Gurukul Vrindavan, Mathura UP

Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh, UP, a freedom fighter, noble peace prize nominee, and resident of Vrindavan, donated his estate and 5 villages in Vrindavan for the creation of educational institutes. His residence was converted into “Prem Maha Vidyalaya”. Fifty-five acres of surrounding village land was donated for creation of the Gurukula, which was growing in patronage and needed more space.

In 1911 the current Gurukul Vishwavidyalaya Vrindavan, was founded and welcomed students to its new location in Vrindavan, the sacred place linked to Lord Krishna. Prior to this the Gurukul had been operating in Farukhgarh, Fatehpur UP. The Gurukul was an all-boys/ men’s only educational institute. It welcomed many dignitaries, presidents, prime ministers, freedom fighters, who graced their annual celebrations (jalsa) and athletic events besides convocation also called Dixant samaroh.

Swami Dayananda Saraswati worked to revive both the vedic Hindu religion and the ancient Indian educational system of Gurukuls, which Lord Macaulay’s . Gurukuls were the original indigenous Indian education systems with centers of excellence located in Nalanda, (ref) Taxila and Kashi (Benares)(ref). The word Guru -kul means that the Teacher (guru) is the head of the family (kul). Young students from age 6 year onwards would reside with their teacher away from home, learning and practicing all aspects of individual and soul development through, Vedic knowledge and philosophies. It was a boarding school, but with strong emphasis on spiritual, physical and intellectual development in the Vedic tradition. Gurukuls were limited to being schools of one gender, either all male or all female. Gurukul Dehradun was an all female Gurukul and started as a subsidy of Gurukul Kangri (all male) by Swami Dayanand. The trend of Gurukuls is starting again, especially promoted by ISCON. There are numerous Gurukuls opening around the country and internationally.

Gurukul Educational System

Gurukuls were the original indigenous Indian education systems with centers of excellence located in Nalanda, (ref) Taxila and Kashi (Benares)(ref). The word Guru -kul means that the Teacher (guru) is the head of the family (kul). Young students from age 6 year onwards would reside with their teacher away from home, learning and practicing all aspects of individual and soul development through, vedic knowledge and philosophies.

Gurukuls imply austerity, simplicity and high intellectual pursuit. The curriculum was spread over 14 years, with regular annual exams and evaluation of students to mark progress. Students had to master, Vyakaran (grammar), mathematics (ganit), Sahitya (Literature), vedic philosophies, psychology (mano vigyan), Science, auyrveda. Students also had to learn the vedic shastras master languages (Hindi and Sanskrit) and perform vedic yagnas and poojas. As students moved through their curriculum, they gave the benchmark exams in years 10, 12, and 14 of their education. These exams and their current equivalents as given below: 1. Adhikari Pareeksha, which is equivalent to current 10th grade CBSE exam. 2. Pundit Pareeksha equivalent to current 12 grade CBSE 3. Shiromani pareeksha, equivalent to BA.

The fourteen-year rigorous educational journey culminated in the title of Snatak, given to all successful graduates at the end of their 14th year. Students who wished to continue masters could then give Shastri exam equivalent to master’s degree and then Acharya Exam, equivalent to Doctorate degree. Daily Routine and Academics Students study in this calming location, guided by the forces of nature. Their day starts along with the morning tweets of the birds, at 4.30 am and as students wake up they join the birds and sing some vedic hymns. Subsequently they shower and get ready in white kurta pajama, and join in the dainik yagna (daily yagna). After the yagna, there is time for some self study followed by a meal at 7.30 am onwards. Students in classes one to 6th grade, ate first, followed by seventh to tenth grade and lastly eleventh to fourteenth grade. Regular academic classes started around 9.00 am, and finished around 4.0 pm In between around noon, students on most days were given a light snack of boiled chickpeas / chana called “Komri” or some fruit. 4-6 pm was play time where most students engaged in some sport, whether it was football, volleyball, kabaddi or body building. 6 pm was the evening yagna followed by dinner at 7.0 pm. Food was very simple, lentils, vegetables, roti, rice, fruits when possible. Every Porrnima (full moon)and Amavasya (new moon) students were treated to kheer for dessert and on Poornima they also got special treat of poori instead of roti. Post diner students studied again till 10.0pm and then went to bed.

Notable Alumni

There are many notable alumni from Gurukul Vrindavan: Acharya Vishveshwar (Gurukul Vrindavan), Dr Viyendra Snatak (Delhi University), Shri Mahesh Chandra Snatak (Gurukul Vrindavan), Dr Subhash Bhatnagar (Marquette University Wisconsin)

Current Status

In late 1980, trouble started brewing at the Gurukul and in absence of strong leadership and vision, the reputable institute slowly started to fall apart. It lacked funding, lost financial support and talented students and teachers both left the school. Later it also got involved in scandals, whereby false educational certificate was issued to men and women (despite it being an all men gurukul) indicating they have successfully taken and passed the required Adhikari, or pundit pareeksha. In 2008, UGC (University Grants Commission derecognized Gurukul Vrindavan as an institute of higher learning. The functions have since scaled back tremendously. Current student enrollment is low, but the new head, is working to fix the fallacies and corruption in an attempt to regain the trust, fame and glory of this once sacred institution of higher learning.

References

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