Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c12.s6.42

c12.s6.42

This view is only consistent with, and indeed the natural outcome of, that held regarding the Veda itself which has thus been elaborated by Kumārila: "The Veda is distinctly to be perceived by means of the senses. It exists, like a pot or any other object, in man. Perceiving it in another man, people learn it and remember it. Then others again perceiving it, as it is remembered by these, learn it and remember it, and thus hand it on to others. Therefore, the theologian concludes, the Veda is without a beginning." And again: "Before we hear the word *Veda*, we perceive, as different from all other objects, and as different from other Vedas, something in the form of the Rigveda that exists within the readers, and things in the form of *Mantras* and *Brāhmaṇas*, different from others." From these explanations it is clear that when a material existence is attributed to the Veda, it is conceived of as existing only in the minds of men, written if at all on the tablets of their hearts—and not as something written on paper. It is also clear how this conception determines the method by which the Vedic learning has to be preserved and propagated. It is held to be too holy to be left to exist as an external object; it must live in the memory of man as a part of him to be cherished dearly in his heart, and not as something external or foreign to him. It is thus that the Smṛitis constantly refer to Vedic knowledge as the cause of a man's second birth, because its assimilation is supposed to effect a radical transformation of the student's nature.