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AN EARLY HISTORY OF ORISSA
(b) After the initiation ceremony, which according to
the Dharma Šāstra,' was performed in the eleventh year, the prince was to study trayž (the three Vedas), the system speculative philosophy (ānvikshaki) under the teachers of acknowledged autho. rity, and was to acquire the knowledge of the science of wealth (vārtā) under the superintendents of various departments, and the knowledge of the science of government (dundunīti) under those who are expert in theories as well as in practical
application. (c) From the sixteenth year, when the beard-shaving
ceremony was to be performed, and the prince could be married thereafter, he was to spend forenoon in receiving lessons in military tactics concerning the proper handling of troops and of weapons, and in the afternoon, in hearing and discussing the Purāņas, the Itivșitta, the Ākhyā. yaki, the Udahāraņa, the Dharma-śāstra and the Arthaśāstra-all of which go by the name of Itihāsa.
Lekha
K. P. Jayaswal' suggests that the three terms lekha, rūpa and gaṇanā, as used in the Hāthigumphā text, were intended to have a deeper significance than what they generally implied in popular usage. The term 'lekha' was not used to mean simply the knowledge of alphabet and the practice of alphabet-writing. The learning and writing of alphabet has been prescribed in the Arthaśāstra as a course of study for a beginner, for a prince of 3 to 5
1. Gautama, I, 6, 11. 2. JBORS, III, Pt. IV, p. 480 ; Jayaswal &
Banerji, EI, XX,
pp. 71f.
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