Dr Debajyoti Goswami
(fao@astu.ac.in)
PART-I
In the year 2021, India has entered the 75th year of its independence. India attained independence on 15th August 1947 from the British rulers and adopted a Constitution of India on November 26, 1949, opting federal form of Government with the Preamble, "Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens with Justice, Liberty Equality and Fraternity. During the post-independence, Indian education was seen as theoretically available to all. At that time education concentrated around the metropolitan towns for which education was spread unequally and unevenly.
From ancient Bharat to modern India, higher education has always occupied a place of prominence in Indian history. The Indian system has evolved through multiple phases - from Gurukula and Ashramas (Hermitages of Saints) environment to university-based kulaguru system. In ancient times, different types of Brahminic schools appeared and disappeared with time. Gurukula, Parishads, Tools, Ghatikas, Mathas, Vidyapiths (Shankaracharya is said to have been founded), Temple Colleges (in the 6th century AD temple priest started) and Universities. Nalanda, Taxila and Vikramsila universities enjoyed a worldwide reputation. All those universities attracted students not only from all over the country but from far away countries like Korea, China, Burma (now Myanmar), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Tibet and Nepal. The principal subjects of the study were the Vedas, Grammar, Philosophy, Medicine, Surgery, Commerce, and painting. The various regulations governing student life were maintained by the habit of early rising, Prayer (worshipping of the Sun as the universal spirit), taking a regular bath (as a medium of relieving nervous/tension and maintaining purity of mind), maintaining dress code, taking good and hygienic food, trying to make mental and health discipline, keeping the simplicity of habits and by way maintaining celibacy or Brahmacharya.
At the aggression of the Muhammad Ghori in the year 1175, many efforts were made by the Muslims to destroy ancient Indian education. The extreme bigotry of the Muslim rulers gave a setback to the Hindu educational system.
But Indian education deriving inspiration from a rich culture did succeed in preserving itself.
Ancient Indian education was considered a source of insight illumination of the contribution of great saints or prophets. Their continuous effort transformed and ennobled man by bringing about harmonious development of physical, mental, moral and spiritual powers. Some of the brilliant ancient Indians reshaping the face of ancient education are;
Maharshi Valmiki:
The Ramayana, originally written by Maharshi Valmiki, consists of 24,000 shlokas and seven . The Ramayana is composed of about 480,002 words. The epic Ramayana dates back from the 5th century BCE.
Veda Vyasa:
He is also regarded by tradition as the arranger of the mantras of the Vedas, as well as the author of the eighteen Puranas and the Brahma Sutras. He was a legendary sage who wrote the Hindu epic Mahabharata.
Gautam Buddha:
Gautam Buddha is popularly known as Siddhattha Gotama or Siddh?rtha Gautama. He discovered an ancient path to freedom from ignorance, craving and a cycle of rebirth and suffering.
Aryabhata:
One of the greatest mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. His works include the ?ryabha??ya (which mentions that in 3600 Kali Yuga, 499 CE, he was 23 years old and the Arya-Siddhanta.
Shankaracharya:
He focused his study on liberating knowledge of the self and synthesizing Advaita Vedanta teachings. Shankara is most known for his systematic reviews and commentaries (Bhasyas) on ancient Indian texts. Shankara's masterpiece of commentary is the Brahmasutrabhasya (literally, commentary on Brahma Sutra), a fundamental text of the Vedanta school of Hinduism.
Chanakya:
He was an ancient Indian polymath. He was an active teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kau?ilya or Vishnugupta.
He authored the ancient Indian political treatise, the Arthashastra.
Sant Kabir (1398/1440 - 1448/1518):
He was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement in India.
Samarth Ramdas (c. 1608 - c. 1681):
Indian Marathi Hindu saint, philosopher, poet, writer and spiritual master.
Srimanta Sankardeva (15th-16thCentury):
Srimanta Sankardev started a system of initiation (Sarana). The 'Mahapuruxiya Dharma' was started by him as part of the Bhakti movement. He opposed and fight against caste discrimination. He was Assamese polymath, a saint-scholar, originator of Ankia Bhawana, poet, dancer, actor, musician and artist.
The beginning of Modern education in India can be seen from the efforts of the Missionaries like the Portuguese, France, the Dutch, the Danes and more recently the English.
