Indian knowledge tradition in education

Education in ancient India

• Gurukula system: students lived with the guru, learning through listening (shravana), reflection (manana) and contemplation (nididhyasana). Learning was oral and personal.
• Takshashila (Taxila): one of the earliest centres of higher learning, famous for medicine, politics and grammar.
• Nalanda: a great Buddhist university in Bihar, flourishing from the 5th century CE under the Guptas; the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang studied and taught there in the 7th century.
• Vikramashila: founded by the Pala king Dharmapala, known for Buddhist studies.
• Subjects included the Vedas, grammar (Panini’s Ashtadhyayi), logic, mathematics, astronomy and medicine (Charaka, Sushruta).

NEP 2020 and the knowledge tradition

NEP 2020 calls for the “Indian Knowledge Systems” to be part of the curriculum, and for respect for the teacher as in the guru tradition.