Sadhvidya Strategy
The traditional Indian education system was broadly supported by two complementary social institutions that played a major role in shaping individuals and society.
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- Kula Vyavastha: Kula Vyavastha refers to the aggregation of people around common interests, activities, occupations, or professions. It functioned as a social framework through which individuals inherited and practiced the values, culture, and samskaras associated with their community. This is a vertical learning system with a separate system for each Kula. Professional competence was acquired through Saangatyam—learning by association and observation with an experienced practitioner surrounding them right from the childhood. Below are features of this system:
- Skills were not categorized as formal education. They were means to fulfil social needs.
- Awareness and skill about professional competence was acquired through Saangatyam.
- Knowledge about tools, terminology, and process relevant to the profession were introduced from early age.
- This was essentially a form of on-the-job training, where the learner observed, assisted, and gradually mastered the profession under the guidance of a skilled person who acted as guru.
- Practical knowledge required for earning a livelihood and accomplishing worldly tasks was primarily transmitted through this system.
- Learning occurred through participation, observation, and continuous interaction rather than through formal classroom instruction.
- Guru Kula Vyavastha: Guru Kula Vyavastha refers to the aggregation of people around an instituted authority or a gravitational point who will teach and present the world view to the learners through a defined academic curriculum. The Guru kula system is the formal education system which explains metaphysical subjects, which are Horizontal across all vertical systems present in Kula Vyavastha. This system introduced students to higher principles and disciplines, thereby orienting them toward the right path from the very beginning. Students learning this worldview in Guru Kula Vyavastha would carry the perspective to their individual verticals in Kula Vyavastha. Objective of this was to cultivate a holistic individual capable of understanding both tangible and deeper dimensions of life. Formal education had different variations which were inculcated in students. Few of them are mentioned below:
- Vinayam – Grounding behavior which makes a person eligible to comprehend and observe happenings surrounding him.
- Vidya – Awareness about a subject that illuminates and transforms the individual to travel in the path of learning Gnanam.
- Gnanam – Knowledge which is inspired and experienced through an enquiring mind.
- Vignanam – experiential knowledge gained through application of gnanam. This is the knowledge that has been verified through practical implementation.
- Pragnanam – Wisdom, discernment, and the ability to rightly comprehend and apply the vignanam for accomplishing tasks.
- Kala –Artistic skill or technique which inspires and impacts larger society for presenting a refined expression.
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