History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c41.s10: The Vedas.
History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c41.s10
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The Vedas.
v3.c41.s10.1
We will commence with the Vedas which were always looked upon as the revelation of the Hindn religion. Vedas were still learnt by heart especially by the Brahmins whose prime duty it was to preserve them. The following observations of Al-Beruni are important in this connection: "The Brahmins recite the Veda without understanding its meaning and in the same way they learn it by heart. Only a few of them learn its explanation and fewer still master its contents" (Sachan Vol. I p.128). This state continues to this day and there are very few Brahmins learned in the Vedas. The change from ancient or pre-Buddhistic times may be marked when almost every Brahmin and even Kshatriya and Vaiśya had necessarily to study the Veda. Al-Beruni proceeds to state that "the Brahmins teach the Veda to Kshatriyas, but they are not allowed to teach it even to Brahmins. The Vaiśyas and Śūdras are not allowed to learn it." The Vaiśyas, as said before, having turned Buddhists neglected the study of Veda and lost touch with it. The orhodox Kshatriyas still learnt the Veda and can learn it even now, though very few do it. But we have clear evidence here that the modern doctrine that there are no Kshatriyas in the Kali age had not yet arisen and Al-Beruni's statement not only proves the acceptance of the existence of Kshatriyas but also their right to study the Veda in the eleventh century. The dictum कलावाद्यन्त्योः स्थितिः arose in the fourteenth century, according to our view explained in Vol. II (Appendix) and this is a further confirmation of that view.
v3.c41.s10.2
"The Veda mostly contains hymns of praise and treat of the various kinds of sacrifices to the fire which are so numerous and difficult that you can hardly count them." Even orthodox Brahmins at present do not know how many sacrifices these are, for, as we shall presently show, Vedic sacrifices became obsolete since Al-Beruni wrote his interesting account of India.
v3.c41.s10.3
"They do not allow the Veda to be committed to writing, because it is recited according to certain modulations. They, therefore, avoid the use of pen as it is liable to cause error. The Veda is consequently often lost." There is no doubt that in consequence of this superstition a large part of Vedic literature had been lost already before the 10th century. But Al-Beruni gives the further information that not long before his time Vasukra a native of Kashmir, a famous Brahmin, undertook the task of explaining the Veda and committing it to writing, because he was afraid that the Veda might be forgotten. "He has taken upon himself a task from which all shrink." Thus Veda was first written about 1000 A. D. in Kashmir for the purpose of commenting upon it, by Vasukra. We do not know whether this first Bhāshya on the Veda survives. Of course it must have been utilized in the existing Bhāshya of Mādhava Vidyāraṇya composed in the south at Vijayanagar.