in the teaching of the sacred science, and withhold no part of it from him.⁶ He was not to use the pupil for his own purposes except in times of distress. After the rite of initiation has been performed his first duty was to instruct the pupil in the rules of personal purification, of conduct, of the fire worship, and of the twilight devotions. There is a passage in Manu⁷ referring to the behaviour of the teacher towards his pupil which contains some excellent advice. It runs as follows:— ### [c4.115](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.115) ⁶ Āpastamba, i. 2. ### [c4.116](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.116) ⁷ Manu, ii. 159-161. ### [c4.117](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.117) ‘Created beings must be instructed in what concerns their welfare without giving them pain, and sweet and gentle speech must be used by a teacher who desires to abide by the sacred law. He, forsooth, whose speech and thoughts are pure and ever perfectly guarded, gains the whole reward which is conferred by the Vedānta. Let him not, even though in pain, speak words cutting others to the quick; let him not injure others in thought or deed; let him not utter speeches which make others afraid of him, since that will prevent him from gaining heaven.’ ### [c4.118](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.118) These old-time teachers seem to have been against harsh punishments. Gautama says,¹ ‘As a rule the pupil shall not be punished corporally. If no other course is possible he may be corrected with a thin rope or cane. If the teacher strikes him with any other instrument he shall be punished by the king’. Manu also allows² that a pupil who has committed faults ‘may be beaten with a rope or split bamboo, but on the back part of the body only, never on a noble part; he who strikes them otherwise will incur the same guilt as a thief’. Āpastamba, however, allows³ as punishments, ‘frightening, fasting, bathing in cold water, and banishment from the teacher’s presence’. ### [c4.119](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.119) ¹ Gautama, ii. 42-44. ### [c4.120](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.120) ² Manu, viii. 299, 300. ### [c4.121](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.121) ³ Āpastamba, i. 2. ### [c4.122](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.122) It was considered a duty for Brāhmans to teach, and all the time the pupil was under instruction the teacher was forbidden to accept a fee. When, however, the course was ended, it was the duty of the pupil to offer a present to his preceptor. Except possibly in the case of rich pupils it could never have been in any sense an adequate remuneration for services performed. Manu says,⁴ ‘He who knows the sacred law must not present any gift to his teacher before the \*samāvartana\* (rite performed by student on returning home); but when, with the permission of his teacher, he is about to take the (final) bath, let him procure a present for the venerable man according to his ability, viz. a field, a cow, a horse, a parasol and shoes, a seat, grain, even vegetables, and thus give pleasure to his teacher’. ### [c4.123](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.123) ⁴ Manu, ii. 245, 246. ### [c4.124](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.124) After the course was completed the pupil performed certain bathing ceremonies, and was called a \*snātaka\*, that is, one who has bathed, and he was now ready to enter upon another of the four \*āśramas\*. In most cases he would marry and become a \*grihastha\*, but some passed at once to the state of a \*vānaprastha\* or \*sannyāsī\*. ### [c4.125](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.125) The foregoing account shows us an interesting and pleasing picture of the life of pupil and teacher in India dating back to many centuries before Christ. The pupil was under a somewhat rigorous discipline, but there was nothing harsh or brutal about it, and a high ideal of moral life and character was held before both pupil and teacher. The latter had no mercenary motive to impel him to teach, but was to perform his office solely as a duty which he owed towards others and his pupil in particular; and the pupil, on the other hand, was trained to a simple life, whether he was rich or poor, and habits of discipline, reverence, and self-respect were inculcated. ### [c4.126](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.126) Coming now to the actual teaching Gautama tells us as follows ¹:— ### [c4.127](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.127) ¹ Gautama, i. 46 ff. ### [c4.128](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.128) ‘Taking hold with his right hand of the left hand of his teacher, but leaving the thumb free, the pupil shall address his teacher, saying, “Venerable Sir, recite!” He shall fix his eyes and his mind on the teacher. He shall touch with \*kuśa\* grass the seat of the vital airs (\*i.e.\* the organs of sense located in his head). He shall thrice restrain his breath for the space of fifteen moments. And he shall seat himself on blades of \*kuśa\* grass the tops of which are turned to the east. The five \*vyāhṛitis\* (\*i.e.\* the mystic words \*Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ, Satyam,\* and \*Puruṣaḥ\*) must each be preceded by the syllable \*Ōm\* and with \*Satya\*. Every morning the feet of the teacher must be embraced by the pupil. And both at the beginning and at the end of a lesson in the Veda. After having received permission, the pupil shall sit down to the right of his teacher, turning his face towards the east or towards the north, and the \*sāvitrī\* must be recited. All these acts must be performed at the beginning of the instruction in the Veda. The syllable \*Ōm\* must precede the recitation of other parts of the Veda also.’ ### [c4.129](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4.129) Meaningless and trivial as many of these regulations seem to us, they were no doubt regarded as of great value by those who used them in those far-off days. They must have been intended to emphasize the great solemnity of the work in which pupil and teacher were engaged, and to impress upon the pupil the mysterious sacredness which was supposed to characterize the knowledge which was being passed on to him by his teacher. The first and foremost object which the teacher had before him was to hand down to the pupil the exact contents of the sacred books as he himself had received them, as well as of those sacrificial and other rules which it was necessary for the young Brāhman to know in order to perform his priestly functions. _First 129 of 197 passages. [Read on](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4)_ ## Linked texts (25) - [Gautamadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.gautama.2.5) — Gautama (dharmasūtrakāra), Sanskrit - [Chāndogyopaniṣad](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.upanisad.mukhya.chandogya.5.3.5) — Sanskrit - [Mānava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu.2.177) — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit - [Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.upanisad.mukhya.brhadaranyaka.6.2.4) — Sanskrit - [Āpastambadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.apastamba.1.1) — Āpastamba, Sanskrit - [Ṛgvedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.rg.7.103) — Sanskrit - [Kauṣītakibrāhmaṇopaniṣad](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.upanisad.mukhya.kausitaki.1.1) — Sanskrit - [Taittirīyopaniṣad](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.upanisad.mukhya.taittiriya.1.4.3) — Sanskrit - [Śatapathabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.satapatha.3.2.1.24) — Yājñavalkya & Śāṇḍilya (Vedic teacher), Sanskrit - [Taittirīyabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.taittiriya.3.10.11.3) — Sanskrit - [Baudhāyanadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.baudhayana.1.1) — Baudhāyana, Sanskrit - [Vasiṣṭhadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.vasistha.3.20) — Vasiṣṭha, Sanskrit - [Muṇḍakopaniṣad](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.upanisad.mukhya.mundaka.1.2.12) — Sanskrit - [Atharvavedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.atharva.11.5) — Atharvan & Aṅgiras, Sanskrit - [Śvetāśvataropaniṣad](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.upanisad.mukhya.svetasvatara.6.23) — Śvetāśvatara, Sanskrit - [Aṣṭādhyāyī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.vyakarana.astadhyayi) — Pāṇini, Sanskrit - [Gobhilagṛhyasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.grhya.gobhila) — Gobhila, Sanskrit - [Tibetan translation ('Chi med mdzod)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.kosa.paryaya.amarakosa*bo) — Classical Tibetan - [Upaniṣad](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.upanisad) — Sanskrit - [Hāritadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.harita) — Hārīta, Sanskrit - [Takṣaśilā](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.taxila) - [Nālandā](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.nalanda) - [Sringeri](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.sringeri) - [Pur](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.pur) - [Dvārakā](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.dvaraka) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c4) · Pramāṇa