446 ON THE ve'das, 



ginal revelation, through nearly the same number 

 of gradations. The difference is almost entirely 

 confined to the first ten or twelve names*. 



The fifth and sixth lectures of this Upanishad 

 have been paraphrased, like the fourth, by the 

 author before-mentioned. They consist of dia- 

 logues, in which Ya'jnyawalcya is the chief 

 discourse r. 



♦ 



* Janaca, a king paramount, or emperor of 

 the race of Fidehas, was celebrating at great ex- 

 pense, a solemn sacrifice, at which the Brdhmanas 

 of Curu and Panchala were assembled ; and the 

 king, being desirous of ascertaining which of those 

 priests was the most learned and eloquent theolo- 

 gian, ordered a thousand cows to be made fast in 

 his stables, and their horns to be gilt with a pre- 

 scribed quantity of gold. He then addressed the 

 priests, " whoever, among you, O venerable Brdh- 

 manas, is most skilled in theology, may take the 

 cows." The rest presumed not to touch the cat- 

 tle; but Ya'jnyawalcya bade his pupil Sa'mas'- 

 RAVAS drive them to his home. He did so ; and 

 the priests were indignant, that he should thus 

 arrogate to himself superiority. As'wala, who 

 was the king's officiating priest, asked him, " art 



* I do not find Vya'sa mentioned in either list: nor can the 

 surname Parasarya, wliich occurs more than once, be applied to 

 him ; for it is not his patronyraick, but a name deduced from the 

 feminine patronymick Pdrasari. It seems therefore questionable, 

 whether any inference, respecting the age of the Vedas, can be 

 drawn from tiiese lists, in the manner proposed by the late Sir 

 W. Jones, in his preface to the translation of Menu (p. viii.). 

 The anachronisms, which I observe in them, deter me from a 

 similar attempt to deduce the age of this Veda from these and 

 other lists, which will be noticed further on. 



