A View of the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindoos/Volume 1/Chapter 6

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Chapter V.

A View of the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindoos, Volume 1
by William Ward

Chapter VI.

4341291A View of the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindoos, Volume 1 — Chapter VI.William Ward

CHAPTER VI.

Of the present State of Learning among the Hindoos.

SECTION I.

Learned Men.

In former ages, the Hindoo philosophers were unquestionably men of deep erudition, and, having spent many years in acts of rigid austerity, were honoured as persons of so great a sanctity of character, that they attracted universal homage and applause: some of them had more than a thousand disciples or scholars. Shŭnkŭracharyŭ, for instance, after his arrival at Benares, placing himself under the care of Govindacharyŭ, who taught the doctrines of the Védantŭ philosophy, became the most celebrated philosopher of his day: here he took the staff of the dundēē, and embraced the life of this class of ascetics, which had then almost sunk into total disrepute. Shŭnkŭrŭ, however, was determined to raise his sect, and, having collected a prodigious number of disciples, he resolved to make the tour of India, to dispute with the learned, and to gain proselytes.—In this pilgrimage he was every where so successful, that he was styled the conqueror of the world. As his terms of dispute were, that if he was unable to obtain the victory he would embrace a secular life, while, if he defeated his antagonist, this antagonist should become a dundēē, multitudes were constrained to enter into this order of ascetics.—The effects of this journey and of these labours are visible to this day: it is said, that not less than 4000 dundēē now reside at Benares. Four small elevations are still shewn in Dravira, upon which it is said this sage used to sit and deliver discourses to his disciples; and in Dravira there is still an annual assembly of dundēēs to the number, it is said, of 10,000.

Thus, in former times, the learned Hindoos were almost invariably ascetics or mendicants, following in this respect the principle adopted by almost every philosophical sect, that to renounce the world was an essential characteristic of a true philosopher.

AT NUDEEYA.

Nyayŭ colleges.—Shivŭ-Nat’hŭ-Vidya-Vachŭspŭtee, has one hundred and twenty-five students.—Ramŭ-Lochŭnŭ-Nyayŭ-Bhõõshŭnŭ, twenty students.—Kashēē-Nat’hŭ-Tŭrkŭ-Chõõramŭnee, thirty ditto.—Ŭbhŭyanŭndŭ-Tŭrkalŭnkarŭ, twenty ditto.—Ramŭ-Shŭrŭnŭ-Nyayŭ-Vagēēshŭ, fifteen ditto.—Bhola-Nat’hŭ-Shiromŭnee, twelve ditto.—Radha-Nat’hŭ-Tŭrkŭ-Pŭnchanŭnŭ, ten ditto.—Ramŭ-Mohŭnŭ-Vidya-Vachŭspŭtee, twenty ditto.—Shrēē-Ramŭ-Tŭrkŭ-Bhõõshŭnŭ, twenty ditto.—Kalēē-Kantŭ-Chõõramŭnee, five ditto.—Krishnŭ-Kantŭ-Vidya-Vagēēshŭ, fifteen ditto.—Tŭrkalŭnkarŭ, fifteen ditto.—Kalēē-Prŭsŭnnŭ, fifteen ditto.—Madhŭvŭ-Tŭrkŭ-Siddhantŭ, twenty-five ditto.—Kŭmŭla-kantŭ-Tŭrkŭ-Chõõramŭnee, twenty-five ditto.—Eeshwŭrŭ-Tŭrkŭ-Bhõõshŭnŭ, twenty do.—Kantŭ-Vidyalŭnkarŭ, forty ditto.

Law colleges.—Ramŭ-Nat’hŭ-Tŭrkŭ-Siddhantŭ, forty students.—Gŭnga-Dhŭrŭ-Shiromŭnee, twenty-five ditto.—Dévēē-Tŭrkalŭnkarŭ, twenty-five ditto.—Mohŭnŭ-Vidya-Vachŭspŭtee, twenty ditto.—Gangolee-Tŭrkalŭnkarŭ, ten ditto.—Krishnŭ-Kantŭ-Tŭrkŭ-Bhõõshŭnŭ, ten ditto.—Pranŭ-Krishnŭ-Tŭrka-Vagēēshŭ, five ditto.—Poorohitŭ, five ditto.—Kashēē-Kantŭ-Tŭrkŭ-Chõõramŭnee, thirty ditto.—Kalēē-Kantŭ-Tarkŭ-Pŭnchanŭnŭ, twenty ditto.—Gŭdadhŭr-Tŭrkŭ-Vagēēshŭ, twenty ditto.

