Ancient Indian Education System – The
Institutions, Roles and Responsibilities
Educational Institutions - Types
The
Educational Institutions the existed in the vedic era was classified into three
major types, the Gurukula, Parishad and sammelan
Gurukulas: Gurukulas
as the name indicates were the Residential houses of gurus situated in natural
surroundings away from villages or cities where they lived along with their
families. Students from the age between five years to nine years joined these
gurukulas after completing the ritual of Upanayan. Pupils lived in the
residence of their guru during the period of study and under his direct
supervision. Even though in the later
days the Gurukula were extended to
include a number of buildings it was still the abode of the teacher and his
family. The students were considered to a part of the guru’s family sharing the
work and responsibilities till they left gurukula.
Parishads: The
institutions where several teachers taught different subjects was known as
parishad which may be compared to a college. Parishad was a place where learned
men, assembled for conference in which deliberations related philosophical
problems were done
Sammelan: Sammelan
is a temporary assembly of scholars getting together for a particular purpose. The
scholars gathered at one place generally on the invitation of the king where
learned discussions, debates and competitions were conducted and they were appropriately rewarded.
Classification of teachers
Teachers
were classified based on their quality and nobility. Maharishi Panini
classified the teachers into four, The Acharya, the Pravakt, the srothoya and
Adhypaka
The Acharya: is the teacher who has attained the highest
knowledge and to whom even the other teachers look forward to learn from. The Acharyas
were so prominent that even their students were named after them to be enable
the identification of the scholarly knowledge gained.
The Pravakt:
The Pravakt who comes next to Acharya is
the person well versed in Vedas, Vedangas and Upanishads which they teach their
students
The Srotriya:
They are the teachers who teaches the students the rules governing the reading
or chanting of vedas and the rhythm of reading Vedas. Srotriya are the teachers
who give technical knowledge related to reading veda or veda parayana
The Adhypaka: The
Adhypaka is the one who impart knowledge and related various profession and
life. They are the ones who teach Dhanurvidy or science of archery and other
laukika sastras like Ayurveda the science of medine, Gandharvaveda the science
of music, Sthpatyaveda the science of architecture etc, to their student.
The
great Sage Patanjali has also classified teachers into 4, The Pracarya, The
Siksaka, The Upadhyaya and the Guru.
The Pracarya is
the teacher of the highest category. They are supposed to be superior even to
Acharya. The Pracraya is the teacher who has mastered the brahmavidya or the
knowledge of the the Bhramam or the supreme.
The Siksaka:
The siksaka is the one who teaches the professional skills such as the
dhanurveda, ayurveda, Gandharvaveda etc
The Upadhyaya: The
upadhyaya is the one who has who expertise in the rules governing the rituals
and yajgna or sacrifice. They had the role of training people in performing the
rituals adhering to the regulations specified in the vedas.
The Guru:
Guru is the one who imparts the basic education and life skills in his
residence the gurukul. He is also the person who performs namakaranam or naming
of the child, Vidhtarabham the beginning of education etc
The roles and responsibilities of the
teacher
Teacher
and students are the two essential components of any educational system. The
role of a teacher is to provide physical, materialistic and spiritual knowledge
to his students. The educative process is teacher centered and the Guru has to
satisfy the curiosity and knowledge needs of his students because the success
of life of the students is determined by the nature of teaching and guidance
provided by the Guru. The guru was considered and worshipped as God disciple.
He commanded highest regard not just from his pupil but from all classes of
society including rulers. In Vedic period it was the responsibility of the guru
to provide full protection to his students during their learning period.
Guru
adorned the role of a father and they were taking care of their pupil in same
manner as a father takes care of his son. It was the responsibility of the guru
to arrange boarding and lodging for the students in the Gurukula. The guru also
has to monitor the health and character of his pupils. Whenever a pupil falls
sick the guru has to nurse the pupil till he is fit enough to carry out his
daily chores and attend the classes. The guru has to treat every pupil equally without showing any discrimination based on the
socio- economic status or on the basis of caste. The guru is also expected to
provide satisfactory answers to all the questions asked by the students.
Gurus paid attention towards the comprehensive
development of personality of their pupils. As a Guru it was his responsibility
to pay full attention on his pupils, provide all the knowledge he has acquired
without holding back anything and take all possible measures to ensure all
round development of personality of his pupils. He is not expected to use his
pupils for any of his personal needs except in the times of distress. He has to
provide education any fee from his pupils.
The responsibilities of a student
The
recognized way of making application by a student if he wishes to study under a
particular guru is to him was to approach the with fuel in his hands. This is a
sign that he wished to serve him and help in maintaining the sacred fire. The
disciple (shishya) gains the generous shelter and patronage of the gurus with the
Upanayan‘ ceremony which indicates the beginning of education. The pupil were subjected to a rigid discipline.
He had to remain with his teacher as long as his course lasted.
Certain regular services such as fetching
water, collecting fuel and sweeping the place around the fire had to be
performed by the pupil. Collecting the food for the teacher through was also a
duty of the pupil. Food was accepted
from families of all castes except outcastes. Once the pupil returns after
collecting the alms, the pupil had to announce what he had received, get
permission from his teacher after which he can eat according to the prescribed
rules, that is to eat in silence, contended and without greed.
There were some specific rules governing
for the manner in which respect should be shown to the guru which was expected
to be followed in strict obedience. The pupil always has to occupy a seat or
couch lower than the teacher. He cannot contradict the teacher on any account.
He had to rise in the morning before his teacher was up always, and retire to
rest at night after the teacher had gone to sleep. He has to get up from his
seat whenever the teacher addresses him or he had to ask questions to the
teacher. He has to walk only behind the teacher and he should not address the
teachers by their names.
Rigid
rules were present to ensure good conduct of pupil. These included the
standards of maintaining physical and moral hygienic, follow religious principles
and regulation of good manners. The pupils have to bathe daily to maintain
physical hygiene. They are also not allowed to have honey, meat, Use perfumes, or
sleep in daytime. They have to say their morning and evening prayer daily and
perform their religious rituals regularly. The pupils had to keep away from
sex, anger, pride, greed and other immoral activities which can corrupt the
moral characters. They also had to keep away from gambling committing violence
on cows, telling lies, abusing, backbiting, killing of animals, taking things
not offered. They had to observe chastity and self-restraint in relationships
with the opposite sex strictly. The tongue, arms and stomach had to be kept
under complete control to prevent any negative reaction.
No comments:
Post a Comment