Early educational activities of the East India Company were initiated during the year 1600-1813. The Directors of the Company clearly expressed their desire to spread Christianity among Indians. Perhaps, with the following Indian Icon, cultures and civilizations had produced the courageous, saintly and visionary role for preserving socio-religious and cultural innovations in Indian education.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy (22 May 1772 - 27 September 1833):
He is known as a great social reformer. He abolished evil social practices like Sati and raised his voice against the dowry system. His contributions helped in the abolition of the purdah system and child marriage in India. In 1928, he founded the Brahmo Samaj.
Thus, Raja Ram Mohan Roy is regarded as the father of the Modern Indian Renaissance due to the remarkable changes he instituted in 18th and 19th century India.
Maniram Dewan (17 April 1806 - 26 February 1858):
Maniram Dewan's original name is Maniram Dutta Baru. Maniram Dewan was an Assamese nobleman and a freedom fighter in British India. He was the first person to establish tea gardens in Assam and thus he taught us entrepreneurship education. He became the first Indian to grow tea commercially in Assam. Maniram Dewan also ventured into smelting, gold procuring, salt production, handloom, boat making, coal supplying, brick making and elephant trade.
Lachit Borphukan (24 November 1622 - 25
Ahom general Lachit Borphukan defeated the Mughals in the Battle of Saraighat (1671). He is the best example of heroism and patriotism in world history. The youth must emulate his ideals and get inspired by his vision of patriotism.
Sati Jaymoti (Born in the middle of the 17th-century - died on 27 March 1680)
Sati Jayanti, also known as Joymati Konwari, an Ahom Princess. She taught us the collective consciousness of the people of Assam. She is remembered as a patriot and martyr, promoted as a national hero, cherished as a symbol of the ideal wife, mother and the adobe of feminine virtues.
Swami Dayananda Saraswati (12 February 1824 - 30 October 1883):
He was an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of the Vedic dharma. He relentlessly worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies. Hindu reformist Swami Dayanand Saraswati revolutionised Indian religion and is considered as one of the 'Makers of Modern India'. Dayanand Saraswati's main message was for the Hindus to go back to the roots of their religion, which are the Vedas. By doing this, he felt that Hindus would be able to improve the depressive religious, social, political, and economic conditions prevailing in the country at the time which may be considered the essence of modern political science.
Dadabhai Naoroji (4 September 1825 - 30 June 1917):
Naoroji's major contribution to the Indian independence movement was his "Drain of Wealth" theory: a detailed analytical study of how the colonial rulers of the subcontinent pillaged its economic resources and shattered its industrial capacity. The theory was most cogently demonstrated in his 1901 work Poverty and Un-British Rule in India. In 1865 and 1866, Naoroji helped found the London Indian Society and the East India Association respectively. The two organisations sought to bring nationalist Indians and sympathetic Britons on one platform. As the secretary of the East India Association, Naoroji travelled in India to gather funds and raise national awareness.
Rani Laxmi Bai (19 November 1828 - 18 June 1858)
Rani Laxmi Bai drew a symbol of resistance to the British Raj for Indian nationalists.
Savitribai Phule: (3 January 1831 - 10 March 1897)
She is considered to be the pioneer of India's feminist movement. She worked to abolish the discrimination and unfair treatment of people based on caste and gender. She is the architect of the Progressive Education system in India.
Sri Ramkrishna Paramhamsa (18 February 1836 - 16 August 1886):
He was an Indian Hindu mystic and religious leader in 19th-century Bengal. Ramakrishna drew from several religious approaches, including devotion toward the Goddess Kali. His observance of elements from Tantra, Bhakti, Vaishnava, and Advaita Vedanta contributed notable approaches to the lifestyle of the people. His teaching, "Jive daya noy, Shiv gyanejivseba" (not kindness to living beings, but serving the living being as Shiva Himself) is considered the inspiration for the philanthropic work carried out by his chief disciple Vivekananda. His spiritual movement indirectly aided nationalism.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak (23 July 1856 - 1 August 1920)):
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was an Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer and lawyer-activist. He advocated Swaraj or Self-Rule for India and for his great inspirational words many persons were attracted to India's struggle for freedom. Tilak started two weeklies, Kesari ("The Lion ") in Marathi and Mahratta in English.
Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 - 7 August 1941):
Artistic Self Expression Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali polymath. He was the architect in reshaping the region's literature and music. Tagore authored "Gitanjali" and he has conferred the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for the Gitanjali. He was highly influential in introducing the best of Indian culture to the West and vice versa, and he is generally regarded as the outstanding creative artist of the modern Indian subcontinent.
