Mahavira His Life And Teachings

Author(s): Saraswati Raghavachari
Publisher: Jain Sastu Sahitya

Page 23

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CHAPTER IX Education.
IX Every man has two educations-that which is given to him and that which he gives himself. Of the two kinds, the latter is by far the more valuable. Indeed all that is most valuable in a man, he must work out and conquer for himself.
-Richter. Once a great thinker of the 19th century was asked, “ At what age should a child's education begin?”
The answer was, “ Before the child is born."
Paradoxical as the answer may be, modern educationists have come to realise the quintessence of truth and wisdom which underlay it.
In this connection, I can not help remarking that King Siddhartha was not only aware of this great principle of education but also practised it in the case of his own son whose 'life is delineated here.
We are informed that during her pregnancy, the Queen was under the care of the best persons that could be found in the land. Women of vast