It is not a coincidence that most of the Hindus subconsciously harboring Hinduphobia are highly educated Bharatiyas. Education, especially in the Bharatiya context, has unfortunately become synonymous with westernization and neo-colonization. Therefore, with higher education comes the baggage of all sorts of woke ideas that make a Bharatiya feel awkward about their own culture, traditions, and heritage, if not outrightly hate them.
For the longest time imaginable, the Bharatiya education system was running literally on the whims and fancies of the colonizers. We were all following the Macaulay education system that was initially designed to produce a bunch of English-speaking, and subservient babus for the British administration. No wonder then that our education system even in the 21st century was ticking right all boxes of colonialism – hyper reverence for the English language, glorification of colonialism, regarding British colonialism as the pioneer of all reforms, the eulogization of rote learning, denigration of Hindu Dharma, etc. Our education system, steeped in colonial inertia portrayed Hindu Dharma and the Bharatiya way of life as being the complete antithesis of science and modernity. It is not again a coincidence that a lot many insensitive jokes about gobar (cow dung) and gau mootr (cow urine) are a byproduct of the colonial education system.
However, with the New Education Policy implemented in 2022, there seems to be a silver lining. The New Education Policy completely overhauls the Bharatiya education system, creating space for instruction in the mother tongue language at least till the primary level, and the restructuring of curriculum to better reflect the history, art, culture, scientific progression, etc. of ancient Bharat. The New Education Policy also does away with the cold, impassioned, exam-oriented, and rote learning system of education and paves the way for a more inquiring, student-focused, fluid, dynamic, open-ended, and intuitive framework of education. This dynamic and fluid framework aligns more with the ancient Bharatiya educational system of Gurukul rather than the western education system.
No wonder then that the Gurukul system of education incorporating Vedic teachings and values is making a spirited comeback. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently laid the foundation of Patanjali Gurukulam in Haridwar. The inauguration took place on the 29th Foundation Day of Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Yog Peeth. Apart from Rajnath Singh, the event was graced by Baba Ramdev along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mohan Yadav.
Rajnath Singh hailed the Gurukulam initiative of Patanjali by stating that moral values were eroding since people had started mindlessly aping foreign culture. Thus, gurukuls should come forward to impart modern education to the youth while preserving Bharat’s cultural heritage and the moral values of its people, he said.
He also spoke about the dangers of the Macaulay education system saying Macaulay was sent to Bharat to enslave the Bharatiyas by colonizing their minds. The education system designed by Macaulay that Bharatiyas were subjected to made them feel inferior about their own culture and traditions, stated Rajnath Singh.
Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav, who was also present on the occasion, urged Baba Ramdev to establish a similar Gurukul in the state of MP as well.
It’s certainly refreshing to see the ambitious Patanjali initiative of revamping the Gurukul system. Going by Baba Ramdev’s enormous popularity, the Gurukulam would go viral in a couple of months once it’s started. It would be perhaps even better to have Patanjali take the initiative of setting up such Gurukuls in various other Bharatiya states as well. All his controversies notwithstanding, Baba Ramdev has played a pivotal role in upholding the values of Sanatan Dharma and popularizing its teaching amongst the masses. Yoga was considered an elite and esoteric practice limited to a certain section of society until Baba Ramdev popularized Yoga and Pranayam and took it to the grassroots level with his massive yoga camps that were live telecast at that time. That’s why I strongly feel Patanjali can play a prominent role in reviving the Gurukul education system in Bharat, considering its massive reach in both rural and urban Bharat.
Several other initiatives are also being taken to revive the Gurukul system of education in Bharat. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also stated that Atal Residential Schools which have been started to impart education to the children of laborers who lost their parents to covid 19, would be run on the Gurukul tradition. That is, they would offer students a blend of modern education and Gurukul-based education and value system.
Another popular chain of Gurukul schools in Bharat is the Shri Swaminarayan Gurukul International School. Affiliated to the CBSE Board, this school integrates modern education with elements of traditional gurukul-based learning. The school has campuses in several cities of Bharat including Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Mysore, Nagpur, New Delhi, Navi Mumbai, etc. Bharatiya corporates should come forward to set up more such schools that integrate the Gurukul system of education with modern learning. Such schools can become an effective antidote to the missionary school ecosystem that has eaten at the roots of our society like a termite.
Most of the schools considered top-notch in Bharat are still the ones that are a part of the missionary ecosystem and carry forward the colonial legacy. This ecosystem is also impacting other schools that might have been set up by Hindus, but they still unconsciously follow the same colonial paradigm. Therefore, setting up modern schools with elements of the Vedic education system is the best way forward. If we set up 100 percent traditional Gurukuls, most parents are going to be reluctant to send their kids to the gurukuls due to purely practical concerns. In modern society, parents would obviously be concerned that their kids should have an educational certificate from a recognized board so that they can join the mainstream higher education system. Therefore, the best way forward is to amalgamate modern education with the Gurukul system, as the New Education Policy also envisages.
A website called Vedic Concepts gives a state-wise tally of Gurukuls in Bharat. It also gives a list of the top 10 Gurukuls in Bharat 2023. While one can’t obviously vouch for the authenticity of the information provided, it’s nevertheless great to have such a resource. If one goes by their tally, the status of the Gurukul education system in Bharat at present is literally non-existent. Many Bharatiya states don’t have a single Gurukul while in several others, the number of Gurukuls runs in single digits. According to this list, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have the maximum number of Gurukuls at 50 followed by Maharashtra at 46 and Andhra Pradesh at 31. Devbhoomi Uttarakhand is said to have just 5 Gurukuls in this list.
We certainly have a lot of catching up to do in revamping the Gurukul education system of ancient Bharat. The Guru-Shishya Parampara completely changes the dynamics of learning. The modern education system dominated by expensive private schools has reduced the relationship between a teacher and a student to that of a service provider and a buyer. The commercial coaching system has further contributed to this ugly distortion, making teachers come across as some kind of aggressive salespeople. The reorientation of the Bharatiya education system in the mold of the traditional Guru Shishya Parampura will reestablish the rightful moral values in the relationship between a teacher and a student. It will also lead to a gradual decolonization of the minds of the educated Bharatiyas.
