Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c9.1

c9.1

In the previous chapters some account has been given of the various systems of education which have been in vogue in India in bygone ages. Many traces and relics of these ancient systems are still indeed to be found in India, and some parts of them at least are still in full working order. But the progress and spread of education on Western lines has curtailed their activity to a very large extent, and tends more and more to limit the spheres within which they are operative. Few countries, and certainly no Western ones, have had systems of education which have had such a long and continuous history with so few modifications as some of the educational systems of India. The long centuries through which they have held sway show that they must have possessed elements which were of value, and that they were not unsuited to the needs of those who developed and adopted them. They produced many great men and earnest seekers after truth, and their output on the intellectual side is by no means inconsiderable. They developed many noble educational ideals, which are a valuable contribution to educational thought and practice. But the early vigour, which showed itself in the great contributions which India made to the science of grammar and mathematics and philosophy and other subjects, had long since spent itself when that momentous change began, which was brought about by the introduction of Western education and learning. The Brāhmanic educational system had become stereotyped and formal and unable to meet the needs of a progressive civilization. We have then to seek for the causes of its decay and failure and the reasons why it was unsuitable for present-day conditions in India. But we must also seek to understand what elements of permanent value it possessed and what contributions it has to make to the educational thought of the world in general and India in particular. In considering these questions we shall be most concerned with the Brāhmanic system and the education of special classes of the Hindu community which were more or less connected with it, as this is the oldest system, and also that which has had most effect upon India as a whole. Buddhist education was an offshoot from the Brāhmanic education, and very closely connected with it in ideals and practice; while the Muhammadan education was a foreign system which was transplanted to India, and grew up in its new soil with very little connection with, or influence upon, the Brāhmanic system, and was, with a few exceptions, open only to that minority of the population which embraced the Muhammadan faith.