”Vidya naam narasya roopamadhikam prachchanna guptam dhanam

                                      Vidya bhogakari yasha sukhakari Vidya guruNam guruhu:

                                      Vidya bandhujano videshagamane Vidya para devataa

                                      Vidya rajashu pujyate na tu dhanam Vidya vihinah pashuhu!”

                                                                                          – Bhartruhari Niti Shataka (21)

(Education is what beautifies person’s personality; acts as a hidden treasure; is cause of his pleasures, fame and happiness; and is the master of all masters. Education helps like a friend in foreign land; is the highest bliss; and even the Kings honor education more than wealth. So a person without education is like an animal indeed).

The role and impact of education in the life of an individual or the society or the nation stands unmatched. The information, the knowledge, the intellect and the wisdom – all of which play critical role in the life of a person, can be realized through education. We can almost certainly attribute lot of good happening in the world to the right education (and Samskaras at times) while lot of evils existing may many times be successfully mapped to wrong source of knowledge or lack of right education. 

So it is very important to ensure that purpose and process of Education is defined for highest good. Maharshi Veda Vyasa in Sri Vishnu Puraana has put it amazingly well in very simple terms – “Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye” (real knowledge/education as the one that liberates). With liberation comes realization and with realization comes bliss. 

Let us now look at this from the angle of four main objectives (Purusharthas) of human life (dharma, artha, kaama and moksha). As defined by our rishis – the pursuit of dharma is to regulate one’s life keeping him on the righteous path; the pursuit of artha (material possessions/wealth) & kaama (desires) are for social well-being and help to learn some valuable lessons in life; and the pursuit of Moksha, which is considered as the ultimate goal of human life, is for the highest bliss through liberation from repeated cycle of birth and death. The education should really be able to put each of these four objectives in right perspectives and provide enough guidance on striving to achieve highest possible objectives/value from the given life. When the bar is high, intentions are pure and means have the potential, other things start falling in place. So is the case with education.

 As a good education system results in happy individuals, it does result into strong nations and flourishing cultures. Also, as a lack of good education system leads to stressed individuals, it does lead to chaotic society and disintegrated nations. The uninterrupted existence of Indian civilization and the ancient India’s contribution to the world in the fields of Philosophy, Literature, Mathematics, Science, Arts and Music can well be attributed to a fundamentally strong education system of the times. It was undoubtedly that system of education which resulted into shaping of our civilization which was admired and aspired across every nook and corner of the world.

 But somewhere down the road we got complacent. The enemies of peaceful existence took advantage of the situation and subdued our nation time and again in last thousand years. The remnants of our legacy made us fight back time and again till the shrewdness of Europeans caused us perform final rites of our great education system. Eventually, we let go of the best education system world had ever seen and instead adopted a system introduced by them with their selfish motives. With this started the lull period in our nation’s history, with India almost ceasing to play an effective role on the world stage. It is sad that this self-defeating education system, introduced by the likes of Macaulay & Charles Trevelyan, continues to survive even after 64 years of our Independence. 

It is real high time now that we turn the fate of our nation again by turning the wheel of education for good. Need is to evolve and build a system capable of churning continuously high number of individuals, who - 

  • First and foremost are ever willing to put nation before the self
  • Have high dreams of a promising future which is even more glorious than the best of our times in the past
  • Have the required inspiration, character, strength and confidence of leading the world yet again
  • Love and nurture the nature rather than exploiting it for selfish ends
  • Can carry forward the amazing legacy of our philosophical and cultural heritage
  • Have immense strength to face all the challenges of the world with head held high
  • And finally, have imbibed the true spirit of “Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha” (let all be happy). 

Once this happens, our Bharat will again be able to lead and steer the world towards a lot happier planet, with focus on peaceful & happy co-existence rather than mutual conflicts & competitions