Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c12.16

c12.16

**Specialization.** It may also be as well noted in this connection that the age of the Sūtras was an age of scientific study and specialization. As will be explained more fully later on, at first the study of these Aṅgas was strictly subservient to the primary needs of the Veda-study, and education meant only the transmission of traditions from the teacher to the pupil and the committing to memory the sacred texts. In course of time, however, the content of this education began naturally to widen out, and each one of the several Aṅgas of the Veda began to develop, snapping the bonds of its connection with the Veda-study and declaring its independence in special Schools. Thus arose the special sciences and specialists. The sacrificial ritual itself led to the growth of some of the sciences. Geometry and Algebra arose out of the elaborate rules for the construction of altars. Sometimes it was necessary to erect a round altar covering the same area as a square one, giving rise to problems like squaring the circle. Astronomy and Astrology grew out of the necessity of finding out the proper times and seasons for sacrifice and other purposes. The foundation of Anatomy was laid in the dissection of sacrificial animals. Grammar and Philology had their origin in the care to preserve the sacred texts from corruption and fix the methods of their proper pronunciation. Thus each of the original Vedic Aṅgas was giving rise to a number of allied sciences through its specialized and scientific study in special Schools. Pāṇini's work is to be treated as the final outcome of a long process of grammatical development. New subjects also began to develop as a result of this freedom of thought and study. Law was the most important of them. The different legal Schools came to be represented on the Parishads regulating the life of the community. Experts in the new subjects like Nyāya, Mīmāṁsā, Nirukta, and Law are placed side by side with those proficient in the Vedas and Aṅgas as members of the same Parishad. The specialists were as necessary to the community as the Vaidikas. The latter possessed a complete verbal knowledge of the sacred texts but had an imperfect understanding of the meaning thereof and were like walking libraries. The former reduced the quantity of the sacred texts to be committed to memory and devoted the mental energy thus saved to specialized study of other subjects like sacrifices, grammar, law, or astronomy. Questions bearing on these could no longer be solved by the Vaidikas who were not fitted to put their learning to practical use. The performance of sacrifices needed the services of the Śrauti, the expert in sacrificial literature. The Jurist alone could decide doubtful points of law. Grammar in its developed form was adequate by itself to absorb the entire mental energy of a student. Thus the expansion of learning brought in the system of specialization.