Manava Dharmashastra 3.1.1

3.1.1

dvividho brahmacārī pūrvatra pratipāditaḥ, naiṣṭhika upakurvāṇaśceti | “ā samāpteḥ śarīrasya yastu śuśrūṣate gurum” ( a0 2 ślo0 244 ) ityanena naiṣṭhikabrahmacaryamuktam | “ā samāvartanāditi” ( 2|108 ) pakṣāntaramapi sūcitam | tatra naiṣṭhikasya nāmadheyasya pratilambhenaiva nimittavatā avadhiśeṣaḥ sugamitaḥ | niṣṭhāṃ samāptiṃ gacchati ‘naiṣṭhikaḥ’ | śrutyaiva kālo vihitaḥ “ā samāpteriti” | upakurvāṇasya “anena kramayogena” ( a0 6 ślo0 85 )— “tapoviśeṣairvividhairvrataiśca vidhicoditaiḥ, vedaḥ kṛtsno'dhigantavyaḥ” ( a0 2 ślo0 165 ) iti saṃkhyāyā avivakṣāyāṃ caikadvitricatuḥpañcaṣaṭsaptādiśākhādhyayanaṃ yathāśakti prāptaṃ niyamyate | traivedikaṃ vrataṃ caryam | trayāṇāṃ vedānāṃ samāhārastrivedī, tadgrahaṇaprayojanaṃ traivedikam | grahaṇakriyā vṛttāvantarbhavati vedādhigamasya prāgvihitatvāt | vrataṃ brahmacāridharmakalāpaḥ | caryaṃ caritavyam | kṛtyo vidhau | evamāharaṇādīnāṃ grahaṇāntatāyāṃ prāptāyāmāha— ṣaṭtriṃśadābdikamiti | gṛhīte'pi vede kālaḥ pūrayitavyaḥ | “yadi svādhyāyādhyayanavidhyartho dharmaḥ, tasya ca svādhyāyavidhergrahaṇe nivṛttiḥ, kimarthā tarhi dvādaśavārṣikī grahaṇottarakālaṃ vratacaryānuvṛttiḥ ?” atyalpamidamucyate | darśapūrṇamāsādiṣvapyāgneyādiyāgebhyaḥ parāñci yānyaṅgāni tatrāpyetadvaktavyam | samastāṅgānuṣṭhāna evārādupakārakādyaṅgayuktādviśiṣṭakramakādvidhyarthasaṃpadyavagatāyāṃ paricodanāśabdādeva vidhiḥ sampadyate |

Duties relating to the Three Vedas should be observed under the Preceptor for thirty-six years, or for half that period, or for a quarter, or precisely till they have been got up.—(1)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
Two kinds of Religious Students have been described above—the life-long student and the student for a limited period. Verse 2.244—where it is said that ‘he serves the Preceptor till the dissolution of his body’—has described the life-long studentship; while verse 2.108—where the ‘Final Return’ has been described as the limit—has indicated the other alternative. As regards the ‘Life-long Student,’ the mention of the name, itself, which is based upon reason, serves to indicate the limit of the period of studentship; the term ‘naiṣṭhika’ meaning that which goes to the very ‘niṣṭhā.’ or end of a thing; and the exact period has been stated by the direct declaration that ‘it extends to the dissolution of the body.’ As regards the ‘limited’ studentship, we have the following texts bearing upon it:—(a) ‘by this course of application etc.,’ (6. 85), (b) ‘the entire Veda should be acquired by means of particular austerities and several observances prescribed by Injunctions’ (2.165); and since these texts do not specify any particular number of Vedas to be learnt, it would seem as if these injunctions intended the pupil to learn one, two, three, four, five six, seven or any other number of Vedic texts, in fact, as many as he could learn. The present verse proceeds to restrict the number of Vedas to be learnt.

‘Duties relating to the Three Vedas should be observed.’—‘Relating to the three Vedas’ means ‘conducive to the learning of the three Vedas;’ the act of ‘learning’ being implied by the compound, on the strength of the fact that the ‘getting up of the Veda’ has been presented before.—‘Duties’—i.e., the whole lot of duties laid down for the Religious Student,—‘should be observed’—one shall observe them; the verbal affix having the injunctive force.

From the above it might be assumed that the duty of ‘fetching the fuel’ and the rest also should continue to be kept up only till the texts have been got up (and no longer); and, in order to preclude this notion, the text adds—‘for thirty-six years;’ which means that even after the Veda has been got up, the full period has to be completed.

“If the detailed duties, that have been laid down are related to the injunction of learning the Veda,—and this Injunction ceases to be operative after the Veda has been learnt,—then why should the observances of studentship be continued for twelve years, even after the Veda has been learnt?”

What you say is too little. You might say the same in regard to the performance, at the Darṣa-pūrṇamāsa, of all those secondary details that come after the Āgneya and other primary offerings. The fact of the matter is that, just as in the case of the sacrifice, the due result is obtained only when the act is performed along with all its details, so in the case in question also the fulfilment of the Injunction (of Learning) is complete only after the act has been performed along with all the details in the duly prescribed order.