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Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c10: Chapter III: Education in the Other Vedas

Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c10

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Chapter III: Education in the Other Vedas

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**The other Vedic Saṁhitās.** These show the trend of learning and educational development as influenced by the trend of religious thought. The three later Vedic Saṁhitās of Sāma, Yajuḥ, and Atharva usher in the age of the *Brāhmaṇas*, a different type of literary activity. The principle governing their compilation is quite different. It follows the order of an established ceremonial pointing to a fixed order of sacrifices. But in the Rigveda Saṁhitā, as we have seen, the order of the hymns has nothing to do with the order of the sacrifices, while it included many hymns which have no use for any sacrifice. The other two Vedic Saṁhitās were compiled exclusively for purposes of ritual application. The fact is that in their time the old Rigvedic religion showed considerable developments of ceremonial and priesthood out of their beginnings in the Rigveda. The priesthood now had a personnel of sixteen members as described below :—

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(i) *Hotṛi*, with his Assistants called Maitrāvaruṇa, Achāvāka, and Grāvastut ;

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(ii) *Udgātṛi*, with his Assistants, the Prastotṛi, Pratihartṛi, and Subrahmaṇya ;

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(iii) *Adhvaryu* assisted by Pratishṭhātṛi, Neshṭṛi, and Unnetṛi ;

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(iv) *Brahman*, with Assistants called Brāhmaṇāchchhaṁsin, Agnīdhra, and Potṛi.

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All these sixteen priests were called by the general name of *Ṛitvij*. There are also mentioned priests of inferior status who were Assistants of the Adhvaryu, viz. the Śamitṛi, the Vaikarta, and the Chamasādhvaryu. The Kaushītakins added a seventeenth Ṛitvij called the *Sadasya* who is to superintend the whole sacrifice.

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Of this full complement of priesthood, the Rigveda [ii, 1, 2] mentions only seven, viz. Hotṛi, Potṛi, Neshṭṛi, Agnīdh, Praśāstṛi, Adhvaryu, and Brahman, besides the institutor of the sacrifice, and the Udgātṛi and his Assistant, Prastotṛi [viii, 81, 5].

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Higher education now related itself to the requirements of this priesthood and ritualistic religion. The external, material, and mechanical aspects of worship and sacrifice became now the principal subjects of study which, in their range and complexity, even called for a considerable degree of specialization and division of labour among its students. There were four classes of students and specialists to master the four parts of worship or sacrifice already indicated, viz. (1) recital of hymns in which the *Hotṛi* specialized; (2) the chanting of hymns requiring a special training for which the *Udgātṛi* equipped himself; (3) the actual performance of sacrifice involving a number of operations and material details in which the *Adhvaryu* specialized; and (4) the superintendence and direction of the worship as a whole, for which the *Brahman* priest had to qualify by acquiring proficiency in all the three Vedas so as to be able to correct errors in the performance of the different parts and operations of sacrifice as described above, and to give decision on all doubtful points and disputes, thereby laying the beginnings of what were later developed as the systems of *Nyāya* and *Mīmāṁsā*.

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But even this age of ceremonialism was marked by its own creative efforts in different directions.

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**The Sāma Veda.** The *Udgātṛis* contributed some new elements, 78 out of 1,549 verses, to the Sāmaveda. The bulk of the verses of the Sāmaveda is taken out of the Rigveda and mostly from its Maṇḍalas viii and ix. These verses are arranged in the Sāmaveda in two parts: (1) the *Ārchika* of 585 single stanzas or *ṛiks*; (2) the *Uttarārchika* comprising 400 chants, mostly of three stanzas each. In the Sāmaveda the text is treated only as a means to an end, the learning of melodies. The student whose object was to be trained as an Udgātṛi priest in the schools of Sāmaveda had first to learn the melodies and this he could do with the aid of the *Ārchika* or the song-book where is given only the text of the first stanza of each song as an aid to the recollection of the tune. Here it is not usually the case, as in the west, that a verse is sung to a particular tune. It is the reverse: this or that melody (Sāman) is sung upon a particular stanza. Here the melody arises out of the *Ṛik* or stanza which is thus called the *yoni* of the melody. No doubt a stanza can be sung to various melodies, and one melody can be applied to different stanzas, but certain stanzas are marked out and fixed as the texts or *yonis* for certain melodies. The *Uttarārchika* gives the stanzas out of which are formed the *stotras* to be sung at the sacrifices, to the tunes which the *Ārchika* teaches.

