Education, Science and Religious Learning

The education system that had been gradually developed in the previous period was maintained during this period with little change. There was no concept of mass education at the time. People learned what they felt was necessary for their survival. Reading and writing were restricted to a small group of people, mostly Brahmans and upper-class people, particularly Kayasthas.

Education and Learning

• Education was limited to a small group of people, mostly Brahmanas and upper-class people. Students were required to pay fees or give gifts at the end of their education.
• Those who were unable to pay fees were required to provide personal service to the teacher. The main subjects studied were the various branches of the Vedas and grammar.
• Nalanda, in Bihar, was the most famous of India’s secular institutes. Vikramsila and Uddhandapura, both in Bihar, were other such centres. Kashmir was yet another important educational centre.
• During this time, many Saiva sects and centres of learning flourished in Kashmir. A number of important maths were established in southern India, including Madurai and Sringeri.
• Philosophical education was not considered complete until the philosophers visited various centres of learning in various parts of the country and held discussions with the scholars there.
• The study of politics, which included political morality, was popular among the nobility. Kamandaka’ Nitisara made significant contributions to this field of study.
• The Kayasthas had their own system of teaching administration, including accountancy.
• Many centres also taught science, including mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. Thus, during the ninth century, the Arab astronomer Abu Maashir of Balkh studied at Banaras for ten years.
• The responsibility for providing education for a craft or profession was generally left to guilds or individual families.

Growth of Science

• Science and technology development slowed during this time period. Surgery declined because dissection of dead bodies was considered fit only for people of low castes. In fact, barbers became surgeons.
• Astrology gradually pushed astronomy aside. However, advances in mathematics were made, and Lilavati of Bhaskara II remained a standard text for a long time.
• The use of minerals, particularly mercury, helped to advance medicine. Many books have been written about plant sciences and animal treatment.
• However, no method for breeding fine quality horses was discovered, leaving India dependent on imports of such horses from Central Asia, including Arabia and Iran.
• With the conquest of these areas by Muslim rulers, the Indian rulers faced numerous challenges in securing a supply of good horses.
• There were numerous reasons for the period’s stagnation of Indian science. Experience suggests that the advancement of science is closely related to the advancement of society as a whole.
• Another reason was the Indians’ tendency to isolate themselves from the main currents of scientific thought outside of India.
• This is reflected in the writings of al-Biruni, a noted Central Asian scientist and scholar who lived in India for about ten years in the early eleventh century.
• Despite his admiration for Indian science and learning, al-Biruni observed the insular attitude of the country’s learned people, namely the Brahmans.

Education, Intellectual Traditions, Interactions and Philosophy

Introduction

• Ancient Indian thought and philosophy mainly focused on problems related to cosmology (nature of the universe), metaphysics (nature of reality), logic, epistemology, and ethics.

• During the ancient period, the six schools of philosophy or shadarshana emerged, which were: Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva Mimamsa, and Uttara Mimamsa (also known as Vedanta).

• Vedanta is a generic term encompassing different schools within it.

• Systems of thought in ancient India developed through debates, dialogues, and commentaries on primary texts, all aimed at realizing moksha (salvation).

• This process led to the development of numerous schools, beliefs, and practices in Indian philosophy.

• Indian thought broadly classified into orthodox and heterodox schools:

  • Orthodox schools based their philosophy on Vedic literature.

  • Heterodox schools (such as Buddhism, Jainism, Charvakas, and Ajivikas) rejected the authority of the Vedas.

• By the early medieval period, the Shramanic religions (Buddhism and Jainism) and Hinduism began incorporating diverse traditions and philosophical systems.

• The three main sects of Hinduism were: Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism, each of which had many sub-sects.

• The bhakti tradition in Tamilaham helped expand the Vaishnava and Shaiva traditions.

• Acharyas played a key role in connecting Vedanta with Puranic traditions, helping revive Hinduism.

• The notion of dasavatara (ten incarnations of Vishnu) became standardized during this period.

• Indigenous and tribal gods and goddesses were incorporated into the Hindu pantheon.

• Educational institutions and literary works produced during this time helped propagate the philosophy and practices of Hinduism.

Religious Learning and Educational Institutions

• India has been a center of learning since ancient times, attracting travellers and pilgrims from various regions, while Indian monks and scholars traveled to spread their teachings.

• Trade also facilitated the dissemination of knowledge gathered by Indian intellectuals.

• Education was predominantly religious in nature.

• In early medieval South India, agraharas, brahmapuris, and ghatikas became the main centers of brahmanical learning.

• Land grants played a significant role in promoting brahmanical learning, with such grants to individual brahmanas or families called brahmadeyas.

• Ghatikas were higher educational institutions and centers for intellectual discourse and disputations.

• Agrahara referred to an allotment of villages by kings or noble families to brahmanas for sustenance.

• Temples also emerged as providers of education, often with mathas attached to them.

• Shankaracharya established many mathas, which were educational centers.

• In these centers, Mahajanas (brahmana teachers) were responsible for delivering shatkarmas (six duties).

• Buddhists and Jainas had their own monastic institutions, and the medium of instruction was Sanskrit.

• Monastic institutions facilitated the exchange of ideas and dialogues between different schools of thought.

