History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.517

v2.c24.s1.517

It will be seen that though some of the occasions for anadhyāya are somewhat strange and bizarre, underlying most of them there are reasonable and understandable principles. Vedic study depended in the first place on memorizing. Committing sacred texts to memory (without in most cases understanding their meaning) required close attention and concentration. Therefore, all occasions which caused disturbance or distraction of mind were held to be anadhyāyas. But the same concentration was not necessary for reciting in sacrifices or japa or brahma-yajña what had already been committed to memory. Hence such occasions were not anadhyāyas for those purposes.