प्राचीन भारत में शिक्षा (डॉ. ए.एस. अल्तेकर - गुरुकुल एवं बौद्ध विहार शिक्षण इतिहास)

146 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
and practices connected with Vedic sacrifices.
Sacrificial rituals became very complex and compli-
cated in this period and the professional priests had
to devote several years in mastering their details and
intricacies. The study of astronomy, geometry and
prosody contiuned to progress in this period. The
development of the sciences of grammar and etymology
started in this age and manuals on these subjects were
included in the curriculum.
The Method of Study : The Vedic hymns were
being gradually differentiated from the Vedic language
and it was felt that the sacred literature should be
preserved in its pristine form and purity, and should
not be allowed to change with the spoken idiom.
Vedic scholars of this period began to insist that
Vedic hymns should be carefully committed to
memory in their precise traditional intonation and
accents. Students were not at liberty to change a
difficult archaic word for a simple current one. The
differentiation of the spoken dialect from the Vedic
language raised new problems of interpretation and
the age sought to solve them by preparing a list of
difficult Vedic words and expressions. which were
carefully expounded to students. Vedic students were
expected not only to memorise the Vedic hymns, but
also to explain their meaning. Ridicule was poured
on them if they failed to expound what they had
learnt by heart.¹ Learned discussions were a normal
and important feature of the student life and young
scholars were very anxious to come out successful
in them.²

1. स्थाणुरयं भारहारः किलाभूदधीत्य वेदं न विजानाति योऽर्थम्।
   Nir., I. 18 See also, ibid, 1. 19.
2. A. V., VII. 12, 18; II. 27.