Studies in the Bhagavati Sutra

Author(s): J C Sikdar
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

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Sec. VI]
STUDIES IN THE BHAGAWATI SUTRA
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darpana, while the last one represented all the stages of the life of Lord Mahāvīra.
Conclusion
Thus it is clearly known from the BhS that the system of education was both academic and vocational.
It was so organized as to furnish the learners with proficiency in the general as well as special knowledge, and also in the doctrinal knowledge.
So it included in its courses of studies the following subjects, viz. Itihasa (History), Vyakarana (Grammar), Chanda (Metre), Nirukta (Exegesis), Sankhana (Arithmetic), Jyotisa (Astronomy and Astrology), and the like in order to achieve the first objective and it imparted education in the Medical Science, Military Science, and Art of Warfare, Fine Arts, etc., to attain the second one, while the study of the Vedas and the other religious and philosophical treatises provided knowledge of their doctrines and spiritualism,
Each of the religious orders of that period was a travelling school of thought which introduced the rules of conduct and mental training based on its ideals and imparted education to its followers in the subjects of religion and philosophy.
The method of teaching the principles of knowledge and truth by discussion to the people was a remarkable characteristic of the educational and cultural activities of those days.
In conclusion the preachings of the doctrines of truth, the social and moral elevation of men and women, the development of the spoken language, science and arts and the democratization of learning were the distinguished features of the educational system as revealed in the BhS.