Madan Mohan Malviya (25 December 1861 - 12 November 1946)
Indian scholar, educational reformer, and leader of the Indian nationalist movement. He was the founder 1916 of the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi. He was a gifted orator and he participated actively in debates on the issues of the country including free and compulsory primary education, the prohibition on recruiting of Indian indentured labour in the British colonies. Malaviya was keen on uplifting the educational standards of the country.
Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1863 - 4 July 1902):
Swami Vivekananda was a practical saint of modern India. Swamiji was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian darsanas (teachings, practices) of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world. Everybody in the world community has already known his fertile speech which began with the words "Sisters and brothers of America ...," in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893. Swami Vivekananda was not only a social reformer but also an educator, a great Vedanta, patriot prophet of India, born at Calcutta in 1863, who sought to modernize the nation of its social and cultural harmony. His contribution to the awakening of modern India is a critique of its kind and quality. The relevance of Swami Vivekananda's ideas in modern education in terms of value education, peace education, environmental education, and citizenship education. He defines education as 'the manifestation of perfection that is already in man. He is a great contributor to the Man-Making Education in India.
Lala Rajpat Rai (28 January 1865 - 17 November 1928)
In 1885, Lala Lajpat Rai established the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School in Lahore and remained a committed educationist throughout his life.
He very strongly advocated that everyone should have the right and access to read and learn from the Vedas or the Vedic Culture. He started a monthly magazine 'Young India' to spread the message of the right of India to attain Swaraj.
Gopal Krishna Gokhale (9 May 1866 - 15 February 1915):
Gopal Krishna Gokhale thought the idea of an Indian nationalist movement opposed to British rule dated from the 1850s. He founded the "Servants of India Society" in Pune (Maharashtra) in 1905 to promote an extension of education in India. Society established mobile libraries, schools etc. He also gave efforts to introduce education facilities by introducing night classes for working industrial workers.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: (2 October 1869 - 30 January 1948):
Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader, a practical philosopher and a great ambassador of political reformer of modern India. He was an apostle of peace, truth and non-violence. His clarion call was 'truth is God' and 'God is truth'. He regarded his own life as 'an experiment with truth'. Gandhiji is more known as the emancipator and prophet in the arena of politics, social service and spiritual dynamics in each Indian mind. He is one of the greatest teachers of mankind. The "Basic Education" system was the important contribution of Mahatma Gandhi.
Sri Aurobindo (15 August 1872 - 5 December 1950):
He was an Indian philosopher, yoga guru, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He took a leading role in secret preparations for an uprising against the British government in India. He is the core person for introducing the Integral Education concept in India.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (31 October 1875 - 15 December 1950)
He served as the First Deputy Prime Minister of India from 1947-to 1950. He was instrumental in keeping India united. He established Gujrat Vidyapeeth. Sardar Patel firmly believed in empowering the people living in rural areas by providing value-based education and that was this institute's main objective. Patel worked extensively against alcohol consumption, untouchability, caste discrimination and for women emancipation in Gujarat and outside. Sardar Patel understood the ideology of Grama Swarajya of Gandhi Ji and therefore he prepared the ground for the empowerment of villagers by giving shape to Vidya Mandal at the tri-junction of agrarian neighbourhoods - Karamsad, Bakrol, and Anand. Sardar Patel envisioned India as one integrated entity in the diversities, languages, and cultures.
Dr Sarvealli Radhakrishnan (5 September 1888 - 17 April 1975):
Dr Radhakrishnan's immense contribution to post-independent Indian society has been lauded by leaders across the globe. He believed in "spiritual education". It was during his tenure there that he wrote his best work, 'The Philosophies of Rabindranath Tagore'. He was invited to Oxford University in London in 1926, where he delivered his famous lecture on Hindu philosophy. He was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University in 1931. After India attained independence in 1947, Dr Radhakrishnan was assigned to chair the University Commission in 1948. His committee played a pivotal role in shaping an education system based on India's needs at the time. Dr Radhakrishnan was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954. In addition to this, he has been nominated a total of 16 times for the Nobel Prize in Literature and 11 times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Between 1952 and 1962, he served as the first vice president of the country, and in 1962, he was elevated to the highest office in the country, that of the President of India.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru: (14 November 1889 - 27 May 1964):
Pandit Nehru was a prolific writer and orator. He authored books like 'The Discovery of India' and 'Glimpses of the World History'. He advocated "The Nehruvian model "of developmental economics. However, it came under a lot of criticism from opposition parties in years after his death. As prime minister of independent India, Nehru had initiated socio-economic policies of the idealistic socialist kind. Probably he is the greatest teacher of the Child-Centred Education system in India.
Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 - 28 February 1963):
(To be continued)