OR SACRED WRITIXGS OF THE IllXrUS. ,'381 



From this, compared witli other passages of less 

 authority, and witli the received notions of the 

 Hindus themselves, it appears, that the Rich, Ya- 

 jush, and Sainan, are tlie three principal portions 

 of the J^tda; that the \itliarvan'a is commonly 

 admitted as a fourth ; and that divers mytholo- 

 gical poems, entitled Itiliha and Punhi'iis, are 

 reckoned a supplement to the scripture, and, as 

 such, constitute a fifth J^eda^\ 



The true reason, why the three first Ftdas are 

 often mentioned without an}' notice of the fourth, 

 must be sought, not in their different origin and 

 antiquity; but in the difference of their use and 

 purport. Prayers, employed at solemn rites, called 

 Yqjnijas, have been placed in the three principal 

 Vtdas: those, which are in prose, are named Ya- 

 jush ; such, as are in metre, are denominated Rich; 

 and some, which are intended to be chanted, are 

 called Sdman: and these names, as distinguishing 

 different portions of the Vedas, are anterior to 



assigned. It w ill hereafter be shown, that the Vcdas are a com- 

 pilation of prayers, called mnnifas ; with a collection of precepts 

 and maxims, entitled Brahmnna ; from which last portion, the 

 Upanishad is extracted. Ti)e prayers are properly the Vtdas, 

 and apparently preceded the Bruhniana. 



* When the study of the Indian scriptiii^s was more general 

 than at present, especially among the Briihman'as of Cam/acubja, 

 learned priests derived titles from the number of Vedas, with 

 which they were conversant. Since every priest was bound to 

 study one Vtda, no title was derived from the fulfilment of that 

 duty ; but a person, who had studied two Vcdas, was surnamed 

 Dwivedi ; one, who was conversant with three, ^Frhtdi ; and 

 one, versed in four, Chaturvedi: as the mythological poems 

 were only figuratively called a Vtda, no distinction appears to 

 bavc been derived from a knowledge of them, in addition to the 

 four scYiptures. The titles, abovementioned, have become the 

 surnames of families among the Bnihmens of CanoJ, and are 

 corrupted by vulgar pronunciation into Dohe, Tiw&re, and 

 Ckauhe. 



