Swadhyaya : Meaning:
The word Swadhyaya has two components to it.Swa denotes "self",Adhyaya denotes "branch of study","a chapter","a section".Most of us know the word.Adhyapaka,meaning a titor for a group of students.There's always a word Upadhyaya in the Samskrit vocabulary,which is also a popular Indian surname.
Upadhyaya is one who takes you close to a branch of knowledge.Thus Upadhyaya is a specialized teacher.
The body of knowledge in the Indian civilization is composed of the Vedas and the texts ancilliary to the Vedas.i.e Brahmana,Upanishad etc.The root for the word Veda,denoting this collection of knowledge,is vide,meaning "to know","to grasp","to connect".From the word Vid comes Vidya for education,Vidhyarti for student,one whose goal is to know,to learn.This Vid is the base for words such as wisdom,wise etc.in english as well.
The Vid,(urge to know),exerted great power over all civilizations.The body of knowledge,Vid,is so wide that the scholars in the Indian civilization took it upon themselves to divide it into different components,so that each group,family and school of people can specialize in one component.
Decentralized Knowledge System:
The wide body of knowledge was thus broken down into portions,sections that each school took upon itself to specialize in,across the ages,across the land.Each individual belonged to a particular school and as a part of Swadhyaya,had to learn the branch of knowledge of his own school and propogate it.Therefore, when people introduced themselves to each other,they introduced themselves stating the school of thought they belonged to.This formal introduction is known as Abhivadhaye.
Each individual in his Abhivadhaye expressed the branch of knowledge he specialized in.It is this decentralization of knowledge that has helped spread it,as well as surviving through the timult of times.
These different schools also brought in different perspectives to understanding the Universe,which is the base of all knowledge systems.With this approach also came different perspectives for understanding the self,Swadhyaya is also an individual's own experience of the knowledge of the Self and the Universe.
With Swadhyaya also came the liberal attitude to allow each one to explore knowledge,Self and the Universe on one's own.Swadhyaya thus brings with it mutual repect and tolerance for all points of view.
This liberalisation in society gives room for thoughts,perspectives and independent thinking to flourish.Indian civilization is thus dotted with many independent thinkers ranging from pure rationalists to the religiously devout.This adds to the diversity of the civilization.
QUESTIONING SPIRIT:
Despite the division into various well structures schools of thought,Indian education system from days of yore was not designed for just learning by rote.A questioning spirit was built into the system through the aspect of both Swadhyaya,self introspection,as well as through learning or formalised portions with an Upadhyaya.
On one hand,Swadhyaya led to exploration through questionong by the Self and searching for answers by the Self.Ont the other hand,if we look at the word Upanishad,Upa stands for "near" and nishad for "dispelling of darkness".Upanishad is that whose objective is to destroy the doubt.
The key aspect thaty drives an Upanishad is thus the questioning spirit.
A KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY:
Wherever knowledge develops,a civilization develops.The land of India successfully used various techniques of learning to develop its knowledge base and it is a combination of all these that has made this a "knowledge civilization".It is a combination of all these approaches to learning that has created the larger body of knowledge,much of which is still available in the land.
The few decades that each of us lives on this Earth are like windows beween our past and future and we need to use all the accumulated knowledge of our past for the betterment of the future.
The word Swadhyaya has two components to it.Swa denotes "self",Adhyaya denotes "branch of study","a chapter","a section".Most of us know the word.Adhyapaka,meaning a titor for a group of students.There's always a word Upadhyaya in the Samskrit vocabulary,which is also a popular Indian surname.
Upadhyaya is one who takes you close to a branch of knowledge.Thus Upadhyaya is a specialized teacher.
The body of knowledge in the Indian civilization is composed of the Vedas and the texts ancilliary to the Vedas.i.e Brahmana,Upanishad etc.The root for the word Veda,denoting this collection of knowledge,is vide,meaning "to know","to grasp","to connect".From the word Vid comes Vidya for education,Vidhyarti for student,one whose goal is to know,to learn.This Vid is the base for words such as wisdom,wise etc.in english as well.
The Vid,(urge to know),exerted great power over all civilizations.The body of knowledge,Vid,is so wide that the scholars in the Indian civilization took it upon themselves to divide it into different components,so that each group,family and school of people can specialize in one component.
Decentralized Knowledge System:
The wide body of knowledge was thus broken down into portions,sections that each school took upon itself to specialize in,across the ages,across the land.Each individual belonged to a particular school and as a part of Swadhyaya,had to learn the branch of knowledge of his own school and propogate it.Therefore, when people introduced themselves to each other,they introduced themselves stating the school of thought they belonged to.This formal introduction is known as Abhivadhaye.
Each individual in his Abhivadhaye expressed the branch of knowledge he specialized in.It is this decentralization of knowledge that has helped spread it,as well as surviving through the timult of times.
These different schools also brought in different perspectives to understanding the Universe,which is the base of all knowledge systems.With this approach also came different perspectives for understanding the self,Swadhyaya is also an individual's own experience of the knowledge of the Self and the Universe.
With Swadhyaya also came the liberal attitude to allow each one to explore knowledge,Self and the Universe on one's own.Swadhyaya thus brings with it mutual repect and tolerance for all points of view.
This liberalisation in society gives room for thoughts,perspectives and independent thinking to flourish.Indian civilization is thus dotted with many independent thinkers ranging from pure rationalists to the religiously devout.This adds to the diversity of the civilization.
QUESTIONING SPIRIT:
Despite the division into various well structures schools of thought,Indian education system from days of yore was not designed for just learning by rote.A questioning spirit was built into the system through the aspect of both Swadhyaya,self introspection,as well as through learning or formalised portions with an Upadhyaya.
On one hand,Swadhyaya led to exploration through questionong by the Self and searching for answers by the Self.Ont the other hand,if we look at the word Upanishad,Upa stands for "near" and nishad for "dispelling of darkness".Upanishad is that whose objective is to destroy the doubt.
The key aspect thaty drives an Upanishad is thus the questioning spirit.
A KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY:
Wherever knowledge develops,a civilization develops.The land of India successfully used various techniques of learning to develop its knowledge base and it is a combination of all these that has made this a "knowledge civilization".It is a combination of all these approaches to learning that has created the larger body of knowledge,much of which is still available in the land.
The few decades that each of us lives on this Earth are like windows beween our past and future and we need to use all the accumulated knowledge of our past for the betterment of the future.
