This blogpost discusses the concept of Shiksha, its importance and its evolution into our modern concept of Linguistics and Education.
ORIGIN
Shiksha: A Limb of Vedas
Since the beginning of the early Vedic age and the origin of the Rig Veda around1500 BCE, the Vedas needed a form of transmission for properly educating the next generations and blessing their lives with the wisdom. For the longest time, the method of transmission was verbal only. This made it necessary for the people to develop a clear and comprehensive way of communication that would keep the essence and meaning of the Vedas intact. This is where the concept of language, pronunciation and phonetics came into being. And hence, came into origin the discipline of Shiksha which was basically the logic and concept of Phonetics.
ETYMOLOGY
Shiksha: Science of Phonetics
Shiksha as a discipline is considered as one of the six Vedangas or one of the six limbs of the Vedas. It was the first of the six disciplines for understanding and communicating the wisdom of the Vedas. It is a word of Sanskrit origin and basically means, learning or knowledge. A more detailed understanding of the concept of Shiksha means, proper articulation, pronunciations, correct sound and proper usage of vowels and words. It decided the quantity and quality of words, the proper usage of sound and stress associated with every word of the language.
SIGNIFICANCE
For the Transmission of Vedas
The discippline of Shiksha was conceptualised during the time when Upanishads and Aranyakas came into being. Shiksha as a science of Phonetics detailed every important part of speech in a very comprehensive way. According to Shiksha, the alphabets were divided into four types.
ANCIENT PRACTICE
Since the beginning of Sanskrit
Shiksha was the very fundamental building block of the concept and fundamentals of the whole field of Linguistics. The first and the earliest known text that elucidates the importance and concept of Shiksha was, the Pratishakhyas. These texts have travelled many centuries and civilizations and are still playing an important role in the development and understanding of different linguistic researches.
MODERN USAGE
Stretches beyond Vedas
The discipline of Shiksha was more than just canons for proper transmission of the knowledge of the Vedas. It also came up with the different ways to establish a good memory for the students. It escalated the ways and the quality of the transmission of knowledge by including ways to give knowledge a musical way of recitation. It helped the students memorize and better understand the wisdom by using the different ways of phonetics. It also helped students develop a better emotional quotient, enhance their perceptive intelligence and understand the complexities of emotions and intellect.
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL USAGE
The Concept of Education
Today, we know shiksha as a synonym of Education. We understand Shiksha as proper school education. The discipline of Shiksha made way for the modern world to make linguistics and phonetics only a small part of our current education curriculum. Today, students know more than one language due to our better understanding of Phonetics. Shiksha made it easier for the world to learn any discipline of study or research.
Shiksha: The need of every civilization and generation
The origin of Shiksha is rooted in the purpose of the transmission of the wisdom of Vedas. But, today Shiksha is Education and linguistics is an important part of almost every field since it helps student understand the concepts and evolution of subjects better.
To better understand the need of every Vedanga, read every post on our blog Sameedh and fulfil your curiosity for ancient and eternal wisdom.
