Preface

The dissertation entitled ‘A STUDY ON THE FORMAL EDUCATION SYSTEM IN ANCIENT INDIA WITH REFERENCE TO VEDIC AND BUDDHIST PERIOD AND ITS RELEVANCE TODAY’ attempts to takes up a study of the formal education system in ancient India. India is the one of the largest education system of the world. The Indian education system has gone through many phases. This eduction system has been a source of inspiration to all education system of the world. It is started from the Vedic age and continued till the modern age. But each age has its pros and cons. In this work it is an effort to show the growth and evolution of education from age to age. The aim of this research is to study the formal education system in the Vedic and the Buddhist period. There religious and secular education, methods of teaching, aims and objectives, Centres of learning, subjects of study and the teacher student relationship. The objective of this research work is to made to know the present relevance of the education system in ancient India.

This dissertation paper is prepared through the survey of the Vedic texts, the Brāhmaṇa, the Upaniṣats, the Epics, the Pūraṇas and the Buddhist sacred text—the Vinaya Piṭaka [Piṭakaṃ], and the Jātaka stories.

The present work is divided in to seven chapters. The first chapter is the introductory where as discussion is made to explain the education system in the Saṃhitā period, the Brahmanic period, the Epic Period and the Puranic period. The second chapter is the study about the educational Saṃskāras of the Vedic and the Buddhist period. Various educational Saṃskaras and the importance of the Saṃskāras are discussed in this chapter. The third chapter deal with the different types of centres of learning i.e., Gurukulas, Pariṣats, Temple Colleges, Agrahāras, Catusapāthi Tols and the Buddhist Vihāra or Monastery—Takṣaśilā, Nālandā Vihāra, Valabhī, Vikramśilā Mahāvihāra, Odantapuri Mahāvihāra and Jagaddala Mahāvihāra deserve special reference. The fourth chapter is an effort to examine the aims and objective of education in Vedic and Buddhist period. The fifth chapter contains the nature and extent of the subjects of study in different ages. In the sixth the discussion is made to know the methods of teaching and compare the teacher student relationship in the Vedic and the Buddhist period. Finally, the thesis resumes to its concluding observation.