OR SACRED WRITINGS OF THE HINDUS. 431, 



son or descendant of At'harvan : four of them 

 consist of prayers applicable to various religious 

 rites, as sacraments, lustrations, penance, &c.; and 

 tlie last is restricted to theology. 



Excepting these five chapters, most of the pas- 

 sages contained in the preceding part of this col- 

 lecti^on of prayers, are attributed to divine }>erson- 

 ages : many are ascribed to the first manifested be- 

 ing, named Praja'pati, Parame'siit'hi, or Na'- 

 ra'yan'a Purusha; some are attributed to Swa- 

 YAMBHu' Brahme, or the self existent himself: 

 tlie reputed authors of the rest are Vrihaspatj, 

 Indra, Varun'a, and the As'wixs: except a few 

 scattered passages, which are ascribed to Va&ish- 

 t''ha, Vis wa'xMitra, Va'madeva, jMad'huch'- 

 handas, Me'd'ha'tit'hi, and other human au- 

 thors ; and some texts, for which no Riski is spe- 

 cified in the index, and whicli are therefore assigned 

 cither to the sun (Vivasuat or A 'ditija)^ as the 

 deity supposed to have revealed this Veda ; or to 

 YaVxyawalcya, as the person who received the 

 revelation : in the same manner, as the unappro- 

 priated passages of the Rigveda are assigned to 

 Praja'pati, or Brahma'. 



Several prayers and hymns of the Yqjur-Vedat 

 have been already translated in former essays * ; 

 and may serve as a suliicient example of the style 

 of its composition. I shall here insert only two 

 passages, both remarkable. Tiie first is the begin- 

 ning of the prayers of the Sarvaincdlia. It con- 

 stitutes tliC thirtv-second lecture, comprisino- two 

 chapters (amivaca) ana sixteen verses. 



* Fire is tmat [original cause]; the sun is that; 



* Asiatic Researckes, Vol. V. and VII. 



