Article by Dr Raghuram Y.S. MD (Ay) & Dr Manasa, B.A.M.S

Ref – Sushruta Samhita Sutra Sthana – Chapter 4 – Prabhashiniyam Adhyayam Verses 3,4

When I was a kid, I used to carry loads of books to school, on my back, neatly arranged in a bag. They were in total around 30 books for sure, if my memory is correct. We used to have seven to eight class hours in a day and at least three to four books per class was what we were expected to carry. It was not about me. Everyone who belonged to that era.

Didn’t we look like poor donkeys carrying loads of clothes on our back for their dhobi, chasing them with a stick?

We did! Teachers at school and parents at home definitely played the role of dhobi. Home to school and school to home and the affairs at both places were intimidating and menacing. But we enjoyed the intimidation, because we were used to it! Did we have a choice? Absolutely no. If we don’t do the homework, we are punished. If we do not do the classwork, we will be punished. If we did not carry the right amount of books needed for a day full of classes, we were punished. Punishment was the need of the day and a ritual.

Parents, apart from paying fees and getting us into reputed schools, have to check our bags to see that we carry all books and amenities and go as equipped soldiers to the warfront which is called a school. They need to pack food, help us in doing homework and projects and also tuition us at home if they cannot afford for another school called ‘the private tuitions’.

So, schooling was a family affair.

Did it change?

Even now, the school kids are carrying loads of books. They have to write a lot apart from reading, not just at home, but also in school. Every teacher has their set of assignments and homework shot at the child. The children are stuck in work salad. The only thing is, our computers, laptops, iphones and printers are coming handy. But even the modern-day child cannot escape the burden of carrying books on his back and doing a lot of clerical work in the books. The learning method is easy, but the methodology has become tougher, the syllabus has become ‘unconquerable Everest’ and the students have become robots. The teachers and parents have become advanced robots.

The education system is graduating in transferring more and more burden and new methodologies of ‘weight bearing efficiency’ to the kids of successive generations.

Education has become a ‘scarecrow’ or ‘panic point’. There is no enjoyment left in learning. It has become a mechanical ritual and it will be ‘raising high’ with evolution.

The students may strike gold but at the end of the day they will become ‘emotionless creatures’ who see nightmares of teachers and lessons even in their sleep.

The quantity of physical, mental and emotional pressure the kids of the modern era carry is immeasurable. They are undergoing enormous pressure. They have mood swings and tantrums and do not display any signs of happiness. They are alienated. This is dangerous!

There is a lot of difference between ‘well read’ and ‘well learnt’. Many students go out of the schools and colleges as ‘well read’ rather than ‘well learnt’. They know how to mug up and secure ranks because that is exactly what they are trained for. The real problem comes when they need to ‘apply their knowledge’.

Lot of changes need to be done in the teaching and learning methodology. And I am sure that the coming generations may find solutions for this and ways of getting out of this maze, sane and unscratched.

The bottom line is that the education system or learning methodology or schooling should not become a donkey’s burden for any child.

Master Sushruta had emphasized this long back and stressed upon a set up of planned academics and proper methodology of teaching and learning by giving the analogy of a donkey.

How thoughtful our Acharyas were. Did we lose the magical touch of ‘comprehensive Gurukula learning system’ with time and evolution?

Acharya Sushruta’s Analogy to explain the importance of knowing the deeper meaning and implications of a science

अधिगतमप्यध्ययनमप्रभाषितमर्थतःखरस्यचन्दनभारइवकेवलंपरिश्रमकरंभवति॥३॥

Acharya Sushruta says ‘One may study science in its entirety. But what if he cannot interpret the deeper meanings of whatever he has studied? If the science is not properly understood or interpreted in its true and deep meaning, the learning would become waste. It just becomes a formality and a tiresome and useless burden, just like a heap of something carried on its back would become ‘just a heavy burden’ and nothing else – for a donkey. So, studying and understanding the deeper meaning of science should go hand in hand.

Elaboration of the analogy

भवतिचात्र:-
यथाखरश्चन्दनभारवाहीभारस्यवेत्तानतुचन्दनस्य।
एवंहिशास्त्राणिबहून्यधीत्यचार्थेषुमूढाःखरवद्वहन्ति॥४॥

A verse here in –

‘A donkey carrying a bundle of sandalwood on its back understands only the weight of the sandalwood. But it cannot appreciate its sweet smell nor understand the other good qualities of the sandalwood. So, the bundle of sandalwood on the back of the donkey is nothing more than a burden on the back for the animal’.

Same is the case with a foolish person also. He might have read many sciences extensively but what about understanding the deeper meanings of those sciences? He definitely has never understood the deeper meaning (implications) from the core of those sciences. He or she may also fail to translate or interpret that knowledge into something meaningful and productive due to the ‘robotic learning system’ he has been graduated from, with plenty of marks against his name but no evitable mark of true understanding of knowledge smelt out of his personality.

In this case, he is no different from a ‘weight bearing donkey’. He is said to be similar to the donkey carrying a bundle of sandalwood on its back as explained by Master Sushruta.

Such a foolish person too, in spite of having extensively read many sciences, just bears the burden of the weight of the content of the science, just like the donkey, but cannot appreciate the essence of its meaning, not interpret them. This is because the person does not have the knowledge of the deeper meanings of the sciences that he has extensively read through but fails to interpret its true implications when it really matters. He acts like a donkey in interpreting the true meanings of science.

Such a person just knows the contents of the science just like the donkey which knows only the weight of the sandalwood bundle on its back. Such a science becomes a burden or heavy weight for this learned yet foolish person. It is no use for him in the long run. Just like the donkey who is unaware of the fragrance and good qualities of the sandalwood it carries on the back, he too is unaware about the fragrance and good qualities of the sciences that he has learnt but has never ventured into exploring its deeper meanings.

To sum up,

In this analogy, Acharya Sushruta was way ahead of his time in delivering the message that the academics should never be a ‘donkey’s burden’ for the student but should be a comprehensive process of learning, understanding, appreciating and interpreting the contents of the science. It is the methodology and learning culture which matters. This was a loud appeal made by the Grand Master of Ayurveda which fits into any field of academics even in the modern-day education system.

We are evolved, we are advanced, but are we creating geniuses? Are we training our students to smell and appreciate the real fragrance of the sandalwood called ‘learning of science’?

To an extent, yes! To a large extent, we need to!