Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c28.12

c28.12

**Sacrifice of Parents for their Sons' Education.** Sending their sons a thousand miles away from home bespeaks the great concern felt by their parents in their proper education. It is like Indian parents sending their sons abroad for highest education. But in those pre-mechanical ages, when travelling was not easy or quick, the parents considered themselves fortunate if they could live to see their sons back home after completing their education. As shown in the case of the medical student, Jīvaka, the course of study at Taxila extended to as many as seven years. Jātaka No. 252 records how parents felt if they could see their sons return home after graduation at Taxila (*diṭṭhyā me jīvamānena putto diṭṭho*).