OF THE HINDUS. Q^Q 



here j though the regular cadence of ihe verfes, and the 

 polifhed elegance of the language, cannot but induce a 

 fufpicion, that it is a more modern paraphrafe of fome 

 text in the ancient fcripture : 



natatra Juryb bhati nacha chahdra tdraca.it, ncmd vi~ 

 dyutd bhanti cut a eva vahnih : tameva bhdhtam anub- 

 hdJ.i Jervam, tafya bhdjd Jervamidam vibhdti. 



That is, " There the fun fhines not, nor the moon and 

 " ftars. Thefe lightnings tlafh not in that place: how 

 " mould even fire blaze there ? God irradiates all this 

 " bright fubftance; and by its effulgence the univerfe 

 " is enlightened." 



After all, the books on Divine Knowledge, called Veda, 

 or what is known, and Sruti, or what has been hea>d, 

 from revelation, are ft ill fuppofedto be very numerous; 

 and the Jour here mentioned are thought to have been 

 felectcd as containing all the information necelfary for 

 man. Mohjani Iain, the very candid and itxgt .nous au- 

 thor of the Dabijlan, defcribes in his firft chapter a race 

 of old Per Jan fages, who appear from the whole of his 

 account to haveb^en Hindus : and we cannot doubt that 

 the book of Mahdbdd, or Menu, which was written, he 

 fays, in a celejiial dialect, means the Veda ; fo tnat, as 

 Zeratujhc was onlv a reformer, we find in India the true 

 fource of the ancient Perjan religion. To this head 

 belong the numerous Tatura, Mantra, Agama, and 

 Nigama, Safira's whieh conlilt of incantations and other 

 texts of the Veda's, with remarks on the occafions on 

 which they may be fuccefsfully applied. It mult not be 

 omitted, that the Commentaries on the Hindu Scriptures, 

 among which that of Vajijhtha leems to be reputed the 

 molt excellent, are innumerable; but, while we have 

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