PHILOSOPHY AND MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE IN ANCIENT INDIA. 225 
that they were revealed orally to the Rishis, or sages, whose 
names they bear; and hence the whole body of the Veda is 
known as Sruti, or “ what is heard.” ‘The Vedas are four in 
number: (1) Rig, (2) Yajur, (3) Sama, (4) Atharva; but the 
last-named is of comparatively modern origin. The other 
three are spoken of by Manu as the “ three Vedas,” and are 
said to have been “ milked out” as it were, from fire, air, 
and the sun. The doctrines therein contained and the code 
of laws based upon them are said to have been of divine 
origin, revealed by Brahma to Manu, and afterwards arranged 
in its present order by a learned sage who obtained the name 
of Vyasa or Veda-vyasa, i.e. compiler of the Vedas. In the 
work so named instructions are contained with regard to the 
performance of all the various duties of life, including such 
as relate to religious and moral observances, and to ethics. 
Nor have the instructions so formulated in distant antiquity 
in any respect failed, even at the present day, to be held in 
reverence by the orthodox Hindoos.* In A.p. 1794, a trans- 
lation of that code was published by a learned Englishman,f 
and still more recently it has claimed the attention of some 
of our most distinguished students of Oriental literature.t 
Whatever be the date assigned to the code of laws so 
named,§ there is reason, based upon analogy, to believe that 
the principles therein contained embody the results of prac- 
tical experience extending to and from still more remote 
periods. Looked at from the modern and Western point of 
view, the ordinances alluded to, although not free from 
blemishes, yet breathe a spirit of sublime devotion, of bene- 
volence to mankind, and of tenderness to all sentient 
creatures.|| In its policy, both civil and religious, that code 
* According to legend, Vivaswat (the Sun), a Kshatrya by caste, was 
the seventh of the name of Manu, and it was he who compiled the Code 
to which the latter name attaches. Eminent Sanscrit scholars write 
that Manu, or Satyavrata, whose patronymic was Vaivaswata, or Child 
of the Sun, otherwise Saturn, reigned over the world in the earliest age 
of Hindoo chronology. As brother of Manu, ancient mythology enume- 
rates Yama, named also Darham Rajah, the judge of departed souls, 
otherwise Minos. From this Manu, named Sway’am-bhuva, or Sprung 
from the self-existing, came six descendants or other Manus, or perfectly 
understanding the Scriptures. Each of the latter “ gave birth” to a race 
of his own, and all were exalted in power. Among these sons was Bhrigu, 
to whom, under the name of Vyasa, or Veda-vyasa or compiler of the 
Vedas, the task was assigned of communicating Manu’s code to Marichi 
and the other Rishis or holy sages. (See Craufurd’s Hindoos.) 
+ Sir William Jones. + See works by Max Miiller. 
S$ Viz., B.c. 1400 and R.c. 900. || Craufurd, vol. i, p. 27. 