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It is thus like a song-book giving the complete text of the songs and not merely the text of the first stanza of a song.

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**Its Musical System.** Of course, the *Saṁhitā* can give only the texts as they are spoken. Their melodies were taught by oral and also instrumental rendering. Music is known to the Rigveda, as also the instruments producing music by means of percussion, wind, and string, such as drum (Dundubhi) [i, 28, 5], lute (Karkari, ii, 43, 3), and lyre or harp (Vāṇa) with its seven notes recognized and distinguished [x, 32, 4], together with the flute (of reed) called *Nādī* [x, 135, 7]. The oldest notation for music was probably that indicated by syllables such as *ta*, *cho*, etc. But very often the seven notes were indicated by the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, corresponding respectively to F, E, D, C, B, A, G of our modern scale of music. It may be further noted that the *Archika* has got two supplements called *Grāmageya-gāna* (book of songs to be sung in the village) and *Āraṇya-geya-gāna* (book of forest songs). The number of melodies then known was quite large, being computed at 8,000 by R. Simon, while each melody had its own name. The melodies called *Bṛihat* and *Rathantara* are known to the Rigveda.¹

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¹ The Chhāndogya Upanishad marks out five parts in a Sāma-song, viz. (1) *Prastāva* or introduction preceded by the syllable *Hum* sung by the Prastotṛi; (2) *Udgītha* to be sung by the Udgātṛi priest first uttering the sound *Om*; (3) *Pratihāra* ("joining in"), preceded by *Hum*, to be sung by Pratihartṛi who joins in the last syllable sometimes taken in two parts, viz. (4) *Upadrava* or recession, consisting of the last two syllables of the Pratihāra sung by Udgātṛi, and (5) *Nidhana* comprising two syllables or *Om* sung by all the three priests. These five parts may be thus shown in the first verse of the Sāmaveda (taken from *Rv.*, vi, 16, 10):—

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Some students of Music find in the Vedic *Svaras* called Udātta, Anudātta, and Svarita the origins of the seven Svaras, "Sha-Ri-Ga-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni" distinguished in modern Indian Music in measuring the gamut. They depend for this view on certain old texts found in Pāṇini's *Śikshā*, in Nārada's work and in Yājñavalkya-Śikshā. These may be cited here:

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(1) Udātte Nishāda-Gāndhārāvanudātte Ṛishabha-Dhaivatau | Svaritaprabhavā hyete Shaḍja-Madhyama-Pañchamāḥ |

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"*Udātta* means and includes *Ni* and *Ga*; *Anudātta*, *Ri* and *Dha*; and *Svarita*, Sha, Ma, and Pa."

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1. Hum Agne [*Prastāva*].
2. Om āyā hi vītaye gṛiṇāno havyadātaye [*Udgītha*].
3. Ni hotā satsi varhishi Om [*Pratihāra*] to be divided into.
4. Ni hotā satsi va [*Upadrava*].
5. — Ṛishi Om [*Nidhana*].

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"The modern Rāgas or arrangements of different notes may be equated to the different Sāmans named after a typical song (the *Chāla* of Indian music); these names are innumerable, such as Vāruṇa, Saubhara, Brāhma Rathantara, Vinardi, Yajñā-yajñīya, Yodhājaya, and so on" (C. V. Vaidya's *History of Sanskrit Literature*, vol. i, pp. 121 f.).

