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

148 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
and ghana-pāṭha, and all these had to be committed to
memory by those who desired to be regarded as
experts in the Vedic lore. This further increased the
burden on the memory. As centuries rolled on, it
became more and more difficult for the Vedic expert
to memorise this extensive and growing literature and
also to understand its meaning ; for the spoken dialect
was becoming more and more differentiated from the
Vedic language. It was therefore decided towards
the end of this period that some Vedic scholars should
devote their energies to the mechanical memorising
of this extensive literature with a view to prevent its
loss, while others should address themselves to the
problem of its interpretation by studying commentaries,
etymology, lexicography, etc. But for this differentia-
tion of function, the extensive Vedic literature could
not have been preserved for posterity. This arrange-
ment no doubt exposed some Brahmanas to the taunt
of being mere parrot-like reciters of the Vedic hymns.
It is gratifying to find that they did not mind it in the
wider interest of the preservation of the national
literature and culture.
New Topics of Study : The period under review
was the most creative era in the history of the Hindu
intellect ; it recorded remarkable achievements in
the realm of philosophy, sacred law, epic literature,
philology, grammar, astronomy and several fine and
useful arts like sculpture, medicine and shipbuilding.
On the one hand the development of these branches
naturally created a new fascination for the students
of the age, and on the other, the rise of the protestant
movements led by the Upanishadic, Jain and
Buddhist thinkers told on the popularity of the Vedic
religion and literature. The current language had
now become very widely differentiated from the