What is education?

Education can“be described as the business of man-malang.' At the present birth man is under
the influence of Maya, that is, ignorance, and does not know his real divine nature. The role of
education is to bring out what is already within the soul. Hence, education is not merely a work
of filling an empty mind with information. The mind is not a tabula rasa. It only needs
awakening. "You cannot teach a child any more than you can grow a plant. All of you can do is
on the negative side - you can only help. It is a manifestation from within it develops its own
nature - you can only take away obstruction The teacher, therefore, can only create an ambient
which is conducive to education of the child - a situation in which he will learn by himself. The
information imparted by the teacher and the external experiences act only as stimuli or occasions
for the uncovering of the knowledge that is already there. Education, logically, is something that
has to do predominantly with the interior of man. It is not a question of polishing up the outside.
It end is building man, making him grow into a dynamo of power, the building up of his
personality.

Vivekananda supporting ancient indian Education

Swami Vivekananda’s ideas on various aspects of education are more relevant and are needed
more today than probably his“own life time. The regal, majestic personality with commanding
presence that he was, Swami Vivekananda was the educationist par excellence. Amongst the
Indian national leaders of the day he could see through the evil of the English system of
education and warn his fellow countrymen in the following words: The child is taken to school,
and the first thing he learns is that his father is a fool, the second thing that his grandfather is a
lunatic, the third thing that all his teachers are hypocrites, the fourth, that all the scared books are
lies! By the time he is sixteen, he is a mass of negation, lifeless and boneless. And the result is
that fifty years of such education has not produced one original man in the three presidencies…
We have learnt only weakness. In tune with the ancient days, Swamiji, who along with his
brother-disciples were brought up in the tutelage of none other than Sri Ramakrishna
Paramhamsa, vouched for the gurukula system of education that was the cornerstone of the
success of Page 8 of 19 the classical Indian polity. History testifies about the great many who
flocked from all over the world to the shores of India to learn from her through direct guru-
shishyasamvada where the preceptor was not removed from his pupil in some elevated pedestal.
Throughout his life, Swamiji has time and again repeated the message of his mission in no
unclear terms as one of ‘man-making’ and ‘character-building’. He wanted a national education
which would not merely educate the masses but transform them into enlightened citizens.
Ancient wisdom and spirituality formed the core of Swamiji’s philosophy of education. But he
also had it blended with modern science and its nuanced approach. Swamiji is among the very
few great Indians of modern times who comprehended the genius of the Indian mind and its
intuitive spirit. He understood that a revival of India and her people was possible when the spirit
of this land and its people was made free and universal, just as it was in those ancient times.”

The Jain System of Education

Jainism is one of the oldest and an independent living religions of the world. It holds an
important position in being a perfect system of religion. Its influence upon the Indian philosophy
and the world is primarily in terms of non-violence, truth and peaceful co‐existence. Since the
individuals are dedicated towards examining the significance of education in Jainism, for this
purpose, it is vital to take into account the philosophy and fundamental assertions. In view of
Jainism, education has been discussed as an important activity, a process of development, and a
path to the highest goal of life. It is regarded as the oldest living religion. It has notably served to
the cause of Indian culture and spirituality as well as towards the encouraging, enlightened and
peaceful solutions of anguish and pain.
The Jains have prolonged their activities, beyond the sphere of their religious literature to
a far larger extent as compared to the Buddhists. They have noteworthy accomplishments in the
secular sciences to their credit, in philosophy, grammar, lexicography, poetics, mathematics,
astronomy, astrology, and politics. In southern India, the Jains have also rendered services in the
development of the Dravidian languages, Tamil and Telugu, and especially the Kanarese literacy
language. Besides the development of the languages, they have done considerable written work
in Gujarati, Hindi and Marwari. Jainism identifies an integral view of life and discusses the
universal values as the means to achieve the highest goal. In Jainism, knowledge contributes an
important role in spiritual development to obtain the goal of liberation.
The Jain system of education preached the significance for the individuals to be liberated
from the cycle of rebirth and attain nirvana. It takes place by following the three-fold path of
right cognition and right conduct. The basic to attain moksha, is the conquering of the senses and
this religion attained its name from Jaina, meaning the conqueror of all senses. It was the name
given to the first pro-pounder, Lord Rikhabha-dev and to Lord Mahavira, who is considered as
the founder of the religion. The education system that the Jains organized reflected upon their
religious principles. The essence of an individual’s existence is reflected upon his acts and deeds.
Every individual is required to perform good deeds and not impose any kind of harm upon
anybody. In Jainism, world is considered as ‘karma bhoomi’, which means the place of bondage
of the being