Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c31.25

c31.25

The entire daily conduct of the pupil is inspected by the teacher who "warns him of defects and transgressions. Whenever he finds his pupil faulty he makes him seek remedies and repent" (ib.). The pupil serves his teacher as best as he may, such as rubbing his body, folding his clothes, and sweeping the apartment and the yard. "Thus, if there be anything to be done, he does all on behalf of his teacher. This is the manner in which one pays respect to one's superior." But the spirit of this loving and devoted service was met by its due response: for instance, "in case of a pupil's illness, his teacher himself nurses him, supplies all the medicines needed, and pays attention to him as if he were his child" (ib.). Thus the entire system of Indian education, whether Brahmanical or Buddhist, was based upon the principle of a personal touch or relationship between the teacher and the taught, whether the sphere of its working lay in the individual household of the teacher or in the collective establishment of a monastery. Both the domestic and monastic systems of education worked upon the basis of a common pedagogic principle, though they differed as regards the manner of its application as determined by their respective backgrounds or environments.