Vedic Education to children

Swami Ram Swarup Ji

Nowadays, we must pay our attention towards the children for their betterment, which is of utmost need in present scenario. Why? Because the children are the future of their nation, which thrives in the lap of the mother. As per vedas, it is the duty of the king to ensure that every child of the nation, from the minimum age of 5-6 years is provided with good education, first to make the child’s character the best and secondly to ensure that he is admitted in the school to get worldly education, right from the school to university level. It concludes that the females of the nation should also be provided with moral/vedic education so that they look after their children in a manner that they are do not indulge in bad society, bad habits including addiction, gambling, abusing, falsehood etc. Vedas preach that not a single child of the nation should be left out of the said education.
It shall not be out of place to mention here that in the absence of vedic knowledge, Government would not be able to know and discharge her duties, as said above.
There is a vedic preach that acharya should perform the upnayan sanskar of boys and girls between the age of 8-12 years after which the boys and girls are called Dwij i.e. second birth. This sanskar is eternal and everlasting which increases the children’s age. Secondly, the main purpose of performing the sanskar is to make the purest loving relation between acharya and disciple, where learned of Vedas, the acharya starts preach of Vedas to build character of disciples. You see, in Valmiki as well as Tulsikrit Ramayan, the upnayan sanskars of Sri Ram and his brothers were performed by Guru Vasishth.
But nowadays we only study Ramayan and other spiritual books, remember them, deliever lectures to others also but the education and teachings preached therein are not held in life.
Therefore the study of those spiritual books goes in vain except for monetary benefit. Is it not a sin?
You see, since the time when the sixteen vedic sanskars like upnayan sanskar have been neglected, it has resulted in great loss in maintaining the good character of children because following teachings of upnayan sanskar are not held in life by them, nowadays-
* Meaning and divine qualities of God, Vedas and acharya, respect of acharya, parents and elders and to behave well with others.
*To hold Yajyopaveet (janeu) which brings the purest relation of disciple with acharya to begin to learn the divine qualities etc; acharya being his spiritual father and ved mata as mother.
*To learn to be always away from the bad society.
*To maintain Brahmacharya which enables the student to overcome bad society, abuses, tauntings, to be away from immoral activities, to gain physical as well as mental power, to concentrate over studies, to increase memory, to be always sweet spoken and to gain several other divine qualities.
Upnayan sanskar preaches to the parents to ensure that their children take lot of water and nutritive food.
Because Vedas tell that in early age, the water is equivalent to mother’s milk, in providing energy and blesses us with life.
In Upnayan sanskar, the child is preached to remember the Gayatri mantra which enlightens intellect with knowledge and sorry to write here that mostly the students of India are not aware of the above quoted facts and in the absence of providing them with moral/vedic education when the purest relation between Acharya and disciple of being spiritual father and spiritual son/daughter respectively is established then the child is called Dwij i.e. second (spiritual) birth and is blessed with Jaayemanaha Shreyanbhavti i.e. live long and obtain the best birth from the earlier first birth taken from the parents. In this way, the child attains the best stage of human-being. In the sanskar the child obtains the divine blessings of several learned acharyas for long, happy life and to serve the society/nation to the best.
The vedarambh sanskar (i.e. to start to gain vedic education) is also performed along with upnayan sanskar which is most important and has been neglected nowadays, hence the problem in students.
We must pay our attention towards Manu Smriti which states- “Janamana Jayetey Shudraha, Sanskaraat Dwij Uchyatey.”
i.e. after taking birth from parents, all human-beings are not learned but ignorant due to lack of vedic knowledge. But when vedic sanskars like Upnayan sanskars etc. are performed then the human-beings are called Dwij i.e. second birth, as told above. Vedic culture states that without performing sanskars and taking vedic knowledge, man cannot be a man.
It shall not be out of place to mention here that the responsibility of the parents cannot be oversighted in spoiling their children. It is a fundamental law of vedas that to maintain Brahmacharya, get physical and mental power, the parents will have to check that the children donot listen to sensual stories, donot contact with bad charactered people, donot think about sensual subjects, the parents will have to see that children donot remain alone, they must avoid talking to opposite sex in lonely places and avoid touching them.
Those children only become learned and good charactered whose parents punish them on their faults while teaching them. In this connection, Pannini Muni states in his vedic grammar-
“Samritaihee pannibhirghnanti gurvo na vishokshitehey,
Laalanaashrayinno doshaastaadanashrayinno gunnaha.”
that the parents and learned acharya who punish the children on their faults, then think that they are giving ambrosia to their children. On the other hand, the parents who pamper their children, deal with them in emotional love and fulfil their unnecessary monetary demands, it means they are poisoning the children to destroy their character and life as well as nation. Children must be educated to love, respect and serve the parents.
Similarly, parents must preach to the children to be away from even thinking about theft, laziness, spending fun, to be away from addiction, violence etc. They should never tell lie.
So, such parents are enemies of their children, who donot preach them well. Infact, by ignoring eternal vedic culture, we, the citizens of India which is the land of Rishi-Munis, Yogis etc; have committed self-destruction.
In this matter Government is responsible because they fail to provide moral/vedic education to the women, who could further look after their children.
In the end, I would like to write that the Educational institutes are the only source of gaining the knowledge to build the character of children who further make the nation strong. So, if our Government provides the facilities right from schools to universities to provide a period even of about half an hour wherein vedic education is provided, I am sure that the problem of nowadays of bad behaviour of children may be overcome as was seen in previous yugas.

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