Students at Sant Sri Pashupatinath Ved Vidyalaya in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

A school in the state capital has emerged a favoured destination for students willing to learn the Vedas, the primary texts of Hinduism originating in ancient India.

Sant Sri Pashupatinath Ved Vidyalaya at Vidyapati Marg is in all probability the only institution of its kind in Patna imparting lessons of Veda to the students in the way it was once taught in ancient Gurukuls.

The school is running a six-year course of Ved Vibhushan and teaching youngsters about Shukla Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. The students, as part of their training, have to learn 1,900 mantras of Yajurveda and 5,977 mantras of Atharvaveda. While in Yajurveda, students learn mantras of various karmakandas (rituals), Atharvaveda lessons are related to ayurveda and magic.

“Visitors are often surprised to see our students chanting mantras of Atharvaveda and Yajurveda,” said Ajit Kumar Tiwari, the in-charge of the school.

The school is the brainchild of Sant Pashupati Nath, who died in 2007.

Tiwari said anybody who has studied till Class V can get admitted to the school. “The students can work as priests, spiritual leaders, Sanskrit teachers and can even apply for the religious teacher’s post in the army after completing the course of Ved Vibhushan. We are also planning to introduce English lessons soon,” he added.

The school, at present, has 70 students. Shishu Kumar Pandey, 15, a student, said, “I took admission in the school in 2008 and want to be a spiritual leader someday.”