Development:- Man
is the most intellectual being in the creation. He is endowed with the power to
receive knowledge, to think, to imagine, reflect & speculate about his past
as well as his future. Down through the ages knowledge has been handed down
from the matter of this master to discipline & this master to discipline
& thus from generation to the next. In this hierarchy of education, the
Vedas are the first to revealed, the other being evolved from them.
Max Muller said, " one thing is certain namely, that there is nothing more
primitive more ancient that the rymus of the Rig Veda, whether in India or in
whole Aryan world. Being Aryan in language they thought, the rig Veda is the
most ancient of our books.
Vedic education is the mirror of all the edul. System of culture of India lies
in the Vedas. There are four Vedas in number:-
Rig Veda
Sam Veda
Yajur Veda
Athar Veda.
Silent
feature of Vedic education:-
1). Source
of light:- In Vedic period education Was considered as a source of light
of illumination which enlightens an individual in all walks of life. It was
only education that truth could be perceived & wisdom could be attained.
Vedas where the source of all knowledge and man could understand Vedas. The
person who does not have the light of education may be termed as blind.
2). Knowledge the third eye:- According to Vedas, education in knowledge.
It is the man's third eye. It means that knowledge opens inner eye, flooding
him with spiritual and divine life, which forms the provision for man's journey
through life. Knowledge protects an individual like a mother, inspires him to
follow the path of good conduct as a father does.
3). Agency of improvement:- The illumination as described will bring a
complete change in the person & this change is for the better education
makes us civilized, refined, polished & cultured. This transformation of a
beast to cultured human being occurs because education teaches us to be neat
& clean.
4). Not merely book learning:- Illumination is them contral concept of
education. It does not mean that it has always to come from books. Thus
education is not merely book learning.
Objectives of vedic education:-
In Vedic period, education has an idealistic form, in which the teachers laid
stress upon worship of god, religiousness, spiritually, formation of character,
development of personality, creation of an interest, for the development of
culture, nation, and society. D.R Altekar writes, " the objectives of
education in Vedic period where worship of god, a feeling for religion fulfillment
of public & civic duties, an increase in social efficiency & protection
& propagation of national culture." The prominent aim of Vedic
education can be given as under:-
1). Physical and intellectual development:- people in vedic India believed
that strong mind could only be in a strong body. So, a strong body was
considered to be absolutely necessary in warldly as well as religious matter.
Education was imported in the open & parnayan & Surya namskar were it's
regular features. A student has to remain Bramhochari upto the age of twenty
five. All through this period he had to lead to a very regular hard &
disciplined life. This physical development was followed by intellectual
development. A person who did not possess knowledge was considered to be blind
intellectually knowledge of four Vedas. ( Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Yajur Veda, &
Atharva Veda).
2). Religious & spiritually:-Besides physical & intellectual
development, education, must develop moral & spiritual faculties. Religion
has play a dominant role in the life of Indians. Education must make the
students religious minded. They must also have a sense of piety. A spiritual
atmosphere prevouled in the centre of education because of the presence of
selfless, humble, religious minded, but talented teachers. During this period
many hypothesis concerning spiritually took birth knowledge come to be seen as
the instrument of salvation. Fire, sacrifices, fasting, taking of vocus became
a part of life.
3). Emphasis upon knowledge & experiences:- The Gurkul's laid emphasis
upon knowledge obtaining of experiences. During this period, the practice of
distributing degrees did not exist. Students exhibited the knowledge obtained
through discourses and discussions conducted in a concourse of scholars.
4). Sublimation of instinct:- Man is the virtual slave of the instincts
embedded in his psyche, & when he is obsessed by his senses, he often
adopts the wrong path. The objective of education was to sublimate these
instinctive tendencies, to turn the mind away from material knowledge, &
centre it upon the spiritual world, thus establishing control over
materialistic & basic tendencies.
5). Preservation and spread of culture:- Vedic education also aimed at
preserving & transmitting the best traditions of thought and actions, manners
& vocations of the past.
6). Promotion of social efficiency happiness:- It also mind at promotion
of social efficiency &happiness. Proper training was given to the rising
generation in different branches of knowledge, professions & industries.
Every individual was trained for the vocation, he was expected to follow so
that he might became a socially efficient & useful person.
7). Development of character & personality:- Development of character
& personality was another aim of Vedic Indian education. It was achieved
through an appropriate environment, lessens on right conduct & teachings
based on the life, character & ideals of great persons. Education aimed at
developing the virtues of self - control, self - confidence, self - discipline,
obidence, love, sympathy, co - operation, logical Judgment, fulfillment of
social responsibilities & earning a livelihood.
