Reconceptualizing Indian Education Through Panchagni Vidya: A Dialectical Analysis of Privatization, Knowledge Hierarchies, And Epistemic Fragmentation

Abstract

The education system is not a static factor rather objectively it is based on continuous evolution and progress as the human history progresses. This study critically examines the transformation of the Indian education system in the post-liberalization era, with particular attention to privatization, the dominance of STEM disciplines, and the marginalization of arts and humanities. It argues that contemporary discourse is shaped by two parallel tendencies: the commodification of education through market logic and the mythologization of ancient knowledge systems through exaggerated claims of scientific completeness. Using a qualitative and dialectical methodology, the study engages Panchagni Vidya from the Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka Upanishads as a process-oriented epistemological framework. The analysis demonstrates that the current crisis in Indian education is not merely structural but epistemic, rooted in fragmentation and loss of relational knowledge systems. The paper proposes that Panchagni Vidya offers a conceptual model for integrating scientific, philosophical, and ethical dimensions of learning. The study contributes to contemporary debates by presenting an alternative framework for holistic and interdisciplinary education grounded in Indian knowledge traditions without reducing them to technological claims.