Hindu Medicine c7.232

c7.232

There is a special lesson on elocution (Su. I, 4), meant for the teacher, explaining how to pronounce clearly and properly while teaching. The teacher is to recite the text of the traditional lore, verse after verse, prose aphorism after aphorism, and duly to comment upon them. If their contents are not properly explained to the pupil, they will be for his mind what a load of sandal-wood is for the over-laden donkey: a cumbersome burden. For the donkey the precious perfume of the costly wood means nothing. He simply tires under the burden, and the pupil will get tired, too, if the precious meaning of the tradition with which he is burdened is not disclosed to his understanding.