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xlviii
LAWS OF MANU.
sacred texts and of the Argas of their Såkhås as well as of some other works, more or less closely connected with the Veda. A perfect Vaidik of the Asvaldyana school knows the Rig-veda according to the Samhita, Pada, Krama, Gata and Ghana Pathas, the Aitareya Bråhmana and Âranyaka, the ritualistic Satras of Âsvalayana, Saunaka's Prátisakhya and the Sikshâ, Yaska's Nirukta, the grammar of Panini, the Vedic calendar or Gyotisha, the metrical treatise called the Khandas, Yagñavalkya's Dharmasastra, portions of the Mahâbhârata, and the philosophical Sutras of Kanada, Gaimini, and Badarayana. Similarly the Vaidiks of the Yagus, Sâman, and Atharvan schools are able to recite, more or less perfectly, the whole of the works of their respective Sakhas as well as some other non-Vedic books 1. But it would be in vain to expect from such men an explanation of the literary treasures which they possess. It is not the professional Vaidik who can perform the great sacrifices according to the Srauta-stras, interpret the intricate system of Panini's grammar, or decide a knotty point of law according to the Dharma-sätra or the secondary Smriti which he knows by heart. For these purposes one must go to quite different classes of men. The performance of the great Srauta sacrifices lies in the hands of the Srotriya or Srautî, who unites with a thoroughly verbal knowledge of the sacred texts of his Sakhà a full acquaintance with the meaning of the Srauta-sätras and with the actual kriya or manual work, described in the Prayogas. The Srautî, as well as his humbler fellow-worker, the so-called Yagnika or Bhattagî, who knows the Grihya-sútras and performs the rites prescribed for domestic occurrences, likewise both belong to the representatives of the Vedic schools. They make, however, no pretence to a knowledge of the whole range of the Angas, but content themselves with studying the Kalpa, or parts of it, and perhaps the Siksha? Real
1 Regarding the necessity for a Vaidik to learn non-Vedic books, see Vas. XXVII, 6.
Regarding the present condition of the Vedic schools and of Vedic learning, see Haug, Brahma und die Brahmanen, p. 47; and R. G. Bhändårkar's careful paper, 'The Veda in India' (Ind. Ant. III, 132 sqq.) From personal observa
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