Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c25.9

c25.9

**Cultivation of Vernacular.** Thus a community of Bhikkhus was like a school made up of different forms or classes representing different grades of talent, maturity, and progress in studies. But the Bhikkhus also differed from one another in other respects. Hailing from different parts of the country, they differed in their dialects, besides "differing in name, lineage, birth, and family". We are told of two Bhikkhu brothers who were "Brahmans by birth, excelling in speech, excelling in pronunciation" trying to reduce this confusion of tongues among Bhikkhus by a proposal to adopt Sanskrit as their common language. Said they: "The Bhikkhus corrupt the word of the Buddhas by repeating it in their own dialect. Let us, Lord, put the word of the Buddhas into Sanskrit verse (*chhandas*)." But the Buddha did not approve of the proposal, because it would not conduce to conversions but rather hinder them. Sanskrit would repel the ordinary people or masses who were to be reached through their own vernaculars. The religion of the Buddha meant for the classes as well as masses thus cultivated, and was preached through, the popular speech as distinguished from the difficult and refined language, Sanskrit, especially in its earlier form, *Chhandas* or Veda-dialect, for which the two Brāhman brothers pleaded. The Buddha with perfect wisdom ruled: "I allow you, O Bhikkhus, to learn the word of the Buddhas each in his own dialect" [*Chullav.*, v, 33, 1]. Thus Buddhism gave an impulse and impetus to the study of the vernacular dialects of the country which so much facilitated its spread to distant and different countries by means of missionaries as organized under the great emperor Asoka for instance.