26 E. W. Hopkins, 



represented as creeping through primeval darkness to find the Hght 

 of the sacrifice. " The Creator verily was alone here. There was 

 not day nor night. He in that blind darkness crept forward. He 

 willed, and so attained to the sacrifice (called Light). Then far 

 and wide it shone for him ; for ^s a wide shining is that sacrifice 

 conceived, and it is called " the Light " because it appeared as a 

 light," 16. 1. 1 (here the ' jyotis'' ckaha). 



But it is the Word which is peculiarly dear to the priest-philos- 

 ophers, who personif}' it as the special means of sacrifice as well 

 as, in the lower sense of speech, the sign of man, 13. 12. 3, and 

 regard it as begotten of the Creator, 7. 6. 3, and as identical with 

 the Father-god as well as with lesser gods, such as Wind (breath, 

 voice, the word, 18. 8. 7) or ocean, illimitable, 7. 7. 9, the base of 

 sacrifice, 11. 5. 28, and the fire-god (of sacrifice), each being one 

 with the year, or time, as Creator, 10. 12. 7. It is invoked as divine 

 speech and tales are told of it, how the Word left the gods, and 

 they hunted and fovmd it in waters, who gave it back on condition 

 that they should not be made impure by impurities. But still the 

 divine Word fled and took refuge in trees. The}' would not give 

 it up, and the gods cursed them, sa3-ing, " Ma}- ye be rent with 

 your own arm '" (the wooden axe-handle i. But the trees divided 

 the Word fourfold, so that now it speaks from the (wooden) drum 

 (cf. 5. 5. 18, "the voice of the trees in the drum''), lute, axle, and 

 bow. The voice of trees is most ]ileasing, for it was the voice 

 belonging to the gods (tree-oracles?), 6. 5. 10 f. ; cf. TS. 6. 1. 4. 1. 

 Another account says the Word on leaving the gods became por- 

 tionless, but they gave it a portion in the invocation of the priest, 

 who must invoke it as Voice {bektirdndma 'si), saying, " Voice 

 art thou called, pleasant to the gods ; reverence be to the Word, 

 reverence to the lord of speech ; O divine (speech) Word, put thy 

 sweetness into me," etc. 6. 7. 5 and 6 (for the "summit of the Word 

 is bliss," 6. 9. 12).i 



^ Compare 16. 5. 16, 7-0^ vui Sarasvati ; "wlio is "loved, dear, I10I3''", 

 etc. 20. 15. 15. Ill the last sentence, " summit ", agra, the "fore-front " ; 

 cf. 12. 11. 6, agraih vaco gacchan. The parallel use of ania^ in ontam 

 sr/ya gacchati\ 22. 18. 8, shows that both f/jo-zv? acies) and ««/</(end) were 

 already used in the sense of non plus ultra, the highest, best, chief. 

 This is also the meaning of anta when it is said that the Anustubh is 

 the anta of metres, the Brhat the anta of Samans, the prince the anta 

 of humans, the horse the anta of cattle, Visiiu (cf. SB. 5. 2. 3. 6 and 

 vimuimikha devuli, TS. 1. 7. 5. 4 ; 5. 2. 1. 1), the anta of Devatus (19. 12. 

 8; yo rdjanyunroh hlyatc na sa pnnar agram ■.=-- antain paryeti\ 21. 4. 6). 



