Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c9.11

c9.11

The very idea, moreover, of each man being born to perform certain functions in life according to his caste tended to a narrowing of the purpose of education, and to its being regarded as chiefly concerned with preparing a boy to fulfil the duties of his particular occupation in life. Thus while, on the one hand, the underlying philosophic thought tended towards a spirit of other-worldliness and to education being conceived as a preparation for what lay beyond this life, on the other hand it tended towards a narrow vocationalism, and those especially who were shut out from the study of the Vedas and the higher philosophical thought received little direct religious education, and their training was confined to the acquisition of those subjects or mechanical arts which they needed for their caste occupation. Thus for the mass of the people education came to be regarded from a narrowly utilitarian point of view, and when the popular elementary schools grew up to provide for the need of simple instruction for the commercial and agricultural classes, they also, like the caste training, were largely utilitarian in their outlook. Even the Brāhmanic schools often tended to become utilitarian, and those who attended them were often aiming at gaining just that knowledge which would enable them to earn their livelihood, either in connection with the performance of religious rites for the people, or in the service of the State. It is not, of course, to be understood that there was no religious basis for the education of those who were not aiming at the life of absolute renunciation of the world. Far from it. The deeply religious nature of the Indian peoples has led them to surround all actions of life with religious associations, and even those who were shut out from the study of the Vedas had their religious rites. These indeed often were connected with the grossest idolatry and superstition, which became, however, parts of the Hindu system, and the very fact that the highest ideals were possible only for the few gave these lower forms of religion a greater opportunity to spread amongst the people.