8). Immediate and ultimate answer:- The immediate aim of education was to
prepare the different castes of people for their actual needs of life. The
ultimate of education in Vedic India was not knowledge as preparation for life
in this world or life beyond, but for complete realization of self for
liberation of the soul from letters of life, both present & future. The
ultimate aim of human society of that age was the achievement of the absolute
(brahama) education naturally was bound to be geared to that end. Achieving
salvation was the ultimate aim of human life & this is the consequences of
the real education.
Curriculum:-
Vedas &
Vedic literature:- During the Vedic - age, education became centered on
religion which is essentially an effect to establish an harmony between man's
total personality and the totality of the universe. The curriculum was
dominated by the study of Vedas and Vedic literature, spiritual and moral
lessens. Hymns of the Vedas were primarily composed by Rishis as an expression
of the inner light for the benefit of man kind. There are four Vedas namely 1
Rig Veda 2 Yajur Veda 3 Sam Veda 4 Atharva Veda.
Vedangas:- It
includes the study of i. siksha ii. Kalpa iii. Nirukta iv. Chandas v. Jyotisha
v. Vyaleama (granner).
Logic:- It
develops the resonsry facilities.
Scheme of
Arts & Crafts (silpa - vidya):- It develops aesthetic sense &
practical skill in construction regarding symmetry, proposition & beauty.
Physical
Education:- Meditation & salvation are possible only when one is
physically healthy. Hence intense physical education was also included in the
curriculum. It built stamina students had to learn riding, wrestling, hunting,
swimming, running, jumping, etc. for developing physical & mental strength,
early marriage was not in practice in Vedic รข€“ age. They strictly observed
celibacy upto a particular age to avoid premature old age & death. (Atharva
Veda).
Professional
&technical subjects:- Some professional and technical subjects like
medicine and surgery, astronomy, Astrology, Mathematics, economics, were given
the importance the curriculum.
Dharma:- It
was also the part & parcel of curriculum.
Meditation:- It
was also included. Hymns of Vedas were composed by Rishis as an expression of
the inner light for the benefit of mankind. This was in fact the main object of
Vedic education. The education of Vedic period was the education of the
complete man.
Student
centered:- A great quality of curriculum of Vedic education was that it
was student centered i.e. according to the educational needs, interests &
aptitudes of the student. the curriculum was planned in such a way that it met
the requirements of every student.
stress on
other worldliness:- Curriculum in Vedic age, laid more stress on other
worldliness. Although provision was made for all the student, yet he was not
prepared for this world, but for the eternal happiness in the other world. The
highest wisdom was to seek release from worldly claim & the highest
knowledge was to acquinted with the method by which self - realization could be
attained.
Methods
of teaching:-
In this
period Verbal education was imported in such a way that it could be preserved
for thousands of years. The hymns were learnt by remembering & they were
realized through meditation. The sounds words to verses were pronounced in
their organized forms. The Acharya, corrected the mistakes of their disciples
by repitation. The people of Vedic age believed that the pronunciation of the
hymns caused sin and destroyed their effect.
The method of mediation was also practiced meditation helped preservation of
the meanings of the mantsas & development of the sound of the disciplines.
The discipline tried to understand the sense and echo of the sense by
meditation of every world of the hymns.
Role of teacher during Vedic period:-
During the Vedic period, the Gurukul method prevailed in which the students
lived in the house of the Guru. The process of education passed through three
stages of comprehension, Meditation, & memory. The Gurukuls were the
centres of education in which education was imparted only by individuals of
characters & ability. The students remained with his Guru for 12 years.
Teachers laid stress on the integral development of the individuals
personality.
Every student was required while residing in the gurukul to serve his teachers
compulsorily. Teacher was a very respectable person who had qualities of head,
& hand. Any violation of Guru's instruction was regarded as a sin &
subject to stern punishment.
The student has to bear the responsibility of feeding both himself & his
teacher D.R Altekar had said that a relation between a student teacher was a
direct one. It did not function through an institution. The duties of the
teacher including teaching, making arrangements for the boarding & hodging
of the students.
Man has started that the prime teachers prime task & moral duty was to
discharge his obligations towards his students. He must not only treat the
students as his own child, he must also impart of him true & complete
knowledge without concealing any knowledge from him.
Conclusion:-
Education system in the Vedic era was of the height & comprehensive. It was
fully capable of development of physical & intellectual & character
development, development of civis, social, moral & spiritual values, social
efficiency & happiness, preservation & spread of culture, infusion of
piety, & religiousness & development of best type of personality
What are
the Main Characteristics or Features of Vedic Education?
