The Vedas mandate that each and every individual has to perform the swadhyaya, daily. However, the Swadhyaya chapter in the Yajurveda provides certain exemptions to this rule, and Maharishi Apasthamba added some more exemptions in the third chapter of the ninth section of his Dharmasutras.
The practitioner can stop the study of the Vedas, in the following situations.
The natural conditions, ill health, service to great people, Agni upasana, Surya Upasana, bodily conditions, and obstacles to study due to unfavourable surroundings. In all these conditions, an aspirant can discontinue the study.
Those who had performed the upakarma on the full moon day in Sravana month are not permitted to study the Vedas for one month after the upakarma. They should not read the Vedas during the pradosha time of the day. However, they can recite the Vedas during the other periods of the day. They should abandon the recital of the Vedas on the full moon day in the Pushya month or on the day, in which the Rohininakshatra comes, before the full moon in that month.
The student should start reciting the Vedas after completing the upakarma on Sravanapaurnami till the Pushyapaurnami i.e. till five months. Some masters state that students can recite the Vedas up to five and a half months.
The student must stop reading the Vedas on the full moon day in Pushya month. During the suklapaksha period, they must read the Vedas. In the fortnights of new moon, they should study the branches of the Vedas such as Siksha and vyakarana. Some students can start reading the Vedas after the upakarma on the full moon day of the Bhadrapada month. However, they should finish the study by the Pushyapaurnima, or within a period of four months.
These are the rules with regard to the study of the Vedas. The following are forbidden activities.
The Vedas should not be studied at the junction of roads. They should be studied at a clean place, which has been purified by smearing cow dung.
It should not be studied in a cemetery, and if the village is built on a cemetery, then the study should be conducted in a field adjoining the village. If that land is used for the purposes of burying or burning the dead, then the study should not be carried out on that land.
If the person who is studying the Vedas is compelled to talk with a woman during her menstrual cycle, then he should first talk to another Veda student. After conversation with that woman is over, he is required to talk with a Veda student before resuming the study. If this rule is followed, that woman’s children will obtain beneficial results.
If anybody dies in the village, the study should be stopped. If a corpse is carried within the boundaries of the village, then the study should be avoided in the village. In forests, the study should be stopped if a corpse is found within visual range.
If the wicked enter the village, the student should avoid study for that day in order to protect the Vedas from these iniquitous persons.
The study should be stopped even if the eminent and virtuous enterthe village. The aim is to gain knowledge from those persons and to attend their discourses.
If there is lightning during the evening twilight, the student should avoid reading the Vedas throughout that night. Commentators state that the person should finish his activities on that day and retire early to bed. He should wake up very early the next morning and continue the study.
If cows are found to be missing, then the person should stop reading the Vedas and search for the cows.
If horses, elephants and other wild animals walk through the place, the reading should be avoided. The underlying meaning of this rule is that the animals spoil the sanctity of the study place, and this can be applied to the movement of vehicles in the present day.
During the new moon, the study of Vedas is forbidden for two days and two nights.
The reading of the Vedas is prohibited on the full moon and padyami days, during the chaturmasyayajnas in the months of phalguna, ashada, and karthika.
The reading of the Vedas is forbidden during the rest periods of studentship, during upakarmas, and ashtaka sradha periods. During these periods, study is forbidden on the previous day, the day in question and the succeeding day.
A three – day prohibition is imposed if the relatives of the student die or if any new born arrives in his family. However, this requirement is applied to an unmarried person who correctly follows the rules for unmarried persons learning the Vedas. All others are prohibited from reading the Vedas for three days if these incidents happen in their households.
There is a 12-day ban on the study of the Vedas if the parents or teacher of the student dies. The student has to take a bath every day. The persons who are the elders of the deceased individual must have tonsured their head. Some scholars argue that the hair on the head should not be removed, save when that person is in a yajna vow. The Brahmana scriptures state that the hair acts like a cover on the head, and that a clean shaven head is akin to a lidless pot.
If the Guru leaves the motral coil, then the student should not study the Vedas for three days including the day of the event. Some scholars contend that such study is prohibited for three days in the event of Guru’s death but according to the apasthambhas, this is 12 days.
If the student comes to know of the death of known Veda scholars within a year of their demise, he should not read the Vedas for a night. Some scholars state that he should not read the Vedas, if the information of a known scholar or co-student is received in a year after their death, for one night and one day.
If a scholar visits him, the student should stop reading the Vedas to serve the scholar. If he wants to study, he should first obtain permission from the scholar, and he should not ignore such persons.
Similarly, if theteachers or seniors in education visit him, he should obtain their permission to continue with the study.
In the course of study, if the Guru is in the vicinity, he should offer his salutations to the feet of the guru and utter adheehi bho bhagavan and continue his study.
In the course of teaching, if the guru of the teacher is in the nearby, the teacher should get up and salute the feet of his guru. He can continue teaching after that.
The aspirant who wishes to learn the Vedas should salute the feet of the teacher at the beginning and end of the class.
If pundits happen to come when the student is studying, then he must salute their feet and utter adheehi bho to continue his study.
When the student hears the barking of dogs, the braying of donkeys, the yelping of foxes, the howling of wolves, the hooting of owls, the sounds of musical instruments or machines, the crying of people, music, and Samagana, he should immediately stop the study of the Vedas.
If there is chant of other Veda branches in the proximity, the student should stop Samagana. This is because the Samagana requires the utmost of concentration. It should be practiced when there are no other sounds. The students of other branches should keep silentwhile the students of Samagana are conducting their study.
The study should be stopped if there are loud sounds in the vicinity, as these sounds distract the chanter of the mantras.
If the student vomits during his study, he should immediately stop the study, wash his face, take medicine and rest, and restart his study.
