OR SACRED WRITINGS OF THE HINDUS. 3^3 



are more various : among- these, besides Agastya, 

 Cas'yapa, son of MARrcHi, Angiras, Jama- 

 DAGNi, son of Bhrigu, Para's'ara, father of Vy- 

 a's'a, Gotama and his sohNod'has, Vrihaspati, 

 Na'reda, and other celebrated Indian saints, the 

 most conspicuous are Can'wa, and his numerous 

 descendants, Me'd'hatit'hi, &c.; Mad'huch'han- 

 DAS, and others among the posterity of Viswa- 



MITRA ; S'uNAS'e'p'ha, SOn of Aj IGARTA ; CUTSA, 



Hiran'yastu'ya, Savya, and other descendants 

 of Angiras; besides many other saints, among the 

 posterity of personages above-mentioned. 



It is worthy of remark, that several ])er5ons of 

 royal birtli (for instance, five sons of the king 

 Vrihangir; andTRAYYARUN'A andTRASADASYV, 

 who were themselves kings); are mentioned among 

 the authors of the hymns, which constitute this 

 Veda: and the text itself, in some places, actually 

 points, and in others obviously alludes, to mo- 

 narchs, whose names are famihar in the Indian 

 heroic history. As this fact may contribute to 

 fix the age, in which the Veda was composed, I 

 shall here notice such passages of this tendency, 

 as have yet fallen under my observation. 



The sixth hymn of the eighteenth chapter of 

 the first book, is spoken by an ascetic named Cac- 

 SHi'vAT, in praise of the munificence of Swanaya, 

 who had conferred immense gifts on him. The 

 subject is continued in the seventh hymn, and 

 concludes with a very strange dialogue betw^een 

 the king Bha'vayavya and his wife Roaiasa', 

 daughter of Vrihaspati. It should be remarked, 

 concerning Cacshi'vat, that his mother Us'ic 

 was bondmaid of king Anga's queen. 



The eighth book opens with an invocation, 



