International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

The Child as Knowledge-Bearer: Childhood, Education and Ethical Formation through the Lens of Indian Knowledge Systems, with Special Reference to the Bhāgavata Purāṇa

Childhood Studies has increasingly challenged the assumption that childhood constitutes a universal, homogeneous and purely biological stage of human development. Scholars have instead demonstrated that childhood is culturally, historically and socially constructed, and that children should be examined not merely as passive recipients of adult care but as participants in social, cultural and epistemic processes. Such approaches, however, have comparatively underexplored pre-colonial South Asian textual traditions. This article examines the construction of childhood through the lens of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), with particular reference to the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. It argues that the text presents childhood not simply as a period of biological immaturity preceding adulthood but as a distinctive ethical, epistemic, relational and spiritual condition. Through close readings of the narratives of Dhruva and Prahlāda, the article investigates childhood agency, pedagogical relationships, knowledge transmission, ethical formation and the child's relationship with adult authority. Dhruva's transformation from an emotionally wounded child into an autonomous spiritual seeker demonstrates the relationship between vulnerability, mentorship and self-cultivation. Prahlāda's educational experience is even more significant: although formally positioned as a pupil, he becomes an interpreter and transmitter of knowledge and teaches his fellow children. The article proposes the concept of ‘epistemic childhood agency’ to describe this textual configuration. By bringing the Bhāgavata Purāṇa into dialogue with contemporary Childhood Studies and IKS discourse, the study argues that Indic textual traditions offer a culturally situated model in which education seeks not merely cognitive development but the integrated formation of knowledge, character, discernment and ethical responsibility. The paper nevertheless avoids romanticising the pre-modern past and acknowledges the plurality, hierarchy and exclusions present in historical Indic societies.