India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s2.2

c8.s2.2

*BRAHMACHĀRIN*—Brahmacharya denoted the condition or life of a Brahmachārin or religious student. The institution of *Brahmacharya* was known to Pāṇini in its full development. He refers to educational institutions known as the *Charaṇa* or Vedic schools devoted to the study of some major recension (*āmnāya*) of the Vedas together with its accessory and subordinate literature (IV.3.126). The Brahmachārins congregated for study at a *Charaṇa* which was run under the direction of one great teacher or Vedic exponent. From the manner of Pāṇini's reference to this organisation it appears that the Brahmachārins looked upon their *Charaṇa* as their *alma mater*, and were attached to it by permanent bonds of common fellowship with other members of the same school, all distinguished as *sabrahmachārins* (*Charaṇe Brahmachāriṇi*, VI. 3.86).