252 HINDOO LITERATURE. 



it would for ever defy the curiosity and research of Eu- 

 ropeans. An enthusiasm, however, was kindled by Sir V\ U- 

 liam Jones for exploring the hidden treasures of oriental an- 

 tiquity ; and the exertions of that great man, of Mr. Uole- 

 brooke, Mr. Wilkins, and others, have induced the natives 

 to lay open the stores of Sanscrit literature, to furnish 

 copies, or partially to translate the most remarkable works 

 composed in it. Specimens have thus been afforded, suffi- 

 cient to enable the European scholar to appreciate in some 

 degree these celebrated remains of ancient learning. 



The most remarkable feature is the authoritative charac- 

 ter with which by far the greater part of their books is in- 

 vested. The Vedas, the holiest and most antique, are not 

 believed to be merely inspired, but to have been a portion of 

 the substance of Brama himself, detached in the moment 

 of creation. When the various portions of the universe, 

 the .rods and men, were issuing from different parts of his 

 body, the Vedas, fairly and fully written, dropped from his 

 four mouths. They are said, however, to have met with 

 sundry disasters, and even to have once fallen into the bot- 

 tom of the sea, whence they were miraculously fished up, 

 and placed in the hands of Vyasa and other learned men, 

 who professed to methodize and arrange, while it is more 

 than probable that they really composed them. 



The Vedas are four in number, the Rich, the \ ajush, the 

 Saman, and the Atharvana, with certain minute subdivi- 

 sions which it is needless to describe. They are arranged 

 into numerous chapters, sections, and verses, and are chiefly 

 composed in a poetical form. The largest and most sacred 

 part consists of the Sanhita, or collection of Mantras, being 

 prayers or addresses to various divinities. In every Man- 

 tra are distinguished the Rishi, or saint who is supposed to 

 utter it, and the god to whom it is addressed. These com- 

 positions consist of hymns in his praise, petitions lor par- 

 ticular blessings, which they are supposed to operate as a 

 charm in procuring, and even in invocations for the destruc- 

 tion of enemies. Next follow the Braminas, in which are 

 found moral precepts, religious maxims, and theological 

 arguments. These last are chiefly comprised in a series ot 

 tracts called Upanishads, which treat the subject often in 

 the form of dialogue. The Vedas are voluminous, that 

 called Rich containing a thousand Mantras, and upwards of 



