OK SACRED WRITINGS OF TOE HINDUS. S79 



quoted from the Indian scripture by the commen- 

 tator of the Rich, 



" The RIgvSda originated from fire ; the Yajur- 

 " n^da from air; and the Samaveda, from the 

 '' smi*." 



Arguments in support of this opinion might be 

 drawn even from popular dictionaries ; for Amera- 

 siNHA notices only three Vklas, and mentions the 

 ^Afharxxin'a without giving it the same denomina- 

 tion. It is, however, probable, that some por- 

 tion at least of the ^Atharvana is as ancient as 

 the compilation of the three others; and its name, 

 like theirs, is anterior to Vya'sa's arrangement of 

 them : but the same must be admitted in regard to 

 the Itihdsa and Puran'as, which constitute a fifth 

 Veda, as the ^Afharvan'a does a fourth. 



It would indeed be vain to quote in proof of 

 this point, the Punm'as themselves, which always 

 enumerate four Fec'^/^.9 ; and state the Itihasa and 

 Puranas as a fifth : since the antiquity of some, 

 among the Puranas now extant, is more than 

 questionable; and the authenticity of any one, in 

 particular, does not appear to be as yet sufficiently 

 established. It would be as useless to cite the 

 Mariduca and Tdpaniya Upanishads, in which the 

 ''Afharva-'ceda is enumerated among the scriptures, 

 and in one of which the number of four Vcdas is 

 expressly affirmed : for both these Upanishads ap- 



* Menu alliules to this fabulous origin of the Vtdas, (chap. 1, 

 V. 23). His commentalor, Me'd'ha'tit'hi, explains it by re- 

 marking, tliat the Rigveda opens with a liyinn to fire ; and the 

 Yajurveda, with one, in which air is mentioned. But CuLLU CA- 

 BHATTA has recourse to the renovations of the universe. * In 

 one Calpa, th§ Vedas proceeded from fire, air, and the sun ; in 

 another, from Brahma', at Jiis allegorical immolation. 