Colleges where the poetical works are read.—Kalēē-Kantŭ-Tŭrkŭ-Chõõramŭnee, fifty students.

Where the astronomical works are read.—Gooroo-Prŭsadŭ-Siddhantŭ-Vagēēshŭ, fifty students.

Where the grammar is read.—Shŭmbhoo-Nat’hŭ-Chõõramŭnee, five students.

AT CALCUTTA.

The following among other colleges are found in Calcutta; and in these the nyayŭ and smritee shastrŭs are principally taught:— Ŭnŭntŭ-Ramŭ-Vidya-Vagēēshŭ, of Hatee-Baganŭ, fifteen students.—Ramŭ-Koomarŭ-Tŭrkalŭnkarŭ, of ditto, eight students.—Ramŭ-Toshŭnŭ-Vidyalŭnkarŭ, of ditto, eight ditto.—Ramŭ-Doolalŭ-Chõõramŭnee, of ditto, five ditto.—Gourŭ-Mŭnee-Nyayalŭnkarŭ, of ditto, four ditto.—Kashēē-Nat’hŭPage:A view of the history, literature, and mythology of the Hindoos (Vol. I).djvu/681 Page:A view of the history, literature, and mythology of the Hindoos (Vol. I).djvu/682 increasing his habitual devotion: day by day, having bathed and being purified, let him offer fresh water to the gods, the sages, and the manes; let him shew respect to the images of the deities, and bring wood for the oblation to fire. Let him abstain from honey, from flesh-meat, from perfumes, from chaplets of flowers, from sweet vegetable juices, from women, from all sweet substances turned acid, and from injury to animated beings; from unguents for his limbs, and from black powder for his eyes; from sandals, and carrying an umbrella, from sensual desire, from wrath, from covetousness, from dancing, and from vocal and instrumental music, from gaming, from disputes, from detraction, and from falsehood, from embracing or wantonly looking at women, and from disservice to other men.”

The number of holidays among the Hindoos is a most serious drawback not only upon the industry but on the learning of the country: the colleges are invariably closed, and all studies laid aside, on the eighth of the waxing or waning of the moon; on the day in which it may happen to thunder; whenever a person or an animal passes between the teacher and the pupil while reading; whenever an honourable person arrives as a guest; at the festival of Sŭrŭswŭtēē, during three days; in some parts, during the whole of the rainy season, or at least during two months, which include the Doorga, the Kalēē, and other festivals,—and at many other times.

SECTION III.

Total decline of learning.

No reasonable person will deny to the Hindoos of former times the praise of very extensive learning. The varieiy of subjects upon which they wrote prove, that almost every science was cultivated among them. The manner also in which they treated these subjects proves, that the Hindoo learned men yielded the palm of learning to scarcely any other of the ancients. The more their philosophical works and law books are studied, the more will the enquirer be convinced of the depth of wisdom possessed by the authors. It would be unjust to compare works, some of them written perhaps three thousand years ago, with those of the moderns, who must naturally be expected to have made greater advances in every department of science; but let the most learned and profound of the Hindoo writings be compared with the writings of any nation flourishing at the same period, and the decision, the author is inclined to think, will be in favour of the Hindoos.

At present, almost every person who engages in the pursuit of knowledge, does so for the sake of a subsistence, or for the increase of his wealth. India contains few if any individuals who, satisfied with their present possessions, devote their time to the pursuit of science. The whole is a trade; hence knowledge is only so far pursued as it will be productive of money, and no art or science is carried to perfection; each person furnishes himself with what he thinks will carry him through life; he has no ambition to enlarge the bounds of knowledge; he makes no experiments; it never enters into his mind that he can exceed his forefathers; to gain the smallest moiety of what they acquired, is almost more than he hopes to realize.

