academic, for brahmins only

 
Education was meant for the brāhmaṇas, and partially of the kṣatriyas, neither of the vaiśyas nor of the śūdras.
Prabhupada: Celibacy, yes. Life of celibacy, controlling the sex desire. This is tapasya. Tapasa brahmacaryena samena damena va [SB 6.1.13]. These things are education. And what is this nonsense education how to become a big mechanics of motorcar parts? This is not education. This is sūdra, sūdra education. It is not education. It is called silpa. Silpa-vidya [knowledge of handicraft], brahma-vidya [knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead]. Vidya means brahma-vidya. Therefore, in the Vedic society, education was meant for the brahmanas. Education was not meant for the sūdras. Education was meant for the brahmanas, and partially of the ksatriyas, neither of the vaisyas nor of the sūdras. What education? Vaisya's livelihood is, or his occupational duty is, how to produce food, how to give protection to the cows, and if there is excess stock, how to trade with it. So anyone can learn by seeing only. It doesn't require any high education. If the father is tilling the field, the son can learn it by seeing it. If the father... Just like in Vrndavana, we... Krsna... Krsna was going to tend the cows and calves of Nanda Maharaja. There was no education. It can be learned simply by seeing others doing that.    (More...)
Those who were not born in brāhmaṇa families were not meant for academic education.
As soon as Krsna and Balarama were a little grown up, They were meant for taking care of the calves. Although born of a very well-to-do family, They still had to take care of the calves. This was the system of education. Those who were not born in brahmana families were not meant for academic education. The brahmanas were trained in a literary, academic education, the ksatriyas were trained to take care of the state, and the vaisyas learned how to cultivate the land and take care of the cows and calves. There was no need to waste time going to school to be falsely educated and later increase the numbers of the unemployed. Krsna and Balarama taught us by Their personal behavior. Krsna took care of the cows and played His flute, and Balarama took care of agricultural activities with a plow in His hand.    (More...)

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