VEDA. 



VEDA. 



690 



perish five deities lightning, rain, the moon, the sun, and fire. 

 Lightning having flashed, disappears behind rain : it vanishes, and none 

 knows (whither it is gone). When a man dies, he vanishes ; and none 

 knows (whither his soul is gone). Therefore, whenever lightning 

 flashes, pronounce this prayer : ' May my enemy perish : may he 

 disappear, and none know (where he isi.' Soon, indeed, none will 

 know (whither he is gone). Rain having fallen (evaporates and), dis- 

 appears within the moon, &c. When rain ceases, pronounce this (prayer), 

 Ac. The moon at the conjunction, disappears within the sun, &c. 

 When the moon is dark, pronounce, &c. The sun when setting, dis- 

 appears in fire, &c. When the sun sets, pronounce, &c. Fire, ascend- 

 ing, disappears in air, &c. W'hen fire is extinguished, pronounce, &c 

 These same deities are again produced from this very origin. Fire is 

 bom of air ; for, urged with force by the breath, it increases. Viewing 

 it, pronounce (this prayer), ' May fire be revived : but not my foe be 

 reproduced ; may he depart averted.' Therefore, does the enemy go 

 far away. The eun is born of fire. Viewing it, say, ' May the sun rise, 



but not my foe be reproduced,' Ac The observance (enjoined) 



to him (who undertakes these rites, ia'as follows) : let him not sit down 

 earlier than the foe ; but stand while he thinks him standing. Let 

 him not lie down earlier than the foe; but sit while he thinks him 

 sitting. Let him not sleep earlier than the foe, but wake while he 

 thinks him waking. Though his enemy had a head of stone, soon does 

 he slay him : he does slay him." (Colebrooke, ' Misc. Kss.,' i. p. 45.) 



The legends narrated in this, as well as in other Brahman'as, intend 

 always, an indicated before, to explain the origin of a rite, or to illus- 

 trate its efficacy. Among those met with in the Aitareya-BrAhman'a, 

 we may point particularly to one, as it is remarkable in several respects. 

 It had to be recited by the Hotr'i, sitting on a gold-embroidered carpet, 

 to a king whose inauguration bad been completed ; and another priest, 

 sitting on a similar carpet, had to repeat the words of the Hotr'i. 

 But a victorious king is likewise recommended to have this legend 

 recited to him, though he may not have performed the sacrifice ; and 

 a man desirous of progeny is promised the birth of a son if it is pro- 

 perly read to him. We mean the legend of S'nnah's'tpa. Its substance 

 is as follows : 



