The Ideals Of Education In Ancient India

16 May 2002, Summer Course 2002, Brindavan

Published English.

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India is a land that has been the birthplace of all knowledge and branches of education. The science of numerology has its origin in India. Grammar, music, and fine arts were all born in India. That which is not found in India cannot be found anywhere else. It is therefore said .

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India also gave birth to people with outstanding character. The great lady prayed to the lord and succeeded in bringing back to life her dead husband by the power of her devotion. By the power of her adherence to truth, the Queen could extinguish a raging fire; could successfully pass through fire as a testimony to her chastity. could instantly burn to ashes the evil and wicked hunter who tried to misbehave with her. Are these ladies not the shining examples of noble souls of India? If this country has had prosperity, peace, and bountiful harvest, it is because of these noble souls. They have enabled India to stand as a teacher to the rest of the world.

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However, today there are some ignorant people who think that they can obtain certain things in foreign countries that they are not able to find here, so they emigrate out of . What is it that you cannot obtain in this sacred land? It is the storehouse of all knowledge and action - the land that confers deservedness on each and everyone. If you are determined and make sincere efforts, there is nothing that you cannot achieve or obtain in .

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Indians faced several obstacles while experimenting and inventing new methods in education. Each university had its area of specialization. At , there were masters who were authorities in grammar - . The land of specialized in rhetoric - . University imparted knowledge in the specialized area of law - . In this way, each university specialized and taught one particular subject and popularised it. In Emperor 's kingdom, enormous emphasis was laid on health sciences and medicine. , a master physician, established a center of advanced learning in this area. All these universities belonged to ancient India and cannot be seen in this age. There were several such reputed universities in ancient .

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The universities of yore did not have huge buildings and infrastructure. The residence of the teacher himself was the university. The students were few in number. However, the capacity to impart knowledge was immense. The teacher could teach in such lucid and simple terms that even tiny tots could easily understand the higher sciences and subjects. The tree under which they sat was the classroom. As the cool breeze blew, the soft words of the teacher wafted over like waves and were imprinted in the minds of the students. Such educational institutions thrived in ancient . About 400-500 years back, the Britishers attempted to investigate the cause for the stupendous success of ancient Indian Universities. However, they failed in their endeavour.

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The upkeep and maintenance of the was the responsibility of the society. Depending on their capacity and capability, the citizens would contribute for the livelihood of the teachers. But never was any fee collected from the students.

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What was the main duty of the students in those days? They would rise early in the morning, perform their ablutions and prayers, and then set out to beg for alms from house to house. The food collected was handed over to the teacher. The teacher would then eat whatever was required for him, and the rest would be partaken by the students as sanctified food. It was in such a sacred atmosphere that in ancient , sciences, art ,and literature were taught and propagated.

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Indian education was sacred, highly valuable, and deeply profound in its content. Such nectarine knowledge is today being discarded as waste. The university of taught law. The science of law was taught and preserved in a pristine and pure form there. Today's laws are distorted into illegalities. On the other hand, at , even matters that could not be legally interpreted elsewhere could be effectively dealt with. No scope was given for anything that was unlawful to enter its portals. was famous for propagating and teaching such lofty ideals and for its dedicated teachers and students.

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What were the residential arrangements in those days? The caves like and were the places where they lived and dined. The teachers were highly dedicated and selfless. Every nectarine thought and word that originated in their heart was transferred to the students in a loving way. The day education was made into a commercial activity, the minds of students too started to turn crooked. In those days, food or education was never sold. Education was made available free of cost. Goddess was not bound by anybody. Such a Goddess has been imprisoned by the shackles of commerce and trade. Education is being subjected to all kinds of perversions. Goddess is also called . She resided and imparted unparalleled knowledge to the Indians and allowed them to grow in wisdom and to prosper. She was also extolled and worshipped by grateful teachers and students for her grace. , , , - these were her various names. It is now prohibited by governments, laws, and regulations to even utter the name of such a Goddess! Prayers invoking the Goddesses enabled her to lend purity and sweetness to the words of ancient Indians. She also protected the country with her grace. Goddess , also called , was worshipped and revered. , , , , , - she was thus extolled by her various names.

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It is in such a sacred land that God has repeatedly taken human form. Divinity is not some incomprehensible figure or entity. Divinity is actually most easily visible and experienced. Divinity incarnates in the human form. Today, however, man is not ready to accept this reality. In all the three paths of (action), (spiritual knowledge) and (extolling) that man undertakes to achieve realization, he offers several prayers to God and extols Divinity in several ways.

