History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c93.97.1

v7.c93.97.1

The Mīmāṁsāsūtra does not state how much of the Veda has to be studied before one enters on understanding the meaning of it. Here the Smṛtis come to one's help. Gautama II. 51-53 prescribes several options viz. twelve years for one Veda or 12 years for each of the four vedas or so long as he can commit to memory (one Veda). Manu III. 1-2 are similar *viz.* one should study vedas for 36 years under a guru or for 18 years or nine years or for as many years as would be required for committing Veda to memory and they permit the option of studying the three Vedas or two Vedas or one Veda Yāj. I. 36 remarks that Vedic studenthood lasts 12 years for each Veda or five (for each Veda) or some sages say for as many years as the student would require to master (one Veda or more). But even these prescriptions must have been rather a tall order for many brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas. Further, the Mīmāṁsā requires that not only should a person of the three *varṇas* (classes) study the Veda but he must also engage in understanding its meaning. On PMS I. 1. 1 Śabara states that the venerable Yājñikas do not ¹⁹¹⁸ declare that rewards result from the mere study (memorizing) of the Veda and that where the Vedic texts appear to assign a reward for the mere memorizing of Veda they are merely arthavādas (intended only to praise Veda study), as in Tai. Ār. II.