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(2) Uchchau Nishāda-Gāndhārau Nīchāvṛishabha-Dhaivatau | Śeshāstu Svaritājñeyāḥ Shaḍja-Madhyama-Pañchamāḥ ||

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"The high-toned (Udātta) means and includes *Ni* and *Ga*; the low toned (Anudātta), *Ri* and *Dha*; while the rest, *Sha-Ma-Pa*."

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(3) Gāndharva-Vede ye prayuktāḥ sapta shaḍjādayaḥ svarāḥ | Ta eva Vede vijñeyāḥ traya uchchādayaḥ svarāḥ ||

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"The self-same seven Svaras beginning with *Sa* as employed in the Science of Music are to be understood as being implied in the three Svaras of the Vedas, beginning with Udātta."

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Experts in Music also hold that Vedic *Udātta* corresponds to modern *Ga* (including within itself its *saṁvādī* or consonant *Ni*), *Anudātta* to *Ri* (including its *saṁvādī Dha*), and *Svarita* to *Sha* (with its *saṁvādīs*, *Ma* and *Pa*). It will thus appear that the nucleus of the Sāman scale is primarily *Ga-Ri-Sha*, which shows struggles to reach the fourth *Ni*, and even the fifth *Dha* bordering on *Ni*. It is also evident that what we now call the seven *Svaras*, the ancients call the seven *Yamas*, viz. Krushṭa, Prathama, Dvitīya, Tṛitīya, Chaturtha, Mandra, Atisvārya [*Taittirīya-Prātiśākhya*, xxiii, 13], and that while the modern *Svaras* are in the ascending order, the ancient *Yamas* are counted in the descending order. Thus the only light that the Sāmaveda throws on Education is that it was responsible for the development of Indian Music and its School.

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The Yajurveda. Just as the Sāmaveda is the song book of the Udgātṛi, the Yajurveda is the prayer-book of the Adhvaryu priest. Prayers were accompanied by sacrificial acts about which differences of opinion were more likely to arise. Any deviation in the ceremonial or in the liturgy led to the formation of a new Vedic School. Thus the Yajurveda lent itself to the formation of numerous schools the number of which was 101 in the time of Patañjali (as stated in the Introduction to his *Mahābhāshya*).

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The Yajurveda has two divisions called Black (Kṛishṇa) and White (Śukla), also called Vājasaneyi-Saṁhitā. The white Yajurveda contains only the Mantras, the prayers, and sacrificial formulae which the priest has to utter, while the black Yajurveda contains the Mantras in verse and also a portion in prose, the earliest Indian prose, presenting the sacrificial rites that go with the Mantras along with discussions thereon, anticipating the later Brāhmaṇa literature. Thus from the point of view of education, the Yajurveda has made a material contribution to it by the creation of a prose literature which later culminated in the literary masterpieces of the Upanishads.

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The Yajurveda fixes the religious scheme and ordering of Hindu life in the course of ceremonies it prescribes. It prescribes various sacrifices among which may be mentioned those for the New and Full Moon, the Fathers (*Piṇḍa-pitṛiyajña*), Fire (Agnihotra to be performed both morning and evening), seasons (Chāturmāsyas to be performed every four months), Rājasūya (for kings only), Aśvamedha (for a King of Kings), and Agnichayana (ceremony for building the Fire-altar which lasted for a year and was possessed of a mystical significance). This ceremony throws some light upon the architecture of the times. The altar was to be built of 10,800 bricks in the form of a large bird with outspread wings. In its lowest stratum were immured the heads of five sacrificial animals. Their bodies were thrown into water out of which was taken the clay for the manufacture of the bricks and of the fire-pan. Prayers accompanied every process of building, the modelling and baking of the fire-pan and the individual bricks, some of which bore special names. Equally symbolic was the horse-sacrifice of which the purpose was national well-being, as stated below [*Vājasaneyi Saṁhitā*, xxii, 22] :—