It is laid down as a rule in the shastrŭs, that a gift to a bramhŭn is meritorious in proportion to his learning: hence those who are esteemed the most learned carry away the most costly presents at the close offcasts and great ceremonies: diiferent offices under government require a knowledge of some of the lawbooks; this excites many to apply themselves to this sort of learning. To be a family priest, it is necessary that a person be acquainted with many of the forms of the Hindoo religion; and these forms are not to be obtained without reading. It is owing to these, and the like circumstances, that the little knowledge the present race of Hindoos possess of their own shastrŭs is preserved. A considerable number of the bramhŭns and voidyŭs learn the Sŭngskritŭ grammar, but the old Sŭngskritŭ, the dialect of the védŭ, is known by very few.

Amongst one hundred thousand Brahmans, there may be one thousand who learn the grammar of the Sŭngskritŭ; of whom four or five hundred may read some parts of the kavyŭ, and fifty some parts of the ŭlŭnkarŭ shastrŭs. Four hundred of this thousand may read some of the smritees; but not more than ten, any parts of the tŭntrŭs. Three hundred may study the nayŭ, but only five or six the mēēmangsŭ, the sankhyŭ, the védantŭ, the patŭnjŭlŭ, the voishéshikŭ shastrŭs, or the védŭ. Ten persons in this number of bramhŭus may become learned in the astronomical shastrŭs, while ten more understand them very imperfectly. Fifty of this thousand may read the Shrēē-Bhagŭvŭtŭ and some of the pooranŭs. Those who study the védŭ and the dŭrshŭnŭs are considered as the most learned. The next in rank are those who study the smritees.

In general men of learning possess from ten to twenty Sŭngskritŭ books. A few of the most learned possess not less than a hundred volumes. Of late several Hindoos have begun to form pretty large collections of Sŭngskritŭ works. In the library of Shrēē-Ramŭ-Hŭree-Vishwasŭ, a kayŭst’hŭ, of Khŭrduh, near Serampore, not less than one thousand volumes are found, and perhaps nearly the same number in that of raja Nŭvŭ-Krishnŭ of Calcutta.—The shastrŭs have not the title of the book at the beginning, but at the end of each volume. At the commencement of the work is a salutation to the guardian deity of the author, and at the close the name of the work and of the writer.

Among the works found in the library of a Hindoo of some learning are the following: one of the grammars, a dictionary, the roots of the Sŭngskritŭ, a comment on some grammar, five or six volumes of the poets for the use of the young, among which are the Bhŭttee of Bhŭrtree-Hŭree, and the Koomarŭ and Rŭghoo-Vŭngshŭ of Kalēē-Dasŭ; one or two law books, with some comment; part or the whole of some popular work on astronomy; a chapter or two of some pooranŭ; a few abridgments on the common ceremonies, and a copy of the Chŭndēē, a popular work on the wars of Doorga, extracted from the Markŭndéyŭ pooranŭ, and containing 700 verses. Those persons in whose libraries copies of any of the dŭrshŭnŭs are found, are considered as very learned. Books which have been preserved through five or six generations are found in some families.

In the houses of the bramhŭns who do not pursue learning, a few forms of praise to the gods, and formulas of worship, in Sŭngskritŭ, drawn up or copied on loose leaves of paper by some neighbouring bramhŭn, may be found; and this too is the amount of what is seen in the houses of the most respectable fiLoodros. In the dialects of the country, however, very many persons of this degree of rank preserve copies of the Ramayŭnŭ, the Mŭhabharŭtŭ, the Vidya-Soondŭrŭ and the Chŭndēē; and in some houses may be found Page:A view of the history, literature, and mythology of the Hindoos (Vol. I).djvu/686 Page:A view of the history, literature, and mythology of the Hindoos (Vol. I).djvu/687 Page:A view of the history, literature, and mythology of the Hindoos (Vol. I).djvu/688

A View of the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindoos/Volume 1/Chapter 6

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