What was the essence of our Vedic System of education imparted through our Gurukuls? Let me some it up in a few bullet points:
- Gurukuls were funded by Kings and other rich people of the area
- Students were not expected to pay a fee to the Guru
- The Gurus were responsible for imparting education and nothing else
- The students lived with the Guru as a part of his family – they were hence a part of Guru’s Kul which is why the name Gurukul. Their education included taking care of the premises and obey the Guru’s instructions.
- Students could leave only after they were 100% adept in their learning and the sole arbiter of this was the Guru himself; there was no fixed duration.
- On completing the education as per the Guru, the students could give a “Guru Dakshina” as a mark of gratitude; they were not obligated to do so.
Thus, the students that emerged were aces in their respective fields as the guru ensured that he gave them full attention and imparted the best education to them.
This system was inspired by the British as it produced people contrary to their interests. The British wanted slaves to do their bidding. Their first act was to cut off the funding and donation of lands for gurukuls. This meant that the gurukuls, in absence of monetary support, began shutting down.
The British introduced their schools which helped them introduce English as the medium of education (in time it took the shape of Knowledge of English = Wise person), guinea pigs for conversion to Christianity and aversion to Vedic Indian traditions as well as replacing Ayurveda by their system of medicine.
It also meant that students were in a way locked up in classrooms and everyone, irrespective of ability, studied the same subjects from the same book. So, one who scored 40% was a graduate as was the one who scored 90%. In the job market, both were equals in the sense that both had graduated.
Now, look at it this way; Bhagwan Krishna and his brother Balram studied under Guru Sandipani while Arjun schooled under Dronacharya. The reason was simple – their aptitudes and thus educational requirements were different.
The result of this centuries of schooling people through the British system has resulted in us moving away from Sanatani Values, disrespecting our own languages, and gradual disappearance of our Sanskars. What are these “Sanskars,” one may ask; well, a child from a goldsmith’s family would have the sanskars of a goldsmith; this means that the child would know all about gold, ornaments, jewels etc. Similarly, for a child from the family of farmers, ironsmiths, tailors, cowherds and so on.
Nowadays, people go to schools & colleges, spend the first 20-22 years of their life in what most people call studying and then enter the workforce. In mist cases, they have no idea of the real world – this is the difference between “studying’ and “learning.” For Bharat to truly rise and reclaim its past glory, it’s imperative that a modern system of Gurukuls is instituted and spread. Else, we might see a total vanishing of our Bharatiya Sanatani Values.