[Advaita-l] RE: Vedic Shakhas for kshatriyas and vaishyas?

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

>Namaste,
>We find in the mahabharatha and the puraanas that
>kshatriyas like Lord Krishna, Pandavas etc had learnt
>the vedas. Is there any evidence to show that
>kshatriyas and vaishyas had their vedic shakhas? Could
>this be connected to the shakhas that are now lost?

There is no evidence for this. The distribution of vedic SAkhAs is not 
determined by caste. Typically, in ancient times, the teachers of kshatriya 
and vaiSya students would have also been brAhmaNas, as teaching (adhyApana) 
was considered the duty of only brAhmaNas. The loss of many SAkhAs is due to 
the extinction (naturally or deliberately) of the families that kept up the 
individual traditions.

Vidyasankar

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