Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c10.9

c10.9

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*.