Once upon a time there lived Haris'chandra, a son of Vedhas, and 

 a descendant of Ikshwaku. Though he had a hundred wives, he did 

 not obtain a son from them. His desire, however, of having one became 

 still stronger than it was, when Parvata and Narada visited him, and 

 when Narada explained to him the boons a man derives from being 

 blessed with the birth of a son. Following the advice of Narada, 

 Haris'chandra addressed himself, therefore, to Varun'a, and promised 

 the god to sacrifice him his son, if he granted him one. Varun'a 

 assented to the offer. Now a son, who received the name of Kohita, 

 being born to Haris'chandra, Varun'a presented himself, and claimed 

 the fulfilment of the compact. But Haris'chandra said : " Cattle is 

 fit for a sacrifice when it is ten days old ; let him then become ten days 

 old and I shall sacrifice him to thee." Varun'a assented ; but the ten 

 days having passed away, Haris'chandra again said : " Cattle is fit for a 

 sacrifice when it has got teeth ; let him then get teeth, and I shall 

 sacrifice him to thee." Once more Varun'a assented ; but when Rohita 

 bad got his teeth, his father said to Varun'a : " Cattle is fit for a sacri- 

 fice when it loses again his teeth ; let him then lose his teeth, and I 

 shall sacrifice him to thee." Again Varun'a assented; but Rohita 

 having lost his teeth, his father said to Varun'a : " Cattle is fit for a 

 sacrifice when it recovers its teeth; let him then recover his teeth, 

 and I shall sacrifice him to thee." Varun'a assented; but Rohita 

 having recovered his teeth, his father said to Varun'a : " A warrior is 

 fit for a sacrifice when he is able to use his weapon ; let him then learn 

 to use his weapon, and I shall sacrifice him to thee." Again Varun'a 

 assented ; and when Rohita knew how to use his weapon, his father said 

 to him : " Varun'a, my son, has given thee to me, and I shall sacrifice 

 thee to him." But Kohita refused, took his bow and went to the forest, 

 where he wandered about during a whole year. Varun'a, however, now 

 seized Haris'chandra, and made him swell. On hearing this, Rohita 

 went about and met Indra, who encouraged him to wander first for 

 another, then a third, a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth year. 



At the end of this period he saw in the forest a R'ishi of the name 

 of Ajigarta, the son of Suyavasa, who lived there in great poverty with 

 his three sons, Sunaipwhchha, SunaKdepa, and ffunrjldnyula. Kohita 

 offered him a hundred cows if he gave up one of his song to be 

 sacrificed instead of him to Varun'a. Ajigarta accepted the offer, 

 but retained his oldest son ; and his wife claiming the youngest, both 

 agreed to give up S'unah's'epa. Rohita then took him to his father, 

 Haru'chandra, and Varun'a also having confirmed the barter, since, he 

 thought, a Brahman'a is of greater value than a Kshatriya, Haris'- 

 chandra in celebrating the rite of the RAjasftya substituted S'unah's'epa 

 for the victim to be immolated at this sacrifice. The Hotr'i priest who 

 officiated at it wag Vis'wAmitra, Jamadagni fulfilled the functions of 

 the Adhwaryu, VasishtTja those of the Brahman, and Ayasya those of 

 the Udgatr"i. Yet the preliminary rites having being fulfilled, no one 

 could be found who would tie S'unah's'epa to the sacrificial post. Upon 

 which Ajtgarta offered to do this if .they gave him another hundred 

 of cows. They did so ; but though S'unah's'epa now was tied to the 

 post, no one would immolate him. Again Ajigarta came forward and 

 promised to immolate hi* tton if they would give him a third hundred 

 of cows. They did so, and Ajigarta sharpened his knife and approached 



his son. Now S'unah's'epa resolved to implore the gods to release 

 him. He addresed himself first to Prajapati with an appropriate 

 R'igveda hymn, but the god told him to pray to Agni. Agni, invoked 

 with another hymn, told him to pray to Savitr'i ; and Savitr'i told 

 him to address Varun'a ; but Varun'a sent him once more to Agni, who 

 now recommended him to praise all the gods with an appropriate 

 hymn. S unah's'epa obeyed ; his ties were released, and Haria'chandra 

 was restored to health. S'unah's'epa, ou his part, now instituted a new 

 sacrifice. But when he placed himself at the side of Vis'wamitra, and 

 Ajigarta claimed him back, Vis'wamitra replied : " No, the gods 

 (derds) have given him (ardsata) to me ;" and from that time (he was 

 no longer S'unah's'epa, that is, Dogstail), but Devarata (SfoSoros), 

 the son of Vis'wAmitra. (For a literal and excellent translation of 

 this legend by Professor Roth, see Weber's ' Indische Studien,' i. p. 

 458, ff. ; and for some additional remarks, ibid., ii. p. 112, ff.) 



After these instances, which will convey an idea of the contents o 

 the Brahman'a in general, we must content ourselves with giving the 

 names of the other principal works of this category. For, the differ- 

 ence which exists between them, however great, would be intelligible 

 only if we could enter into the detail of the Vaidik rites, and into the 

 growth of the legendary life which pervades this portion of the ancient 

 literature of India. 



