Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c9.48

c9.48

The next hymn, x, 71, 3, makes the interesting addition that these learned Assemblies were held at the sacrifices. These sacrifices are therefore described as "opening up the way which the wise (dhīrāḥ = viditārthāḥ) tread for finding speech" [yajñena vāchaḥ padavīyam (= mārgaṁ) āyan]. The Ṛishis were the repository of such speech and they revealed it at such sacrificial gatherings of the learned. Their words thus acquired were then collected and spread far and wide. The system adumbrated here is that at the Yājña-Assembly each Ṛishi brought forward his individual contributions to Speech and then these were collected and codified. Then this standardized speech was suitable for being imparted to pupils and was thus propagated through the whole country. Th different processes in this method of learning and evolution of Vedic Sanskrit are indicated by the words *āyan*, *avindan*, *ābhṛitya*, and *adadhuḥ*, i.e. "attainment, mastery, collection, and propagation" of the words which were originally confined to the Ṛishis and brought to light by them at the learned assemblies accompanying the sacrifices. The *manner* of learning and teaching this Vedic Sanskrit is also indicated here. It was to be learnt in the form of metres. "Seven metres embraced Vedic speech and made it articulate, like warbling birds flocking to the speechless tree." I, 164, 24 even defines *Arka* or *Mantra* as being in the form of *Chhanda*, and *Sāma* as being made of such *Arka*. The Vedic hymns being thus revealed in the form of metres, it was easier to commit them to memory in that form than if they were in the form of prose. A metre can be more easily memorized than mere individual words in prose.