the giving of knowledge
Vidyadaanविद्यादान
Giving learning rather than goods — the gift that cannot be used up.
Vidyadaan is the giving of knowledge: teaching someone, funding a child's schooling, or paying for books and materials. It is held in especially high regard for a reason that is easy to state and hard to argue with — what is given is not diminished by the giving, and the person who receives it can pass it on undiminished in turn.
The tradition runs deep in Indian thought, where the teacher who gives learning without charge occupies a particular place of respect. It is also the daan with the longest tail: a person taught to read remains able to read for the rest of their life, and usually teaches someone else.
Today it takes the form of school sponsorship, teacher training, libraries, scholarships, and programmes that reach children whose schooling was interrupted.