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"O Brahman! May in this Kingdom be born the Brāhmaṇa who is radiant with supreme knowledge (Brahmavarchasī jāyatām asmin rāshṭre)! May here be born the Kshatriya who is a true hero, a good marksman, a skilful shot, and an accomplished charioteer (Mahārathaḥ)! Also cows which yield plenty of milk, oxen that can draw well, the swift horse, and the good housewife! May to this sacrificer be born the hero of a son, victorious, a mighty chariot-fighter, and eloquent at Assemblies (Sabheya)! May we get rain according to our needs and our plants yield good fruit and crops! May there be happiness and prosperity for all!"

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This prayer shows a remarkable appreciation of the factors making for the welfare of a country.

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The contents of the Yajurveda show how it gave impetus to the development of new subjects of study, both religious and secular. The need of correct pronunciation of hymns by the Hotṛi priest laid the beginnings of subjects like Śikshā (phonetics) and Chhandas (metrics) treated as Vedāṅgas (parts of Vedic study) and of the elaborate Prātiśākhya literature. And some of the functions with which the Adhvaryu priest was charged in regard to the material performance of sacrifices led to the development of several secular sciences and practical arts. Measuring the ground for sacrifice; building the altar and platform according to area and volume previously determined; ascertaining of proper seasons and moments for the actual performance of the sacrifice: these laid the foundation of geometrical logistics and of *Jyotisha* or astronomy. Some of the Assistants of Adhvaryu again had to cultivate a knowledge of the parts of the bodily frame of the animals to be immolated at sacrifices, and this led to the study of Anatomy (especially Osteology) and to physiological and medical speculations for which the Atharvaveda is chiefly noted.

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The Atharvaveda. The Atharvaveda, indeed, contains much new and original matter not to be found in the Rigveda. Of about 6,000 stanzas making up 731 hymns divided into twenty books, some 1,200 are derived from the Rigveda, chiefly from its first, eighth, and tenth Books, and only a few from the other Books. A large part of this Vedic Saṁhitā refers to and mentions appropriate herbs as remedies against diseases like fever, leprosy, jaundice, dropsy, scrofula, cough, ophthalmia, baldness, impotence, and surgical ailments like fractures and wounds, bite of snakes and other injurious insects, and against poison in general, mania, and other complaints. The Atharvaveda is somewhat ungenerous in wishing away some of the ills of life like fever to distant regions and peoples such as the Mūjavans, the Bahlikas or a Śūdra girl whom it is asked to shake—fever, which is "now cold, now burning hot", which "makest all men yellow", with its "brother, consumption, and sister, cough, and nephew, herpes" [v, 22]. The Atharvaveda thus ranks as the oldest work of Indian Medicine. Its ninth book anticipates Astronomy by its mention of the lunar mansions. A part of it deals with domestic rites at birth, marriage, or death, thereby anticpating the later Gṛihya Sūtras. Along with spells for warding off evil, it also contains spells for securing good, such as harmony in family and village life, reconciliation of enemies, long life, health, prosperity, safety on journeys, and luck in gambling. There are, again, some hymns giving interesting data, economic [xii, 1], political [xi, 10; vii, 12 on Kings and Assemblies] and philosophical [e.g. iv, 16, exalting divine omniscience].

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Thus these later Vedic Saṁhitās, besides extending religious literature in response to the growing needs of worship, gave the start to a variety of speculations which resulted in the growth of a number of secular sciences and arts still subserving the ends of religion.

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**Evidence on Education.** In ancient India, the system of education was fixed and standardized on the basis of certain universally admitted and established ideals and practices connoted by the term *Brahmacharya*. The Atharvaveda is the only Veda which directly extols, exalts, and expounds this fundamental system and institution of *Brahmacharya* which forms the foundation of the entire structure of Hindu thought and life. Subjects and courses of study may vary, but the system of education, its methods of training and discipline, must remain the same under all conditions. Studentship in ancient India was evolved into a science or an art of life which did not admit of any change according to age or clime but was taken to be of universal validity.

