Gods and Saints of the Great Bni/imaiia. 35 



getv; to the top,'' and cattle are mystically identified with Ukthas, 

 recited verses, 17. 2. 2 and 4. 



If the rite is here magical, ^ it is still more accompanied by all 

 the signs of barbarous magic where the universal calamities, such 

 as death or an eclipse, call forth the same paraphernalia as that 

 found among savages. In the death rite, the mourners go round 

 (the ludrjdllya mound of purification near the altar), striking the 

 left thigh with the (left) hand, three times, 9. 8. 9. In the eclipse- 

 rite (when the gods fear that the sun will fall or get lost} the rite 

 of the twenty-one nights (the sun is " the twenty -first," see below) 

 is ordained ; for by this rite (or by some other rite) the gods, or 

 a seer of old, removed darkness from the sun, 4. 5. 2 ; 4. 6. 13; 23. 

 16. 2. But this really reverts to the simplest form of all for the 

 driving awa}' of the eclipse-demon. This is recorded in 4. 5. 2, 

 where it is said, " The demon Svarbhanu wounded the sun with 

 darkness, but the gods won the sun back by making noises " 

 (svards). The B'rahmana, however," elsewhere records the view 

 (which, though Vedic, is really more advanced) that Atri, the seer, 

 was sought out by the gods to help them, and that it was owing 

 solely to his incantation that the eclipse-demon was at last driven 

 away. According to 6. 6. 8, Atri by a " lightening,"' dhdseua, drove 

 off the darkness, which disappeared as a succession of sheep, colored 

 in due order, "black, silvery, reddish, and clear" (cf. 11, dtreyatU 

 candrene 'cchardy, Atrir hi tasya jyotih, an allusion to " Atri's gold "' 

 as the fee to the priest). This story without the "sheep "' is repeated 

 to the credit of Atri at 14. 1 1. 14, and it is only here that the scholiast 

 interprets bhdsa as a Saman. The other passages sa}' nothing of Atri's 

 help. TS., as in PB. 23. 16. 2, says that the gods " sought an expiation " 

 for the sun, and then gives the sheep as above, onl}', instead of krsiia, 

 rajata, lohiiiJ, .sttkla, it has krsija, phalguiii, balaksJ, but also without 

 Atri's help. JB. 1. 81, has krsua, dhilmra, phalgunJ (JAOS. 26. 191). 2 



* Magical also is the sha\iug off of the hair of the head, •' to desti'oy 

 a man's evil,"' so that " being lighter,"' he can get to heaven more easily, 



4. 9. 22. Compare TS. 7. 4. 9. 1. 



- In the Ch. Up. 1. 6. 5, krsnain bJids is the Saman, suklam bhds the 

 Re. As the '• sheep "" are in TS., there must have been an old error 

 that converted Civir abhavut to avir abhavat. Compare kymCivir abhavat^ 

 6. 6. 8 ; same in TS. and JB., though the following TS. shows that m'f 

 Avas then understood. There is only bhdsa ^ no sheep, in PB. 14. 11. 14. 

 In SB. 4. 3. 4. 21, there are no sheep, though Atri is mentioned ; in 



5. 3. 2. 2, all the glory belongs to the gods (Soma and Rudra, also no 

 sheep). In AB. 4. 19. 3. TB. 1. 2. 4. 3, etc., bhdsa may be due to PB. 



