Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c11.s6.15

c11.s6.15

**Education of Castes other than Brāhmaṇa.** An account of the education of the *Brāhmaṇa* period will not be complete without a reference to the position of the castes other than the Brāhmaṇa in respect of same. But, unfortunately, as the literature of the period from which we have to derive our evidence is almost exclusively religious in its character and, as such, is only concerned with that caste to which society committed the care and ministrations of its religion, we can hardly expect to find much evidence on the subject. Macdonell and Keith frankly admit [*Vedic Index*, i, 207] that "of the training and education of Kshatriya we have no record". The education of a caste in those days was necessarily determined to a large extent by the particular occupations and functions assigned to it in society. But the degree of the separation of castes did not in the earlier stages quite correspond to that of the separation of functions. Accordingly, in the earlier literature, we find sometimes a variety of occupations for each caste. The most glaring instance of such variety in respect of the Brāhmaṇa caste is given by a Rigvedic passage [ix, 112] already cited, where the author of the hymn says he is a poet, his father a physician (Bhishaj), and his mother a grinder of corn (Upala-prakshiṇī). This would seem to show that a Brahman could practise medicine while his wife would perform the ordinary household duties. So we find a Purohita accompanying the king in battle, and, like the medieval clergy, not unprepared to fight as Vasishṭha and Viśvāmitra seem to have done and as priests do even in the Epic from time to time [*JAOS.*, 13, 184], while Dīrghaśravas in the Rigveda [i, 112, 11] is taken as the example of a Brahmin turning merchant through poverty. All this, however, does not by any means establish that the priests normally fought or that they were normally agriculturists [cf. Brahmachārin tending cattle of his teacher (*Chhānd.*, iv, 4, 5; *Ait. Ār.*, iii, 1, 6)] and merchants, though they could on occasions turn to agricultural or mercantile pursuits. The Brahmin represented the intellectual and spiritual interests of the community and "was required not merely to practise individual culture but also to give others the advantage of his skill either as a teacher or as a sacrificial priest [at least for the more important (śrauta) rites] or as a purohita guiding the king in secular, political matters. Similarly, the normal duties of the Kshatriya were administration and war. The bow is his special attribute, as shown in a number of passages in Vedic literature.¹ There is hardly any reference to Kshatriyas engaging in agriculture, trade, or commerce. We have already discussed the question how far the evidence regarding the exercise of the priestly or Brahminical functions of learning and teaching or officiating as Purohita justifies the theory advanced by some scholars that the distinction between the Kshatriya caste and Brāhmaṇa was not yet. The stories of such priestly functions assumed by the Kshatriyas refer only to a few selected Kshatriyas of high rank, while there is no evidence that the average Kshatriya was concerned with intellectual pursuits when there were other engrossing duties connected with the protection of the people to absorb his attention. It is thus a fair deduction that the royal caste did not much concern itself with the sacred lore of the priests, though it is not unlikely that individual exceptions occurred.