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The Atharvaveda [xi, 5] contains a separate long hymn describing this system of studentship. The pupil enters upon his stage of studentship through the performance of the ceremony of initiation called *Upanayana* by his chosen teacher called *Āchārya*. The ceremony takes three days (*rātrīstisraḥ*) during which the teacher holds within him the pupil to impart to him a new birth and regenerated life whence the pupil emerges as a *dvija* or twice-born. His first birth he owes to his parents who give him only his body. It is a mere physical birth. His second birth is spiritual. It unfolds his mind and soul [Āchāryaḥ upanayamāno brahmachāriṇaṁ kṛiṇute garbhamantaḥ = Āchāryaḥ *antaḥ vidyāśarīrasya madhye garbhaṁ kṛiṇute* (Sāyaṇa), "the teacher recreates the pupil in a new body of learning" | Taṁ rātrīstisraḥ udare bibharti]. After this *Upanayana* or initiation, the pupil emerges as a Brahmachārī, a new and changed person both externally and internally. He lives according to prescribed regulations governing both his dress and habits by which he is marked out. He goes about wearing a girdle (*mekhalā*) of Kuśa grass, the skin of the black antelope (*kārshṇaṁ*) and long hairs (*dīrghaśmaśru*) and carries fuel which he has to offer to Agni both morning and evening [*Samidhā samiddhaḥ*]. Besides these external marks, he is also distinguished by some inner attributes and disciplines. These are stated to be (1) *Śrama*, self-restraint; (2) *Tapas*, practice of penance and (3) *Dīkshā*, consecration to a life of discipline through prescribed regulations such as begging and the like (Sāyaṇa). Thus the Brahmachārī is abroad (*eti*), an example of that discipline and detachment which have created and sustain the universe. The Supreme Being Himself is described as the prime Brahmachārī. All creation is the outcome of *Brahmacharya* and *Tapas*. "Through these, a King protects his Kingdom. Through these, the gods have conquered Death ... All creatures which have sprung from Prajāpati have breath separately in themselves; all of these are preserved by supreme knowledge (*brahma*) which is produced in the Brahmachārin (Prithak sarve prājāpatyāḥ prāṇān ātmasu bibhrati | tān sarvān brahma rakshati brahmachāriṇi ābhṛitam)."

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The Āchārya or preceptor is similarly extolled. He is compared to Yama [either the *guru* of Nachiketas or the god of Death killing the sinner (Sāyaṇa)]; to Varuṇa [either the *guru* of Bhṛigu or the protector against sins (Sāyaṇa)]; to Sun and Moon as the givers of light and happiness, from whose pleasure is to be derived all prosperity [of which the symbols mentioned are *aushadhayaḥ*, i.e. rice and wheat and *payaḥ* or *kshīram* (Sāyaṇa)]. The Āchārya is also mentioned as being sustained by the devoted disciple performing faithfully his prescribed duties [*Tapasā piparti* = *svanmārga-vṛittyā pālayati* (Sāyaṇa)] and by grateful gifts to him, even as Mitra, the disciple of Varuṇa, gave him presents up to the limit of his resources.

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Briefly put, the Brahmachārī, after his initiation into a new life whereby he is recreated by his guru, has to undergo a twofold course of discipline, physical and spiritual. The former comprised (1) wearing the Kuśa girdle and deer skin, (2) letting his hairs grow, (3) collecting fuel and tending the household fire, and (4) begging. The spiritual discipline included (1) offering fuel to and worshipping Agni twice daily, (2) control of senses, (3) practice of austerities, (4) living a dedicated life, and (5) satisfying the teacher by gifts acceptable to him.