Bad odour is also a factor that prevents study.
If the student suffers from acidity and indigestion, he should stop reading the Vedas till such time as he completely recovers from the symptoms of acidity.
In the evenings, the study should not be initiated after having a meal. Commentators state that the student has to complete the evening study and then partake of food.
After eating food, the student has to wait till his hands are dry. He should not study when his hands are wet. If he touches the books with wet hands, the books may get damaged. Moreover, it is good to have some rest after food.
The student has to refrain from reading the Vedas till evening after consuming the prethoddishta sraddha. Otherwise, he should wait till the food is completely digested to restart his study on that day.
If the food is not meant for the purpose of offering to the souls, the student can start reading even if the food is not digested completely.
On the day when a new chapter in the Vedas has started and when the student ate the food of a motherless person, he should not read the Vedas till the evening. Some commentators state that on these days, only the motherless unmarried student is prohibited from reading the Vedas till the evening.
On the day of the completion of a chapter, if the student eats the food of a fatherless person, then he should wait till evening to study the Vedas. On that day, a fatherless single man should not study till evening.
If the student eats food during the yajnas that are performed in the name of people who were born as humans and attained divinity by performing extensive tapas or virtuous deeds, he should not read the Vedas till the evening of that day.
Given below are situations where the above rules are not applied.
The rule: if the student eats food that is prepared from the rice meant for preparing sraddha, then he should observe the prohibitions regarding reading. Exemption: if the rice was brought on some previous day, then this rule does not apply and the study can be continued. Moreover, if the person eats certain ritual material, like herbs, vanaspathi, roots, fruits, and kanda , then he can read the Vedas even if the materials were meant for sraddha.
In the Yajurveda, there are chapters termed Prajapatya, Soumya, Agneya, Vaiswadeva, and Swayambuva Kandas. In the Rigveda, there is a Maharishi oriented section. Before starting the study of such chapters, the aspirant has to perform worship to the presiding Maharishis and study the chapters for a number of months. At the time of commencement of the study, the student should not study for one day and one night.
The learner of several Vedas has to observe non-reading on the day of beginning a Veda or completing a Veda.
Study should be avoided during whirlwinds and cyclones. The reason is that the student must seek protection from natural calamities.
The study of Vedas is prohibited at the outskirts of the village and in the streets.
If a fellow student goes on vacation, the student should not study the lesson he is jointly studying with the other student.
The study is to be stopped when the student is engaged in pleasure seeking activities. This is because the student cannot concentrate his mind on the study. This also applies to personal activities such as bathing or washing the hands and feet.
During the twilight of morning and evening, the study and teaching of Vedas is prohibited.
It is forbidden during the times where the student climbs trees or submerges in water. He should not read the Vedas at midnight, by opening the doors of his house. The teaching of the Vedas is prohibited during these times.
The teaching or study of the Vedas in the daytime, by closing the doors of the house, is prohibited.
The study of anuvaka is the study of the brahmanas that contain the mantra part. It is forbidden on the trayodasi day of the full moon fortnight when the vasantotsava is celebrated. It is also forbidden on the day of Indrotsava in the month of ashada. During these days, the vedangas such as shiksha and vyakarana have to be studied.
The daily rite of Brahma yajna or the daily practice of the Vedas has to be done as narrated below. The student should wake up early in the morning and take a bath. After that he has to perform sandhyavandana and Agnikarya. He should wear clean clothes and select a clean place, either in the East or in the North. He should sit at that place and make asamkalpa to begin his study. He should recite the Vedas in an audible and melodious voice.
During the prohibited days, he should conduct a mental recital of the Vedas. The commentators suggest that the student should not perform mental recital when it is raining, there is thunder or lightning. A student, who is not physically clean, should not recite in the mind. If he eats a sraddha meal or if snow is falling, he should not recite the Vedas. Under these circumstances, the student has to protect his body.
During cyclones, lightning, thunder, and heavy rains, study is prohibited for three days.
If the water stagnates in a place after heavy rains, the student at that place should abstain from reading the Vedas, till the stagnant water is removed. Some scholars recommend a three-day prohibition during that time.
Under the above circumstances, if there is lightning, thunder or a hail storm, the study is to be discontinued for 24 hours.
The study of Vedas and Vedangas is prohibited for a 24 hour period, during eclipses, earthquakes, thunderbolts, falling of meteors, and conflagrations.
The study is forbidden when there are untimely clouds in the sky, rings around the sun and moon, during the visibility of a rainbow, sighting of a comet, falling of a meteor, foul smell, and snow fall.
The reading has to be postponed after hailstorms.
If the student hears the howls of wolves and the barks of foxes, he has to stop the reading of the Vedas and commence on the next day.
The Vedas are not to be studied in the darkness of the night. They are not to be read in dark forests and forests where there are no deer.
During the interregnum between the utsarjana in the Pushya month and the upakarma in SravanaBhadrapada months, it is prohibited to read upadesha and the Vedas. However, the vedangas can be studied in this period. Moreover, the study of the Vedas should not be started without the upadesha from the Guru.
In the evenings, no Vedic book is to be read.
If the Vedic books are read once, then they can be read at any time.
The above are the rules for the study of the Vedas. They have to be followed scrupulously by the aspirant. Pratyaksha means the one, which has been directly witnessed by the eyes. Anumana means the thing that has been seen by the eye and imagined by the mind. If a person sees smoke generated by a fire, he can imaginefire whenever he sees smoke. The mind generates the image of the fire. This is the anumana process. Several things on earth are established through this process. There are several other things that are yet to be disclosed, and the Vedas provide us the required knowledge and methods to disover the unknown. This is the characteristic of the Vedas.