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Respect for teacher
All the above three type of teachers enjoyed high respect, particularly from their students. They earned this respect not only because of their learning but also because of their life of sacrifice. They could command the respect because of their selflessness. The teacher of religion for exceeded the teacher of arts and crafts in austerity and, therefore, got the highest respect. It becomes clear, when we read in the Uttaradhyayan Sūtra that 'a pupil should not sit by the side of the teacher, nor before him; nor behind him, he should never put questions while sitting on a stool or bed, but rising from his seat and coming near, we should ask him with folded hands." This was the ideal but there were students who were indisciplined or careless in their studies and were not only addressed with harsh word but were even heaten by their teachers. Such bad students have no thirst for knowledge and if their case was found to be incurable, they were even rusticated from the institution.
Inexpensive Education
Though the rich arranged costly education for their wards, the education for the common man was quite cheap. Some of the students had lodging and boarding in the house of their teacher as member of their family whereas the other students lived together in some type of hostel, when the cost of their lodging and boarding was borne by the rich people of the town or by the royal palace. In all the cases, the students were required to lead a life of austerity. In the case of students of religious education, which was regularly given to the ascetics only, the students were naturally required to follow the rules which were laid down for a Jain ascetic. For the householder, the religious education must have been secondary, the primary position being occupied by the education of arts
and crafts.
Suspension of teaching
In the case of any natural calamity, the teaching was suspended. Similar was the case when some war brokeout. Vyāvahāre Bhāśya mentions that even in such trivial cases as killing of mouse by cat or appearance of
तुलसी प्रज्ञा जनवरी - मार्च, 2003
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