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

40 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.

of human knowledge in several branches of non-Vedic studies. It was only in later times that religious and literary education came to be confined to the Brahmanas and professional and industrial training to non-Brahmanas. Caste System once Flexible: The caste system has got a long history and has undergone many changes and vicissitudes during the last three thousand years. It was formerly much less rigid than now. Interdining is an anathema to an orthodox Hindu today. Dharmaśāstra writers like Manu (IV. 253) and Āpastamba (II. 1.3-4) however permit a Brahmana to take his meals in the house of a barber, a milkman and a tenant and employ a Shudra cook even for preparing the sacred sacrificial food. Inter- caste marriages, which are still not permissible under the Hindu law, were allowed by the majority of Smṛitis, provided the bridegroom belonged to a higher caste. In the realm of educational theory and practice also, we should therefore not be surprised if we find that some of the later theories were not subscribed to or followed in earlier times. Non-Brahmanas as Vedic Teachers: It is well- known that the Smṛitis have laid down that Brahmanas alone should impart Vedic education. In the earlier period however such was not the case. There is evidence to show that non-Brāhmanas also sometimes used to become Vedic teachers; rituals have been prescribed to enable them to shine in that line.¹ This need not cause any surprise, for some Kshatriyas figure among the composers of Vedic hymns also; the whole of the third book of the Rig-veda is a composition of the various members of the •¹ Cf. योऽब्राह्मणो विद्यामनूच्य नैव रोचेत स एतांश्चतुर्होतॄन् व्याचक्षीत । एतद्वै देवा'नां ब्रह्म निरुक्तं यच्चतुर्होतारस्तदेनं निरुच्यमानं प्रकाशं गमयति ॥ K S., IX. 16