Suffice it therefore to state that the Brahman'a literature has found 

 its greatest development in the train of that Veda which, as we might 

 expect, would require more than any other Veda an explanation of the 

 purposes for which it was formed the Yajurveda. On the other hand, 

 since the Sanhita of the Black Yajurveda is already a combination, as 

 we have seen, of hymns and BrAhman'a, it is intelligible that we rind in 

 connection with the White Yajurveda that Brahman'a which, though 

 probably the most recent, still is the most systematic and the most 

 complete of all the Brahman'a. It is called the Satapatha-Brd/iman'a, 

 and is ascribed, like the Sanhita of the White Yajurveda, to YAjnaval- 

 kya. It is, like the Sanhita, preserved in the edition of the 

 Mddhyandina and in that of the KSnwa school. The former is divided 

 into fourteen Kdn'd'a or books, which contain one hundred Adhydya 

 or lectures; or into sixty-eight Prapdlf haled (sections) with four 

 hundred and thirty-eight Brdhman'a, and seven thousand six hundred 

 and twenty-four Karfd'ikd (portions). In the Kanica edition it com- 

 prises seventeen Kdn'd'a, with a hundred and four Adhydya, four 

 hundred and forty-six BrAhman'a, and five thousand eight hundred and 

 sixty-six Kan'd'ikd. The first nine Kin'd'aof this Brahman'a follow the 

 first eighteen books of the SanhitA almost step for step, in quoting 

 their verses and explaining their application at the sacrifices. The 

 last five KAn'd'as, however, refer only partially some even not at all 

 to the contents of the Sanhita, and may therefore be a later increase 

 of this extensive Brahman'a, which is ex-tremely rich in antiquarian 

 and mythological contents; but, on account of its purely ritual 

 character, cannot be understood without the complete and excellent 

 commentary of H&yan'a. 



The Brahman'a of the Black Yajurveda is preserved in the school 

 of the Taittirtyas, and bears the name of the Taittiriya-BrAhmau'a, 

 differing but little in character from its Sanhita. 



As regards the SAmaveda, SAyan'a enumerates eight Brahtnan'as con- 

 nected with it, namely, the Fraud' ha (also called Tdn'd'ya- or Pancha- 

 vins'a), the Shad'vins'a, the Sdmavidhi, Anheya-Brdhmaria, the Dci'a- 

 ttdhydya- Brdhman'a, and the Upanishad, which, according to Professor 

 Miiller ('Anc. Sansk. Lit.' p. 349) is probably the Chhdndogya- 

 I'panithad. The first two are the most important of these works, the 

 I'anchavins'a treating of the sacrifices which are performed with the 

 juice of the Soma-plant, in rites which last from one to one hundred 

 days. The Ska'dnm'a is remarkable on account of the incantatory 

 ceremonies it describes ; it ends with a chapter on omens and the rites 

 to be performed on unlucky occasions, such as diseases, or at 

 portentous occurrences, such as earthquakes, unusual phenomena, and 

 the like. 



The BrAhman'a of the Atharvaveda is the Gopatha-Brdhman'a, 

 " That it was composed after the schism of the Charakas and VAja- 

 saneyins (the followers of the Black and White Yajurveda), and after the 

 completion of the VAjasaneyi-Sanhita, may be gathered from the fact 

 that where the first lines of the other Vedas are quoted in the Gopatha, 

 the first line of the Yajurveda is taken from the VAjasaneyins, and not 

 from the Taittirlyas. It in more explicit on the chapter of accidents 

 than the BrAhman'as of the other Vedas .... The ceremonial in 

 general is discussed in it in the same manner as in the other 

 Brahman'as." (Miiller, ' Anc. Sansk. Lit.,' pp. 451, 452.) 



The SanLita or collection of Mantra, and the Brilliman'a, constitute 

 that which is properly called the sacred literature of the Hindus, the 

 Veda ; they are also comprised under the name of S'ruti or revelation. 

 But in speaking of the Veda we should not feel justified in leaving 

 unnoticed that class of works, one portion of which is so inti- 

 mately connected with it that it was held by later generations in 

 the same awe as the Veda, whereas another portion has become so 

 essential an appendage to it, that it was justly called VedAngaor "limb 

 of the Veda." 



The former category comprises the theological or theosophical writ- 

 ings, which have sprung from the BrAhman'a, and are perhaps more 

 popular among European students than any other portion of the 

 Vaidik literature the Upanithads. The word Vpanishad is rendered 