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was a highly learned scholar. He contributed much toward the medical sciences and took upon himself to propagate it. His was a very well known name in the field of medical sciences. Today, to perform a heart surgery, the heart-lung machine and several other complicated and sophisticated equipment is required. No such gadgetry was ever employed in those days. would utter hymns in the praise of God, place his hand on the heart of the patient ,and be lost in a trance of bliss. The heart diseases would subsequently vanish without a trace. For that matter, every disease had a suitable melodious hymn invoking God's grace. In this way, God's grace invariably cured all physical, mental, psychic, and even spiritual ailments.

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It is impossible to take even a single step without the grace of God. Sadly, today, man's every step is steeped in unlawfulness and unrighteousness. All his thoughts are selfish and evil. His vision is tainted with lack of any warmth of love. Progress toward reaching high standards has stagnated. Every man needs to ingrain and grow in his heart the tender feeling of love. expounded this very philosophy. God is not in some distant land but resides in your very heart. He is with you, within you, above you, below you, and also around you. Discarding such an easy path and accepting other torturous routes, man is subjecting himself to needless agony and suffering. On the other hand, people in ancient days would instantly get rid of any suffering - all by chanting the sacred name of the Lord.

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In the age (the present age), there can be no better panacea for our suffering than (chanting the Lord's name). No greater or more potent weapon can even be there to help man surmount his obstacles. Chanting the Lord's name once can enable man to experience enormous bliss. No one is making efforts to understand the power of the Lord's name. In the (the first age), meditation was practiced. In the (the second age), (sacred rituals and rites) were conducted. Worship was prescribed in the (the third age). But in the , is considered ideal to win God's grace. In this way, in all four yugas, God's name was extolled and propagated.

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, and - these were all seats of enormous power, strengthened by the sanctity of Indian thought and wisdom. was another center of learning for law. Tenets of law that could not be interpreted elsewhere were easily explained and assimilated here. Sadly, today we are discounting the great wealth and power of knowledge in India and are instead traveling abroad to seek strength and wisdom. This is a highly mean and mistaken outlook. Such ignorance should be driven away. The illumination of wisdom and awareness must be lit in us. Only then can we experience the divine and sacred bliss.

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Do not cry, O' infant, do not cry my child; If you cry you will not be called a valiant son of . Go to sleep, my child, go to sleep. Did you get scared that the terrible Hitler has invaded the invincible Russia and cry? Go to sleep, my child, go to sleep. Do not cry my child, for the red army is marching under the heroic Stalin; They will put an end to atrocities of Hitler. Go to sleep, my child, go to sleep. All the countrymen shall unite and fight to win freedom; Go to sleep, my child, go to sleep.

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I would compose several such songs with deep meaning and cause joy to the villagers by having them sung. Many of them wondered how this tiny tot had come to know of Hitler and Stalin. These names were unknown to most of the people in that region. Know that there is nothing that does not know. Yet ,I pretend as if I am not aware. I ask some people, "When did you come?" They may bemoan that is even unaware of when they have arrived! I do know. But I still ask the question to give you the happiness of having spoken with Me. My only intention in asking such questions is to make you happy. I do not entertain the thought that you may doubt me. I do not allow such assumptions to prevent Me from giving you this joy.

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People used to address me as . Some students came to me and requested that I versify into a poem an entire drama that they were planning to enact. I agreed and I asked for two students. I taught them the song and sent them out to sing it:

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was a noble and pious lady. She loved Me a lot. I was then just seven years old. It was not habitual to go to her house as soon as she called Me to! She would keep asking Me, "Child! Why don't you come to my house?"

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replied, "I shall take a very strong action on him. You need not have any fear or trouble on this account."

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I then taught some small boys to sing in front of him. was worried that he would get angry. I comforted her saying, "A person's anger is his own enemy. It cannot harm Me." I would then train the small boys and leave them to sing in such a way that he learnt a very good lesson. This was a task that could not be achieved by mild and soft words. Only hard-hitting words would prick him and make him feel guilty. The children were scared. I gave them strength by saying that I would be with them.

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The was called . I wrote a poem specially to correct him, passages of which ran as follows:

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I used such harsh words and advised him to give up his misdirected ways. The bolt hit home! The learnt a good lesson and gave up his vices. Subbamma was thrilled. Though I was a small boy, she ran and fell at My feet and thanked Me profusely. I told her to stop it since I was much younger to her. She brushed my objections aside and said, "Your physical stature may be small, but in that is hidden an enormous Divine power. There is none else who can be so daringly forceful and set right so powerful a figure as the !"

