Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c4.152

c4.152

It must have become necessary at some time for those who wished to become masters of separate subjects to restrict the number of works which were learned by heart and specialize in some part of the field of knowledge. This is made clear by the state of Hindu learning in India in modern times. It is said that there are men called Vaidiks who can recite whole volumes of the sacred texts. But besides this there are specialists who have an expert knowledge of some part of the ancient learning, such as the performance of sacrifices, grammar, law, or astronomy. This specialization must have begun in very early times, as the work of the grammarians like Pāṇini shows. Thus were formed special schools for various subjects, which included grammar, law, and astronomy. This specialization began probably about the fifth century B.C. It is thought that law became a special subject of study at a somewhat later date than grammar or astronomy, but even in some of the *Dharma Sūtras* (*Vasiṣṭha* and *Baudhāyana*) there are traces that the specialization had already begun. The *Mānava Dharmaśāstra*, or Law Code of Manu, grew up in one of these special law schools.