History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c20.s2.t2.33

c20.s2.t2.33

The Brahmans are further described as practising Yoga³ and pursuing the study of the Vedas, of which the inscriptions mention all the four, viz., the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda and the Atharvaveda. Among the vedic Sākhas they specially refer to the Āśvalāyana,⁴ Vājasneya,⁵ Chāndogya,⁶ and the Sānkhyāyana-Bahvrica.⁷ According to Alberuni, who wrote his Tahkik-i-Hind in 1030 A. D., the Brahmans learnt the Vedas by heart, and many could recite them without difficulty, although their contents were understood by a few only.⁸ The Brahmans also studied such works as the 18 Purāṇas, Smritis composed by "twenty sons of Brahman," philosophical treatises on the Sāmkhya, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika Mīmānsā etc., the Epics, and those dealing with the exact sciences like Grammar, metrics, Astronomy, Astrology, Mathematics, and medicine etc.⁹ These texts were written down in the current alphabet of the times, about which Alberuni remarks : "The most generally known alphabet is called Siddha Mātrikā, used in Kashmir and Vārāṇasī. These are the high schools of Hindu sciences. The same writing is used in Madhyadeśa, the country all around Kanauj, also called Āryāvarta."¹⁰ But in spite of the widespread knowledge of the art of writing, the Brahmans preferred to trust their trained memories for the preservation of the Veda, and Alberuni explains their attitude thus : "They do not allow the Veda to be committed to writing because it is recited according to certain modulations, and they therefore avoid the use of the pen, since it is liable to cause some error, and may occasion an addition or a defect in the written text."¹ Besides this, the Brahmans did not want any encroachment upon their monopoly by extending to the bulk of the population the privilege of knowing the "sacred word." This is evident from the following general observation of Alberuni : "The Brahmans teach the Veda to the Kṣatriyas. The latter learn it, but are not allowed to teach it, not even to a Brahman. The Vaiśya and Śūdra are not allowed to hear it, much less to pronounce and recite it. If such a thing can be proved against one of them, the Brahmans drag him before the magistrate, and he is punished by having his tongue cut off."² Such unmeaning laws must have engendered a spirit of tyranny and exclusiveness among the higher castes, and crushed the enthusiasm of the masses for the existing order of things. It is no wonder, therefore, that the hardy races of the northwest, fired as they were by a new message of equality and brotherhood, scored an easy triumph against a power that countenanced invidious distinctions between man and man.