Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c9.52

c9.52

The superiority of Vedic knowledge to all other knowledge is very well expounded by Sāyaṇa (in his Introduction to Rigveda Commentary). "The Veda expounds the truth about gods, *dharma*, and Para-brahma. He who does not recite the Veda but only utters secular speech full of slander, falsehood, and strife cannot have access to true knowledge (Sakaladevatānāṁ Dharmasya Parabrahmatattvasya cha pratipādakaṁ Vedaṁ anuchchārya para-nindā-anṛita-kalahādi-hetuṁ laukikīṁ vārtāṁ sarvatra uchchārayataḥ spashṭa eva vāchi bhāgyābhāvaḥ)." Again: "Let not a man study too many words, for that is waste of words (vācho viglāpanaṁ hi tat). Such a person may listen to poems and plays which lead to no good because they do not know of the right path (yadyapyasau kāvya-nāṭakaṁ śṛiṇoti tathāpi nirarthakameva tachchhravaṇam)." He also quotes the verse: "The *dvija* who, without studying the Veda, applies his labour otherwise degrades himself to the status of a Sūdra even in this life with his posterity." Sāyaṇa quotes *Purushārthānuśāsana* which points out that the subject-matter of the Veda is twofold: (1) *Dharma* and (2) *Brahma*.