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Female education as...
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be constructed out of the fragments lying hither and thither in Vedic, Buddhistic and Jinistic literatures. This proves that female education was not only in vogue in those days but was appreciated and encouraged. It is also true that it was imparted on a more solid and sound basis because it could produce scholars of intrinsic worth and deep study. It is also manifest from the foregoing pages that female education was of a diverse character including instructions on magic, sculpture etc. Latā mastered the art of magic and Nanduttarā and Vidya were adepts in the art of sculpture. This is also evident that it was considered more a duty rather than a matter of pride to educate the females because we have seen above that it was open to all. Besides those mentioned above, there is quite a good number of other ladies also no less superior. Their worthy names are Kali, Channā, Sayallā, Vāli, Revati, Sivalā, Mahārubā, Culabhāgā, Dhannā, Sonā, Mahātissā, Culasumana, Mahāsumanā and Hemā. It will be a long list of the female professors who actually worked in the University of Anurādhāpurab which also like Nalanda fulfilled the dictum of Carlyle that a true University is a collection of books as well as that of Newman that it is a school of Universal learning, the alma mater of a host of distinguished logicians, grammarians and philosophers. I leave it to the scholars to find out whether there were separate institutions for female education or there was a system of coeducation or they were privately tutored.
Notes
1 In the North and North-West of India there were great centres of learning such as the
Universities of Nalanda and Taxila where for hundreds of years not only all branches of secular knowledge, especially, medicine, but also the philosophical and theological literature of Buddhism, were cultivated with great zeal. Chinese pilgrims like Heuen Tsang learned Sanskrit at Nalanda and translated Buddhist texts into Chinese. See Phanindra Nath BOSE :
Indian Teachers of Buddhist Universities. 2 Jivaka was the son of courtezan, named Salavati. Mahavagga VIII, I. 3 Therigätha forms part of the Khuddaka Nikaya which is again included in Suttapitaka.
See OLDENBERG : Literatur des aluth Indien, Page 101.
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