Such terms
as knowledge, awakening, humility, modesty, etc. are often used to characterize
education in the Vedic period. Ancient texts refer to the uneducated person as
an ignorant beast. Education is regarded as the source of light. The main
features of Vedic education can be briefly enumerated as follows:
1.
Knowledge, the Third Eye
Education
is knowledge. It is man's third eye. This aphorism means that knowledge opens
man's inner eye, flooding him with spiritual and divine light, which forms the
provision for man's journey through life.
Through
education, the development of every aspect of human life becomes possible.
Knowledge protects an individual like a mother, inspires him to follow the path
of good conduct as a father does, and gives the pleasure that one's wife
provides.
The word
'Veda' originates from the root which bears the meaning of knowledge. Sayana
declares that the Veda is a means to the obtaining of the adored that which is
worthy of worship, as well as a means to the banishment of the undesired, the
evil.
Knowledge
of the four Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda), along with
the knowledge of Shruti, Smriti, etc., provided an individual, with new
knowledge which broadened his intellectual horizon.
2. Alms of
Education
In the Vedic
period, education had an idealistic form, in which the teachers (acharyas) laid
stress upon worship of God, religiousness, spirituality, formation of
character, development of personality, creation of an aptitude for the
development of culture, nation and society.
It is in
this context that Dr. Altekar said that the objectives of education in ancient
India were worship of God, a feeling for religion, formation of character,
fulfilment of public and civic duties, an increase in social efficiency or
skill, and the protection the propagation of national culture.
These
objectives and ideals took an individual along the path of spiritual
development in their fundamental form, these objectives and ideals were
(i)
Emphasis upon Knowledge and Experience
The Gurukuls
laid emphasis upon knowledge and obtaining of experience. During the Vedic
period, the practice of distributing degrees did not exist. Students exhibited
the knowledge obtained through discourses and discussions conducted in a
concourse of scholars.
(ii)
Spirituality
In the
Vedic period, Nature was regarded as divine and worshipped. During this period,
many hypotheses concerning spirituality took birth. Knowledge came to be seen
as the instrument of salvation.
Fire
sacrifices, fasting and taking of vows became a part of life. Education was
given the objective of inculcating control over these aspects and learning
right conduct based on them.
(iii)
Sublimation of Instincts
Man is the
virtual slave of the instinctive drives embedded in his psyche, and when he is
obsessed by his senses, he often adopts the wrong path.
The
objective of education was to sublimate these instinctive tendencies, to turn
the mind away from material knowledge, and centre it upon the spiritual world,
thus establishing control over materialistic and base tendencies.
(iv)
Fulfillment of Duty
Great
importance was attached to developing such qualities as discipline, obedience,
performance of holy duties, rendering help to others, fulfillment of social
responsibilities, etc. Through such education social skills were developed in
the students.
In
addition, education was also provided for earning a livelihood and for this,
one or more skills were taught. Dr. Mukeijee says that this education was not
exclusively theoretical or literary. It was related to one or the other manual
skill
(v) Growth
of Character and Personality
The
objective of education was the formation of character and personality of
children. It was achieved through an appropriate environment, lessons on right
conduct, and teachings based on the life, character and ideals of great
persons.
Education
aimed at developing the virtues of self-control, self-respect, love,
cooperation, sympathy, etc. in the students.
3. The
Method of Education
During the
Vedic period, the Gurukul method prevailed, in which the student lived in
the house of the Guru, instead of living with his parents. Along with his
colleagues, he led a celibate life and obtained education in the house of the
Guru.
Initially,
in the Vedic period, it was the teacher who occupied the primary place, but in
the later period, it was the student who occupied the central place in
education, the process of education passed through the three stages of
comprehension, meditation, and memory and midi-dhyaasana.
The
Gurukuls were the centres of education, in which education was imparted only by
individuals of character and ability. The student remained with his Guru for 12
years. There were parishads or committees to satisfy the student's thirst for
knowledge. Congresses of scholars were also organized from time to time. In
these, awards were also given to prominent scholars.
4. The
'Upnayana' Ritual
The word
'Upnayana' means to take close to, or to bring in touch with. A ceremony called
the Uphayana ceremony was performed before the child was taken to his teacher.
This
ceremony was performed at the ages of 8-11 and 12 for the Brahmins, kshatriyas
and vaishyas, respectively. The ceremony signaled the Childs's transition from
infancy to childhood, and his initiation into educational life.
In this
context, the term 'Upnayana means putting the student in touch with his teacher
with the passage of time, the ceremony came to be confined to the brahmin class
only.
