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Education in Ancient India c8.s1: Early Vedic Age (c. upto 1500 B. C.)

Education in Ancient India c8.s1

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English

Early Vedic Age (c. upto 1500 B. C.)

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Subjects of Study: The Vedic literature naturally formed the main topic of study in this period. Besides the sacred hymns, there were also some historical poems, ballads and hero-songs¹ in existence, which were also committed to memory by the young scholars of the day, as they often helped the elucidation of many references contained in the Vedic hymns. Students were required to master the principles of prosody and encouraged to develop the powers of versification. Those who intended to follow the priestly profession had to study the details of the rituals associated with the hymns they had committed to memory. The study of elementary geometry, the knowledge of which was necessary for the proper construction of sacrificial altars, was also included in the Vedic course. A knowledge of astronomy, which had enabled the age to find out the difference between the lunar and solar months, was also imparted. Grammar and etymology did not trouble the students of this age because they were yet to be developed. Vedic studies usually began at about the age of nine or ten and Initiation Ceremony known as Upanayana was performed at their commencement. The nature, details, and educational significance of this ceremony will be found discussed in Appendix I, B.

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¹ Itihāsa, Purāṇa and Nārāsaṃsī Gāthā are mentioned as early as the Atharvaveda ; XV. 1.

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The Method of Study : Vedic hymns were studied in this period as specimens of literature to be understood, appreciated, imitated and even excelled if posssible. New hymns² were being composed and the authors of some of them claimed that they were superior to the compositions of the earlier poets.¹ It is interesting to note that some of the poems of the later poets were selected for inclusion in the Vedic collection when it was made in a subsequent age. As new hymns were being composed by contemporary authors, it is but natural that they were not yet regarded as revealed. It was therefore not at all felt necessary that they should be committed to memory so meticulously as not to render possible a single mistake of accent or intonation. Professional priests must of course have committed the hymns very thoroughly to memory in order to ensure facility in their use during the performance of the different rituals. But the mass of people consisting of the warriors, agriculturists and artisans used to learn by heart only some select Vedic hymns, and these too in the same way in which the songs of medieval saints are memorised by the Hindu masses today. More effort was made to understand the meaning of the hymns than to remember their exact wording.

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² The very second stanza of the Ṛigveda, for instance, refers to the earlier and later poets of the Vedic collection ; of. अग्निः पूर्वे-भिऋषिभिरीड्यो नूतनैरुत । I. 1. 2.

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¹ नवं नु स्तोममग्नये दिवःश्येनाय जीजनम् । वस्वः कुविदनाति नः ॥ V. 15. 4. Cf. also *R. V.*, VII, 85. 14 ; III. 82. 13.

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