History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.340
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.340
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From very ancient times the literature to be studied appears to have been vast. Vide Tai. Br. quoted above (at p. 271) where the Vedas have been declared to be endless. In the Ṛgveda itself (X. 71. 11) reference is made to the verses learnt by the four principal priests (hotā, adhvaryu, udgātā and brahmā), it is also said that persons who studied together showed great disparity in their mental advancement (Ṛg. X. 71. 7) and that co-students feel elation when their friend wins in a debate in an assembly. The Śat. Br. (XI. 5. 7. 4–8, S. B. E. vol. 44, pp. 97–98) enumerates under 'svādhyāya' ṛks, yajus formulae, sāmans, Atharvāṅgirasaḥ (Atharvaveda), itihāsa-purāṇa, gāthās in praise of heroes (called Nārāśaṁsīs)'. The Gopatha Brāhmaṇa II. 10 also says 'in this way all these Vedas were created together with kalpa, rahasya (secret doctrines), Brāhmaṇas, Upaniṣads, itihāsa, anvākhyāna, purāṇa, anuśāsanas, vākovākya &c'. In the Upaniṣads frequent mention is made of the literature studied by persons before they became seekers for the knowledge of *brahma*. For example, in Chān. Up. VII. 1.
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2 Nārada tells Sanatkumāra that he had studied the four Vedas, Itihāsa-purāṇa as the fifth Veda, the Veda of Vedas (grammar), pitrya (treatise on śrāddhas), rāśi (arithmetic), daiva (portents), nidhi (finding out hidden treasures), vākovākya (dialogue or dialectic), ekāyana (politics), devavidyā (Nirukta), brahmavidyā (metres and phonetics), bhūtavidyā (exorcising ghosts), kṣatravidyā (dhanurveda), nakṣatravidyā (astronomy), sarpavidyā (snake charms), devajanavidyā (arts like dancing, singing, preparing unguents &c.). The same list is repeated in Chān. Up. VII. 1. 4 and VII. 7. 1. In the Bṛ. Up.⁸⁵⁹ II. 4. 10 and IV. 5. 11 there is a similar smaller list. In the Muṇḍaka Up. I. 1. 5 it is said that the ācārya Aṅgiras told Śaunaka who was a great householder that the four Vedas and the six aṅgas (mentioned in note 775 above) are inferior knowledge and that the highest knowledge is that by which the Imperishable One is apprehended. Gaut. XI. 19 exhorts the king to rely upon the Veda, dharmaśāstras, the aṅgas, Upavedas and Purāṇa for regulating the conduct of his subjects. Āp. Dh. S. (quoted above in note 775), Viṣṇu Dh. S. 30. 34-38, Vas. III. 19 and 23, VI. 3-4 mention the aṅgas of Veda. Pāṇini shows acquaintance not only with the Veda and Brāhmaṇas but he knew ancient Kalpasūtras, Bhikṣusūtras and Naṭasūtras, secular works on various subjects (IV. 3. 87-88, 105, 110, 111, 116). Patañjali⁸⁶⁰ (2nd century B. C.) mentions how vast the field of Sanskrit literature had become. Yāj.
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I. 44-45 calls upon the student to study every day according to his ability also Vākovākya, Purāṇa, Nārāśaṁsī,⁸⁶¹ gāthās, itihāsa, vidyās if he desired to please the gods and manes. Fourteen vidyās are generally enumerated as in Yāj. I. 3 ( = Matsya 53. 5-6 ), Vāyupurāṇa vol. I. 61. 78, Vṛddha-Gautama (p. 632) and other works, viz. four vedas, 6 aṅgas, purāṇas, nyāya ( logic ), mīmāṁsā and dharmaśāstra. Some added four more to these, viz. the Upavedas of Āyurveda, Dhanurveda, Gāndharvaveda and Arthaśāstra (which were affiliated respectively to the four Vedas) and thus the *vidyās* are also spoken of as 18.⁸⁶² Kālidāsa in the Raghuvamśa (V. 21) expressly says that Varatantu taught his pupil 14 vidyās. In E.I. vol. VIII. p. 287 ( in an inscription of 199 Guptasaṁvat i. e. 517-18 A. D.) it is said about Suśarman, an ancestor of Mahārāja Saṁkṣobha, that ' he knew the highest truth because of his proficiency in the 14 vidyā-sthānas '. Kumārila⁸⁶³ in his Tantravārtika ( p. 201 ) says that vidyā-sthānas that are looked upon as authoritative in knowing dharma are 14 or 18. The Vārāhagṛhya ( 6 ) refers to different preparations for different people, viz. a yājñika had to study mantra and Brāhmaṇa, kalpa ( vedic ritual ) and mīmāṁsā and one could study at his option grammar, the smṛtis and vaktra (?) and the śrotriya only committed to memory the Veda; the first two were called snātakas.
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Numerous grants and inscriptions testify to the provision made by kings and well-to-do donors for all branches of study. In E. C. vol. III. T N. 27 there is a grant made by the minister Perumal under the Hoysala king Vīranarasiṁhadeva in 1290 A. D. which provided that each teacher of the Ṛgveda and the other Vedas was to receive a salary of six gadyāṇakas of gold a year and the teacher who taught the boys to read Nāgara, Kannaḍa, Tiguḷa ( Tamil ) and Ārya ( Marathi ) was to receive the same salary. The Gadag inscription of the time of Vikramāditya VI. (1098 A. D.) refers to the founding of a school for teaching Prabhākara's system of Mīmāṁsā at Lakkiguṇḍi ( E. I. vol. 15 p. 348 ). Vide E. I. vol. I. p. 338 ( for endowment for teaching an astronomical work of Bhāskara ).