The Aim of Education

HUXLEY has said that the aim of education is the building up of character. Our seers aver that, if in spite of his knowledge of the Vedas and Shastras, a man fails to know himself and acquire the power to liberate himself from all bonds, his knowledge is useless. They have also said : "He who has known the Self, knows all." Knowledge of the Self is possible without any literary education. Prophet Mohammed was an illiterate man. Christ, too, did not attend school. But it would be impudent to deny that these great men had acquired knowledge of the Self. Though they did not pass any examination, yet we hold them in high esteem and worship them. They were in possession of all the fruits of learning. They were Mahatmas—men of great spiritual attainment. But we cannot copy their example without thought. If we leave off attending school because they never went to school, we shall get nowhere. But what we can learn from them is that knowledge of the Self can only be acquired through the building up of good character.

What is Character ?

What is character ? What are the hall-marks of fine character? A man of character strives to practice Truth, Non-violence, Brahmacharya, Non-Possess-ion, Non-stealing, Fearlessness and such other vows. He is ready to give up his life, but not truth. He is prepared to die, but will not kill. He is willing to accept suffering, but not inflict it on others. He can live even with his own wife as a friend, and not cast lustful eyes on her. Thus, a man of character practices Brahmacharya and tries to conserve the energy of the body. He does not steal, nor takes bribes. He does not waste his time nor that of others. He does not hoard money without sufficient cause. He does not seek ease and comfort and does not use useless things merely to please his fancy, but feels quite content to live a simple life. Firm in his belief that "I am the immortal spirit and not this perishable body and that none can ever kill the spirit", he casts out all fear and does not bow down even to great emperors, but goes on doing his duty fearlessly.

If our schools do not yield the results mentioned above, the students, the system of education and the teachers—all three must share the blame. But it is in the hands of the students to make good the defects in their character, for no one else can do this for them. Therefore, as I have said earlier, we must first understand the aim of education. A student who desires to cultivate and build up character, will learn how to do so from any good book on the subject.

The Lord of creation creates everything in this world as an admixture of good and evil. But a good man selects the good and rejects the evil, even as the fabled swan is said to help himself to cream leaving out water.

An Unworthy Disposition of Mind

But I am afraid that most of the students do not pay any regard to the real aim of education. They go to school merely because it is the custom to do so. Some go to be able to obtain employment later on. In my opinion, to think of education as a means of earning a living betrays an unworthy disposition of mind. The body is the means of earning a living, while the school is the place for building character. To regard the latter as the means of fulfilling one's bodily needs, is like killing a buffalo for a small piece of hide.

A student who goes to school without any thought of the aim of education should first understand its purpose. He may resolve, from to-day onwards, that henceforth he will regard school as the place for building up character. I am sure that such a student will effect a change for the better in his character in the course of a month, and that his companions will bear witness to this fact. The Shastras aver that we become as we think.

— True Education : pp. 196-99