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She then turned to and said, "! You consider this small boy as your son. You are deceiving yourself. He is very powerful. He will set ideals for the whole world to emulate in future. You must stop developing the feeling that He is your son. Send Him to my house."

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replied, "It is not in our family to give out children for adoption. Whatever be our limited capacity, we shall look after Him ourselves. I cannot send Him to another house."

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I had also written some dramas. It is raining today, and that is why I am narrating these stories to you. Otherwise, I would never tell them! I had several small plays staged by the small children. One such drama was entitled, " (Do they act as they speak?)" The central characters were the mother and father at home and the teacher. The mother in the drama would conduct a in the evening for a few ladies in which she would expound the inner meanings of the holy texts. Her name was . This character was based on the wife 's wife. Whenever she discoursed, I would sit there. She would read the highly philosophical Vedantic texts. She would actually find it difficult to understand these and even had the handicap of not knowing the alphabets properly. She would still try to somehow go on. She used to explain the various attributes of God and describe Him as highly righteous and as the Embodiment of Truth. I then wrote a song that ended with the words "". She would struggle to explain its meaning verbatim! I would then take a suitable opportunity to go and explain to her that it would be better if she could explain the verses rather than simply read them out.

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Women were hardly educated in those days. They would assemble near such erudite ladies and spend their time listening to sacred hymns and stories about the Divine. Hence, I was organising such groups right from those days. I used to encourage the effects of good company. I had assembled the little children and organised the group. They would wear anklets that tinkled and cymbals that clanged and would enthusiastically sing and dance along the streets, waking up slumbering villagers. Earlier, these people would not rise till 7.00 a.m. But when I started organising the with the children, they would be up by 5.00 A.M., have their baths and offer prayers to God.

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Taking cymbals in the hand, Tying them up firmly to the hand, Clanging them together to beat out desire and anger from within, Let us take the path to , Let us sing '' Let us sing '' Let us sing 'Jai Jai' and hurry toward the Lord.

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Thus began the idea of - waking up the villagers with sacred songs. I started when this body was only 7 years! Subbamma would quietly join the group as well, enthusiastically beating the cymbals but worried as to what I would have to say to her!

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This body, right from birth, has always engaged in imparting and discriminating knowledge and passing on the sacred teachings. The group was so popular that villagers would rush in even from the neighbouring villages to participate. They would all be lost in bliss. Subbamma would feel very happy. For . 2, a sackful of sweets could be got. She would arrange to have it distributed as to all.

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I was sent to for the sake of education. lies between and towns. There, discovered My capability to write poems and came running to Me with a request. He said, "! I hear that You compose excellent poems."

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He then explained that he had stocked a brand new medicine in his shop. He wrote down and gave me a detailed list of the prowess of the new medicine. It was called "". He rasked Me to compose a song on the "". He pleaded with me to teach it to a group of children and make them go round the streets singing the song. I told him to come back in an hour! The classes were going on and was an extremely strict teacher, but was very kind. I did not want to give up my responsibilities. I hence told to come an hour later, after the classes, and collect his poem. I then set the tune and composed the song. It ran as follows:

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There it is! There it is! O', children! Come, come! There is the medicine ; Be it an upset stomach or a swollen leg; Be it a joint pain or flatulence; Be it any ailment, known or unknown; Take this for an instant cure! If you wish to know where it is available: There is the shop of ; It is in that shop that you can pick it up. Come here boys! Come here! It is an excellent tonic Prepared by the famous himself Come here boys! Come here!

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's joys knew no bounds when he heard the song. He brought a big basket of and deposited it with Me in gratitude. I directed that they be distributed to everyone present there. I never took sweets right from My birth. Why do I need to when I have all the sweetness within Me? My mind is sweet, My love is sweet. Why then do I need these sweets?

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Our Vice-Chancellor has prayed that I should speak about the sacred source of joy: the . I am not satisfied with the present educational scenario. People are studying as much as they wish. But what is the use of this education? They are hankering after wealth and not after character. Wealth is no doubt essential, but it is not critical. Character is also equally important. All educational achievements will be forgotten at some point in time. What is needed is spiritual education. It is said: " (spiritual knowledge is the highest form of knowledge)". It is this knowledge that needs to be taught to the heart. This sacred knowledge is available in the sacred . The is an ancient text. It has survived the vicissitudes of time, vacillations of history, and several other turbulences and still stands tall as an ideal. There are several secrets in the that are not understood by many. I shall extract these tiny fragments, expound and grow them as huge trees, and, making you sit under their cool shades, I shall try to make you relax and rest. This shall be My effort from tomorrow onward.