Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c32.2

c32.2

Though the Puranas say very little about secular history after the Bhārata battle, yet the Puranic brahmans incorporated notices of the Vedic schools and later teachers. The development of those schools among Vyāsa's disciples is described best in the Vāyu and Brahmāṇḍa, less fully in the Viṣṇu, and the Bhāgavata has copied less clearly and intelligently.⁴ Many of the teachers named⁵ are alluded to in Vedic literature, but their assignment in those several schools does not, I believe, always tally with their assignment in that literature; yet there may be truth in both, since teachers were no doubt masters of more than one Veda. The account in the first two Puranas mentioned was obviously drawn up and added by the Puranic brahmans themselves, and deserves attention, because they had knowledge of those schools, and because the account was endorsed by the brahmanic Viṣṇu and again by the still more brahmanic Bhāgavata.¹ As I have not studied Vedic literature closely, I cannot venture to discuss intricacies, and so merely set out the account briefly here with a few comments. Care must be taken not to confuse different persons of the same name, for the account shows there were many such; thus, as will appear, there were two Sumantus and several Yājñavalkyas, and the Jaimini who taught Pauspiṇḍya was great grandson of Vyāsa’s disciple Jaimini.²