Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c11.s4.42

c11.s4.42

**Period of Studentship.** The period of studentship was normally fixed at twelve years. Śvetaketu returned home after spending twelve years with his preceptor [*Chhānd.*, vi, 1, 2]. Upakosala Kāmalāyana "dwelt as a Brahmachārin in the house of Satyakāma Jābāla and tended his fires for twelve years" [ib., iv, 10, 1]. There also seem to have been longer terms than twelve years. Satyakāma Jābāla spent "a series of years" with his preceptor during which "four hundred cows had become a thousand" [iv, 4, 5]. The *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* [xxii, 9] tells of a student named Nābhānedishṭha who had been absent from home on *brahmacharya* under his teacher for such a long time that his father divided up his property among his other sons in the meanwhile. Studentship for thirty-two years is also mentioned (*Chhānd.*, viii, 7, 3] and also for 101 years [ib., 11, 3].