Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c9.29

c9.29

Every day the student started recitation of Vedic Texts before birds announced break of day’ [*purā-vayabhyaḥ* = pakshyādīnāṁ vāgvadanārambhāt prāk (*Taitti. Saṁ.*, vi, 4, 3, 1)]. The *Aitareya Āraṇyaka* [viii] mentions three ways of reciting the Rigveda, *pratṛiṇṇa*, *nirbhuja*, and *ubhayamantareṇa*, by taking the words singly, as in *Pada Pāṭha*, or in pairs, or in the continuous way, as in *Krama Pāṭha*. There was also already a sound system of phonology. The *Aitareya* and *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇas* distinguish sounds as *ghosha*, *ūshman*, and *vyañjana*, dental and lingual *n*, and the sibilants *ś*, *sh*, and *s*, and also discuss rules of *sandhi* or combinations of words. The Upanishads [e.g. *Taitti*, i, 1, 2] recognize phonological factors like *mātrā* (quantity), *bala* (accent), *sāma* (euphony), and *santāna* (relations of letters).