• Vedanta philosophy gained prominence during this period.

• In Tamil regions, Jaina monasteries were called palli (“to lie down”), where Jaina monks spent their later years teaching in caves.

• Inscriptions indicate that the Kazhugumalai palli had about fifteen female teachers and nuns between the 8th and 12th centuries.

• The concept of school and education in this region may have originated from early Tamil Jainas.

• Pataliputra monastery in Cuddalore was another significant Jaina center.

• The Mattavilasa Prahasana, written by Mahendravarman I, mentions Buddhist friars and a rich Buddhist monastery near Kanchi.

• Huien Tsang visited Kanchipuram in 642 CE and noted the presence of 100 sangaharamas (Buddhist monasteries) with 10,000 priests studying Mahayana Buddhism.

• Dharmapala, a Buddhist scholar from Kanchipuram, later became the head of Nalanda University.

• Major universities became prominent centers of intellectual activity during this time, supporting both religious and secular learning.

• Vallabhi University, founded around 600 CE by the Maitraka dynasty in modern Gujarat, was one such institution.

• Nalanda Mahavihara, established by Kumaragupta I (415-455 CE), housed a great library called Dharmaganja.

• Eminent personalities associated with Nalanda included Aryabhata, Huien Tsang, I-tsing, Santarakhsita, Nagarjuna, and Atisa Dipankar.

• Subjects taught at Nalanda University included Vedas, yogashastra, art of war, fine arts, politics, astronomy, mathematics, and medicine.

• Nalanda was one of the oldest universities in the world.

• Odantapuri Mahavihara was built by Gopala I (750-770 CE), founder of the Pala dynasty in Bengal.

• Dharmapala (783-820 CE) established Vikramashila Mahavihara, where Vajrayana Buddhism was a major subject.

• Vikramashila maintained ties with Tibet, and scholars from Tibet came to study there.

• In the 12th century, around 3,000 scholars were studying at Vikramashila.

• Manuscripts were written in Sanskrit and translated into Tibetan.

• Atisha Dipankar (980-1054 CE), a Buddhist scholar, was the head of Vikramashila and also founded Somapur Mahavihara in modern Bangladesh.

• Taranath, a Tibetan scholar, mentions that Dharmapala built 50 religious institutions.

• In the late 12th century, Bakhtiyar Khilji, a military commander of Qutubuddin Aibak, destroyed the mahaviharas of Nalanda, Odantapuri, and Vikramashila.

• Scholars spread their teachings through trade routes to regions like Nepal, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and China.

• Vajrabodhi (671-741 CE) stayed at Srivijaya for five months before visiting China.

• Atisha Dipankara stayed in Srivijaya for 12 years before returning in 1025 CE and traveling to Tibet via Nepal, where he converted Padmaprabha, the son of the ruler of Nepal, Anantakirti, to Buddhism in 1040 CE.

• Padmasambhava (Rimpoche), who taught at Nalanda, went to Tibet in 747 CE on the invitation of King Thi-srong-detsan, introducing Tantric Buddhism.

• Kashmir became an important center of learning during the early medieval period.

• Anandavardhana, an eminent scholar during the reign of Avantivarman (855-883 CE) and founder of the Utpala dynasty, revived Sanskrit learning in Kashmir.

• Kshemendra (990-1070) wrote didactic texts, devotional works, poetics, and satires. He introduced the concept of auchitya in poetry, referring to the proper placement of guna, rasa, alankara, and pada.

• Shaivism became popular in Kashmir during this time.

• Vasugupta (875-925) composed Shivasutrani, which describes human consciousness and guides towards the realization of Shiva within oneself.

• Kshemaraja (975-1025), a disciple of Abhinavagupta, wrote a Sanskrit commentary on Shivasutrani and elaborated on its methodologies towards achieving moksha or salvation.

• Spandakarika describes the nature of spanda, the first vibration or explosive sensation, as the precursor to creation in the cosmos and human body.

• Pratyabhinjnahrdyam explains the essence of pratyabhinjna (knowledge of pure perception).

• Somananda founded the Pratyabhijna school, with his work Sivadrishti describing the concept, later developed by his son Utpaladeva.

• Abhinavagupta integrated Pratyabhijna with other schools of Shaivism in Kashmir.

• Abhinavagupta’s work informs about existing schools of philosophy in India, showing intellectual interactions among scholars from different regions.

• Trika Shaivism of Kashmir incorporated tantra traditions.

• Several texts on tantra and Shaivism were written, with Vigyan Bhairav Tantra being an important work that deals with 112 ways of meditation, believed to have been prescribed by Shiva to Parvati.

• Tantraloka by Abhinavagupta is a popular work elucidating the 64 tantra traditions of tantragama and related concepts such as lingas, mandalas, and mudras.

• The bhakti tradition and Vedanta philosophy led to the production of a corpus of religious literary works.

• The hymns of the Nayanars and Alvars were compiled into texts.

• Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, and Madhavacharya wrote commentaries on the Brahmasutra of Badarayana.

• Temple texts called Agamas were composed between the 5th and 15th centuries CE, becoming popular among adherents of certain branches of Shaivism, such as Kashmir Shaivism.

• These literary works contributed to the growth of Hinduism.