Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s2.440

v2.c4.s2.440

As a teacher the Brahmin has, of course, the special duty of instructing his own son in both study and sacrificial ritual.⁹⁶ The texts give examples of this, such as Āruṇi and Śvetaketu,97 or mythically Varuṇa and Bhṛgu.98 This fact also appears from some of the names in the Vamśa Brāhmaṇa99 of the Sāmaveda and the Vamśa (list of teachers) of the Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka.100 On the other hand, these Vamśas and the Vamśas of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa show that a father often preferred to let his son study under a famous teacher. The relation of pupil and teacher is described under Brahmacarya. A teacher might take several pupils,101 and he was bound to teach them with all his heart and soul.102 He was bound to reveal everything to his pupil, at any rate to one who was staying with him for a year (saṃvatsara-vāsin),103 an expression which shows, as was natural, that a pupil might easily change teachers. But, nevertheless, certain cases of learning kept secret and only revealed to special persons are enumerated.104 The exact times and modes of teaching are elaborately laid down in the Sūtras,105 but not in the earlier texts.