OF THE HINDUS. 36 i 



(< ate at facraments. Therefore defend me from the 

 -" pernicious fin of offending the gods/' 



Water mtift be next fipped with the prayer* iZ Lord 

 ff of Sacrifice, thy heart is in the midit of the waters 

 " of the ocean, &c." and the invocation of holy rivers 

 is again recited. The pried mult thrice throw up. wa- 

 ter with the three prayers, " O waters iince ye afford 

 " delight, ckc." and again, with the three fubjoined 

 prayers : 111, (i May the Lord of thought purify 

 u me with an uncut blade of at fa erafs, and with the 

 " rays of the fun. Lord of purity, may I obtain that 

 v * coveted innocence, which is the wiih of thee, who 

 i( is fatisfied with this oblation of water and of me, 

 " who am purified by this holy grafs." 2nd, " May 

 (i the Lord of fpeech purify me, ^cc. 1 ' 3d. Ci May 

 " the relplendent fun purify me, &c." Thrice plung- 

 ing into water, the prieft fhould as often repeat the 

 grand expiatory text, of which Yajnyawalcy'a fays, 

 " it comprises the principles of things, and the ele- 

 " merits, the exiitence of the (chaotick) mats, 

 u the production and deftruction of worlds." This 

 ferves as a key to explain the meaning of the text, 

 which being coniidered as the eiTence of the ^edas y 

 is molt mvfterious. The author before me, feems to 

 undertake the explanation of it with great awe, and 

 intimates, that he lias no otfier key to its meaning, 

 nor the aid of earlier commentaries. " The Supreme 

 " Being alone exifted ; afterwards there was unlverfal 

 (i darknefs ; next the watery ocean was producer*, 

 " by the dirfuliou of virtue ; then did the Creator, 

 £5 lord of the univene, rile out of the ocean, and flic- 1 

 " ceffively frame the fun and moon, which govern 

 " day and night, whence proceeds the revolution of 

 <c vears ; and after them he framed heaven and earth, 

 " the fpace between, and the celcftial region.*' The 

 terms with which the text begins, both fignify truth, 

 but here explained as denoting the fupreme Bra'hmk, 

 on the authority ot a text quoted from the vida ; 



Vol. V. 7. " Bka'hms 



