History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.350

v2.c24.s1.350

The study of the Veda did not merely consist in learning the mantras by heart. Śaṃkara in his bhāṣya on Vedāntasūtra I. 3. 30 quotes a Brāhmaṇa text to the effect that he who teaches a mantra or officiates at a sacrifice with mantras of which he does not know the seer, the deity or the Brāhmaṇa (i. e. viniyoga, employment or use) falls on a stump or in a pit.⁸⁶⁷ The Mit. on Yāj. III. 300 quotes a verse of Vyāsa to the same effect. Not only was the Veda to be committed to memory (i. e. not only was there to be pāṭha) but one had also to understand the meaning. The Nirukta (I. 18) quotes two verses⁸⁶⁸ which condemn in very strong language one who only commits to memory the Veda and does not know the meaning 'that man, who having studied the Veda, does not know its meaning, is indeed a tree, a stump, a mere carrier of a load; he alone who knows the meaning secures all happiness; his sins being shaken off by knowledge, he reaches heaven'. Dakṣa⁸⁶⁹ II. 34 says that the study of Veda involves five things viz. first committing to memory the Veda, then reflection over its meaning, keeping it fresh by repeating it again and again, japa (inaudibly muttering by way of prayer) and imparting it to pupils. Manu XII. 103 says 'those who have committed to memory the Veda are superior to those who are ignorant of it, those who retain their Veda (i. e. who do not allow it to be forgotten) are superior to those who only studied it (and then forgot it), those who know its meaning are superior to those who simply retain it in memory, those who perform what the meaning of the Veda dictates are superior to those who know its meaning'. Śabara⁸⁷⁰ says that the real purpose of the study of the Veda is the knowledge about religious actions that it conveys and that from the mere memorizing of the Veda, no rewards are promised by those who know the lore of the sacrifices. Viśvarūpa⁸⁷¹ on Yāj. I. 51 says that he alone is really vedapāraga who has made the Veda his own as to the spirit (the meaning). Aparārka (p. 74) quotes a long passage from Vyāsa condemning the mere memorizing of the Veda.⁸⁷² Vide also Medhātithi on Manu III. 19.