Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c5.99

c5.99

Thus the education of the young craftsman in India was entirely vocational, and even narrowly so. Though the religious side of the boy’s education was not neglected, on the literary side it was very defective, and except for any treatises he might have to commit to memory in connection with his craft, he would have nothing but such scraps of folk-lore, mythology, and epic and other stories that might be handed down in the family, or related as the villagers gathered for gossip and discussion in the evenings, or taught by some wandering mendicant or temple priest. Yet as a vocational education it was not lacking in elements that made it really valuable. The affectionate and family relationship between teacher and pupils, the absence of artificiality in the instruction, and the opportunity and encouragement to produce really good work which the protection of the guild or caste gave—these were not without their influence in helping to build up a spirit of good craftsmanship, which was responsible for the production of really fine work.