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Besides this special Hymn in praise of the Brahmachārī, the Atharvaveda contains a few other passages also on the subject. XIX, 41 refers to *Brahmacharya* as a distinct stage in life and as a system of discipline (*tapo-dīkshāmupanisheduḥ*). VII, 105 contains an exhortation to holy life which is quoted in Kauśika Sūtra (55, 16) in connection with the Upanayana ceremony as the teacher takes the pupil by the arm and sets him facing eastward [Praṇītiḥ abhyāvartasva = prakṛishṭa-nayanādi-veda-brahmacharya-nīyatiḥ (Sāyaṇa)]. The prayers of the Brahmachārī show the high aims for which he stands. He prays for success in his study of the Veda and for its freedom

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HERMITAGES IN BHARHUT SCULPTURES (c. *second century* B.C.).

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No. 1.—It bears the inscription: *Dighatapasi sise anusāsati*, "the ascetic of long penance instructs his pupils." Cunningham takes some of these pupils to be female Ṛishis. The position of the pupils' fingers shows counting called for in *Sāma-Veda* chanting.

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from interruption [vii, 54, 1-2]; for faith (*śraddhā*), insight (*medhā* = *adhītaveda-dhāraṇam*), progeny (*prajā*), wealth (*dhana*), longevity (*āyu*), and immortality (*amṛitatva*) [xix, 64]. In vii, 61 he claims insight into the Vedas, longevity, and wisdom as the fruits of *tapas*.¹

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¹ Sāyaṇa describes three kinds of *Tapas*, viz. (1) tending the fires, (2) subduing the flesh by austerities (*kṛichchhhrādyācharanena śarīra-śoshanam*), and (3) concentration of the mind and senses on the divine (*manasaścha indriyāṇāṁ cha aikāgryaṁ tapa uchyate*). Sāyaṇa also cites Patañjali-Sūtra which mentions the following four processes of realizing the Divine, viz. (1) *Śaucha* (purity), (2) *Santosha* (contentment), (3) *Tapa* (penance), and (4) *Svādhyāya* (Vedic study)

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Girl-students. It is to be noted that *brahmacharya* was also applicable to girls in those days. X, 5, 18 states how maidens win youths (yuvānam) as their husbands through *brahmacharya*. This probably refers to studentship preceding the married state or second *āśrama* in the case of both boys and girls.

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Holidays. Lastly, in connection with the prayer for non-interruption of study, it is interesting to note the holidays observed in these Vedic Schools on occasions of cloudy (*antarikshe* = *meghāchchhanne*) or windy (*vāte*) weather. Vedic study was also not to be under the shade of trees (*vṛiksheshu* = *vṛikshachchhāyāyām*), in sight of green barley (*ulapeshu* = *haritaśasya-sannidhau*) and within hearing of cattle (*paśavaḥ aśravaṇam*) [vii, 66].

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Evidence of 'Yajurveda.' The *Yajurveda* [*Taitti. Sam.*, vi, 3, 10, 5] contains a reference to this system of studentship which shows that it was an established system for long. It states that man owes three debts which he must repay in three prescribed ways, viz. (1) the debt to Ṛishis to be repaid by *brahmacharya* by which he is to acquire and spread the knowledge he inherits from the Ṛishis; (2) the debt to gods by *yajñas* (sacrifices) to realize his kinship with the spiritual world (of gods); and (3) the debt to ancestors by fatherhood to continue the family in which he is born. The debt to Ṛishis is the debt which one owes to learning in the shape of his cultural heritage. Such an obligation he can only discharge by making his own contribution to learning, which he can achieve only on the basis of *brahmacharya*.

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In conclusion, it may be noted that the Yajurveda read as a literary work is not perhaps interesting but it is supremely important and interesting to a student of religion who will find in it a source for the study not only of Indian but also of the general science of religion. He will find it specially valuable for a study of the origin, development, and the significance of *prayer* in the evolution of religious ideas. The *Yajurveda* also supplies the key to an understanding of the later literature of the *Brāhmaṇas* of which it contains the origins and also of the *Upanishads* following the *Brāhmaṇas*.

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