THE ORIGIN OF THEOSOPHY 483 



swered satisfactorily, in the midst of a continuous discourse, the king 

 again and again is excited to generosity: "I give thee a thousand 

 (cows)/' says King Janaka of Videha repeatedly to the great Vedantic 

 Brahman Yajnavalkya, as the latter unfolds his marvelous scheme 

 of salvation in the " Great Forest Upanishad." Kings were known to 

 give away their kingdoms on such occasions; and kings became 

 themselves glorious expounders of theosophic religion. 



Thus the Brahmans who must impress the " generous giver" with 

 their theological profundity sometimes the hollowest mock 

 profundity used the riddle-form, inherited from ancient folk-lore, 

 to enliven the mechanical and technical progress of the sacrifice by 

 impressive intellectual pyrotechnics. One Brahman puts the riddle; 

 the other answers it. It is a theological "quiz," arranged by the 

 parties : questioner and responder know their parts to perfection. 



At the horse-sacrifice two priests ask and answer: "Who verily 

 moveth quite alone; who verily is born again (and again); what, 

 forsooth, is the remedy for cold; and what is the great (greatest) 

 heap?" The answer: "The sun moveth quite alone; the moon is 

 born again (and again); Agni (fire) is the remedy for cold; the 

 earth is the great (greatest) heap." (Vajasaneyi Samhita,23, 9 and 10.) 



"I ask thee for the highest summit of the earth; I ask thee for 

 the navel of the universe; I ask thee for the seed of the lusty steed; 

 I ask thee for the highest heaven of Speech (Vak)." The answer is: 

 " This altar is the highest summit of the earth; this sacrifice is the 

 navel of the universe; this soma (the intoxicating sacrificial drink) 

 is the seed of the lusty steed ; this Brahman priest is the highest heaven 

 (that is to say, the highest exponent) of Speech. " (Ibid. 23, 61 and 62.) 



The priest called Ho tar asks the priest called Adhvaryu: "What, 

 forsooth, is the sun-like light; what sea is there like unto the ocean; 

 what, verily, is higher than the earth; what is the thing whose meas- 

 ure is not known?" The Adhvaryu priest answers: "Brahma is 

 the sun-like light; 1 heaven is the sea like unto the ocean; Indra is 

 higher than the earth; the measure of the cow is (quite) unknown." 

 (Ibid. 23, 47 and 48.) 



The Brahman priest asks the Udgatar priest : " How many are the 

 sacrificial substances, and how many are the syllables; how numerous 

 the oblations and the fagots; the categories of the sacrifice let me 

 ask you; how many Hotar priests sacrifice in season? " The Udgatar 

 priest answers: " Six are the substances of the sacrifice, and hundred 

 are the syllables; eighty the oblations, and three the fagots; the 

 categories of the sacrifice I do tell thee; seven Hotar priests do 

 sacrifice in season." (Ibid. 23, 57 and 58.) 



And now by previous arrangement a mutual admiration riddle; 

 it is an undisguised oratio pro domo in which the Brahman priest, or 

 1 Byron, Siege of Corinth, xr. 



