Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c17.72

c17.72

In the *Rāmāyaṇa* [i, 80, 27 ff.], the list of subjects the king is expected to study includes Dhanurveda, Veda, Nītiśāstra and the art (śikshā) of elephants and cars, besides the arts of painting (Ālekhya), writing (Lekhya), jumping (laṅghana), and swimming (plavana). In another passage we have mention of Writing and Numbers [(*lekhya-saṁkhyā*), ib., 80, 4 (cf. ii, 2, 6)], of fine arts (Gandharvavidyā), logic (Nyāya), polity (Nītiśāstra), etc.