Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c13.36

c13.36

**Variety of Educational Institutions.** Pāṇini indicates the variety of institutions in the country through which its learning and culture were promoted. There were firstly, of course, the schools proper of the residential type where the householder-teacher would regulate the life and studies of a number of boarder-pupils he could conveniently manage. But, as has been already explained in some of the earlier chapters, the precise character of the work of these schools cannot be properly appreciated without a reference to their social and cultural background. We must view them not by themselves as isolated institutions out of touch with the larger life of the community but as parts of the entire organization of learning and culture which the country developed. That organization was made up of several typically Indian institutions which were known as *Kula*, *Gotra*, *Charaṇa*, and *Parishad*. We have already dealt with the distinctive character, scope, and functions of these institutions and are here concerned only with what we may know of them from the Pāṇinean literature. It is, however, to be noted once again that these institutions are primarily concerned and connected with the social life of the community, but they have certain important cultural and educational aspects which cannot be ignored.