5. Celibacy
or Brahmacharya
Every
student was required to observe celibacy in his specific path of life. Purity
of conduct was regarded as of supreme importance. Only the unmarried could
become students in a Gurukul.
On entering
student life, the student was made to wear a special girdle called a 'makhla'.
Its quality depended on the casteof the student. Brahmins wore a girdle of
moonj grass, the kshatriyasof string gut-taanta-and the vaishyas a girdle made
of wool.
The clothes
worn by them were also accordingly silk, wool, etc. The students were not
allowed to make use of fragrant, cosmetics or intoxicating things.
6. Alms
System
The student
had to bear the responsibility of feeding both himself and his teacher; this
was done through begging for alms, which was not considered bad, since every
domestic knew that his own son must be begging for alms in the same way at some
other place.
The reason
behind the introduction of such a practice was that accepting alms induces
humility. The student realised that both education and subsequent earning of
livelihood were made possible for him only through society's service and its
sympathy.
For the
poor students, begging for alms was compulsory and unavoidable, but even among
the prosperous; it was a generally accepted practice.
7. Service
of the Teacher
Every
student was required, while residing in the Gurukul, to serve his teacher
compulsorily. Any violation of the Guru's instructions was regarded as a sin,
and subject to stern punishment.
The
student's duties included obtaining such daily necessities as water, a twig for
brushing the teeth, etc., for his guru the teachers also ensured that the
students should not be distracted from their studies while performing such
duties.
During the
vacations in which the student returned home he was not required to perform any
service for the teacher.
The work of
teaching began early in the morning. After performing their ablutions, students
participated in some religious rituals, such as havans.
Subsequently,
they were put to the task of studying. In the afternoon, after partaking of
lunch, the students returned to their studies. At sunset, some more religious
rituals were performed. They denoted the end of the day's routine.
8.
Practicality
The
education of that period encompassed the necessary activities of life. Students
were given education about animal-husbandry, agriculture and other professions.
In addition education in medicine was also imparted.
According
to Dr. Alteker, purpose of education was not to provide general knowledge. Out
a variety of subjects, but to produce specialists of the best
kind in various spheres
9.
Education for the Individual
In the
Vedic period, every teacher devoted himself to the integral development of each
student. He aimed at the physical and intellectual development of his wards.
The maximum
attention was devoted to the individual development of every student, but there
was no provision for the education of the incapable and the handicapped,
especially those who were lacking in mental and moral qualities or were known
for moral turpitude.
10.
Duration of Education
In the
house of the teacher, the student was required to obtain education upto the age
of 24, after which he was expected to enter domestic life. Students were
divided into three categories:
(a) Those
obtaining education upto the age of 24-Vasu.
(b) Those
obtaining education upto the age of 36-Rudra.
(c) Those
obtaining education upto the age of 48-Aaditya.
11.
Curriculum
Although
the education of this period was dominated by the study of Vedic literature,
historical study, stories of heroic lives and discourses on the Puranas also
formed a part of the syllabus.
Students
had necessarily to obtain knowledge of metrics. Arithmetic was supplemented by
knowledge of geometry. Students were given knowledge of the four
Vedas-Rig-Veda, Yajurveda, Samaveaa and Atharvaveda.
The
syllabus took within its compass such subjects as spiritual as well as
materialistic knowledge, Vedas, Vedic grammar, arithmetic, knowledge of gods,
knowledge of the absolute, knowledge of ghosts, astronomy, logic, philosophy,
ethics, conduct, etc. The richness of the syllabus was responsible for the
creation of Brahman literature in this period.
The
foundation of the education imparted in this ancient period was inherent
tendency or aptitude (abhivrati). It is written in the Atharvaveda "O Lord
Indra! Fill us with that ability which a father imparts to his son.
"It is
also stated in the Sabra Bhashya, "How a child learns is apparent from the
fact that the child of a Brahmin learns the Vedic aphorisms while still at
home.
The imprint
of these aphorisms upon his mind is indelible." Along with education, the
performance of certain rituals was also regarded as essential. It was after
these rituals that the child embarked upon a study of the subjects of his
choice, though he was also required to study some others subjects.
In this
connection Sanat Kumar inquired of Naarad what he had studied. Naarad replied,
"I have read the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda, the fifth Ved,
history, the Puranas. I also know the Vedic grammar, the Veda of the Vedas.
I am also
read in rules pertaining to service of one's father, arithmetic, the science of
time, knowledge of gods, the absolute, ghosts, metrics, etymology, astronomy,
knowledge of snakes and 'devas', dance, music-recreation and creation of fragrance."
