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

292 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [App. along with the recitation of a Vedic Mantra.¹ Military training was no monopoly of the Kshatriyas in early times, and Vasiṣhṭha therefore lays down that a Brahmana was to be invested with a bow, the Kshatriya with a sword, the Vaishya with a lance and the Shudra with a mace. The Guru, who could initiate the youths, was himself expected to be an expert in the use of these and other weapons. Not common in early Times : How far this Dhanurvedic Upanayana was common among the Kshatriyas or those classes of the community, who received the military training, we do not know. The ritual is not mentioned by any early authority, and the epic heroes are not stated to have performed it. The Mantra recited at the time of offering the weapon to the student has no connection with the occasion, as shown in the foot-note below¹. It is therefore very doubtful whether the ritual was in general vogue. Probably it was a later invention and confined to a small section of the Kshatriya community. SECTION G CHHURIKĀ-BANDHA OR MILITARY CONVOCATION Chhurika-bandha :—This ceremony corresponds to Brahmanical Samāvartana and was performed at the

1. The Mantra laid down by Vasiṣṭha is as follows :— काण्डात्काण्डं प्ररोहन्ती परुषस्परुषस्परि । एवा नो दूर्वे प्रतनु सहस्रेण शतेन च ॥ या शतेन प्ररोहसि सहस्रेण विरोहसि । तस्मै ते देवीष्टके विधेम हविषा वयम् ॥ V.S., XIII, 20-1. The stanzas, however, refer to Dūrvâ grass and have no connection with the bow or arrow.