Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c9.4

c9.4

The underlying conception of all this philosophic thought which had such a profound influence upon Indian education was the doctrine of transmigration of souls and of *karma*. According to this doctrine the result of all actions, good or bad, has to be reaped in this life or in a life to come, and our present life is governed by our actions in a previous life. So long as there are actions the fruits of which have to be reaped, a man is condemned to be born and reborn in different forms of life, ascending or descending in the scale, and this weary round of existence goes on unceasingly unless a man can in some way obtain release and cut the chain of transmigration. This doctrine, in slightly different forms, is held by all the recognized philosophical schools of Hinduism, as well as by Buddhism and Jainism, and the main purpose of their philosophy was to discover the true way by which deliverance might be accomplished. In some phases of Indian philosophy the World is regarded as an illusion, or *Māyā*, and the only real existence is an impersonal Unknown, or Brahman. We are not here concerned with the truth or otherwise of these philosophic conceptions, nor with the various ways which were set forth for the obtaining of salvation, but it must be observed that their influence upon the intellectual life of India was such as to turn intellectual effort almost entirely in one direction, and other studies were regarded as chiefly of value in preparation for, and as leading up to, these higher truths. There was thus a cramping of thought, and although there were not wanting those who gave their attention to other branches of learning, many of the most earnest and brilliant of Indian scholars spent their life in speculating upon these philosophic conceptions. The spirit of other-worldliness which thus gained a hold upon the Brāhmanic schools made them more and more out of touch with the ordinary life of the world, and helped to make them unfit to mould the Indian peoples in the paths of progress and general culture.