What was the education system in the Gurukuls like?

Question

We have all heard that kids were sent to Gurukul returned as educated men.

I wonder what life in a Gurukul was like, what subjects did the kids study, and what activities filled a typical day?

Answer 1

In the world of Indian Music, the place of a Guru has been considered as the highest of all which has been well described in the following couplet:

“Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo, Maheshwarah, Guru SaakshatParabrahma, Tasmay Shree GuruveNamah ||”

Quoting from a paper on 'COMPARITIVE STUDY OF ANCIENT GURUKUL SYSTEM AND THE NEW TRENDS OF GURU-SHISHYA PARAMPARA '

Merits of Guru Shishya Parampara

1. The Gurus had enormous knowledge and knew how to teach the most arduous of the things.

2. This Parampara used to take its time and due to this the students used to come out in a very perfect manner.

3. They used to inherit a certain style and had the efficiency in it.

4. In this the student was well trained and he had the full authority for his art form.

5. The student used to have very humble respects for the Guru and discipline was pursued due to this they got the opportunity to learn the good points of the attitude and art.

6. They were taught directly or face-to-face and there were lot of benefits of this style of teaching.

7. The environment provided to the student was made sure the he would come out an artist.

Demerits of Guru Shishya Parampara

1. The student never got a glimpse of the other genres because he came across only one Guru.

2. There was no time period allotted for the course. The student had to depend on the teacher totally.

3. The ancient system did not entertain the theoretical wing of the art.

4. The Guru used to hide a lot of important points which the student used to be unaware of.

5. The student also had to do all the inferior daily house cores.